George Brathwaite (PhD)
“We are losing sight of civility in government and politics. Debate and dialogue is taking a back seat to the politics of destruction and anger and control. Dogma has replaced thoughtful discussion between people of differing views.” – James McGreevey.
Thousands of Barbadians are getting into the festive mood although the sweet songs of calypso and the rhythms of bashment soca will hardly drive away the burdensome taxes that are pounding down on the population. The social commentary will not minimize the concerns that Barbadians have about their troubled economy and society; if anything, the constant reminder indicates that change is necessary. As it stands today, Barbados is troubled by low economic growth, a stinging fiscal deficit, increases in the incidence of poverty, an unemployment rate that is still unacceptably high – particularly among the youth, rising gun-related crimes, and a preponderance of socioeconomic inequalities persists. Key economic drivers for growth appear to have become elusive and investments have slowed significantly. Simultaneously, workers and their trade unions are somewhat weakened by their abandonment of total solidarity, and may even be scapegoats for capitalists’ interests. Clearly, the Government is overwhelmed and by the daunting challenges and inundated by calls for improved performances.
Cabinet Ministers have resorted to increased bombast and propaganda while referring to one or more citizens as enemies of the state. Indeed, it is not uncommon to hear Government spokespersons and elements in the business class peppering labour with blame for the insufficiency of national productivity. Ironically, a few days ago, the Minister of Labour implied that the unions were in denial, and misrepresented the facts on not getting salary increases. That Minister suggested that the trade unions are now becoming part of the problem given a reluctance to accept that the Minister of Finance was following the best option under ‘grim’ macroeconomic circumstances. In cruel mockery, it was none other than Prime Minister Stuart pontificating that: “It is better … to be going to work every day and having to deal with a higher price here or higher price there than not to be going to work and having to deal with the same prices anyhow. … If you are not going to work you can’t deal with the prices at all. You can’t get the things you want.” The twisted logic from these spokespersons almost always conclude that their ways of conducting national affairs are the only viable actions holding sway and gravitas.
Nonetheless, Barbadians know that talk is cheap. Getting by one day to the next is becoming far more expensive for the average man and woman, the worker and unemployed, businesses both large and small, and the abled and disabled. Unless Barbados finds and uses the appropriate tools to ease the plight of the nation, eventually all may be consumed by the economic setbacks and societal inertia that have visited this country for too long. Barbados needs to discuss whatever are the problems in a truthful, forthright, and non-partisan manner. A useful starting point is the tri-partite ‘Social Partnership’; this mechanism offers the opportunity for meaningful social dialogue.
Today’s political and civic leaders have tended to send lots of mixed messages, many of which are overly politicized. The actual content of divisive communications is as much disconcerting as the difficulties facing the island. Barbadians have sacrificed much during the past five years. Yet, many feeling the woe, perceive that sacrifice has rolled over into punishment for electing a less than stellar legislature. The overall credibility of the current administration has waned with every piece of spin and misrepresentation. Some persons prefer to drift along until the ‘pocketed’ date is given by Prime Minister Stuart, although it is not a logical approach given that the wait can be legally and politically extended for selfish reasons. Regardless, compromise is necessary in the national quest to overcome burdens of the day because ominous clouds are already on the doorstep.
Through the Social Partnership there can be a rebuilding of trust amongst local stakeholders. This factor leads to some questions for which the answers can again give Barbadians the hope for progress and benefits. What useful and pragmatic lessons are extractable and usable from the Social Partnership and purposeful social dialogue? What can stakeholders do to urgently redirect the Barbados economy and society on a pathway to prosperity and justice? How many more groups ought to comprise a workable partnership of cooperation? One recalls former Prime Minister Owen Arthur contending that ‘the social partnership should never become unwieldy and, should be able to evolve to address challenges as they arise’. Surely, the challenges today are serious and Barbados must consider broadening the partnership of social dialogue. Included in the decision-making process should be the youth, the church, and other important cogs in civil society. These segments of society cannot remain on the periphery.
Lo and behold, Barbadians learnt last Friday of Prime Minister Stuart’s confession in which the citizens’ livelihoods have badly floundered. Stuart would say nebulously that in time to come “life will get somewhere near back to the normal to which we have been accustomed.” Clearly, the current administration is widely adrift from Barbadian norms, and needs all the help it can get. Despite the resident tendency to reject those with an alternative plan of action, the administration is desperate. Whichever political party forms the next administration, regardless of any premonitions, it must rely on the potency of working together, re-building trust, and doing the right thing predicated solely on the national interest.
In fact, this is precisely why the Barbados Social Partnership was formulated. The severe economic and corresponding challenges of the early 1990’s, prompted a phase of innovation that was adaptively borrowed from the Irish. The Social Partnership was envisaged to function for the national good, and saw the Government, employers’ representatives and trade unions’ representatives gravitate towards social dialogue. By the end of 1991, it became a worry that Barbados was forced to resort to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for assistance. The Social Partnership became ‘a core strategy to avoid the prescriptions’ advocated by the IMF, and to ward off devaluation of the Barbados dollar. Subsequently, in 1993 after gaining consensus in which mutual respect and interests led to ‘a paradigm shift in the concerts and practices of governance’, the partnership established the first ‘Prices and Incomes Protocol’. The tripartite partnership and the ensuing protocols determined a package of ‘measures to reverse the gradual erosion of the country’s competitiveness’ by addressing specific economic problems and their social consequences.
Despite the very austere and trying circumstances Barbados had to undergo, the framework of social dialogue helped to shape a national discourse for development over the next 10 to 15 years. Social dialogue was fused together through interdependence and cooperation. Importantly, the nation was committed to seeing off the worse. The partnership would eventually guide Barbados to safety. Two Cave Hill academics – Wayne Charles-Soverall and Jamal Khan – wrote an insightful article indicating that the willingness of stakeholders to engage in social dialogue, the willingness to achieve national consensus based on pragmatic solutions, the ability to place national interests above all else, and the resolve to implement bold decisions were crucial in forging cooperation among entities normally focussed and sometimes hemmed in due to their differing interests. Today, there can be little doubt that Barbados is exposed to another string of ‘socioeconomic and political crises’ which can derail national development. These challenges must be urgently and adeptly addressed beginning with responsible and honest social dialogue.
George,
You state “Two Cave Hill academics – Wayne Charles-Soverall and Jamal Khan – wrote an insightful article indicating that the willingness of stakeholders to engage in social dialogue, the willingness to achieve national consensus based on pragmatic solutions, the ability to place national interests above all else, and the resolve to implement bold decisions were crucial in forging cooperation among entities normally focussed and sometimes hemmed in due to their differing interests.”
With due respect, this is intellectually meaningless. So if I fail to along with this view am I an enemy of the state? Consensus, pragmatism, the centre ground, no matter how you frame this discourse, it is political deception.
What Barbados wants and needs is a robust national debate, based not on reaching consensus, but on confronting the conflicting ideas in the public sphere and shaping a future for the nation in to the 21st century.
Holding back on your views so that we can reach some consensus betrays the individual’s consciousness. We need to explain ourselves, explain our visions, navigate a clear pathway to putting that vision in to practice.
Our major problem is that people play party politics, they are parliamentarians and party supporters but we do not know what they really believe.
What are the ideological differences between the BLP and DLP? I suggest none. What differences there are are personal, technocratic and variations on the application of policy.
Solutions Barbados is a technocratic irrelevance.
@George, we are nine months out from a general election and the two main parties are still eyeing up each other. The nation is being asked to make a choice at this the worst moment in our economic history and we still cannot close our eyes and vote on ideas, policies, principles. We are in a sorry state.
@ Hal
We all have our opinions, but to have social dialogue without the end result being the ability to find consensus for pragmatically working in the national interest would then be truly meaningless.
On the other things stated, I do not believe that you are addressing the column but have drifted too far away for me to provide a rebuttal or rejoinder. Keep well.
@George
Yours is a solid theoretical persperstive. The variable that you must underscore is leadership. Good leaders will encourage people to join the effort even if there is scepticism. This addresses the change you rightly highlighted i.e. achieving consensus.
Georgie Porgie Brathwaite
The nature of the political culture makes it possible only to pretend that there is some middle ground somewhere.
The baser truth is that Barbados is incapable of having a coalition or national unity government even if election results where 15/15.
National unity demands that you carry this thinking to its logical conclusion and find ways to uproot such an anti-developmental political-economy system.
The time for blase references to a fictitious centre are long gone.
What do you expect from this Intellectually Deficient Phd?
Certainly not any Eureka moments!
The man talks a berriffle of faeces every single week and we, being the sheeply we are, run in to his trap and respond to the Veritable output of those Aegean Stables of Yore.
Right on Georgie, ride on in splendour and pomp, sing for your supper at the impending Mugabe trough…
@ the Honourable Blogmaster.
My other comment on Loveridge’s blog was filtered.
Grateful if you would release it for the ole man.
Thank you
@ the Honourable Blogmaster
Surely you jest? when you speak of this “solid theoretical perspective?”
You meant to say this solid ball of jobby.
The PhD from Bellevue says “…and Barbados must consider broadening the partnership of social dialogue. Included in the decision-making process should be the youth….blah blah blah” yet not two paragraphs in front of that he speak of “unwieldy” and it implications..
He is as usual hedging his bets,
Always towing the line with these seeing “sould” exposees which met your requirement for 500 words yet say nothing all the while accomplishing BU’s objective for content, irrespective of the fact that this is just a ball of pup
George,
We already have the mechanism for consensus, it is called the Social Partnership. We have seen how that works with its paper on fiscal change being rejected by the minister of finance.
There is a more fundamental flaw, however, it is the assumption that capital and labour have much in common, that t here vision of a future Barbados is one shared by the various interest groups in the island.
This is liberal democratic utopianism, it cannot play out in real life. The only consensus will be, and is, the primacy of state institutions and laws, giving individuals and organisations the freedom to operate within the wider democratic parameter.
If national unity remains the objective, what compromises do we have to make to solidify that dream?
I agree we all have our opinions, but some are rooted in reality, some in otherworldliness and some in utopia.
@ Hal
Please re-read the article. It is precisely the Social Partnership that I speak of. It is the Social Partnership that some players said was not being effectively used. It is the Social Partnership that needs to broaden to include players that remain on the periphery. It is the Social Partnership that the PM invited word from, but after the fact, and then the information was sidelined. Trust does not exist anymore. That is all that I am saying. The Social Partnership must restart a dialogue but in good faith, trust, and national interest as the focus. Re-read the article and then come again. Over and out.
George,
The Social Partnership has failed as an oversight body; it has failed as an advisory body; it has failed even as a talking shop. I don’t know about you, but I attended one of their meetings, chaired by Byer-Suckoo, and it was laughable. The idea of a consensus body is unsustainable.
But this is not one-dimensional issue, even if the economic problem is the most immediate. What has capital and labour have to talk about when the reality of the global economic situation seems to pass us by.
Since 1999, two-thirds of global growth has come from emerging markets. Our growth projections are based on tourism, a policy which fails to recognise this reality.
It is a policy that has not diversified from the dependence on the UK/European markets, even if the UK has just had the slowest decade of productivity growth since 1770, according to one study (yes, 1770, the middle of the Industrial Revolution).
We are now coming to the end of cheap money, the weapon used to stimulate the global economy after 2007/8, yet Barbados is knee high in debt.
What conversation are we going to have across interest boundaries to reach a consensus on the economy.
We are in the age of Airbnb, Iphone, Facebook, Amazon, and others, yet Barbados remains in the digital wilderness.
Further, some leading economists predict a global recession within the next five years.
Even these realities being discussed all over the developed world are somehow missing from the conversation in Barbados.
Then there are social problems: the backlog in the criminal justice and civil justice systems; the crisis in housing with sometimes four generations of the same family living under the same roof; homeowners defaulting on their mortgages; a building crisis in sub-prime auto-finance which borders on the criminal.
@George, what are these social and economic issues on which we as a nation could reach a workable consensus?
I am sorry if I am reading your post differently to you, but these are some of the issues that seem important to me and which at e wrong in your analysis.
(
George
This should blend well with this article as to where we are,what have we gained and what have lost?
Some honest answers please.
Barbados independence 50: What changed after the British left? – BBC News
Barbadians reflect on how life has changed in the 50 years since British rule ended.
bbc.com|By BBC News
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-37530660?SThisFB
@ Vincent at 11:14 AM
Were the British really here in the post war period? And did they really rule during the post WW2 period ? In my opinion the only thing the British really controlled was Foreign Policy. The events of Nov 1966 were merely symbolic.
The real issues today are effective management of the Barbados economy in the face of a rapidly changing geopolitical and uncertain international economic system. There are obviously a diversity of approaches as to how to isolate the citizenry from the collateral fall-outs of these changes.
Social maladies tend to increase/magnify under these conditions. My gut feeling is that when the economic issues are remedied the social issues will fade away.
@ Hal
@ George
Is there really a need for consensus? Have we ever had one in our history? An in depth analysis of recent history may suggest that the dominant group’s approach won.
A history which still needs continuous building on, mindsets which still need to be changed, fir the greater good.
“Barbados is celebrating 50 years of full independence from Britain.
The east Caribbean island was once dominated by a hugely profitable sugar industry that exploited African slaves – whose descendants now make up the large majority of the population – and European indentured labour.”
Hope the lying minorities on the island, descendants of “European indentured labor” note that BBC said nothing about european indentured laborers being slaves, nothing like how African slaves were perceived or treated.
Whuloss!!
What happen here?
In the 3 months of political exile It would appear like if something happen wid Hal Austin and not a feller ent telling de ole man.
whu de man from Englant (some would have said madman and a feller who like pulling he soft parts does call he de Ugly man heheheheheh) is here talking sense,
he hitting de middle of the line, lukewarm Phd cuntsultant all over the place.
Whu happening?
It is like if de voices of past spirits have conversed with Hal for whereas is the cohort of the BU Immortals who have to fight the demons from the DLP HQ in Belleville and those assembling in Roebuck Street, now it is Hal Austin.
Send de ole man de script boasie…
Bernard,
We had full internal self-government after the dissolution of the Executive Council and Grantley Adams became premier.
@Bernard there is a popular interpretation of Barbadian (English Caribbean) history that does not necessarily match the facts. One is that Barrow was the father of the nation. Codswallop.
I suggest you read Benn Steil’s The Battle of Bretton Woods, using newly released papers at the Library of Congress, he shows how Britain wanted to swap Trinidad, Jamaica and Guyana for a post-war loan.
Dexter White, who led the US delegation, not only opposed John Maynard Keynes’ idea, but pressed Britain to liberate the colonies. That was the beginning of de-colonisation (India, Cyprus, Palestine, Ghana and on and on). Henry Forde was at the Marlborough House talks. Our media should interview him.
As to independence, we have not only had 50 years of under-performing the region and global economies (I am tired of pointing this out), but of economic failure.
During the global boom years, which coincided with Arthur’s 14 year premiership, we grew our standard of living on debt, not by productivity growth.
More recently our business failure has been more extreme: Barbados Shipping and Trading, Mount Gay, the Trinidadian invasion.
If yo want to see the extent of our failure just look at the backgrounds of the people who head up our trade bodies and professional organisations.
Even in the management of our small businesses the business class failed. At independence, we had 15 shrimp trawlers that fished up the gulf, what happened to them? Texas Instruments were operating in Christchurch, at the very cutting edge of the new technology; the Barbados Foundry, which was demolished to build the new white elephant of a court building, started building what became the Iraqi Supergun; I can go on with other examples.
We have at best stood still, at worse moved backwards.
The Unions have just declared they are ready to….up de ting……and shut down the country over the gross disrespect given to them by the PM,by refusing to meet with them.
Mr Austin,
You have defined for all here why I think that Independence is a joke and why de ole man will never participate in singing that peice uh badword again.
You keep on trucking good sir…brek dem up
@Hal, who said : “We have at best stood still, at worse moved backwards.”
Surely no one can ‘barrack’ your ’60s era historical underpinnings on that point. Well stated.
The recent long talk on the Alma Parris closure and why/how it was started etc etc was as good a recent example of your assertion as ever there is. There are many others of course.
But to hear serous people on Brasstacks hyperventilate about children with low standardized testing when the Barrows, Tudors and many others worked diligently over those years to establish institutions to address just that issue and move the nation forward clearly shows that we have freaking well “moved backwards”.
And to your other point that “…some leading economists predict a global recession within the next five years”.
… Surely sooner rather than later particularly if this curiosity of a ‘Manchurian Candidate’ comes to the seeming climax as definitive collusion.
The US economy will shed its wealth in gyrations of volatile stock market losses and before it stabilizes we will all again be catching our backsides.
Some time back I dismissed Vlad Putin as the man of the year but clearly that Czar is the man of the freaking decade if not half-century!
We have politicized all of the institutions that have driven our development in the last 50 years. Now there must be the unavoidable free fall. Those who have eyes are resigned to the inevitable.
Bernard Codrington. July 11, 2017 at 12:30 PM #
Lets start at the end of WW2 and the Bretton Woods agreement which was forced on bankrupt Brittania to dissolve the empire…..once we agree on this historical fact we can move on.
The 20 year transition to self rule(46-66) still had oversight by the colonialist as foreign trade and agreements was in their hands which meant that we were dependant on local taxes and any extra money had to come from the motherland.
Do we agree so far?
Bernard
OOPS….Hal and I appear to be on the same page.
@ Hal at 12 :49 PM
Quite a tour de force. Seemingly endorsed by Piece uh de Rock. Not much to disagree on ; although I would not make some points so strongly.
I am surprised at JM Keynes suggestion. From my reading of his works, he appeared to be more enlightened than you portray him.
In summary you seem to be saying that there is room for retooling and redesigning in the public and private sectors and the division into competing groups of labour and capital is an anachronism whose time has passed.
https://www.facebook.com/BarbadosToday/videos/10154970243178191/
@ Vincent 1 :23 PM
Barbados needed no budgetary subventions from U.K. We were self sufficient. We needed U.K as a market for our sugar and nascent tourism industry. Like every country in the world we used the London capital markets to raise loan capital. In my opinion you may be reading from the same book and perhaps on the same page ,but not the same paragraph as Hal. LOL
Bernard
I said any extra money…..did we need any….you said no……so no need to ask the mother land……..whats your point?
Thanks for that informative piece of news Vincent Haynes!
Bernard,
Keynes was not only a Cambridge economist, but equally a technocrat. After the war Britain was in serious trouble and the Americans knew it. They badly needed money to re-tool industry and Keynes was trying to bargain with his reputation, but Harry Dexter White would have none of it.
The Marshall Plan was the outcome which, by the way, Britain only finally repaid during Gordon Brown’s rime ministership.
Proof, if proof was needed, that all debt is not the same. Britain has gone on to be the sixth strongest economy in the world. Had Chris Sinckler done his economic history he would have gone a long way towards rescuing our economy.
I marvel at the way George can generate dozens, sometimes hundreds, of reader comments each and every time he offers his long-winded criticisms of the Government.
Yet, as they say, it is more important to contribute than to criticize. I have never encountered a single, specific, concrete policy proposal in any of George’s voluminous posts. He has perfected the art of writing a lot and saying virtually nothing. Where’s the beef, George? Are you afraid the other side will steal your ideas? Do you have any ideas?
A born politician.
@ Hal at 1 : 45 PM
I agree” all debt is not the same”.
Debt used in retooling and infrastructure upgrade is the true foundation for sustainable economic growth and development. I am amazed when some of my colleagues repeat ad nauseam that the debt /GDP ratio is too high with out disaggregating the debt figure into purpose of the debt:whether it is for current or capital expenditure;how much is domestic;and how much is foreign.
Economic history is very important. Time and time again, policies that have been tried and failed in economies similar to Barbados are being recommended.
.
The claim all debt is bad is a political statement, not economic.
@ David at 1:19 PM
Chin up! All is not loss. Why the despondency? It seems as though I have to recommend a revocation of your membership of the Political Class. You are supposed to lead. Time for plan B. Or have you gone past that without telling the BU household. There will be no free fall. I am no prophet only a trained economist. That is not in the Crystal Ball. No pun intended.
@Bernard
It is good to see the young ones getting involved in the advocacy dont you think? Tn years is a long time.
@ chad99999 July 11, 2017 at 2:13 PM
“Yet, as they say, it is more important to contribute than to criticize. I have never encountered a single, specific, concrete policy proposal in any of George’s voluminous posts. He has perfected the art of writing a lot and saying virtually nothing. Where’s the beef, George? Are you afraid the other side will steal your ideas? Do you have any ideas?”
Are you any different to Dr. G B? Where are your proposed solutions to some of the myriad social and economic questions facing Barbados?
If you think that “it is it is more important to contribute than to criticize” why not share your views on the burning topic of the decriminalization of cannabis sativa aka marijuana?
After all, a maverick like you should be only too keen to sink your teeth into such a rather controversial matter.
In your cogitatively ‘delayed’ reaction we would wish you take into account what some of the maverick states in your much admired United States of America have done to make a killing off a simple plant which has been demonized over the years by both the greedy capitalist lobbies for the booze and tobacco industries?
hahaha…
many of these self-proclaimed Ph.Ds are jokes.
a real US resident Ph.D. would write a paper on why most blacks in the US are being prevented from profiting or participating in the marijuana trillion dollar trade….it has become whites only.
Or why the Barbados government is so narrow minded and tunnel visioned they cant see the economic and medical benefits for the island.
i have to recheck but of the very few blacks allowed in the business to get the requisite licenses in the US Marley`s son or grandson is one.
Chadster Trumptard is basically useless to Caribbean and black people.
Can anyone what Kellman is ranting about in parliament now?
Explain
WW&C
If you or any other black person wants to make money off the marijuana trade, you can (1) buy cannabis securities on the U.S. or Canadian stock exchanges, or (2) start or join a ganga operation in Jamaica, where the government is racing full speed ahead to exploit the weed business.
MTN
Over the years, I’ve offered more than a few ideas on BU and elsewhere for solving various problems in the Caribbean. [My favorite idea is NO MORE LAWYERS in the PMO of any island for at least two or three generations. My second favorite idea is that we need to exploit ECONOMIES OF SCALE in the production of tourism services. HELLO HYATT].
But you haven’t been paying attention, and in any case West Indians are not known for being receptive to good ideas. That’s why Arthur Lewis decamped to Princeton, and why we almost always choose the worst leaders imaginable — Mama P, Eric Gairy, Forbes Burnham, the Bird family, etc.
Chadster…but that does not mean you stop churning out the ideas worth listening to, at some point electorates stop electing idiots and actually start electing sensible people….it`s cyclical, US had an intelligent, articulate president for 8 years, now they gone and elected an idiot, they will pay to learn to elect intelligence next cycle, same with Caribbean people.
i meant blacks being involved in the growing, distribution and retail sale of marijuana to generate jobs, that is where the billions are at….in the US.
cannabis securities has not taken off yet and if it does all the white crooks and wall street cannibals will turn it into a slaughter house with them as the only beneficiaries….i never trust my money in the hands of established thieves.
Jamaica is making money hand over fist from weed exports.
Chuckle….Parliament at its best a 2hr MoF lecture which I missed,a meaningless rant by MoH and the piece de resistance the PM giving a history lesson on the NIS and then trying to add comic relief by attacking Symmonds who revealed the truth about the frailty of the NIS as well as Sutherland.
PM is totally unconcerned with regard to the monetary situation or the threats of the Unions.
@Hal. It is totally untrue to say Barbados is an economic failure. We may not have the envious growth record of some asian economies, but, relatively speaking, our human development index is comparble to some developed economies. On a more broader perspective, Barbados and Bahamas are two high- income economies with a high human development record , achieved on the back of no natural resources. No other back- ruled countries can make such claim.
Correction. No other black-ruled country can make such claim
Forty
Sorry to tell you but Hal is spot on with his analysis.
We wasted the last 50 years looking good in borrowed clothes and at the end of the day we have not built anything of worth for the country.
Joke of the Day
. Can you imagine a march organized by 4 trade unions, with overall membership of over 5000 people can only attract 500 people including BLP non-unionised members? DLP supporters should be bombarding the radio call-in programs with calls asking the General Secretary of the B.W.U to resign.
The BWU of yesterday had almost that number of shop stewards. The leading newspaper in its on-line headlines report that the march was a success since the 4 unions expected about 300 people to turn up but 500 took part in the march.
This is laughable but that is the kind of spin which they use daily to boost the Opposition. It would be remiss of me if I didn’t mention that we have enough legally qualified members on this blog that can write letters to the press exposing their bias towards the opposition..
May God Help us if they think that the next election is a piece of cake
What was most glaring, at today’s whatever you want to call it, was the total absence of Teachers.
Teachers only do industrial action during school time.
@Vincent. I disagree. I am looking at the glass half-full. I am not saying we have reached the promise land, and I am one of those who have criticized our short comings relentlessly. However, saying we have failed economically is too hyperbolic for me. There are over 196 independent countries in world, and over 60% would have loved to be in our position notwithstanding our flaws. Africa has 53 states with immense resources, and not one can hold a candle to our economic and social achievement.
Is there anybody on this blog who believes that if Tom Adams was alive that MIA AMOR MOTTLEY would be a member of the Barbados Labour Party?
It’s no secret we are tourism dependent economy and have a narrow economic base like the rest of the countries in the caribbean space. Our population and size won’t attract FDI into mass job creation project. The only new industry I see to take us to another level is oil and gas in our offshore waters. Guyana in the next decade will be the wealthiest country in the hemisphere.
If Tom Adams was alive wouldn’t he be in his 90s, therefore not available for politics.
That is commonsense Carson.
Well Well
As usual you miss the point.
Go and get your cup of cocoa.
@David at 5:30 PM
Yes . It is good. I am an optimist and I hope an enabler.
We know the leader of the fearsome union foursome set on continuous disruption of orderly public life. The crown of thorns sits on the head of Mary Redman whose droopy jaw lines when Jeff Broomes had her cornered like the proverbial rat have given way to unconvincing smiles.
Art man Bush Tea tell us she’s a white albino. She resembles a blood relative of Bizzy Williams. Redman is the power muguffy with her trusted advisor Patrick Frost lurking. Akinni MacDontwell and Toni Moore for Less are followers. Duke of York won’t be out of order if he rode back and claimed his fiefdom.Teacher Pedro not only looks a complete follower but last in line at the back.
Oh for the day when someone who looks like us casts aside the Mary Redmans and guides the trade union movement in the interest of the entire country. Government has met demand after demand from teachers and public workers the huge amount of appointments come to mind to no avail. No matter what steps government takes Redman is unsatisfied.
Her legacy will be of disruption in the socio political life of our fair isle. Only the nuisance Commissiong friend of Venezuela dictator Maduro rivals her. CCC posits the uncalled for dislocation in orderly public life by pests Redman and Commsiong, both foreigners, costs govt loads of time and money in court defenses and overtime for our hard working police. Money better spent on the poor and vulnerable the unions don’t give two wuk ups about.
What point Carson..you mean you being your usual deceitful self, who could miss that.
How is your master these days, heard he is in mourning, no more protection from his crimes, his protection croaked.
This letter would have dissuaded a few.
If this amount is true, no wonder Maloney and the gang of parasites he represents will go to any length, tell any lie to pretend they are saving Barbados and the people by building Hyatt….to get their hands on at least a few hundred million dollars of the 4.7 billion dollars of pensioners money sitting in the fund..
https://www.barbadostoday.bb/2017/07/11/sinckler-nis-safe/
This government has to be thrown out of office….NIS is not safe with them at the helm.
“Sinckler: NIS safe
Fund not in trouble, says Minister of Finance
Added by Marlon Madden on July 11, 2017.
Saved under Local News, National Insurance
4
Barbadians are being assured that the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) remains viable, with assets of approximately $4.7 billion up to the end of last year”
You hired the Judicial managers…..now you are blaming them ….interesting
https://www.facebook.com/BarbadosToday/photos/a.293752783190.144768.246784233190/10154971672283191/?type=3
https://www.facebook.com/NationBarbados/photos/a.10154447251605989.1073742758.270969375988/10154450805345989/?type=3
Can the minister please break down these ‘assets’ for us? How much is property, how much is equity capital (Barbados, Caricom and global), how much is in bonds (Barbados, regional and global), how much is in cash?
Can the minister tell us how these equity and bond investments are managed? Who are the managers? Are they active or passive managers?How they are paid, out of capital or a percentage of returns?
Can the minister, or the chairman of the NIS, publish details of our investments: asset allocation and stockpicking? How provides the research for the stockpicking? In short, we want details of our investments.
This is all elementary….fraud played a big part in selling illegal EPA policies to senior citizens without their knowledgr.
Leroy Parris should be locked up for fraud, he still can be.
800 million dollars of taxpayer’s money to underwrite the CLICO fraud.
how much more damage to the people woukd Parris and Thompson had done, if Thompson had not been taken out of the equation.
https://www.barbadostoday.bb/2017/07/11/not-out-fault/
And of course it’s never Fruendel and Sinckler’s fault.
Because Fruendel and Sinckler have no powers of parliament and cannot call up the chief justice or have nuisance, useless Adriel Nitwit Dimwit Jackass have the chief justice pressure the greedy judicial managers, or master of documents or whichever idiot is holding up closure of the CLICO matter…..to do their jobs.
LOVELY.
The unions will have to pull their pockets to pay.
NO WORK, NO PAY from their employer.
That’s just great.
The Union leaders were very clear yesterday, they will ask members to strike WITHOUT pay if necessary.
Carson….when is the funeral.
The Unions should shut down the country untill a date for elections is called….reduction by 5% is a non point as the entire budget serves no purpose as it cannot take us out our financial mess.
……and here is the tip of the iceberg.
Inniss: Delay in foreign exchange levy will hurt revenue target
Minister of International Business, Small Business Development, Industry and Commerce Donville Inniss agrees with local economist Jeremy Stephen…
barbadostoday.bb
https://www.barbadostoday.bb/2017/07/12/inniss-delay-in-foreign-exchange-levy-will-hurt-revenue-target/
fortyacresandamule July 11, 2017 at 8:39 PM #….. at 8:55 PM #
Africa has 53 states with immense resources, and not one can hold a candle to our economic and social achievement.
It’s no secret we are tourism dependent economy and have a narrow economic base like the rest of the countries in the caribbean space.
………………………………………………………………………………
Your above comments says it all as to why we are where we are now
……your selective belief in comparing us to others,especially the non achievers.
……I wonder why Singapore was left out of the comparison chart as they were in a worst position to us under colonial times.
……economic and social development built on quicksand can easily disappear as it is doing now.
…..then your fatalist approach we are a tourism dependent country forgeting that we are using outdated methodology….why???
……Many niche areas exist in the world for us to have started a solid foundation in our country for sustainable development.
Presently.
…….we have refused to embrace solar technology,computer technology,herbal science,sustainable agriculture,community tourism,etc,etc.
…….restructure our system of operation(i.e. governance,judicial,education,sport,etc,etc)
We sat back for 50 years on our inheritance of sugar and our good name in manufacturing and tourism…..so that today you can cry about tourism dependance…..not realising that the same manufacturing and sugar can assist with niche products.
Carson….is that Stephen ” ten dollar” Lashley’s brand new luxury vehicle?
… only bajans with short memories would forget just months ago he was illegally begging bajans for $10.00 each to build the stadium yall neglected for a decade…
……although yall picked up hundreds of millions of taxpayers and pensioners money to give away to Maloney, Coe, Bizzy, Bjerkham and a gang of parasites, instead of building a stadium.
Between that and yall refusing to lock up Leroy Parris for fraudulently selling senior citizens illegal policies…and not doing something about the fraudulent criminal from CGI….
…….there is not a chance in hell your government will be reelected.., ever again.
Added to that the arrogant, ignorant Dumbville Inniss comment of the only thing marching could achieve is weight loss….yall are doing just fine,
Adios vida baja
Auf Wiedersehen niedriges Leben
Au revoir faible vie
Mary Redman is on crutches and idiot Vincent Haynes calls for a shut down of the country. Vincent throws hissy fits daily on BU for his goal of imploding the country. Mary Redman should heed warning signs. The man BU loves to hate David Thompson experienced a similar injury at a similar gathering. Human beings receive warnings from time to time. A word to the wise.
Wont is be in the interest of the country for unions to temper their confrontation approach. Sit with government work through difficult problems we face instead of demonstrations as first option. Citizens don’t support the violent behavior of the unions. Donville Poonka Inniss mouthings are his alone. Private sector head boy Eddie Abed on record against strikes which drive nails in the economic coffin. Enough said.
“Head Boy”
Why are drug lords still allowed so much say on the island.
@ fortyacresandamule July 11, 2017 at 5:56 PM
“@Hal. It is totally untrue to say Barbados is an economic failure. We may not have the envious growth record of some asian economies, but, relatively speaking, our human development index is comparble to some developed economies. On a more broader perspective, Barbados and Bahamas are two high- income economies with a high human development record , achieved on the back of no natural resources. No other ‘b{l}ack’- ruled countries can make such claim.”
What an assertive claim of excessive jingoism!
Even more altruistic in intent than your moniker indicates as a promise to slavish black fools in the southern (Dis)united States to keep them from engendering any thought of violent rebellion.
If you are so sure about your hyperbolic assertion name one, just one, of the so-called developed economies against which Barbados can be compared today on the UN Human Development Index; unless you are going to classify Trinidad & Tobago and Antigua & Barbuda or even Uruguay as “developed” countries.
Barbados’s chances of ever achieving such a lofty ranking on the UN HDI evaporated since the mid 1990’s when Barbados was ranked at No.20 or at No.1 in the “developing” world.
During those halcyon years Barbados held the enviable position just behind Israel at No.19 which today stands ‘still’ in the same spot compared to the sliding Barbados at No.54 as it becomes more and more a banana republic.
If Barbados were that comparably ‘developed’ would there be such unacceptably high level of indiscipline and incompetence in executing routine public works or to create the necessity for its social elite to travel overseas to undergo straightforward surgical procedures as witnessed in the case of the recently deceased DP to use evermore scarce foreign exchange?
@ Commentator July 12, 2017 at 9:48 AM
“Wont is be in the interest of the country for unions to temper their confrontation approach. Sit with government work through difficult problems we face instead of demonstrations as first option. Citizens don’t support the violent behavior of the unions.”
Waiting, it seems as if the unions have not learned from their past actions.
Are these the same unions which ‘trotted’ up and down Bay Street under the futile guidance of the grand Ole Duke of York the ‘Trot’ man?
Since Lord Fumble is even more unpopular than Sandie was then, why not repeat the scenario and tell the unions and their BLP cheerleaders to either “like it or lump it”.
In other words, the commentator, with multiple monikers tell the people to either ‘tek wunna fiscally get’ from Stinkliar or face the dreaded externally inflicted disease called “Devaluation”.
Only really shallow people wont ever elucidate in their minds that the term
developing countrydesignated to small islands is designed to stay that way in perpetuity….never becoming developed for centuries going forward.how else would the parasitic larger countries retain their wealth besides keeping
developing countriesforever developing in debt.Miller…it`s the backward politicians and government ministers own fault that the island is not more medically advanced in technology, they keep churning out doctors but remain stagnant re medical tech..
they should have had at least one or 2 specialized urologists trained in that new prostate procedure with the robotic equipment available at QEH, as a second or 3rd option after radioactive pellets option…as soon as men hit their 40s, they are at risk for prostate cancer.
even in the field of tech…unknown to the government, some of their scholars who studied that discipline outside, it generates hundreds of thouands of foreign exchange dollars for the island….from 2010…at least 10 or 15 scholars should have been sent to study programming…the island is 20 years behind.
@Vincent. Everyone loves to talk about Singapore. Yes! Singapore should be our reference point and aspiration, but Singapore is an outlier in the history of economic success. If their methodology and model was that easy, we would have had many Singapores by now.
Economic development and success is a constant work-in-progress and can take decades upon decades for the average country to achieve. Dealing with many human beings and hundreds of moving parts is no easy feat. It makes going to interstellar space a cake walk.
Most Latin American countries have been independent for over or close to two hundred years, and none have achieved first world status as yet. I get it, everybody wants success and the best for their country, but for some of us our expectations are too much grounded in fantasy and not reality.
….from 2010…at least 10 or 15 scholars should have been sent to study programming ANNUALLY, they would have cleared millions in foreign exchange in the last 7 years and since programming covers such a wide array of disciplines, they would have been unstoppable for decades.
but when ya small minded ya small minded like Jackass Jones……hence the island is 20 years behind.
Forty
We are looking through the same lenses…..the difference lies in your acceptance of the status quo and my frustration over the missed opportunities we have had over the decades,especially in the area of agriculture that I have been involved in for 50 odd years.
An opportunity waiting………
https://www.facebook.com/NaturalCuresNotMedicine/videos/1766773733462330/
A simple one……
https://www.facebook.com/futurism/videos/655602467952289/
@Miller. The literate on the history of economic development and success reads more like a crap shoot venture than anything else. Some of you guys are too unreasonable hard on Bim in the broader scheme of things.
Most small high-income countries and territories all over the world that lack a natural resource base , resort, basically to three things: Tourism, real estate, and financial services. Barbados is no exception. Even those well developed tiny states in Europe over 50% of their gdp is built on the above mention services. For years, prophets of doom, naysayers, political opposition, and crtitics alike have predicted the demise of Barbados to no avail.
I agree our economy is built on shaky foundation, but then again, seriously speaking, which economy in the world isn’t built on some questionable base. The financial crisis of 2008 exposed those who were “swimming naked”. Even the great USA is getting a free-ride because of the exorbitant privilege of the green back status as reserve currency .
@Fortyacresandamule
Why mention the USA with its diverse economy to rebound, too besides, it is a market maker.
@Well Well & Consequences Observing Blogger July 12, 2017 at 9:40 AM “refusing to lock up Leroy Parris for fraudulently selling senior citizens illegal policies…”
You seem to have forgotten that Leroy Parris is not a leper, that he is Prime Minister Freundel Stuart’s friend.
@Well Well @ Consequences Observing Blogger July 12, 2017 at 11:59 AM “they should have had at least one or 2 specialized urologists trained in that new prostate procedure.”
In another section of the media I commented a few months ago that “is it not strange that Barbados has 2 urologists, 17 obstetrics/gynaecologists, (page 182 and 183 of the 2016-17 Yellow Pages) and 14 veterinarians (page 41 of the 2016-17 Yellow Page) and asked why we have more doctors to look after our dogs, than to look after our “doggies?”
I was promptly slapped down and asked “why do I have to bring everything down to sex.” As though sex is somehow a bad thing, or an unimportant thing. Please note that I was not talking about sex, but about a deficiency of health care and health care planning for our men.
So I shut up. After all I have no dog nor doggie in the game. I have no father, brother, husband, brother, uncle or son. So why should I care?
But now that our DPP has died, maybe those brighter and more “decent” than I am will ensure that his death will not be in vain. Because he is not the only high level official with prostate cancer, who does not have readily available, that is in Barbados urological care, and our poor men don’t have such care either.
I understand that some of our specialists may not be listed in the yellow pages, but in what sort of alternate world do we fool ourselves into believing that fewer that 6 urologists, maybe fewer than 3, are an adequate number to look after a community of more than 100,000 men with a seeming genetic disposition to prostate cancer.
In addition have we asked ourselves if the Arch Cot tragedy has anything to do with the DPP’s death?
I have nothing more to say.
Our DPP could afford to fly to Florida, and no doubt so can our 1% and our political class, but what about the other men, the men who grow our food, who do our fishing, who build our houses, sell us our gas, pick up our trash, keep us safe while we sleep at night. What about them. They are men too.
Right?
DAVID
“they will ask members to strike WITHOUT pay if necessary.”
So am I to take it that the Trade Unions strike funds are still all empty?
What have they done with the strike funds, bought too many BMW’s . Mercedes Benzes, paid too many high price Barbados Labour Party Lawyers?
An investigation should be launched into the manner in which the Trade Union movement spends workers contributions. Workers would be alarmed at how their contributions are wasted on lavish spending and life styles by the Trade Unions top brass.
DAVID
“they will ask members to strike WITHOUT pay if necessary.”
When the workers strike without pay, The Trade Union top brass will still be collecting their five figure salaries plus benefits.
The only sacrifice to be made will be those who can ill afford to make sacrifice if the mouthings of the Trade unions are to be believed. They are up and down saying that the workers are poor and in bad state yet that is who they are calling on to strike without pay.
Some of the large sums of money these Trade Unions are paying to high price Barbados Labour Party Lawyers for nothing, should be paid to the workers, after all its their contributions which the Trade unions top brass are squandering.
Wunna BLP brown nosers really take Bajans for johnnies.
Miller
Forty….is into finding and making excuses……as I have said he is comfortable with the staus quo.
Wuh shiite dah the Head of the Civil Service write in dah Memo? lmao
`in another section of the media I commented a few months ago that “is it not strange that Barbados has 2 urologists, 17 obstetrics/gynaecologists, (page 182 and 183 of the 2016-17 Yellow Pages) and 14 veterinarians (page 41 of the 2016-17 Yellow Page) and asked why we have more doctors to look after our dogs, than to look after our “doggies?”
I was promptly slapped down and asked “why do I have to bring everything down to sex.” As though sex is somehow a bad thing, or an unimportant thing. Please note that I was not talking about sex, but about a deficiency of health care and health care planning for our men.
So I shut up. After all I have no dog nor doggie in the game. I have no father, brother, husband, brother, uncle or son. So why should I care?`
lol….say more, say more Simple.
it is a crying shame that men control the field of medicine on the island and they seem to care so little for each others prostates, they only display penis sympathy for certain things sex related but none for the deadly prostate cancer.
…there should be as many urologists on the island as there are vets…as you said, i have no
doggiein Barbados` deadly, uncaring game, those close to me are all dual citizens.…although the deceased was said to be involved in things he should have stayed out of….the below was some of the side effects of the procedures he had.
Such risks include cardiac or pulmonary events, infections, blood clots, or injuries to structures around the prostate.he was on borrowed time for quite a while.Simple…all they would have had to do is wait him out.
..too many people play dangerous games with people`s lives, health and wellbeing in Bim, for their own selfish gains.
what the hell is wrong with these drivers on the island, why are they so careless with other people`s lives. it seems as though there is very little respect for life.
https://www.barbadostoday.bb/2017/07/12/update-road-fatality-at-westmoreland-st-james/
@ fortyacresandamule July 12, 2017 at 1:58 PM
“The literate on the history of economic development and success reads more like a crap shoot venture than anything else. Some of you guys are too unreasonable hard on Bim in the broader scheme of things.
Most small high-income countries and territories all over the world that lack a natural resource base , resort, basically to three things: Tourism, real estate, and financial services. Barbados is no exception. Even those well developed tiny states in Europe over 50% of their gdp is built on the above mention services. For years, prophets of doom, naysayers, political opposition, and crtitics alike have predicted the demise of Barbados to no avail.”
Well, then, stop comparing yourself (Bim) to others (more so-called developed countries).
As the poem Desiderata goes: ‘you might just become vain or bitter’ thereby falling into the trap of hubristically feeling yourself better than your neighbours and believing in the myth that God is a black Bajan.
Why not compare yourself to Bermuda, Cayman Islands or even Singapore and see where you stand?
If Barbados is perceived as being better than its neighbours it has nothing to do with the present crop of political leaders or captains of industry.
Barbados has always been ahead of the social development pack going way back into colonial days when many Barbadians were so well educated and trained to the extent they were posted to the other islands and afar to be the conveyors of education and to occupy middle and senior management positions in the various public services.
Today where does Barbados find itself? No longer punching above its weight but almost at the bottom of the pile of failing black states in the financial back-yard of junk bonds thanks to a bunch of corrupt hand-to-mouth book-learnt black johnnies posing as politicians.
“If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.”
This was posted on my feed:
“WHEN YOU VOTE FOR THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS, YOU HAVE STILL VOTED FOR EVIL
Is the BLP actually campaigning on a promise to take Barbados to the IMF? And we are supposed to vote to go to the IMF? It is like they are twisting reality to say girls are boys, up is down, and Chuckie is our friend!
What fresh hell is this?
If elected, will the BLP reverse the taxes and levies that have been imposed and give the civil servants a raise or nah? I ain bout the rhetoric. Answer my direct questions with unequivocal answers.
Tell me what yuh offering.”
R. Gilkes
@ Carson C. Cadogan July 12, 2017 at 5:36 PM
“If elected, will the BLP reverse the taxes and levies that have been imposed and give the civil servants a raise or nah? I ain bout the rhetoric. Answer my direct questions with unequivocal answers.”
Carrion, here is a vacillating answer you can provide to the idiot boy Gilkes who seems blissfully unaware you guys have passed this way before:
The BLP will do the same thing it did in returning the 8% cut to the public sector workers and what the current DLP did by retroactively reinstating their 10% sacrifice in salary because you ought to know the economy just as in 1991is and will continue into 2018 firing on all cylinders but instead of batting likes Sobers it will be batting like Deandra Dottin.
Here is a blast from the DLP past: Job Nos.1, 2 & 3 are “Cost of Living, Cost of Living, Cost of Living”.
Don’t you think that on basis alone the DLP ought to be fired without any severance payment whatsoever?
Mene, mene tekel upharsin! A clear case of what goes around also comes around.
Well Well @ Consequences Observing Blogger July 12, 2017 at 5:21 PM
I take it that there are no road fatalities in Canada?
Carson…this is what your government needs.
http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/98623/-brazil-president-lula-sentenced-nearly-corruption
`BRASILIA – Former Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a top contender to win next year’s presidential election, was convicted on corruption charges on Wednesday and sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison.
The ruling marked a stunning fall for Lula, who will remain free on appeal, and a serious blow to his chances of a political comeback`
A senior citizens disembarks from a bus in a little layby on a narrow stretch of road with no safety signs or reduced speed limits, two speed demons in trucks wider than the road manage to collide and kill this lady….and you are trying to draw a comparison to Canada….where……her family would be compensated in a timely manner for their loss and the speed demons severely punished for her death.
you see why we wonder about you intelligence level Carson, your fellow idiot in Canada Alvin would have made the same dumb analysis, is it a yardfowl thing.
Well Well
So this does not matter then?
“Canada Road Traffic Crash Car Accidents. There are about 160,000 road accidents in Canada every year. According to the Transportation Safety Board approximately 2800 to 2900 people are killed on Canadian roads each year.”
Well Well
When are you, and the other old age pensioners on Barbados Underground, going to stop trying to portray Barbados as the worse place on Earth?
Well Well
What Are The Causes Of Most Accidents In Canada
(1) Racing and Reckless Driving
(2) Running at Red Lights
(3) Tailgating
(4) Ignoring traffic rules
(5) Driving In the Wrong Direction
Why is it that idiots like you take every single opportunity to try to pull down Barbados , when where you live is hardly any different?
Carson…whenever you go on one of your Tourette’ s like tirade, it shows your ignorance of what is going on and what is wrong in your tiny island, this is the reason I posted on that female’s death by speed demons…..it appears to be the 4th death in the same spot, which should be rectified but being neglected by the minister of transport who is being being paid a salary by taxpayers, but never seem to be doing his job for the taxpayers, but always happy to be available for his corrupt, criminal master.
https://www.barbadostoday.bb/2017/07/12/deadly-junction/
“Deadly junction
residents react to island’s 16th road fatality
Added by Davandra Babb on July 12, 2017.
Saved under Local News
0
The death today of a former Ellerslie Secondary School janitor at a junction in Westmoreland, St James has prompted calls for a roundabout in the area in an attempt to put a stop to the frequent vehicular accidents there.
Sixty-one-year-old Mary Downes was struck and killed at the junction moments after disembarking a bus, having earlier visited her doctor for therapy.
Residents told Barbados TODAY the junction has been the scene of many accidents in recent times, at least three of them fatal.
In early March 48-year-old Anderson Dacosta Joseph of Westmoreland was struck and killed in the area by a vehicle driven by 19-year-old Nicholii Greene of Carlton, St James as he was crossing the road with his five-year-old son, who was also injured in the accident and had to be hospitalized.
Like Downes, Joseph was a stone’s throw away from home when he died.
The two vehicles which were involved in the deadly collision that claimed the life of 61-year-old Mary Downes.
“I don’t like these accidents here so all the time. They’re happening way too often. This is the third in a short space of time,” said Jeffrey Smith.
“The only thing that could be done is a roundabout being put there,” advised another resident, Marston Broomes, in echoing Smith’s sentiments.
Member of Parliament for St Thomas Cynthia Forde joined the chorus of calls for action to “mitigate the loss of life and the tremendous injury”.
Carson Cadogan….this lady’s death is on you.
http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/98668/tragic-twist-fate
A tragic twist of fate
CARLOS ATWELL, carlosatwell@nationnews.com
Added 14 July 2017
0 1 0 0Google +1Print
mary-downes
Mary Downes pointing out, back in March, how fast some motorists sped along Westmoreland. She lost her life on Wednesday following an accident. (Picture by Nigel Browne)
A VOCAL advocate of safe driving along Westmoreland, St James, has been tragically silenced.
Mary Downes (below), 61, was killed on the spot following a collision between two large trucks along the same Westmoreland. She was actually standing at the side of the road at the time as she had not long disembarked from a bus. mary-downes-face
The impact of the vehicles caused one of them to careen off to the side, killing Downes.
In March, the WEEKEND NATION had taken another look at the problem area, which has recorded a number of deaths and near-misses over a long period. (CA)
https://www.barbadostoday.bb/2017/07/15/dont-go-there-johnny-warns-ex-prime-minister/
And the BLP charlatans on this BU platform really believe rational thinking Barbadians will take them seriously ……… BLP united me arse ????
Wait till the bell ring ……the BLP calling for elections ????
Canuoan!!!!!!!!!
Has anyone seen the recent NY Times magazine article asking the question: Is China the new colonial power?
Over to you prime minister Stuart.