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Solutions Barbados
Solutions Barbados – from left to right: Robert Toussaint, Grenville Phillips, Julie Chalbaud, Angela Edey, Cherone Martindale, Andrew Banfield and Andre Griffith

Solutions Barbados would like to start announcing its candidates.ย  Anyone who has been able to maintain a business in this economic environment, without Government assistance, has done well.ย  Managing a business for over a decade can help prepare an individual to manage our national economy.ย  Each of the Solutions Barbados candidates that we are announcing today have over a decade of experience, and are willing to represent the people in their constituency in Parliament, and manage the national economy for the benefit of all of our residents and visitors.

We have decided to run because we cannot watch our country decline and simply watch from the side-lines.ย  We are also not prepared to leave our national debt to our children.

Some of our candidates follow.

  1. Grenville Phillips II, Structural Engineer, 25 years of experience โ€“ St George North
  2. Andrew Banfield, Computer Software Specialist, 25 years of experience โ€“ St George South
  3. Benjamin Niles, Building Contractor, 25 years of experience โ€“ St Philip West
  4. Ronald Lorde, Businessman, 21 years of experience โ€“ St Philip South
  5. Julie Chalbaud โ€“ Businesswoman (Photography), 20 years of experience – Christ Church South
  6. Angela Edey, hair specialist, 33 years of experience โ€“ St Michael West-Central
  7. Cherone Martindale, Administrator, 16 years of experience โ€“ St John
  8. Andre Griffith, Computer Specialist, 13 years of experience โ€“ St James North
You may contact Grenville Phillips II at NextParty246@gmail.com for any additional information

.


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110 responses to “Solutions Barbados Announces Candidates”


  1. It just could be that after the next elections Solutions Barbados is the official opposition in Parliament and the DLP is the office 3rd party of Barbados.


  2. Congratulations to the candidates. It is refreshing to see so many faces untainted by the politics of B or D. Now that there is the public scrutiny.

  3. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    I hope that Grenville and his team gain some traction with Bajan voters because the current administration has proven itself intellectually and ethically bankrupt.

    However I wish that people would grow out of this facile illusion that running a country is like running a business. It is not.

    First of all, size matters. I have run million dollar businesses and nonprofit organizations, but Barbados, measured by GDP, is a US$4.5 billion operation (about 20% bigger that Virgin Atlantic’s global opperation), so my business experience does not qualify me to run the country any more that it qualifies me to take over from Richard Branson at Virgin. The difference in scale makes a material difference in the management of it’s operations. Just look at Trump making a complete mess in the USA even though he has run a big business. Think of it this way: a physicist knows about fundamental particles that make up all of the universe, but that does not give her any significant expertise in chemistry, which operates on the scale of molecules, even though those molecules are collections of fundamental particles.

    Second of all, mission matters. Most businesses have missions to enrich their shareholders. In practice most of them operate to enrich their senior management, board of directors, and very large shareholders. Guess what? Run a country like a business and it will enrich the senior managers (cabinet members), board of directors (house and senate), and large shareholders (Bizzy, Bjerkhamn, COW, and the rest).

    Businesses are not democracies. Barbados is supposed to be democratic.

  4. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    I wish them all well. Time for us to move on from the BLPDLP!


  5. @Peter

    Note sure your criticism is valid. What qualifies a citizen to be a member of parliament? No qualifications necessary except to be able to catch the eye of the party executive/council. If Solutions Barbados prefers to use an exemplary track record in business to qualify to be a candidate it improves the entry requirement to be an MP compared to the other parties doesn’t it?


  6. @peterlawrencethompson

    Surely, a society is no profit-company. However, let us treat the citizens including the people in need as the true shareholders of the nation. I call this an inclusive approach, whereas the Trumpian model is an exclusive one where the powerful “shareholders” and the citizens are not the same group.

    The purpose of this enterprise shall be the common good. We should allow individual profit as long as taxes and employment help to improve society. The first condition, namely taxes, is also not included in the Trumpian model.

    Such a shareholder-approach has also the advantage that it stresses the responsibility of the management aka politicians in government for their actions. In many democratic societies, you walk into jail for tax evasion, but you are a free man when you overspend billions as a minister or when a project ends five times as expensive as promised in the beginning.


  7. @Peter, all you said is well stated so one hopes that Grenville has developed his publicity narrative beyond the business experience mantra.

    These candidates’ public scrutiny (innuendos on sexual practices and orientation, educational background, successes and failures along life’s road etc ) is the first major hurdle to get over.

    If done well then it’s on to the finances and logistics of running a political campaign and so far that has been interesting and unique, so we’ll see.

    And if that’s navigated then it’s on to projecting an aura of power, authority and oral dexterity at campaign stops and public meetings.

    Let’s see how social media is used to overcome some of the last hurdle and used overall to spread their gospel to energize the younger voters.

    As soon as we see Grenville and his team getting some serious lashes from the other main parties then we know they are making their mark!

  8. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    @David, It is well proven that decision-making is improved by having diversity of experience among the decision-making team. It is clear that having a house dominated by lawyers has not served us well (no offense to lawyers, my son is a lawyer).

    I fact, when I used to give corporate seminars on innovation it was great fun to demonstrate to CEOs that their decisions improved when they involved their administrative assistant in the process.

  9. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    @Tron, Society can be conceived of as a social enterprise, i.e. an organization which prioritizes a social service mission and uses entrepreneurial techniques to make itself sustainable. Cooperatives are social enterprises, and Bush Tea has long proposed this as an administrative model.

  10. peterlawrencethompson Avatar
    peterlawrencethompson

    Nothing I’ve said above should be construed as disqualifying business people from public service, but they need to understand that what they are pursuing is public service, not business, even if the employ entrepreneurial or administrative or accounting or engineering techniques.


  11. @Peter

    Fair enough. Recognized a few of the names and although they have been managing businesses of recent some have professional backgrounds.

  12. Caswell Franklyn Avatar
    Caswell Franklyn

    So far, one of the candidates of Solutions is a member of Unity Workers Union but Grenville that is not enough to make me change my mind about going to the polls.


  13. David

    Congratulations to the candidates. It is refreshing to see so many faces untainted by the politics of B or D. Now that there is the public scrutiny.

    Oh Really ! now that is a belly laugh


  14. Congrats and good luck. We want to also know about asset disclosure of candidates for too many see robbing sheeple as a quick way to get rich.


  15. First angela skeete demand to see their last five years of tax records


  16. Cbu bcm. B

    Sent from my iPhone

    >


  17. David

    There is only one way to get an ‘exemplary record in business’.

    And that is to be able to buy the ‘certainty of success’ that only the state can guarantee. Is this not the experience in our country.

    Remember, capitalism likes to talk, theoretically, about healthy competition but the ultimate is really to move towards monopoly, the domination of industrial segments, barriers to entry which restrict all others.

    Don’t you see these forces well-entrenched in Barbados?

    Secondly, in business you learn more from failure. With success there are no hard lessons. Failure is a good thing.

    Therefore we would posit that business people who have had several failures are, maybe, more prepared to revive a failed economy than so-called successful business persons who might have had one year’s experience 36 times over.

    If we can for a moment assume that this flawed logic about business people as politicians is valid.


  18. I found Grenville’s column in today’s edition of Barbados Today to be strictly arithmetic and very simplistic and it caused me to wonder if there is anyone in Solutions with an economic/financial background. No where in the article does he look at what debt was incurred for during various time periods. Does he believe debt incurred to build the ABC Highway is comparable to debt incurred to rebuild Kensington or to pay public servants? The column should generate much debate and Grenville would be well advised to be prepped by a person or persons who can flesh out his assertions much better than he did on Brasstacks earlier today.

  19. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    Congratulations….but ya still pregnant…I await the birth


  20. Canada is looking south for employees.Bajans might be interested although they seem to be targeting the US

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/moncton-new-brunswick-jobs-americans-1.4061508

  21. Well Well & Consequences Observing Blogger Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences Observing Blogger

    Let’s see that complete list, you do not want anyone tainted from DBLP viper’s nest and no money hungry, mercedes mentality pothounds either.


  22. Good to see Solutions putting up structure.


  23. @Bajan in NY

    The simple point Grenville made in the article is that there is an agreed minimum number the BLP should have kept our Debt. We should have managed the pace of our development to that number.


  24. @Pacha

    You owe it to the candidates to examine their records. Truth be told these are not mega players in the business arena in Barbados.


  25. Bajan in NY: It does not matter what the debt was used for. The point is that it should not have exceeded 40% of GDP as recommended by the IMF.

    Well Well: There are no former politicians in Solutions Barbados.

    Best regards,
    Grenville


  26. So Grenville, how are you going to get it down to 40% after the mess this government has made?

    I am observing that you keep blaming the BLP rather than attack the destroyers of the economy.


  27. @nextparty246 April 19, 2017 at 10:17 PM #

    I totally disagree with you since I believe what the debt was for is of paramount importance. If Tom Adams had borrowed to build the 4 lanes highway as originally planned it was have saved all the wasted borrowing incurred trying to widen it and building the death trap at Warrens. On the other hand, I was always of the opinion the borrowing to rebuild Kensington Oval was unwise, since the legacy benefits had very little chance of being actualised. Borrowing for capital projects that would pay for themselves and generate revenue in the long term would be wise even if it push the debt above the 40%. Borrowing to build Greenland, pay salaries/wages, consumables would be folly even if the debt was below the 40%.


  28. @peterlawrencethompson April 19, 2017 at 5:55 PM “However I wish that people would grow out of this facile illusion that running a country is like running a business. It is not.”

    Sensible.

    Also in business the boss has the authority to fire.

    But politicians cannot fire the electorate.

    And some of us the electorate are ingrunt as sh!te.

    I wish Grenville and crew well.

  29. William Skinner Avatar

    @ Prodigal Son April
    @ Bajan in NY

    All Grenville was saying is the simple fact that both parties have indulged in growing the national debt which has finally reached boiling point. He was also debunking the myth that the BLP had any better argument than the DLP when it comes to managing the economy or vice versa. For whatever reasons debt is accumulated, it must be managed properly in order to sustain real economic growth. We are essentially an imports country and neither the BLP nor DLP has any real policies to make our exports stronger. They are both following the same economic model so therefore the result must be the same.
    This current economic downturn , was at first thought to be a DLP problem but as the debate continued the policies of BOTH parties have come under the microscope and the populace , outside of the BLPDLP diehards, is now blaming both parties because it is now recognised that they both failed to reform the public service or restructure the economy. This is why there is more interest in third parties at this time. There is widespread cynicism about both parties and it is at its highest level since independence.
    Third parties should aim their guns at BOTH the BLPDLP and see them as one party and they will then get a hearing because a considerable number of electors may choose not to vote for the BLPDLP. The message should be clear : REMOVE the BLPDLP any other message will not resonate.
    Six of one and half of next. Bun dem both.!!!


  30. @ David,

    I would vote for Julie. lol


  31. Competent Permanent secretaries and their deputies are critical to the performance of

    Ministers.


  32. BajanNY
    Very simplistic and we’re jumping up and down. It is written without any context. I guess the BLP should have left the abc highway, airport, seaport, court building, hilton, UWI, Kensington, coast guard, schools, roads, pavilions, playing fields etc etc until a global recession. Increasing GDP is linked to building social, human and infrastructural capital? What would have a 40% of GDP allowed us to do or not do? How did interest rates on borrowing changed once 40% was surpassed? How was the money spent and the contribution of those projects to socio-economic development? What countries are within the IMF prescribed threshold and what are their economic and social circumstances? This is the type of analysis required, not comparing apples with oranges. I guess we are all in similar debt situations as our parents or grandparents. All of a sudden people who benefitted from the over 40% borrowing have a problem and were not associated with any party. The “analyses” that we praise says a lot about us as a people.

  33. Well Well & Consequences Observing Blogger Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences Observing Blogger

    Grenville…get your list of names to other social media websites, including facebook, let the island, region and the world get a feel for them…..the first step in expunging the current DBLP parasites.

    Good to hear your candidates are not vulnerable to manipulation by minority business people…or any of the less then 8,000 minorities on the island, may it stay that way….

    ……and push that as one pf your messages, with the vexation of the population currently at an all time high because they, unlike their parents and grandparents, are well aware they have been sold out by, disenfranchised and victimized by the current political parties…to these same minorities fir over 30 years…it will be the tipping point.

  34. Well Well & Consequences Observing Blogger Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences Observing Blogger

    I guess those who opted out of the contract were planning, after being elected, to become a power unto themselves, just like DBLP politicians, it is a good vetting process, if they claim they want to SERVE the people, let them PROVE IT.

    “AFTER ASKING SEVERAL PEOPLE to put their money where their mouths were, new political party Solutions Barbados has finally been able to publicly announce nine candidates for the next general election.

    Leader Grenville Phillips II said yesterday they had been in talks with a number of other people who had expressed interest in joining, but after they were told they would have contractual obligations, some of them opted out.
    โ€œWe had quite a few who came and when we told them that they had to sign a contract, we had the falling away, so thatโ€™s why we had a few new ones,โ€ he said.
    Phillips told the DAILY NATION that if any of the candidates who signed on defected to another party or voted against them, they would โ€œbasically go bankruptโ€. (TG)

    See more at: http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/95912/-solutions#sthash.QerCu4WT.dpuf


  35. David

    OK, if we accept that these business minded people are really minions

    How would any ‘examination’ of their records find consistency with the size and scale necessary for a national government?

    As a Ronald Tree cricketer this writer use to beat ball at school grounds too

    It is only when one had to go to Kensington did certain realities emerge

    In short, this Haynesesque redux will be a ‘backstreet abortion’.


  36. @Pacha

    History is replete with examples of High School sportsmen making a satisfactory transition to a higher division. The key is for the scouts to spot the talent/potential and create the opportunity. Of course this approach works best in a setup with a track record.

    It will be interesting to observe how Grenville/SB blunts the narrative around SB’s criteria for selection. The machinery of the duopoly has the young arms where the political aspirants can be trained from the womb. There is some goodwill with SB but he will have to execute flawlessly in the months ahead.

  37. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ Hants April 20, 2017 at 12:16 AM
    โ€œCompetent Permanent secretaries and their deputies are critical to the performance of Ministers.โ€

    They also play an integral role in any acts of graft and corruption or the prevention thereof.

    As has been argued before no politician can engage in corruption and the misuse of taxpayersโ€™ money unless aided and abetted by very senior public servants either out of fear for their career prospects or through personal greed and mere moral turpitude.


  38. dont care whether any one like the fact that i requested these newbies produce their last five years of tax filings all relevant . Fact being that if one is place in a position to levy taxes on its citizentry then it is only fair that those called to a higher power to institute laws should show evidence that hey have followed the letter of the law


  39. @ Enuff
    Your forte seems to be picking the wrong side of a moot.

    So just because you think that you deserve an ‘ABC highway’ or a ‘Kensington Oval’, it makes sense to borrow money to get them…?
    There are some things that we ALL would like to have …but CANNOT AFFORD …. so we cut our cloth accordingly…. the wise ones that is…

    Grenville is EXACTLY right that there is a MAXIMUM level of debt exposure (FOR ANY REASON) to which we should allow ourselves to be exposed.
    Anything above that and you are selling yourself.

    40% as recommended by the IMF sounds even high to Bushie…. cause a man (or country) should really WORK and PRODUCE …for the benefits they desire to enjoy. Bushie would say 25% MAX.

    We had JAs walking about suggesting that as long as other people were willing to lend us money, this meant that we were on good ground….

    Steupsss…
    If you really believe what you say, find a ‘good reason’ for the money, and Bushie will lend you the funds ….under the Bushman’s terms and conditions….


  40. @ Pacha
    Nothing can be worse that what we have had over the past 20 years.
    Grenville’s proposal is the closest thing that we have had so far to sanity.

    In the absence of an overriding philosophical vision that underpins their mandate, and that is built upon an understanding and respect for BBE’s master plan, they too will fail. However Grenville – unlike most of the other political players we have had since the 1980’s -at least seems to be intelligent, competent and coherent.

    As Caswell has been hinting, if you look at our top Credit Unions, you will find that the Boards of Directors consist of ordinary, ‘no-name’ Bajans who bring sanity and a level playing field to the organisation and have achieved excellent success.

    It is the misguided ‘economics’ logic suggested by Bajan in NY – that debt is good – once you spend the money in certain areas… that entraps many – especially individuals.

    Debt is ONLY GOOD, if it is SPECIFICALLY undertaken to generate excess income OVER the debt cost in the medium term… or in the longer term, in the case of infrastructure that will benefit our great grand children.

    Ordinary Bajans who understand that it is by the sweat of a man’s brow that he should eat (meritocracy) are likely to provide FAR more sanity than the misguided ‘Economists” – whatever the hell THOSE are…, that we have been infested with.

  41. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ nextparty246:
    โ€œWe have decided to run because we cannot watch our country decline and simply watch fr
    om the side-lines. We are also not prepared to leave our national debt to our children.โ€

    Most altruistically sounding, Solutions Barbados!

    Wishing you success in the coming months.

    However, what we would like to see from you is not lip service but a demonstrable adherence to your own ISO 9000 standard of excellence and acceptance of the reality that you cannot implement your programme for saving Barbados unless you win a majority of seats in the HoA.

    Unless you want to contaminate your political wellbeing and form a coalition government with the very people who created the problems in the first place.

    Ten candidates will not cut it. So you must find at least 6 more within the coming days.
    Remember OSA gave the country 90 days before the financial (forex) shit fully hits the economic fan.

    As you quite rightly pointed out the โ€˜printing of moneyโ€™ (unjustifiably raising debt for future generations to payoff) has now turned into an elixir of toxic financial chemicals about to poison the already constipated economy of your country.

    Mr. Stuart (the perfectionist at vacillating) has no other option but to call elections before the foreign reserves run out and either needs a mandate from the electorate to go the IMF for a bailout loan (with all the harsh conditions inevitably attached) or leave the sorry mess on the hands of Tweedlebee, if you fail to get your own house in electoral order.

    As has been said before, you have but a matter of weeks (if not days) to put your ISO mouth and your family fortunes to good use and before the pending bell rings if you are to fulfil that burning ambition of being Lord Grenville, Saviour of Barbados and its future generations.


  42. @ Miller
    Steupsss…
    Bushie keeps telling you that your approach to Grenville is misguided.
    You are accustomed to politicians who come to your door BEGGING you for a vote so that they can be empowered and get a few dollars on the side to put on their mother’s account.

    Grenville is not of that mould.

    He is not BEGGING for anything. He is OFFERING his ‘solutions’ … and only because the political crap with whom you normally associate refuses to apply any sensible ones…..(or are unable to due to bribe pressure). He is not a ‘poor-boy’ looking for wuk…

    In cases such as Grenville’s therefore, it is not really a matter for HIM to strategise as to how to convince a majority of brass bowls to ‘vote for him’ …. it is about intelligent Bajans RECOGNISING an opportunity to break from the mould of brass bowlery and vote for change…. AND GRABBING IT.

    No point in pressuring him to do the usual Machiavellian shiite that you obviously associate with politics…. If we reject his offer it is no loss to him …. or to the successful persons that he has enlisted… ONLY TO THE HOARDS OF BRASS…. currently up shit street. What we can and should do is to GUIDE him in areas of weakness, provide feedback to improve his ‘solutions’, and seek his FIRM commitment in areas where critical reform is clearly needed.

    Since Caswell and Jeff have spurned our call for help, and Walter has turned red-coat, (or is it blue?) …we should be grateful for the serious option being provided by Grenville and his people….
    …but then again we all know where your eggs are buried…. ๐Ÿ™‚

  43. Well Well & Consequences Observing Blogger Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences Observing Blogger

    “Since Caswell and Jeff have spurned our call for help, and Walter has turned red-coat, (or is it blue?) โ€ฆwe should be grateful for the serious option being provided by Grenville and his peopleโ€ฆ.”

    ……Or yellow…lol…where is Walter anyway.

    Grenville and his canaditates along with the newer political parties have to seize the moment, the majority people, the majority black population are ripe for a much different, more uplifting, progressive and prosperous, less demeaning poverty inducing and degrading political experience from governments…, it’s now to seize that moment…rid the island of parasites…the people will be thankful….

    …… not to mention if I am impressed enough I will say…

  44. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ Bush Tea April 20, 2017 at 7:53 AM
    โ€œWhat we can and should do is to GUIDE him in areas of weakness, provide feedback to improve his โ€˜solutionsโ€™, and seek his FIRM commitment in areas where critical reform is clearly needed.โ€

    Alright then, here is some feedback to Grenville and his version of your BUP or PUP.

    Grenville has been asked on more than one occasion to put his plans for the agricultural sector on the table for discussion and feedback. So far he has been unable to offer any ‘solutions’ to getting those thousands of acres of once arable land back into profitable production either to earn or save foreign exchange.

    From the air, rural Barbados looks like a โ€˜desertโ€™ of overgrown bush mirroring the complete opposite to what prevailed under colonial rule and which more than once invited more than complimentary comments from National Geographic which likened it to the English countryside snuggled in the tropics.

    What are Grenvilleโ€™s plans for the rural Barbados and agriculture in general?
    Or is he keen as an engineer to see it all turned into an oasis of a concrete jungle with many high-rise buildings like the imaginary Hyatt towering over the former cane fields (now full of cow-itch) with the parish of St. John transformed into a mini Miami beach where the likes of Itchy Brother & Scratchy Sister can relax in the nude?

  45. Carson C. Cadogan Avatar
    Carson C. Cadogan

    Peter

    “”I hope that Grenville and his team gain some traction with Bajan voters “”

    What traction?

    This “party” only has entertainment value. They will be ground into the dust.

  46. Well Well & Consequences Observing Blogger Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences Observing Blogger

    By whom Carson…yall aint intelligent enough and both you DBLP party have too many skeletons in ya closet tryingnto break down the doors to come out, yall hands and hearts are too stained and nasty to stand up to people with very little blemish on their past records.

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

    Own Area April 19, 2017 at 5:04 PM #
    It just could be that after the next elections Solutions Barbados is the official opposition in Parliament and the DLP is the office 3rd party of Barbados.

    Every DLP voter I’ve spoken to in the past year has said that they will not vote D again due to the mismanagement of our country and they will never vote B.

    Such is the state of Bajan partisan politics.

    Grenville may well prove to be a viable alternative to abstinence for the frustrated.

    Both parties have been self-perpetuating organisms that have brought in similar-minded new faces from time to time and trained them in the ways of the commune.

    Grenville has balls the like of which we have not seen in our society for decades, he has my vote.


  48. David, Bushie

    We disagree with your general tenor.

    This writer, William Skinner, warned this party, its leader, that PR were important and that help was needed.

    Just as cantankerous as the two other dictators, as party leaders, he now presents names alone, of people nobody knows. This is to be an introduction, from the mind of an engineer.

    Now tell us, was this not a prime opportunity for some kind of high quality video presentation for this first impression.

    Our perception, public perception, of the ‘party’ has not been advanced by this, thanks to Grenville.

  49. Bright Red Cherry Avatar
    Bright Red Cherry

    Frustrated Businessman aka ‘Nation of Laws’ my ass.

    If a small percentage (say 10% only) of DLP voters do not go out to vote for the DLP (and also not vote for the BLP) then the BLP wins, its just that simple.

  50. Bright Red Cherry Avatar
    Bright Red Cherry

    In the next elections people will have to chose from the following:-

    A party so focused on the society that they ruined the economy, the DLP.
    A party so focus on the economy that they will ruin the society, Solutions Barbados.
    A party of misfits and perennial losers, the United Progressive Party.
    A party so focus on the economy and the society that Barbados will prosper again, the BLP.

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