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An Interview with Prime Minister Mottley

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51 days after being sworn in as Prime Minister of Barbados, the Honourable Mia Amor Mottley sits down with veteran journalist David Ellis for a no-holds-barred full-length interview on Barbados, July, 2018 at 6:00 p.m. The state of the economy, talks with the IMF, promises made and promises kept. They will all come under the microscope this Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m. as Prime Minister Mottley talks to David Ellis. View it live on CBC TV and Social Media and tune in to local (CBC in Barbados) radio stations. Sunday, July 15th at 6:00 p.m., Prime Minister Mottley talks with David Ellis….live from Illaro Court!

– BLP News

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437 responses to “An Interview with Prime Minister Mottley”

  1. Well Well & Cut N' Paste At Your Service Avatar
    Well Well & Cut N’ Paste At Your Service

    As long as Maloney and the Gang of Thieves is not still lusting to dip their hands in taxpayer’s and pensioners mone,y as they are accustomed to build their scam Hyatt..

    “Hyatt environmental study must be done – Mottley
    Article by
    Sandy Deane Published on
    July 16, 2018
    Prime Minister Mia Mottley says a full environmental impact study must be conducted before any construction can begin on the proposed 15-storey Hyatt Hotel on Bay Street, St Michael.

    In fact, she has already made it clear to the investors that they should proceed with the environmental impact study regardless of the outcome of the court case brought by social activist and attorney-at-law David Comissiong.

    Prime Minister Mia Mottley
    “We have said to them that as far as we are concerned you will be tied up in court for the longest time if you don’t do the studies, so you have a commercial decision to make. You could as well do the studies because you the run the risk that the court may say that the studies are necessary and that left to me I would advise you to do the studies. Get them out of the way, if they are issues that preclude it then you know up front, if they are issues that can be addressed but allow you to proceed with the investment then you know up front.”

  2. David Avatar
    David

    Regarding Persaud, not going to happen. Based on what we are hearing he has already been given a chairmanship of a leading entity.

  3. T.Inniss Avatar
    T.Inniss

    David

    And how do you feel about that going to Persaud?

  4. Well Well & Cut N' Paste At Your Service Avatar
    Well Well & Cut N’ Paste At Your Service

    “The government sacked 1,316 full-time public servants between 2005/06 and 2015/16 — 726 of them for misconduct and 590 for incompetence or incapacity.

    An additional 862 were let go before they finished their probation.”

    Mia is the one to make recommendations to the GG to have the incompetent and corrupt rats in the civil service removed…protocols for such dismissals are clearly outlined in the constitution…..hopefully she sees that it is imperative to purge the civil service if she wants her government to survive…yardfowls of no.

  5. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    David Ellis’s interview with the prime minister was not impressive, it was not even OK. It was down right deferential, the sort of interview that would be done by an impressionable junior reporter. First, it is amateurish for an interviewer to allow an interviewee to take control of an interview. Second, she cleverly used first name terms and over-familiarity to neutralise him. The tone was not for him, but for the viewer, giving the impression that Ellis was an insider, privy to inside information.
    Third, he did not do his homework in terms of the topics and the questions. If anything, it reflected the quality of Barbadian journalism.

  6. Are-we-there-yet Avatar
    Are-we-there-yet

    Mia made a passing comment to the effect that Bishop Atherly might not have been satisfied with being left as a backbencher, if I heard correctly. If that is true it provides a somewhat self serving reason on Atherley’s part for subsequent events. I still believe that Atherley is doing a good job so far as LoO. I am not convinced that the Atherley gambit did not have the blessing of the BLP hierarchy, inasmuch as it solved a constitutional problem in a fairly elegant way. However, that solution is still subject to challenge.

  7. Enuff Avatar
    Enuff

    I love how when you crush the red herrings, the operatives switch the topic. I love the lash Mottley put in Kaymar too. Wunna gine get regular heartburn over the next 5 years and after the next election.

  8. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Oh just pick up small snippets of the interview i was flabbergasted by her round about method of changing the topic on what the moderator had asked her.
    Actually i think she did an excellent job of pushing the moderator question aside by interjecting what she was specifically prepared to talk about
    The interview also reminded me of a witness who was coached before sitting on the witness stand
    It got to point where i thought that the moderator would on occasion called for “objection” or maybe a side bar Lol
    In the court of law she would be classified as a hostile witness
    Maybe Mia used what knoweldge she has as lawyer to retaliate with a purpose in mind not to allow Ellis to take control
    However if she came with the intent to control that she might have done but it did her no good as her performance was one wherby the audience got to see a questionable side of her character that does not speak entirely to truthfulness

  9. T.Inniss Avatar
    T.Inniss

    Wily Coyote

    Now that is what I am talking about.

    What has happened to Public Sector reform,I wonder?

    If Mia decided to clean up the public service and make it more efficient she will have my support 100%.It would be easier for her, because she already has the NUPW and the BWU on her side and backing her along with the other social commentators,activists and academics at Cave Hill so now is the time to do something Mia -now that you have the wind at your back.

    To avoid any cries of partisanship have the country suggest names for the various disciplinary or appeal committees,and have at least 1 person chosen by the 2 major political parties to sit along with other free thinking persons who should have to sign declaration of any affiliated organisations that the might be part of.

    We don’t want persons turning up making ‘lodge signs’ at these hearings.

  10. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Hal agree
    .

  11. Ping Pong Avatar
    Ping Pong

    David
    I note the appointment of Mr Persaud to the chairmanship of the Financial Services Commission. Does this provide good “optics” given that just a few weeks ago he was on the board of the Royal Bank of Canada’s regional group? Which “master’ will he favour, the Barbadian populace or his former employers?

  12. T.Inniss Avatar
    T.Inniss

    Exactly Mariposa Ellis allowed her to sidestep the questions on too many occasions,something she surely would not have been able to do with Kaymar Jordan.

    Seems to me that she got Kaymar and Barbados Today stuck in her craw.She sounding frighten of a journalist not wanting to drink any kool aid.

    And people talking about breath of fresh air.Big joke.

    I am still glad that Ellis at least raised some pertinent and obvious issues with her to the point that she was so thrown off that she kept talking about one-upmanship.

    For those out there who wanted to see the mettle of Mia – that little interview showed her to be over rated if you dig deep down.

    I am wondering if among this new bunch of MPs there is somewhere among them – an unpolished Gem – who is a visionary leader in the making.

  13. T.Inniss Avatar
    T.Inniss

    What are the proven successes of Avinash Persaud can anyone tell me.Or is being school friends with Mia enough for your C.V.?

  14. Well Well & Cut N' Paste At Your Service Avatar
    Well Well & Cut N’ Paste At Your Service

    Enuff…ya counting chickens…remember what happened last election, Mia has a lot of corruption to clean up, from right in her own government to the supreme court and trickling on down….and very little time in which to do it…

    The electorate wil be very unforgiving…as they should…if she does not make a radical move to get it done ASAP….there are already rumblings and it’s only been 6 weeks.

    So I wouldn’t count any chickens just yet if I were you, not that I would want to be of course…just the thought is frightening.

  15. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Ellis needs to be put on the hot seat for allowing Mia to control the interview
    SMFH when Mia change the subject matter Ellis put forward how easily Ellis was sway to follow Mia set patch.
    Well well holy cow so much for investigative journalism
    It is evident that as a journalist Ellis does not understand the “Does”snd “Donts” of investigative journalism
    One of not being smitten by a person status
    His interview gave sufficient cause to say he does not know how to. separate apples from oranges

  16. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    David Ellis showed respect for the office of ” Prime Minister “.

    The Prime Minister asked Bajans to be nice and help her do her job.

    “be nice , clear your ice ” oops ! sorry. I forget it is summer.

    The one thing that is clear is that Barbados is broke and you can expect job cuts and an increase in the cost of living.

  17. David Avatar
    David

    You didn’t watch the interview but all over this blog?

    #liar

  18. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    I read where Mia said No one would be thrown over board
    Is Mia serious on a sinking ship what does the captain do. Excess baggage gets thrown over board
    Pray tell if as Mia states the cupboard is financially empty andIMF suggest cut spending how in God’s green earth would she cut spending without throwing excess baggage over board
    This woman got to be kidding

  19. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    There is a difference between respect and deference.

  20. David Avatar
    David

    @Ping Pong

    We will have to judge him by his deeds wont we. She obviously wants an insider at the FSC, it has been holding some flack and the industry is poorly regulated based on feedback.

  21. David Avatar
    David

    @enuff

    We have to give the PM props for wanting to reach out and communicate. She needs to stop the editorializing and speak dispassionately to the policies she plans to rollout. Ellis can do better, he allowed Mia to overpower him because he wants to be the one.

  22. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    T. Inniss,

    There is a world of difference between PR about transparency and t he reality. There is an allegation that Mr Persaud also works fulltime for another Caribbean island. What are the terms of his contract with the government of Barbados?

  23. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    No i did not watch the interview yesterday .Today i caught about ten minutes of it and it was crystal clear that Mia had come with a planned agenda and focus not to allow Ellis to control the interview
    I belive Mia did her work and as a lawyer used her knoweldge of how to play the ball.

  24. Well Well & Cut N' Paste At Your Service Avatar
    Well Well & Cut N’ Paste At Your Service

    “SMFH when Mia change the subject matter Ellis put forward how easily Ellis was sway to follow Mia set patch.”

    Some people have manners and Ellis stepping back told us more about what Mia is facing when he did…

    …it is now up to her as PM to make the necessary radical changes, no matter who hates them….she answers to the people and not the idiots beneath her being paid by the people.

  25. Well Well & Cut N' Paste At Your Service Avatar
    Well Well & Cut N’ Paste At Your Service

    As someone pointed out…

    “She’s too great a presence to be dulled and lulled by a dimwitted egomaniac!”

    Or it can be also interpreted that Ellis does not want to be seen as bullying a female AND a PM for answers..

    .. though I see journalists on the island, outside of Timmy Slinger , retired, as jokers…this one took the right approah because falling on one’s sword or being hoisted on one’s own petard as PM or even as Central Bank Governor, former, is relatively easy to do these days….for the whole island to see and enjoy..

    So not much pressure necessary.

  26. Enuff Avatar
    Enuff

    David
    Or Mia is just that good. Any good interviewee controls the interview, whether a press conference or a job interview.

  27. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    A good interviewer would not have allowed Mia to set the goal post . But would have nudge her back to the planned position of the goal position
    Imagine asking her about beans and she races off in a tangent about butter beans and he says nothing to the extent which would have her to understand who is driving the bus
    Ellis was smitten with Mia status and was afraid to confront her
    Also in the back of Ellis mind might have been lost of advertising dollars and callers to the brass tacks program which is made up of all of Mia supporters(if got really hard onMia)

  28. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ T.Inniss July 16, 2018 8:42 AM
    “What are the proven successes of Avinash Persaud can anyone tell me.Or is being school friends with Mia enough for your C.V.?”

    In spite of Avinash Persuad’s formal certification in the art of bull-shittery and his competence in making a large living off his sweet-talking tongue we would have him any day as a ‘friend’ rather than Greenverbs Parris- the financial leper of an estimable gentleman- as a bosom pal to the past PM’s both dead and alive.

    Now what’s the difference between Avinash and Frank Alleyne other than one is a black Bajan born bullshitter like the other mad-hatter Dr Deliar Worrell while Avinash is a foreign-educated bullshitter from the LSE.

    What you should be concerned about is if both Greenverbs Parris and Avinash Persaud have been up-to date and ‘kosher’ with their individual tax obligations to the BRA.

    BTW, T.I., the template for idiocy, why are you not prosecuting and now persecuting Mottley -as you did prior to the last elections- for not having a Legal Education Certificate (LEC)?
    Don’t you think the LEC requirement still matters and could be the exact cause for her incompetence as PM in your jaundiced eyes coloured with the same envy as that of the “ac and hate of the multi “mari-pokies”?

  29. Well Well & Cut N' Paste At Your Service Avatar
    Well Well & Cut N’ Paste At Your Service

    Lol…

    “In spite of Avinash Persuad’s formal certification in the art of bull-shittery and his competence in making a large living off his sweet-talking tongue we would have him any day as a ‘friend’ rather than Greenverbs Parris- the financial leper of an estimable gentleman- as a bosom pal to the past PM’s both dead and alive.”

    Since Mia has had experience with Vivek… the backstabber with the many knives…., her antennas should always be in a rotating position….unless she learned nothing….

    it is my understanding that so much more is yet to play out.

  30. David Avatar
    David

    @enuff

    It depends on the purpose|objective of the interview. What wanted to achieve.

  31. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    https://www.blp.org.bb/

  32. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    The public is invited to participate by following the discussions, which will be livestreamed from 2:00 p.m. on the Government Information Service’s Facebook Page. Comments and suggestions submitted via Facebook will help to inform discussions during the plenary session of the consultations.

  33. Prodigal Son Avatar
    Prodigal Son

    I am now fully convinced that the May 24 REDWASH has caused many to go batshit crazy.

    You didn’t listen to the interview but on BU talking shiiite. David Ellis did a great job……he allowed the interview to flow….. intervened as he had to and got the information he sought.

    If l were a Dem and hell no that would never happen.,..,..l would be ashamed to comment knowing that my party destroyed a once proud Nation.

    Wunnah should be ashamed to even open the doors at George Street.

    #bitterlosers#destroyersofbarbados

  34. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ Mariposa July 16, 2018 9:05 AM
    “I belive Mia did her work and as a lawyer used her knoweldge of how to play the ball.”

    So Madam PM Mottley is now a real qualified and certified (QC) Lawyer in your ‘humble’ estimation an adoring adulation?

    We just can’t believe this volte-face of genuine hypocrisy!

    Do you have the same ‘knowledge’ of the fact that Mia Mottley has not yet presented her LEC for your personal inspection as you and your Fractured BLP friends have been demanding for the past 2 years, ad nauseam?

    So how could she be intellectually capable and competently certified to “play the ball” in the court of Ilaro?

  35. Prodigal Son Avatar
    Prodigal Son

    Just imagine that the DLP Rawle is now on brasstacks talking about prices and the NSRL.

    I didn’t hear him objecting when the Stinkliar imposed this rediculous tax on us……. now he’s complaining about prices now that the NSRL has been abolished.

    These flies won’t go away at all.

  36. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @WC
    sometimes you have to ‘read between the political lines’. The period which the charts cover was when a former administration was in power. It changed Oct 2015. Several of the comments seem to be at odds with the numbers? This is the ‘set up’ for the next article just prior to next year’s election.

  37. Well, Well Avatar
    Well, Well

    The good news is Alleyne would no longer be sitting there like a statue not regulating anything and allowing the crooked insurance companies to rip off everyone and do as they please..

    …however, it’s instructive that the Persaud appointment is being met with anger, or whatever, by credit unions and the same parasitic insurance companies..

    Ah wonder what they got against Persad..lol

    “Well-placed sources on Sunday said that Avinash Persaud, a member of Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley’s economic team, is chairing the board of directors of the key regulatory agency for non-banking financial services.

    However, the appointment has reportedly not met universal approval amongst some of the credit unions and insurance companies which the FSC regulates.
    It had been anticipated that Persaud, an economist, would have been appointed to the board of the Central Bank of Barbados.

    Persaud replaces Sir Frank Alleyne, who served as FSC chair under the previous Democratic Labour Party administration.”

  38. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Miller i said that Mia does not have a practicing certificate which is a truth
    In any case the ekectorate did not let that issue stand in her way
    Instead they drank the koolaid of promises by Mia which has turned out to be empty promises

  39. Prodigal Son Avatar
    Prodigal Son

    #bitterloser#lyingdlpgotredwashed

  40. Well, Well Avatar
    Well, Well

    Have they gotten rid of that parasite Bjerkham out of the people’s Central Bank yet…

  41. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    “I have begun to realise that she was waiting on Sinkler to do that dirty job of going to the IMF,”
    Not quite accurate. What you are beginning to realize is CS should have gone to the IMF long ago. Instead he opted to play around with the accounts, stretch out the inter-company receivables to previously unheard of levels, silence any opposition because…..because it was egg in his “not under my watch” face. Now, the line can be “if I was charge, default or going to the IMF would never have happened”? Not that anyone with half a brain would believe that, but it sounds good.

    Now there will be debate, and has been already, on ‘saving the dollar’. This is clearly MAM’s big goal. When she referred to the vultures or sharks lurking in the wings, as one reason behind the quick move, she is very right.

    I am surprised nobody thus far has jumped on MAM’s debt vultures mention or the interviewer’s failure to press. There is enough negative sentiment on this blog, so I have avoided its mention. It is a very important reason why default was in the best interest of Barbados.

  42. David Avatar
    David

    @NO

    Maybe you missed it but the blogmaster made that point when the defaulwas announced.

    It was clearly a strategic decision informed from discussions with White Oak a company experienced with this k8nd of transaction.

    >

  43. GreenMonkey Avatar
    GreenMonkey

    Talking about the need to share the pain, the new Mexican President-elect has come up with an innovative idea as to how to start making it a reality.

    Mexico’s new president takes a $100,000 PAY CUT to earn half what his predecessor did

    Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Sunday he plans to earn less than half of what his predecessor makes when he takes office in December as part of an austerity push in government.

    ‘What we want is for the budget to reach everybody,’ he told reporters in front of his campaign headquarters.

    Glancing at a piece of paper with numbers on it, Lopez Obrador said he will take home 108,000 pesos a month, which is $5,734 at current exchange rates, and that no public official will be able to earn more than the president during his six-year term.

    The transition team calculates that current Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto makes 270,000 pesos ($14,337) a month.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5957031/Mexican-president-elect-slashes-salary.html

  44. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Well i hope White hope took in to consideration that these small island nations are not in the position to stand the pressure of IMF austerity measures since their economy is structured and highly dependent on tourism
    In the event tourism hit rock bottom the poor has to suffer the most
    These big conglomerates are mostly in tune with high end countries whose economies are structrd by multiple economic wheels and when one wheel fails they have several more to help pull the wagon
    Unfortunately for small islands they do not have the luxury of productivity and the people have to bear the plain

  45. Enuff Avatar
    Enuff

    NO
    Nor a word about what Mottley said Maloney was told regarding the Hyatt i.e. an EIA and an opportunity for Barbadians to buy in. Another red herring stewed.🤣🤣🤣

  46. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Nortern Observer,

    Does she not mean by ‘vultures’ the hedge funds that would buy Barbadian sovereign debt, the Argentinian experience? That is the real danger and has been mentioned in BU by me more than once. They will buy the debt, then take Barbados to court in New York (the jurisdiction of choice) get judgement. This is what Elliott Capital did with Argentina and seized their naval ship. Defaulting is not the easy way out, or at least is not as easy as Mottley seems to think.

  47. Enuff Avatar
    Enuff

    Hal
    If you know this, what is the chance of White Oak Advisory knowing?

  48. Well, Well Avatar
    Well, Well

    No need for any long talk, all the debt predators and debt vultures are white, as long as you know who your enemies are you avoid them at all cost.

  49. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Enuff,

    Good question. Plse remind me of White Oaks management fees? Who introduced White Oaks to the government? Was there an introduction fee? Has Mr Persaud, or any of his associates or companies, ever had any dealing with White Oak in the recent past? If so what?

  50. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @HA
    over time, I suspect many people have mentioned many things. There is no easy way out. What is important is trying to control the situation, as opposed to having the situation control you. Default sinks the value of the debt significantly, it is far less attractive to the sharks, albeit cheaper.
    We often forget that in self interest, there is another party. There is somebody who approved the loan(s), there is somebody who has been managing them. Their backside is also on the line? Guaranteed Barbados is in constant touch with them.

    @Blogmaster
    I apologize but cannot read the blog in its entirety. I am positive you are correct.

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