Grenville Phillips II, Leader of Solutions Barbados
Last week, we described how our secondary school students could graduate with some measure of independence. This can be achieved by keeping our students interested in learning by teaching them the practical aspects of subjects during the first three years, and then training them to start and grow successful businesses using this practical knowledge.
Our students can be taught the more theoretical information during years 4 and 5 in preparation for their CXC examinations. However, what will we do for those who have already graduated with no marketable skills?
Solutions Barbados’ plan is to train all persons, including recent graduates, to start and grow profitable businesses, with no or very little start-up funds.
The training workshop takes five (5) weeks and it will be transmitted on CBC television and on the Internet, where it can also be accessed with a smart phone. At the end of the 5-week workshop, all participants should have started a viable business.
Once persons have a sustainable business and wish to expand, a Solutions Barbados administration will provide micro-loans from a new national bank, which will be managed at all post offices. Such loans will not be available to start a business, only to grow a profitable business.
It is common for our youth to leave secondary school in search of entry-level jobs. Such jobs include washing dishes, mixing concrete, carrying construction materials around a site, and security guard duties. Nothing is wrong with these types of jobs. However, our youth must see them as means to an end and not their end.
There is a measurable difference in the attitude of a person who washes dishes to fund his business, and the person who washes dishes for a living. The one who sees an entry-level job as a temporary stepping-stone may work hard to complete his tasks. The one who has resigned himself to the realization that the entry-level job is permanent, may pace himself for a life-sentence of boredom.
Barbados needs all persons to participate in our economy at their highest potential. Therefore, all persons in entry-level jobs should have a plan for advancing in the company or starting their own businesses. The 5-week workshop is designed to also train those in entry-level jobs to grow out of them.
Despite all the training, our youth can still be frustrated when they try to access government services that are critical to their advancement. That is why all government departments are to be managed to the highest international customer-focused standard, ISO 9001.
Our youth can also be held back because they do not know a political operative or are not in favour with the political party n Government. Our youth should not have to prostitute themselves just to access services to which they are entitled. In a Solutions Barbados administration, any public worker who delays, denies or approves an application for politically partisan reasons, or attempts to solicit a bribe or sexual favours for government services, will be fired and lose their pension.
Our youth will eventually replace us. Therefore, they must understand our foundations, appreciate our struggles, acknowledge the threats to our country, accept their responsibilities, and embrace the discipline that is required to lead others.
In preparation for their leadership roles, they must accept the challenge to find honest income-generating work, responsibly grow out of entry-level jobs, ethically start and grow their business, and responsibly advocate for improvements that benefit all of us in Barbadians. Our students and recent graduates will enjoy developing in a Solutions Barbados administration, and we, their parents, will be relieved when they do.
We are saddened that this here writer was not trained as a development economist.
Had he been there would be some insightful ideas about the subject he tries to approach, only on the margins of course.
At least a development model that makes sense could have been ventured.
Fundamentally, the basic problem in Barbados is one of the distribution of wealth. And yes there is a fairly good case to be made that more wealth has to be created. Not that we agree, but there is a fairly persuasive argument that is made.
The basic problem in Barbados is not about training. We’ve had all kinds of training for 50 years and the underlying capital formation structures have budged little.
Instead of all this lotta training we would much prefer to see an old woman, who maybe so-called ‘illiterate’, like in St. Vincent, selling from a tray in the town centre, but is also the generational owner of hundreds of acres of land. This is standard within the whole population of my Vincee land.
People who are born on such land and die on it. It is a relationship with lands unknown to Black Bajans, generally. Poor Baje, never not land on ’emancipation’.
A good case could also be made that wealth has been consolidated into fewer and fewer hands and at a galloping pace as well.
But stinking Grenville Phillips, either one, would have no such interest in reversing that trend.
The underlying problem with capital formation in Barbados, especially amongst the youth, is lack of land ownership. Not stinking house spots. Large acreages!
So if SB has any bottle it would be calling for a radical redistribution of land. Anything less is bare shiite talk aimed at getting igrunt people to vote in a certain way, as misguided as that would be,
It would have a foreign policy (SB) that would seek to leverage the underutilized lands of Guyana, for example, to aid the development of Barbados.
If the leader of SB had any sense he would seek to, again we use this word, leverage the resources of Bajans all over the world to economically enrich hordes of young people, using their relatively better access to substantial resources.
Young people may have the technical training and so on but lack any skin in the capitalist game. Training means nothing unless one possesses the resources to make that training flesh.
Of course, a sensible SB would have to posit a radical agrarian policy as well.
But we digress. Now we reenter the real world of SB and to our disappointment they are nothing more than a Haynesesque, neoliberal, cowardice pressure group too afraid to deal with root causation.
No amount of tinkering could ameliorate conditions in Barbados.
This attempt to bend the minds of the youth will not shield SB from an humiliating defeat, one day coming soon.
Five weeks of training is inadequate to get the desired outcones that Mr. Phillips is proposing. As the previous person commented, the resourses needed for successful micro businesses are not readily or easily available or accessible. Will this training include how to write a business plan, marketing, distribution, bookeeping/accounting, etc? Where does the current small business/economic development agency fit in Mr. Phillips solutions?
Five weeks of training is inadequate to get the desired outcones that Mr. Phillips is proposing. As the previous person commented, the resourses needed for successful micro businesses are not readily or easily available or accessible. Will this training include how to write a business plan, marketing, distribution, bookeeping/accounting, etc? Where does the current small business/economic development agency fit in Mr. Phillips solutions?
Pacha…I called for government to distribute land to the majority population some months ago, each family who cares to gets a plot,pp to build a dwelling, grow their own food, like is done in Suriname, kill two birds with one stone….the land is sitting there year after year just growing bush, government is a failure in everything and are clueless how to proceed…you should hear the couple idiots on here trying to stroke out themselves at that suggestion. .
They ALL prefer to see the land grow bush, people remain homeless and hungry while they wait for crooks to give them bribes, rob the treasury, pension fund and policyholders to build concrete structures..or…wait for foreign criminals to bring their ill gotten gains to the island, sell out the land to them overpriced or cheaply.., depending on their cut..
… that is what you are dealing with..,,they are going nowhere generationally and they are going there real fast…and taking the whole population with them…..Bajans cant catch a break.
When they finally learn that land in the hands of the majority population is tangible assets and SHOULD NOT be allocated to only a few, then the island will start to progress.
Your points well taken requires hard work and tenacity. When you sell (land) or give away all you have (human resources) you will have to buy all you need (food, etc.).
No comment!! #onedaycomingsoon
When Bajans realize that they are tenacious and hardworking and have their enslaved ancestors to thank for passing on those genes all the way from Africa….when they stop listening to weakminded, negropean brainwashed government ministers and politicians who enable nonactivity especially in agriculture and promote dependence and laziness particularly in tourism instead, continuing generational dependence, particularly on countries who only look out for their own self interests….and not the island (s).
When Bajans realize they have the power in their hands to apply extreme pressure on any government to reverse the last 50 years of self destruction of the majority population by dismantling the centuries old status quo with extreme prejudice. ..only then will there be progress for the majority population.
Only thing you will hear from any of these dumbed down politicians cum ministers is the old tourism song which = DEPENDENCE.
Not one of them are mentally outfitted with adequate amounts of brain power or have the requisite skills to diversify and juggle intelligently. …they are all echoing puppets.
have a potlatch we have them ib canada and when you have given all your stuff away you can just go to the govt and they will give you new stuff
in canada
Sounds just like what the ministers do, give away every shit to everyone except the majority population who pay their salaries, but….now there is nothing left to give away and everyone wants the government gone…
Ya lucky Canada dont have that problem, only their homegrown crooks who extend and expand their criminality to Barbados and further afield they gotta worry about.
@Grenville
You have to STOP FLOUTING ISO9001 as a cure all. 9001 can only be applied to an already operating successful business to fine tune the operation. Your continually pushing ISO 9001 as a solution puts you as part of the problem rather than part of the solution. High tech standards are for highly developed business in 1st world countries and do not apply to under developed THIRD world business and countries.
“It is common for our youth to leave secondary school in search of entry-level jobs. Such jobs include washing dishes, mixing concrete, carrying construction materials around a site, and security guard duties. Nothing is wrong with these types of jobs. However, our youth must see them as means to an end and not their end.”
Which youth are you referring to here? You must be referring to those from the ghettoes and the depressed villages but certainly not from the Heights and Terraces.
Don’t these ‘kids’ from the Heights and Terraces look down on these same “entry-level jobs” because their parents have already mapped out a career path for them into the high-paying jobs like medicine, law, accounting and the more than lucrative field of engineering especially Structural Engineering.
Not a peek from you about agriculture, the bedrock of any prosperous economy or stable healthy society.
When people are alienated from the land they become insensitive or inured to the need to respect Mother Nature and the feelings and rights of both animals and other humans.
Just look around you and you would see the social and environmental carnage resulting from this growing alienation among the same youth finding solace in gangs and violence and not in family.
Only two courses are needed post school age to install a successful business ethos: discipline and decorum. I agree wholeheartedly with Owen Arthur that Barbados could use a youth service conscription if only for a year
Jean: 5 weeks is adequate – I have been doing it since 2015.
Wily: You are entirely mistaken. ISO 9001 works best on badly managed companies and least on well managed companies.
Miller: We did not single out a specific business because all businesses are relevant, including agriculture based.
Grenville,
What is Solutions Barbados’ position on Barbados being a vassal of China? What about 50 per cent of parliament being female? What about the vote at age 16?
Mr. Phillips
ISO 9001 is not the solution. Artificial Intelligence will soon be part of everyday life and many of the services you want managed according to ISO 9001 will be managed by an algorithm. There will be no need for ISO 9001 on a robot.
The reason our youth are frustrated is because many of the labour jobs that once existed are gone either from automation or outsourcing. Why learn to be a joiner when the market wants cheap imported furniture. Why learn dress making when the market is saturated with cheap clothes from China. Please tell me what kind of business are they gong to start that isn’t already being undercut by cheap imports.
What new skills are they going to attain in five weeks that will allow them to be competitive in a digital world. Are you going to teach them how to monetize data, write code in Python or R or you just intend to give motivational speeches
Our youth need to be prepared for a digital age, Edutech has failed at this. They can all use Instagram and Snapchat but ask them simple tasks like format a document in Word or plot a graph in Excel and they are lost. And this is the easy stuff.
You sir are stuck in the 90’s just like our education system. Your ideas are antiquated and lack depth. ISO is not the solution and neither is your party
@ Redguard February 16, 2018 at 3:08 PM
What an excellent contribution infused with the only ISO 9001 required to put paid to SB’s pie-in-the-sky brave new world without automatons!
Simply COMMONSENSE, indeed!
You have my admirable respect, Sir or Madam!
Poor G P, how blissfully unaware of the future of his beloved sacred cow when his dinosaur profession based on ISO 9001 would be ‘manned’ by robots with him nothing but a standby dummy.
Well said Redguard,
It is unbelievable that Grenville Phillips (GP) seriously believes ISO9001 can be a viable solution (our culture in the civil service would chew this up and spit it back out) to get Barbados on track.
SB cannot be taken seriously by any stretch of the imagination if this is their plan. GP is also dreaming if he thinks a 5 week course can erase 15 years of upbringing in a mind-numbing educational and socio-economic reality that is Barbados today, What can we possibly learn in 5 weeks that would be competitive against countries that are investing billions in their citizenry.
Come on man Barbados needs serious, credible candidates not pretenders or nostalgic lovers of classics like Freundel.
Sadly, I am also not excited with the BLP bench. Just not seeing or hearing visionary policy.
And you know what Grenville, rather than only criticize let me give you my 2 cents on an idea that I am confident would work and can be a pathway for SOME of our youth and also bolster our Tourism product.
I have long suggested that Barbados CANNOT compete in the hard skills arena like engineering, manufacturing, science and technology as other countries have to much history, investment and a head start in these areas. The only systematic way a small country can compete is on the basis of individual talent and creativity found in the ARTS. Technological paths require deep knowledge of science, engineering and other disciplines but the ARTS do not. This is why Rihanna can become a global phenom in 5 years, DJ Puffy can be an overnight sensation in 1 year, Wesu Wallace can make it on the Voice UK. ARTS are subjective and can always be consumed by the 7 billion people on the planet no matter where it originates. This is why Barbados should implement a FUNNEL that does the following (1) Regularly identifies artistic talent (2) Expose the talent for further development and international discovery (3) Provide a tax and investment climate that would naturally encourage the successful artist to invest in Barbados rather than abroad to continue building our resources. Let me give you a detail example of what I mean
(1) Regularly identify artistic talent – Invest in Richard Stoute Teen Talent and run 2x per year to identify top singers in every age group. Also support other talent search competitions in the area of Dance, DeeJaying, Visual Arts, Cooking, Bartending etc. Let the 1st, second and 3rd place finishers in these competitions get substantial money. This would attract interest and people would motivate, train and develop themselves with the numerous online sources available etc to win the lucrative prize money. This also develops and refines the talent. (Works for American Idol and The Voice doesn’t it?). Co-incidentally the production of these competitions will lead to job opportunities from makeup artist, to song writers, arrangers, stage production personnel etc. You are starting to build an industry and also training these professionals via regular exposure to producing high quality productions. There is also the possibility of filming these productions for TV distribution elsewhere and/or paid online viewership to involve the diaspora.
(2) Expose the talent for further development and international discovery – I have also suggested that we should never have tourist visiting our island without seeing the talent we have to offer. There should be a DAILY street parade at a large location, like Kensington oval that sids idle most days (Think Disney world magic kingdom daily parade in the world of Disney – but adapted to Barbados’s culture) where the best of our talent can display, singing, dancing, culinary skills, acting, story telling, DeeJaying, film making. it is a destination where both land based and cruise ship passengers can visit daily to be immersed in the best that BARBADOS has to offer on many artistic fronts. Of course tourist would pay to see the many aspects of our culture, it is unique and what makes our destination different. Which other Caribbean destination does this? Can you imagine the advertising this will bring when tourist take pictures and Facebook Live or Instagram Live videos of this cultural hotspot if we also offer FREE Wi-Fi at this venue? And if you are worried about competition, you can even expand the offering to not only be a showcase of Barbados’s talent, but a showcase of CARIBBEAN talent as well by have guest performances and contributions from other talented caribbean individuals but hosted right here. Jobs, steady employment and income for our talented artist and also supporting professionals and a direct link to boosting our tourism product. We have to think about how we can monetize our talent ourselves. The models work around the world we only have to adapt it to Barbados’s talent base on offerings. This will eventually create exposure for many talented artiste that will lead to some aspect of international recognition and demand, which is how we will amplify monetizing our talent.
(3) Provide a tax and investment climate that would naturally encourage the successful artist to invest in Barbados rather than abroad to continue building our resources. Let me give you a detail example of what I mean – Self explanatory.
I would leave it there for now GB but I challenge you to tell me why this somewhat simple FUNNEL would not unleash our young talent, create employment, support tourism, give some young people hope for the future and provide some additional FX.
More workable ideas to offer……feel free to run with this one…..I only want to see my country shine!
Gone for now
@Redguard
@Bajeabroad
I salute you both. Excellent contributions.
Can anybody list three progressive measures/initiatives government or NGOs have implemented in the last 3-6 months to respond to what is an obvious increase in misbehaviour and deviance among our school children? Will we wait until the children take to school guns to resolve conflict? There is a view it cant happen in Barbados.
@ the Honourable Blogmaster.
Barring the ongoing, though seemingly invisible, rather, unsung interventions by the Maria Holder Foundation and entities like pine lands CREATIVE WORKSHOP one is afraid that there aren’t any.
What is a photon Blogmaster? And can photons interact?
Unless this was your area of expertise I’m afraid that, while you might be able to answer the first question, based on relying on outdated information, your answer to 5he second one would be wrong.
Such is the dilemma of both of the aforementioned actors you referred to.
They have become anachronisms, stuck in time tunnels or have gone to the Darkside, like Oxfam is now experiencing, or like our own Caribbean Export, they have forgotten their first love and have morphed into a culture of graft and moral turpitude “right before one’s very eyes”
and incredibly NOT A MAN JACK HAS THE BALLS TO TELL THEM they are now part of the very problem they were designed to thwart
@PUDRYR
Please explain why the same anachronistic lot sees the utility to implement mitigation measures on the South Coast Sewage Strip albeit not efficiently but are woefully ignorant they have to attempt same with our youth. One is a hard issue the other soft is the challenge?
Wunna see Redguard pon de same wavelength talking bout automation. I said before, the civil service is transaction-driven; therefore, the use of tools such as structured content management (SCM) and robotic and cognitive automation (R&CA) to simplify repetitive tasks is far more progressive than ISO. But hey GP do me something or slap up my head so i out for him 🤣🤣.
On another note, we often mention Rihanna, but forget there was also Hal Linton, Vita Chambers, Shontelle, Cover Drive, Livvi Franc, JCo, Malissa Alana and Dwane Husbands. The point is, it is not as easy and straightforward as is being suggested.
@enuff
So the challenge is to move the public service from the anachronistic to ISO9001 based on Solutions Barbados Plan. Not yet resonating with the public we have to admit.
Or
Moving from the anachronistic in the public service to SCM artificial intelligence etc.
And
Will any of it be achieved?
@ The Honourable Blogmaster I shall try to explain and beg your indulgence with me.
Do you own a car?
So do these politicians! And some of them own some extremely expensive ones
But as expensive as that vehicle might be that they own (or have leased at a ridiculously expensive fee under blatantly dishonest circumstances) THEY DO NOT KNOW HOW TO FIX THE CAR WHEN IT MALFUNCTIONS.
But here is the clincher Honourable Blogmaster.
THEY ARE TOO EMBARRASSED TO SAY THAT THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO!
Look, when you live long enough what is supposed to happen is that some scintilla of understanding dawns upon one’s ingrunt self to comprehend your strengths and weaknesses.
So if I am easily intoxicated I keep away from rum venues, if I have pederastic desires I should avoid kiddie parks things like that which as simplistic as they sound speak to an ongoing self assessment and maturity that comes with aging.
The OK Coral mentality that the Sage Annunaki remarked about that exists in our hallowed Parliament, and others of a litany of local incidents, show that this “immaturity” is rampant but, what is more frightening is the characteristic and practice of “pretending that you know”
These are they who fall into (and have a monopoly of that clause) “…he who knows not, BUT KNOWS NOT HE KNOWS NOT, he is a fool, SHUN HIM…”
De ole man did not mean to wax and wane philosophical to your question but… when you get in a car and you realise that the driver mashing the accelerator instead of the brakes, what do you do?
The wise passenger gets out the car doesn’t he?
But de ole man will ask this parting question, having ascertained that the driver of ZR 9000 is an accident in motion and getting out his mini taxi which of us can just look at the driver of ZR 9001 (no reference to that fellow with the ISO solution thing) and determine by his dress that he is a good driver?
By their works ye shall know them…
@ Enuff
You have proven my point in what you said.
Exactly! Today there is no funnel or systemic way to identify and market our talent hence the small number of truly successful artists. If you put a system in place this will change and the numbers will increase. It is not and accident that Jamaica wins so many track and field medals. They have a SYSTEM to match talent with required development and exposure.
It’s not rocket science and the models to learn from are there. The problem is our limited small minded thinking. We have nothing to lose by pursuing this path. Can’t be any worse off.
“Free yourself from mental slavery” – Bob Marley
Bajeabroad
Yes that assistance is needed….and the required oomph too.🤣🤣
David
Wuh I see ISO as anachronistic too!😂😂
RedGuard: ISO 9001 is a management system. Regardless of the level of automation, it still needs to be managed. The question is: Which management system do you want to institute. The current one, which is based on the subjective personal style of the manager, or the highest international customer-focused system that is proven (ISO 9001).
The current version of ISO 9001 is 2015, and it is quite good. Nobody uses the 1994 version, which anyone who knew anything about the ISO system would know. Those who applaud you demonstrate that the one eyed man is king over his blind friends. Since your writing suggests that you do not even have one eye on this matter, you are simply fooling the other blind that you can see.
Miller, Theophilius, Enuff: You have identified yourselves as completely blind on this issue.
Bajeabroad: You are entirely misinformed. Barbadian Engineers successfully compete with the best in the world. I have won 3 of the last 4 international projects that I have tendered, competing against the best in Europe, the US and Canada.
Large capital works projects are normally in excess of $100M with profits in the order of $25M. There is a concerted effort to get the Caribbean to abandon the Construction sector and simply give it to the Europeans in exchange for the cultural inductries. You are doing the Caribbean a disservice and a grave injustice in this regard.
We plan to pursue Construction and the Creative industries.
Piece: Wisdom – may the blind understand that post before it is too late for us.
nextparty246 February 17, 2018 at 10:56 PM #
What is Solutions Barbados position on voting at age 16? What is your position on 50 per cent of parliament being female? What is Solutions Barbados position on giving the Registry a deadline to bring cases (criminal and civil) to court?
“Miller, Theophilius, Enuff: You have identified yourselves as completely blind on this issue.”
I am completely blind 🤣🤣🤣. FYI, I don’t talk about things I imagine or read online/book. You really ought to go have a seat.
@ nextparty246 February 17, 2018 at 10:56 PM
“Bajeabroad: You are entirely misinformed. Barbadian Engineers successfully compete with the best in the world. I have won 3 of the last 4 international projects that I have tendered, competing against the best in Europe, the US and Canada.”
So how come the League made up of your local anti-MAM friends have not had the decency to invite you GP ‘to try’ your ISO 9001 hand at solving the South coast sewerage plant problems?
Most likely you are not a genuine sewage monkey but just a cyberspace peeping tom who would like to apply your ISO applied standards to ‘out’ those not meeting your moral expectations by downloading porn (a business as old as Adam & Eve) from even those countries with similar ISO standards of economic production even if the visiting and viewing of those sites producing the Satan inspired entertaining materials are registered as IBCs in Barbados and with some indirect interests held by the same person responsible for the same economically vital offshore business sector.
Now who are the ‘blind leading the blind’ hypocrites in all this ‘peeping’ business?
You the ‘all-seeing’ high priest with the eyes of Horus from the Bajan branch of the Prosperity gospel with his don of the international porn business the ‘ministerial facilitator’ or “Miller, Theophilius, Enuff” the three blind mice that can smell a big dirty rat from afar off as the South coast?
Mr Phillips
You discovered ISO in the 90’s and it was the greatest thing since slice bread for you.
The world has gone digital and is leaving you behind. Look at your party website, its designed for dial up internet.
Watching a training workshop on a smartphone is going to prepare the youth to start a business in 5 weeks, come on, do you really believe this
It would be interesting, if those who think that all the problems in education commenced in recent times, try to read”old” newspapers or other documents; maybe talk to somebody who was active in the Barbados Union of Teachers during the 70s and find out all the warnings given about then emerging negative trends in the schools/system both institutional and political. These warnings fell on deaf airs and the existing COLLECTIVE political class, for over forty years did little or nothing.
There is not one problem in our country that had its genesis last week !!!!!
@William
However not generating solutions commenced in recent times.
oops : “ears” not “airs”.
@ David
” However not generating solutions commenced in recent times.”
What do you mean ?
The truth is that all changes stretching back to the mid 70’s have been cosmetic and often sporadic, depending on the political moment, as is the case now and has always been and will no doubt continue. All these excuses to accommodate what Hal Austin calls a “failed state” , although I don’t entirely agree with him, are becoming almost obnoxious.
@David
i usually get here by typing “barbadosunderg” and clicking on the first link. It did not work this time and scrolling down the page did not hel me to get to this site. Added the name of a regular contributor and now I am here. Hope all is well on your end of things.
Grenville / SB you are grossly exaggerating the facts if you want us to believe that the average engineer in Barbados is viewed to be just as competent and experienced as the average engineer in the USA, UK, Canada and China. This is a complete BS assertion.
How many of our Barbados Engineers have experience designing cooling towers for nuclear power plants, switchgear for particle colliders, dams for 200 MW hydro electric powered stations, battery systems for electric vehicles? And I can go on sir.
Let’s be realistic here.
Bajeabroad you want us to believe that the average engineer in Barbados is viewed to be just as competent and experienced as the average engineer in the USA, UK, Canada and China. This is a complete BS assertion.
Amazing. Barbadians have little respect to their own when they want to push a political agenda. Are you trying to tell me sir that none of our engineers are qualified, trained or experienced enough to compete on the world stage? Where are you living? You obviously are unaware that during the hurricane devastation in the Caribbean last yeas\r that Mr. Phillips was one of the engineers that was sent repeatedly to assess the damage and make recommendations for better and more resilient building and housing stock.
@ John Carter February 19, 2018 at 1:23 AM
Well then the saying that “a prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home” does have some relevance to poor GP the native engineering genius.
For how else can you explain the same GP’s absence as the lead engineer or even his ‘gratis’ consultative input if only to infuse his SO 9001 approach to technical problem solving situation with the baffling South coast sewerage fiasco?
It would be most informative if you can do BU a favour and ask the same GP No.2 if he agrees with the MoH’s claim that there will be NO ‘coloured jobby’ filling up the wells to hell only ‘smelly’ effluent.
If so, can he also tell us where the ‘solid’ shit will be going if not via the spiraling underground stairway to a watery hell?
@John Carter
@Grenville
Oh I weep for my country. FALSE pride and industry. I guess you also believe in the 98% Barbados literacy BS too right?
The first step in fixing a problem is acknowledging the problem. You go on with FALSE pride and industry. Let’s see how many votes SB gets with their totally ridiculous and unrealistic plans.
Time will tell and the problems will get worse unless we acknowledge who we are and build on our strengths as opposed to false pride
John Carter February 19, 2018 at 1:23 AM #
…..Barbadians have little respect to their own when they want to push a political agenda. Are you trying to tell me sir that none of our engineers are qualified, trained or experienced enough to compete on the world stage?……(Quote)
Does this principle apply across all disciplines?
In at least one case a highly regarded educato/headmaster, a legend to many, tried his best to deter a Barbadian student, who won an exhibition, or Barbados scholarship , from going to Cave Hill.
In his mind Cave Hill was inferior to going to university in Englun !!!!
We have people aroun’ here. who believe that evating we got or produce inferior. I is put plenty licks in the jokers we got in parlament and i en care much fuh many of the leeders in the Caribbean at present but i know that all ah dem superior to the idiot in de white house dat we is spen so much time arguing about on BU !!!!!
de Caribbean produce many outstanding peeple in ALL areas , we jus’ ent know dem or read ’bout dem because we too busy being”experts’ about tings and we like to pompuhset jus’ bec ause we walk through som university door and got a diploma in “one subject” hanging pun de wall.
Guys there is a huge difference between a few examples of individual talent (I 100% agree that they are examples) and building a sustainable development model / industry. Engineering is broad and there are too many areas where we do not have the depth of experience and expertise. The Caribbean will NEVER be a beacon of engineering. Waste of focus and resources if we think this is a development model to pursue. And I am an engineering graduate myself
Good comment, one we have discussed on BU many times. Our university is not a research university because we lack the resources. We therefore have to craft a strategy approach that makes sense in our neck of the woods.
David I have no familiarity with the UWI currents focus or programs so when you say ‘lack the resources ‘ what exactly do you mean? Money? Expertise? A field in which study can be deeply done?
Money is lacked by most tertiary schools and one has to work diligently to get the grants needed so I can’t imagine that’s what you mean primarily.
Expertise is developed from years of study to develop a type of competitive advantage or nous so frankly what is stoppping the regional UWI from being an expert research center in technical studies re underwater earth quakes and other important related matters.
What stopped us from being experts on solar research and related green tech?
What stopped us from bring experts in the studying
@Dee Word
What are the key resources required by a research university?
Bajeabroad February 19, 2018 at 9:44 AM #
You are right. There is a huge difference between having the ability, intellectual competence and aptitude to compete at the highest levels and the skills to do so.
It is like having a newly qualified medical student coming top of the class with the best university, and asking him or her to undertake brain surgery the day after.
Any reasonable person will expect that person to accumulate the necessary experience and further training before being ask to undertake such a highly skilled task.
Quite often we think having a degree in a subject means we are competent. For example, a degree in financial economics does not mean one is familiar with the nuances of the discipline.
It takes on average three years to get a first degree, a further year to get a Masters and a further three years to get a PhD – a total seven years. A carpenter with seven years’ experience would not be considered the most skilled person in the repair shop; nor indeed would a pattern maker.
A civil servant with seven years experience would not be considered fir to be a permanent secretary; potential, yes, but ready for the task, not at all.
We must learn to temper people’s ambitions, in much the same way that reading a book (or Googling a topic) does not make one a lawyer or engineer.
Here is the controversial bit: if someone with little training or experience then projects him or herself as an expert, you can either tolerate it and allow him/her to get away with the claim, or be honest and tell them they are not yet at that level of expertise. We grow when we take one step at a time.
… in the study of obesity, diabetes and related?
Of course folks like the late Dr Jordan have done work in these areas and of course we did some pioneer work in solar tech so why can’t we find the resources to have key research centers?
We can never be bosses in nuclear engineering or large megawattage generation plants but indifference aside there is no practical reason that we can not carve out a niche of expertise in sciences/tech, business or whatever.
Rhetorical I presume David…But I will indulge 😁
Fellas like the Dr GP or Johns of this world (biases and all) don’t come cheap in the world of academics and business as you know….soooo, to have very intelligent, motivated people on a team for five – ten years takes much bucks for wages and excellent facilities.
That we know. So then its about having a great benefactor to finance that and of course a UWI will be hard pressed to score such a donor if a major UK or US or Euro college is willing to link their brand name school with his name….the David King Tech Center at Harvard boost your ego much more that the same at Mona, not so!😊
But jokes aside, we can have key research centers too. Resources are an issue but determination, will and strategic focus are as vitally important.
@Dee Word
The point is our universities do not have access to the resources to be best in class as research centres with the ‘mass’ to make a difference.
dpd
please kindly note that a great deal of research in Medicine has been and continues to be done at both Mona and in Bim ………and with very little money or resources
Actually David despite not having great resources to be best in class as research centres UWI HAS INDEED MADE A DIFFERENCE…….AND THE RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH HAS BENEFITED THE ISLANDS FROM AS EARLY AS THE 50’S. iN FACT SOME OF THE INFO REVEALED BY SUCH RESEARCH IS TO BE FOUND IN LEADING TEXT BOOKS OF PATHOLOGY FOR EXAMPLE.
WHEREAS THIS INFO MAY NOT BE PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE IT IS CERTAINLY REVEALED AT CONFERENCES THROUGHOUT THE REGION AND BEYOND
Ok Mr Blogmaster let’s agree to disagree on that 12:23 point.
If Dr GP was not the cantankerous wag 🤣 that he is and was he totally arrogant and business ruthless like say an Elon Musk its very reasonable to imagine that this originator of Health Care Services could have fine tuned a best in class process which he and his partners then implemented via their consultancy practice to others worldwide.
My point simply is that great research does not need mass for discovery and origination…lots of grand things were created in garages or in limited resource settings ….Graham Bell colleague Lewis Latimer bulb discoveries; or the man Elijah McCoy…real Macoy fame spring to mind
I get your thrust but I counter simply that size or money really is not a crippling deterrent to excellent research which can lead to great disscoveries…..unless of course you are working to develop something like the grand Collider and such!
In another place, Solutions Barbados came out against reducing the voting age to 16, apparently on the ground of puberty.
This biological factor (remember eugenics) means that 16 year olds would not be able to cast a reasonable vote. Remember the vote at 18 was introduced by Barrow in 1963, nearly 55 years ago.
Apart from the fact that our educational system has improved since then (or has it?), it says a lot about any party hoping to contest a general election.
In today’s Evening Standard, the following letter from Lord Lexden, the Cambridge historian and author of The Governing Passion:
“Legislation to give votes to 16-year-olds will not run in to any problems in the House of Lords. Labour and the Liberal Democrats, who have a majority in the second chamber, will speed its passage enthusiastically.
“If they had their way, the voting age would have been lowered for the EU referendum. An amendment to include 16-year-olds passed the Lords but was overturned in the House of Commons.
“It is obviously unsatisfactory to have a lower voting age for the Scottish Parliament (with the Welsh Assembly expected to follow suit) and a higher one for Westminster.
“Indeed, maybe 16 should become the new age of majority for everything – including bung cigarettes, jury service and fighting on the frontline, which currently start at 18. Can different rights at different ages be justified any longer?”
When I say Barbados is on the decline this is an example of an issue that we led the UK on and have now found ourselves in a state talking about bogus biological reasons why young people should not get the vote.
The House of Lords have some of the most celebrated biological scientists in the world, including Nobel Prize winners. Arrogance, based on a one-dimensional education, can hinder progress.
We want the vote at 16, half our parliamentary seats (Senate and House) be held by women and cancelling all criminal convictions for adolescents at age 18, giving them a clean slate.
I SAY ONCE MORE
despite not having great resources to be best in class as research centres UWI HAS INDEED MADE A DIFFERENCE…….AND THE RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH HAS BENEFITED THE ISLANDS FROM AS EARLY AS THE 50’S. iN FACT SOME OF THE INFO REVEALED BY SUCH RESEARCH IS TO BE FOUND IN LEADING TEXT BOOKS OF PATHOLOGY FOR EXAMPLE.
WHEREAS THIS INFO MAY NOT BE PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE IT IS CERTAINLY REVEALED AT CONFERENCES THROUGHOUT THE REGION AND BEYOND IN THE APPROPRIATE FORA
GP WAS A CLINICIAN AND A TEACHER NOT A RESEARCHER OR MEDICAL ENTREPENEUR
GP IS SATISFIED WITH THE LITTLE HE WAS ALLOWED TO CONTRIBUTE
THE NURSES AND DOCTORS I HAVE TAUGHT AND INSPIRED ARE DOING A GOOD JOB…..FOR THIS I AM THANKFUL AND PRAISE GOD
Hal, what exactly does the vote at 16 allow other than another cohort of people to be browbeaten with BS.
This is a continued down ward slide to metooism which you otherwise ridicule.
The doc’s point of poorly written essays is a touch point into this issue….one assumes the students he deals with are considered above average intelligence as they are aiming be doctors or otherwise employed in medical services. Yet he speaks of a lack of attention to detail, poor logical progression etc etc….. Yet you perceive that going further down the age scale to seek voters will offer some great benefit to the young voters or to society.
I don’t share your conviction. Let the youth get involved in all and sundry activities around civics, their community and local interaction and be ‘seasoned’ at 18 to cast that vote.
I see no particular upside to them voting at 16!
de pedantic Dribbler February 19, 2018 at 1:11 PM #
Then we should stop the illiterate from voting, the elderly, those suffering from dementia and the mentally ill.
Unable to precis the various expositions and reduce them to a level that I can comprehend. Consequently, I will desist from reading the numerous contributions on these matters.
Have you all ever studied the footwork of the blogmaster?
The way he dances through the numerous pitfalls and landmines as they appear on the BU space?
How he administers or withholds a spanking from an errant blogger.
Footwork that reminds one of Muhammad Ali.
The man has the patience of Job and the wisdom of Solomon.
This might be good place for this…
“Gov’t explores new system to track and boost tourist spend.”
Can someone explain to me the benefits of a new system to track tourist spend and how this ssystem will boost tourist spend. I read the article but don’t have a clue about what will or will not be done … just words
Miller: I have offered numerous times. That is all I can do.
de pedantic Dribbler February 19, 2018 at 1:11 PM #
Voting goes right to the heart of our liberal democracy. Sixteen is the school leaving age, the age when young men and women can enter the work force (and be taxed). Do you believe in taxation without representation?
Further, teenagers are the future, they should (must) have a say in how the nation is governed and the best way of doing so is not through volunteering, but through the ballot box.
If we are going to give value to the idiotic idea that they are still going through puberty and therefore are incapable of reason, a new form of eugenics, then we could also cancel the right to vote to many older people.
We must expand our democracy; if the 16 and 17 year olds at Parkland can take on Trump over the mad gunman, then they are capable of voting.
@Grenville,
I am still waiting on your response to the question in my earlier post
Bajeabroad February 16, 2018 at 8:14 PM #
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I would leave it there for now GB but I challenge you to tell me why this somewhat simple FUNNEL would not unleash our young talent, create employment, support tourism, give some young people hope for the future and provide some additional FX.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If you want my vote, please offer us real, credible solutions to the problems Barbados faces not sound bites and ill-suited programs like ISO 9000. I will remind you that I am a trained Engineer who has worked in an ISO 9001:2000 registered manufacturing company for 5 years so I know the pitfalls of that quality assurance program. One glaring problem which would explain why it would fail in the Barbados Civil Service context is that is does not address the underlying product or service being produced. It is quite possible to become ISO 9001 certified to make cement filled life-vests. Not a practical product and will fail if used but ISO does not look at the product or service function. ONLY that you have properly documented your process for making the cement filled life jackets and you have records clearly indicating that your staff is trained and is following the procedure to fill all life vest with cement as you have stipulated. So if the underlying process produces a poor product, ISO will not change this.
Awaiting a great debate on real, credible SOLUTIONS for BARBADOS….pun intended