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The GROTTO: Solicitor General ‘Opinion’ Deems Dividend Payment from Housing Credit Fund Illegal

The truth about the GROTTO Housing project and the decision to declare a dividend from the Housing Credit Fund (HCF) by the Central Bank of Barbados (Government) to pay Mark Maloney of PRECONCO is finally coming to light. The BU household has relentlessly pursued this matter and it gives us no satisfaction to be proved…

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The GROTTO high rise project
The controversial GROTTO high rise project

The truth about the GROTTO Housing project and the decision to declare a dividend from the Housing Credit Fund (HCF) by the Central Bank of Barbados (Government) to pay Mark Maloney of PRECONCO is finally coming to light. The BU household has relentlessly pursued this matter and it gives us no satisfaction to be proved right. Should it make sense why the Minister of Finance plans to terminate and transfer the HCF to the Consolidated Fund?

What the revelation has confirmed is that we have a government willing to flout the financial rules to appease their friends and to fill their pockets. We have a government committed to continue the practice of its predecessor to ignore the observations of the Auditor General. Lastly what it confirms is that members of the political class are loyal to the clan.

Thank you from BU to the BU family member who shared the document.

See the opinion letter issued by the Solicitor General’s Office.

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140 responses to “The GROTTO: Solicitor General ‘Opinion’ Deems Dividend Payment from Housing Credit Fund Illegal”

  1. Violet C Beckles CUP Avatar
    Violet C Beckles CUP

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/barbados-news-the-alex-mitchell-report-on-barbados_us_5886a408e4b0111ea60b9973?

  2. Prodigal Son Avatar
    Prodigal Son

    Oh dear, I am shivering in my boots, the PM is awake and is trying to project toughness!

    Did anyone see the moron tonight on DLPTV talking shyte as usual………….hear him ……….”on the date which I shall determine”…………..why does this jackass need to remind us that he and he alone can call an election. He made reference that he passes the Garrison near his constituency and he sees horses running fast by themselves but when race day comes the horse then realises that he is not that fast.

    If you are so sure, call the election……..moron!

    This DLP really thinks that with their backs to the wall…….he referenced the world economy when they took office in 2008…….he seems to feel that he can again trick the people by calling an election, tell the people that the economy is great and then as soon as they win back as he thinks he can, drop the same disastrous news as they did in 2013……………………

    Mr PM………….call the election, we ready for you morons………all the money siphoned off from the illegal money taken from the Housing Credit Fund will not save you!

  3. Colonel Buggy Avatar
    Colonel Buggy

    I am amazed that a Pastor of a church, called of all things ,Church of God, would allow any politicians to use the house of the Lord , to unashamedly preach party politics,and make reference to a form of gambling.
    No wonder Stalin had closed down the churches in post revolution Russia,and turn them all into factories.

  4. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    https://www.barbadostoday.bb/2017/01/24/bajan-jailed-for-16-years-in-uk/

    The government ministers, business people who bribe them and rip of the treasury……..and the insurance executives who rob gullible people in Barbados need this kind of down time.

  5. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    Wow…I see the Huffington Post in New York got the Violet Beckles Land Fraud case, a lot of the crooks are named, Owen Arthur and Fruendel Stuart got centre stage, with David Simmons, Cow Williams, Richard Cheltenham…hahahaha, lol.

    Ah want to see any of those vile, thieving, local bitches go after Arianna Huffington….they all know they have had a hand in stealing land from old helpless people and dead people for decades, glad to see it hit the international arena.

  6. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    Northern….Maloney is seeking to rip off the treasury in an even bigger way, bottomline.

  7. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    https://www.barbadostoday.bb/2017/01/23/one-more-term-2/

    Fruendel the Fiend really got a goddamn nerve though.

    https://www.barbadostoday.bb/2017/01/24/its-our-fault-says-brathwaite/

    It took Adriel Nitwit 9 years to figure this out, but note, neither he or any of the others ever take responsibility for any of their stupid, neglectful, corrupt and most often criminal actions,, but he is jumping to take responsibility for himself and both political parties’ actions for election…..vote them ALL out.

  8. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    Is this the same Fruendel that wasted taxpayers money lying about how independent Barbados is…..steuppss

    “Not true,” he insisted, while noting that Barbados depends on tourists from North America, Europe, and the Caribbean, all of which continued to feel the effects of tight economic circumstances.

    “We also have to depend on what is going on in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada; Canada in particular if we are going to get the kind of business out of the North Atlantic we want to build our international business and financial services sector,” he said, adding, “We have not allowed our faith to waver and our footsteps to falter as we have tried to deal with these challenges”.

  9. Frustrated Businessman aka 'Nation of Laws' my ass. Avatar
    Frustrated Businessman aka ‘Nation of Laws’ my ass.

    I’ll use an analogy that might be easier to understand.

    Chattle houses in Barbados were built on no foundation, a couple stones set on bare earth. They stood, and stand for generations.

    Concrete multi-story houses have to be built on substantial foundation, in Bim mostly on bed rock.

    Ipso facto I have demonstrated that concrete houses cannot be built on chattle house foundations.

    Most of our traditional roads have chattle house foundations that evolved as road requirements did. In some cases they were ‘hand-tamped’ by men with 20lb weights on the end of a pole, sometimes they were rolled with 1/2t rollers. But we allow 27t trucks to drive on them, hence their constant subsidence and decay due to lack of foundation, which tar can deal with due to its flexibility.

    For us to re-surface most of our roads in concrete we would need to tear up the foundations and start over. Economically, it is cheaper to continue to tar the old roads while building new ones in concrete.

    So I repeat for those who do not understand construction but have an opinion anyway: There is no concrete surface possible on our traditional hi-ways and bi-ways.

  10. David Avatar
    David

    @Frustrated Businessman

    Part of the problem in Barbados is that we should have BAPE pushing their hands up to give an informed opinion on the issue of concrete roads instead of the noise from politicians and others who are clueless about these matters.

  11. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    Frustrated…we got ya the first time, but concrete roads have existed in Bim for decades, so that means it can be set right, improved and get done.

  12. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    LOL @ Frustrated B
    Ipso facto I have demonstrated that concrete houses cannot be built on chattle house foundations.
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    Stop talking shiite FB.
    Nobody said anything about building willy-nilly on chattle foundations, so you have demonstrated nothing.
    Building concrete surfaces on shiite foundations is just as silly as what we have been paying COW millions to do.
    The discussion is about building concrete roads on appropriate foundations – and such foundations are possible in all types of ground.
    Surely you know that the whole Bridgetown area is originally one large bog /swamp of mud and sand.

    @ David
    Is Grenville not also BAPE?
    How can you say they are not pushing ‘solutions’?

    @ WW&C
    The big push for concrete roads is simply a means of finding another excuse for a massive contract between Government and Baloney.
    The Concrete flyover built for Jeff Broomes to visit CBC
    The Concrete Molasses tanks that cost more than the damn molasses
    The Concrete BWA building while Bajans revert to standpipes
    The Concrete empty chicken coop houses littering the country
    The Concrete High-rise, low-income, high cost, low occupancy houses
    The Concrete laid at Bushy Park for albino sports

    ….now we just need a $100M concrete road project to link these all together…. and they just found the $100m by selling off our oil future….

  13. David Avatar
    David

    @Bush Tea

    Have we heard BAPE on the topic of the day, concrete roads?

  14. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    The following excerpt was taken from page 338 of the book “Low-cost Housing in Barbados: Evolution Or Social Revolution?” written by Mark R. Watson, Robert B. Potter:

    Under the terms of the USAID Housing Guarantee Loan, the Ministry of Finance acted as the borrower and provided equivalent local currency to the HCF, an entity established in 1983 as an extension of the state’s Housing Planning Unit, to act as the financial intermediary in the administration of Housing Guarantee loan funds.

    The original intent was to establish the fund as an independent statutory body which would become a permanent revolving fund for housing finance. However, following protest from the Central Bank concerning the creation of an independent fund and the generation of credit for housing outside its control, the government decided that the fund should be utilized for on-lending Housing Guarantee funds to participating institutions.

    It was envisaged that the HCF would manage a revolving fund to provide a stable source of funds for mortgages, home improvement loans and loans for the purchase of tenantry lots. Weis (1985:5) argues that “Since its creation, the HCF has served as the major conduit for Housing Guarantee funds, lending to private institutions for on-lending to eligible Barbadian households,” but that “the HCF’s potential long term impact on the housing sector is limited by the total amount of such funds provided.”

    UNDER the SCHEME, PARTICIPANT INSTITUTIONS make LOANS to QUALIFYING CLIENTS, who are LARGELY LOWER-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS. The institutions are then REIMBURSED through a LOAN from the HCF. The fund is REPAID by the INSTITUTION, while the institution is REPAID by the CLIENT.

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    It is obvious that government’s action of using the HCF to pay Maloney to build the Grotto units breached the overall purpose of the HCF.

    Will the NHC use the revenue from the sale of rental of Grotto units to replenish the HCF?

  15. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    Yep Bushman… raping the treasury using dumb ministers of government, it’s always been a cakewalk.

  16. enuff Avatar
    enuff

    Well Well

    The story gone from huffingtpnpost. Them aint waan get sue. lol

  17. enuff Avatar
    enuff

    Since the flyovers, what has BAPE commented on? The joke is, the issue of flyovers was not even an engineering issue.

  18. Sunshine Sunny Shine Avatar
    Sunshine Sunny Shine

    http://imgur.com/a/poz8Y

  19. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    https://www.barbadostoday.bb/2017/01/24/police-probe-accident-at-parish-land-st-philip/

    I have been hearing for some time that the transport board has been putting defectives buses on the road for years, causing many injuries to people, when they capsize one and kill everybody on board, then they will know, bunch of useless specimens.

    And that Andrew Walker who got injured was supposed to go and bear false witness against another injured person…karma.

  20. Exclaimer Avatar
    Exclaimer

    “We have not fully met the anti-corruption pledge that we made in 2006. It is not because of the lack of political will to do so, but because of the intractability of dependency and dishonesty cultivated from years of deprivation and poor governance,” President Sirleaf said.”

    http://www.frontpageafricaonline.com/index.php/politics/3167-liberia-s-president-johnson-sirleaf-admits-being-overweighed-by-corruption

  21. Exclaimer Avatar
    Exclaimer

    We continue to discuss the same subjects with the same bloggers about the same discredited actors.

    There is one way to fix Barbados and that is to rid the country of her corrupt elite. Why do we continue to believe that our country can progress with a political class that remains corrupt to the core?

    I remain convinced that our army has a positive role to play in the emancipation of Barbadian citizens. We saw the role of several foreign African armies, last week, who were employed by their respective governments as enforcers to encourage the recently defeated Gambian president that he would have to quit his beloved country.

    Would it not be possible for an African country to provide sanctuary for the incompetent Mr Stuart and his “dodgy” ministers in the event that they could be be asked to step down from their roles for the good of the country.

    It is time for those men in khakis to step up and show their patriotism. I am certain that their fellow Barbadians would be fully behind them.

    https://barbadosunderground.wordpress.com/2015/03/13/david-thompson-and-families-first-slush-fund-the-corruption-trail/

  22. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    http://ow.ly/4rIj308jWAm

    If the arrogant ministers could do like the Gambian president tried, they would…hopefully he will be stripped of that 11 billion dollars he stole from his country within the next few years, pig that he is, 22 years was not enough for him.

    Fruendel is thinking bajans are stupid enough to allow him 5 more years of destruction.

    Enuff….honestly, I was surprised to see Fruendel’s name there, he got diplomat status, he can complain….Huff would not have known who he was…lol

  23. Colonel Buggy Avatar
    Colonel Buggy

    The stench is back at Combermere School. The relatively spanking new Christ Church Post Office is closed, due to environmental problems. Apparently the building was never maintained. And the PM is confident of another 5 years in office.

  24. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    https://www.barbadostoday.bb/2017/01/24/dwindling-reserves/

    Despite all the big boasts from Fruendel the Fiend and others about tourism, it can never pull the economy out of that tailspin tourists have to be spending to make a difference, most of the tourists who visut Barbados are broke and living on credit cards in their own country. The govrtnment is wasting it’s time and taxpayer’s money in the delusion that tourism will ever bring wealth, riches or enough jobs to Barbados, their laziness in using their brains to generate alternative opportunities will bring the island to its knees,

    The ministers are awarding themselves a return of salary for doing no work….kick them out of parliament come 2018, punish them for their incompetence, neglect, deceit, lies and arrogance.

    Productivity does not come from a minority few, it comes from the total involvement of the collective majority, if the hardheaded , dumb ministers of government cannot understand that, high productivity and accelerated economic growth will never happen in Barbados, unless you get new mentalities, younger leaders who understand it is vital for the majority to participate in making the island productive.

    I am yet to see any such types of leaders emerging in Barbados.

  25. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    Fruendel will drown bajans in debt and then kill them with taxes, it will be ugly.

  26. Frustrated Businessman aka 'Nation of Laws' my ass. Avatar
    Frustrated Businessman aka ‘Nation of Laws’ my ass.

    Well Well & Consequences January 25, 2017 at 5:36 AM #

    Productivity does not come from a minority few, it comes from the total involvement of the collective majority, if the hardheaded , dumb ministers of government cannot understand that, high productivity and accelerated economic growth will never happen in Barbados, unless you get new mentalities, younger leaders who understand it is vital for the majority to participate in making the island productive.

    Further, before you start braying in the village about your neighbour, sort out your own house and yard.

    This gov’t has never been able to threaten, cajole, motivate or lead the snivel service into any kind of facilitation mindset. From 2009 I have typed this on BU and it has only gotten worse. The lack-of-facilitation environment has festered the highest levels of corruption this country has ever experienced and it will take many years after these idiots have been voted back into the gutter to undo that.

    There will be no economic recovery under Fumble’s Fools.

  27. Violet C Beckles CUP Avatar
    Violet C Beckles CUP

    enuff January 24, 2017 at 2:31 PM #

    Well Well

    The story gone from huffingtpnpost. Them aint waan get sue. lol@

    it may appear that you enjoy cover up and yet can blog about Barbados Enuff?

    No worries they will check for re-post when they get more facts, google is great and the CUP page, We will give them all the proof they ask for,

    We can see how deep the cover up goes in the American news with Tony Best and Caribnews papers in the New York City .
    We know it goes deep here on BU.

  28. Violet C Beckles CUP Avatar
    Violet C Beckles CUP


    Just helping out Enuff

  29. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    “The lack-of-facilitation environment has festered the highest levels of corruption this country has ever experienced and it will take many years after these idiots have been voted back into the gutter to undo that.”

    Frustrated…you will not get an argument from me on that, I am well familiar with the bajan mindset and very few are productivity orienated, but that nonproductive mindset is facilitated and enabled in the majority population by both governments for 50 years….

    …..they few productive members of the majority group find stumbling blocks and barricades put in their way by both governments and members of their own majority group, it’s a blighted barrier to productivity that must be broken down permanently.

    Fruendel and his group are all idiots, I do not see them raising priduuctivity levels among the majority people, their own group….the ministers are all narrow minded and selfish…….that low class mentality does not bode well for mass productivity in Barbados. They are not ready yet.

  30. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    …….that low class mentality does not bode well for mass, high levels of wide ranging productivity in Barbados. They are not ready yet.

  31. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    Apparently Sandals will be a go.

  32. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    Oops….apparently, Hyatt will be a go.

  33. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    Enuff…how will they get the Violet Beckles video off youtube….lol

    That is spinning in cyberspace.

  34. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    @Well Well & Consequences January 23, 2017 at 5:29 PM “So why is Maloney writing the ministry about concrete roads.”

    Because of Hard Rock Cement maybe?

  35. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    @Gabriel January 23, 2017 at 5:47 PM “Is not the over 2 mile runway at Grantley Adams Airport not made of concrete and doesn’t it stand up all these past 60 years plus to all the heavy traffic handled daily…”

    The Grantley Adams International AIrport is not 60+ years. It is is fact less that 40 years old. The airport was not just renamed from Sewell International Airport. It is in fact a “new” airport, build in the late 70’s or early 80’s with new runways and buildings .

  36. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    Simple….more like Maloney and government ministers will continue to rip off the treasury by charging taxpayers 5 times what it would normally cost to build concrete roads, that has been the trend for decades.

  37. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    @Exclaimer January 24, 2017 at 7:01 PM “There is one way to fix Barbados and that is to rid the country of her corrupt elite. Why do we continue to believe that our country can progress with a political class that remains corrupt to the core?”

    A Simple Response: Getting rid of the political class will not help as long as we have a corrupt business class. Bribes cannot be accepted by politicians, unless they offered by members of the business class.

    @Exclaimer January 24, 2017 at 7:01 PM “I remain convinced that our army has a positive role to play in the emancipation of Barbadian citizens.

    A Simple Response: The army cannot play a positive role. Lest we forget. It was originally the business class who enslaved us. They cannot now use the army to liberate us, because in fact they have no interest in our liberation. We do not want the army to intervene on behalf of the business class to offer us a false emancipation. The business class is only interested in filling their pockets…preferably with the tax money paid into the Treasury by the majority Bajans. NO FAKE ARMED EMANCIPATION/LIBERATION for us.

    @Exclaimer January 24, 2017 at 7:01 PM “We saw the role of several foreign African armies, last week, who were employed by their respective governments as enforcers to encourage the recently defeated Gambian president that he would have to quit his beloved country.”

    A Simple Response: Please note that the long time Gambian President had been defeated in a free and fair election. The current Barbados government, regardless of its flaws (and no, I did not vote for them) won the last election, which was a free and fair election.

    @Exclaimer January 24, 2017 at 7:01 PM “It is time for those men in khakis to step up and show their patriotism. I am certain that their fellow Barbadians would be fully behind them.”

    NO IT IS NOT. WE ARE NOT BEHIND THIS IDEA. BAD IDEA. DISMISS IT.

    We do not want to to exchange political oppressors for heavily armed oppressors (heavily armed with our tax dollars) to protect the interest of the business class.

  38. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    https://www.barbadostoday.bb/2017/01/26/senate-agrees-to-stiffer-penalties-for-employers/

    But will it be enforced, enforcement is a problem in Barbados….bribery is too normal.

  39. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    @NorthernObserver January 23, 2017 at 9:27 PM “Also remember, if you wanna talk about ‘teefing’, concrete has more end uses than most products.”

    Also with concrete, there is plenty of steel (steal?) in there.

  40. MAM1 + MAM2 = Business as Usual | Barbados Underground

    […] The GROTTO: Solicitor General ‘Opinion’ Deems Dividend Payment from Housing Credit Fund Illegal […]

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