est. 2007

Barbados Underground

Bringing News and Opinions to the People

, , ,

Michael Lashley: Lawmaker Lawbreaker

The following was posted to his Facebook page by former Attorney General and member of parliament for St. Joseph Dale Marshall The Ministry (read Minister) of Public Works is demanding that the Road Safety Association remove the fluorescent flags which that association has installed to give warning of potholes. The Ministry (Minister) asserts that it…

, ,
The following was posted to his Facebook page by former Attorney General and member of parliament for St. Joseph Dale Marshall
roadsafetyassociation
Road Safety Association personnel staking flags next tp potholes to warn motorists

The Ministry (read Minister) of Public Works is demanding that the Road Safety Association remove the fluorescent flags which that association has installed to give warning of potholes. The Ministry (Minister) asserts that it is contrary to law.

No matter how laudable their effort, no matter how good the cause, if the installation of the flags is contrary to law, the association must move them, or face the penalty stipulated in the statute. Plain and simple.

But the chickens do sometimes come home to roost.

In the General Election of 2008, the DLP unlawfully erected a large number of billboards, displaying campaign messages. The Chief Town Planner went public and demanded that the DLP remove the billboards, since their erection was contrary to the Laws of Barbados.

Michael Lashley was smirking as the DLP’s then leader, David Thompson, announced that they would be doing no such thing! He went further to say that by the time anything could be done about it, the DLP would have won the Government!!

In 2008, Michael Lashley was fully in support of a flagrant violation of the laws of Barbados, since at that time it suited him. Now, he wants to cry foul.

Mr. Lashley, what about the other flagrant violations of the laws of Barbados at Coverley? Do they also suit your purposes?

Did the Chief Town Planner not issue an enforcement notice for the structure in the road outside Coverley, which your Ministry, responsible for roads and road safety, has conveniently chosen not to demolish, as per the Chief Town Planner’s directions? What about your part in that violation of our laws?

All people must obey all the laws. That is the rule of law.

If installing the warning flags is contrary to law, then they must be removed.

But as a user of the road, if a flag placed alongside the road could warn me of the presence of a pothole, I would consider that to be helping to preserve life and limb.

I salute the Association for its efforts to save lives. And those efforts might well see justice being tempered with mercy if any charges are brought against these fine individuals.

St. Augustine said “An unjust law is no law at all.”

I say that Mr. Lashley and his government are now feeling the backlash of their flouting the laws only 8 years ago. But this time, in a far more noble cause.

112 responses to “Michael Lashley: Lawmaker Lawbreaker”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    That will not be possible Hants. Many of the houses are broken read will have to be rebuilt.

  2. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    @ David,

    All things are possible when the bell is rung and the date of decision is declared. lol

    Loyalty will be rewarded.

  3. mitchlans Avatar
    mitchlans

    I have heard it said (perhaps someone can confirm) that these houses were built before any plans were made for water supply or sewage, so they remain uninhabitable. If so, surely that begs many questions about the contracts and the money that exchanged hands.

  4. David Avatar
    David

    @mitchlans

    According to the minister only 53 houses out of 117 are compliant. This suggests Town Planning issues.

  5. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    @David

    These are relatively new construction what made them uninhabitable? What’s the story there?

  6. David Avatar
    David

    Several reasons. With the houses at Constant that development was affected by the demise of CLICO. The houses in the video appear to be affected non compliance with town planning requirements. And so on.on…

  7. David Avatar
    David

    Here is the response from the minister of housing Kellman.

    Denis Kellman Damian Griffith NO WHAT THE MINISTER IS SAYING THAT GOVERNMENT FOLLOWS THE SAME procedure as the people of the country or more, we had to plant trees, switch from a sewage plant to conditions as if a zone one even the area is not to protect the environment, after the decision was made we had to award the contract to the company that was to construct the sewage plant to 117 solutions to zone 1 standards for the EPD . The EPD in the interest of country and our water system took 3 years since 2013 to do the right thing. They can only be compliant when the contractor is able to complete the connections to satisfy both departments. One thing we can say that we have worked out a solution that should save builders from creating environmental problems and excessive costs in the future. yes we were the test case and for a good reason.

  8. mitchlans Avatar
    mitchlans

    Can someone please translate wtf the minister is saying. It is as completely incomprehensible as the situation regarding the houses.

  9. David Avatar
    David

    What the minister is saying is that they built the houses before completing the procedural requirements. It boggles the mind why as part of a project team the various layers wouldn’t have planned in a way to ensure efficient execution.

  10. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ David
    Does the minister think we are as foolish as he is…?

    Kellman said “THAT GOVERNMENT FOLLOWS THE SAME procedure as the people of the country or more,…” . We all know that authorities frustrate the shit out of ordinary citizens BEFORE any work can start – even in large commercial projects. Why would it boggle the mind that things were different here?
    Clearly Lashley and the DLP bypassed the normal rules in their haste to get some millions into Baloney’s hands.
    …and it is equally clear that the public servants, (fed up with the thievery,) are DELIBERATELY frustrating their efforts to complete the projects and to ‘wipe the slate clean’ ….so to speak.

    That development east of St George Secondary school should be the subject of a MAJOR investigation – one that would go back to Gline Clarke, …and it would surely result in some jail time…
    It will not happen, because both sides of the political class are equally culpable, and hence they are forced to protect each other.

    Grenville is not a politician; he does not have the much vaunted ‘common touch’ needed to kerfuffle brass bowls out of their vote….. BUT at least he has enough PERSONAL PRIDE in himself and his family not to be such a damn thief…..

  11. David Avatar
    David

    @Bushie

    A kind of corollary to your position is that Michael Lashley built his popularity on the fact that he dropped these houses all over the place like bird droppings from black birds in a mango tree. In fact the DLP ran a successful political campaign on the back of it. How easily the heard was misled.

  12. Vincent Haynes Avatar
    Vincent Haynes

    David January 15, 2017 at 8:17 AM #

    A political gimmick……all about perceptions as Richie Haynes said years ago…….and we know how gullible Bimmers are according to a poster,more gullible than 45M peeps of the USA that elected trumpy.

Older Comments
1 2 3

Leave a Reply to Well Well & ConsequencesCancel reply

Trending

Discover more from Barbados Underground

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading