Water is a Basic Human Right, No to Hike!
Submitted by Anthony Davis
It’s either privatization or an increase in water rates!” That was the warning issued last night by economist Jeremy Stephen during a University of the West Indies-sponsored panel discussion on The Future of Water in Barbados in the Henry Fraser Lecture Theatre…”People would have conserved a lot better,” he contended – page 7 of BARBADOS TODAY dated March 22, 2017
Pray tell me, Mr. Economist, how does it feel to be earning so much money, yet wanting to put the burden on the poor, the needy, and the vulnerable? Why must they be made to pay more and more for everything in this country?
Barbados is supposed to be a water scarce country, yet this Government is willing to allow a 15-storey monstrosity to be planted on Browne’s Beach right opposite Bethel Methodist church.
Where will they get their water from?
Are they being allowed to build their own water and waste facilities?
Will they have their own desalination plant?
Stop putting the blame on the populace of this country for the wasting of water, when the hotels use the most water, Mr. Stephen!
How many houses have 100 or more rooms?
How many houses have more than one swimming pool?
How many houses have more than one bar?
How about facilities like tennis courts, and golf greens?
How about the number of showers and jacuzzis?
Where does all of that water come from?
Many tourists will take a dip in the ocean about three times a day, and then go and stand under the shower for at least 15 minutes each time.
Water is a human right, Mr. Stephen, so any time you seek to put the poor, the needy and the vulnerable at a disadvantage where they cannot pay the high rates for that commodity, you may be looking at defending your case before an international court or the WHO.
I note that you said that there should be some way of tax relief for low income earners, but that legislation would take some time, because Government would have to determine who would be covered by such legislation.
As you know, elections are due next year and it’s not feasible for Government to carry out such an exercise which will determine who will need the necessary help in the time left.
The last time they wanted to hike the water rates Dennis Kellman came up with the ludicrous statement that the populace of this country were the ones who wasted the water, knowing full well that that was a terminological inexactitude.
Now you want to come with the same fairy tale.
Tourist liners take on thousands of gallons of water.
Freighters take on a great deal of water also.
So do the various aircraft.
Add that all together, and come again and tell me that we waste the most water.
We do no such thing, Mr. Stephen!
This goes not only for you, but everyone who comes with the same cock and bull story just because you think a rate hike for our water is the best thing to stop the populace of this country from wasting that precious and valuable commodity.
Now, on the same page and in the same issue under the headline “Govt Senator dismisses ‘untruth about tourist spend“, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism Irene Sandiford-Garner today described as ‘fake news’ reports that visitor spend had declined, even as tourist arrivals had reached a record high in 2016.
“There was an estimated US $167.41 (last year) compared to US $164.40 (in 2015) which was spent by the average visitor.”
What are you bragging about Mrs. Sandiford-Garner?
That’s a mere US $3 more per visitor in 2016!
How much does that do for the forex of this country?
I think it’s high time for a hotel and condominium moratorium in Barbados!
“To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay right or justice.” – Magna Carta
Barbados Underground 
Just as both governments do not allow taxpayer funded regulatory bodies ie insurance regulators and others to do their jobs on the island because of collusion, corruption and government interference with the business sector, these ministers and so called economists also violate and do not observe the basic human rights of the majority population……….
……the choir boys like Stephens sing for their supper to be petted and patted on the head by any government willing to waste taxpayer’s money on their illogical summations…golf courses, swimming pools, hotels, cruise liners, aircraft etc waste water, golf courses are not a necessity…….they exchange hands from one foreign owner to another for astronomical sums of money and are never owned by the majority population, just like the many hotels.
These penny ante backward ministers like Sandiford-Garner and the other idiot savant Kellman should never be listened to or taken seriously….ya get tired of hearing their stupid statements.
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The following exchanges took place on Facebook and is relevant to this topic -Jeremy Stephen is part of the conversation.
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It is worth mentioning that Stephens did not see it necessary to mention the theft of water by BWA employee or employees who took a bribe or bribes to give bill free water to a community in Holetown, St. James for 10 years, which deprived the treasury of millions of dollars and disenfranchised taxpayers and those who pay for water, it was 10 years worth of unbilled water while that BWA employee ran off to the UK wealthy and neither the BWA board or attorney general or any minister of either government called for his extradition to answer for that crime or complained about 10 years of water wastage.
Does Cow have access to free water in Apes Hill which is wasted on golf courses and empty villas.
I would take Stephens more seriously if he addressed the real water wasters and water thieves on the island..
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As for that neutered jackass James Paul, he should just stay silent…….
..,,.,you practice integrity, ya cant live it unless you practice it….damn dummy.
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WE GET OLD
If you really live faithful and true
And your family care about you
Luckily for you its nothing new
And maybe you will get old too
I can’t unburden my mind at all
Its nothing to fear
Don’t shed a tear
Just get in gear
Just another year
The sky wails in distress
Praise Him you’re see it
And be simple just stay fit
Take your veggies and vit
Time ran out ‘hmm oh shit’
That’s why in awe I am singing
But the goodness you’ve shown
Some things you still trying to hone
Lucky if you see your kids grown
And all your crops reap and sown
With that my mind wants to soar
Life was good now and then
Remember the bad times when
When you try to catch a fat hen
Can you now at 3 score and ten
Tidal waves of tune flood my being
So what, you had a darn good life
There were times sometime strife
Sometime sticking you like a knife
By your side there was a good wife
I want only the words that hide behind
My dreams and in the shadow of my mind
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Gosh damn WW&C, reiterate my feelings and views nearly all the time.Chapeau M’am.Let those who have all those swimming pools pay a higher rate.The funding of replacement pipes should come from the Consol Fund after a CDB loan with no high lawyers fees attached.There are too many damn crooks in Barbados.Integrity is certainly the watchword and Paul too ugly and too simple to understand that word.Fools abound in the DLP.
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I have always understood that loans/grants from the int’l agencies were always easier ,cheaper and quicker to get for dealing with ones infra-structure i.e. road repairs,setting down new water pipes, etc,etc…..
The 50M for the City that was allowed to be withdrawn by this govt was one such example.
What is so difficult about going out there and seeking such funds,why is it that no of the aspirants to lead are talking about these simple bread and butter issues that are doable…..whats even more to the point is that a plan exists for it already….so no need for anymore studies.
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https://www.barbadostoday.bb/2017/04/04/bar-association-rejects-judge-only-trials/
Those charged with keeping a structured, functioning judicial system cannot agree on simple matters DPP Leacock says one thing, the recent head of the useless Bar Association says another, without offering up any solution, as is typical, she is doing so just to contradict the DPP and keep the system nonfunctional without saying how to cut down the backlog. …as is the norm, dont look for any positive changes anytime soon, just additional problems in the court system. So many stupid people heading one tiny system is cause for concern.
“Bar association rejects judge-only trials
Added by Emmanuel Joseph on April 4, 2017.
Saved under Judicial, Local News
4
The legal fraternity is rejecting a recommendation by Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Charles Leacock, QC, to abandon trials by jury as a means of reducing the backlog of cases in the law courts.
Leacock had told participants at a Regional Security System (RSS) course on prosecuting drug offences last Friday that there were over 10,000 cases awaiting trial in the Magistrates Courts here and another 800 in the High Court, with 200 being added every year.
He suggested that the backlog could be reduced if trial by jury were abandoned and judge-only trials introduced instead.
However, President of the Bar Association of Barbados Liesel Weekes sees it differently, telling Barbados TODAY this afternoon that scrapping jury trials would not necessarily cut down the “mountain” of cases clogging the judicial system.”
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http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/95325/usd8-500-fine-dangerous-driver
About time something is done about these bus drivers whose reckless and negligent driving injure and kill people, while insurance companies companies clog up the court system with personal injury cases for years in a bid not to pay compensation to their victims…
…….this senior citizen lost her life and normally CGI Insurance and the bus drivers always try to pin the blame on the injured or dead victims, although they are not the ones driving the transport board bus…..hopefully her relatives have a claim going to make CGI pay now that the bus driver has been found guilty.
I dont know what the driver’s diabetes and hypertention have to do with his driving dangerously, if they are ill, they should not be allowed to drive public service vehicles anyway.
“IN SENTENCING a bus driver for dangerous driving, a judge has pointed out that drivers of Transport Board buses and public service vehicles (PSVs) have significant duties of care, especially within terminals.
Justice Jacqueline Cornelius was speaking last Thursday as she fined suspended Transport Board driver Clare Ramon Nevero Hinds $8 500 for dangerous driving in an accident that claimed the life of an 89-year-old woman.
On September 21, 2015, Hinds, 52, of Perfection Road, Bush Hall, St Michael, pleaded not guilty to causing Edna Sandiford’s death by dangerous driving on March 3, 2012, but admitted to dangerous driving on the same date.
Defence attorney Arthur Holder said his client, who suffered with diabetes and hypertension, was now doing taxi service, having been on suspension.”
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I urge Mr Stephen to be very careful and be wary of whom he allows to pull his strings in furthering their narrow foolish agenda(s).
There is no water shortage in Barbados.Its a myth.
The persons most responsible for the wastage do not pay for that wastage.
BWA is a monopoly and should be the sole beneficiary of all revenue generated by water distribution meaning they should have the monies required to pump and maintain their operations.
A water hike has nothing to do with covering operating costs but a recovery measure for the extensive theft at the BWA.
A hike , or tax will solve nothing.Stop “teefing”.
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“There is no water shortage in Barbados.”
Maybe you look at the ministers´s pools and at the many golf courses on this island for the water. There it is.
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The problem is not availability.The problem is procurement and management.They manufactured the talk of a myth to justify theft and mismanagement of the BWA.
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Speaking of Human Rights what happened to Hillary Beckles cases
Maybe DofBU could put on some internet pressure to file case
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