Submitted by Freedom Crier
Right Sizing Government
I have seen the PM speak at times and her desire is to get the government working again quickly and effectively for Barbados as any government should, from the roads/sewerage to the business of government like planning/development/courts etc. her practicality is heartening and welcome, her energy shown is greatly needed I hope it is infectious to her other ministers.
1 Reduce the size of Government: Stop Hiring, Let normal attrition do its work. This will reduce the government work force by 10 % a year minimum. Presently for every 4 people working we have 1 civil servant this should be more like 1 in 20. How can 4 persons pay the wages for 1 person and still pay to run the government. No wonder the people are crying out and the government finances are in shambles. Use the magic of the computer age to help with the endless Bureaucracies and cut the endless duplication and red tape. You may have to employ practical and computer people to give guidance on how best to implement this not just the bureaucratic computer consultants that government hire but practical persons with a track record of thinking outside the box. Sometimes the paper legacy Bureaucracies we have can be used to show what we need to accomplish and how to achieve it as the paper legacy is a vast accumulation of knowledge of what is sometimes needed or useful.
2 Look at duplicated functions in all ministries and Statutory Agencies and eliminate. Imagine that you do not have to pay licence for vehicles anymore but the same amount of people still works there and we all must still waste our time to get a disk every year this is a time waster and crap of government bureaucracies gone bonkers send it in the mail to the car owners if you think we need it the same way they mailed the renewal notice.
3 Privatise Public transport, close down CBC and have the cable providers do a common news channel with government oversight and input if desired. Only privatise the statutory corps that have revenue, only those will be attractive to the private sector. For EG: do not privatise the SSA as the population already pay their taxes so that their garbage is removed. The private sector will buy into the transport system even if it is the mini bus men forming an association/company to buy it. Presently the mini bus men run their buses with a conductor in a minivan and less than 15 people per trip and they make money yet the government can’t make money with 40 passengers and no conductor, losing money to the tune of I think of 70 million a year yet they do not want to sell. Who dreams up this stuff? Do not give me the bogus story that the privatise bus will not go the whole route so farther out travellers will not get to and from work. Any business have a cost of doing business and this one does also (go to the end of the route) even if it is not every bus but every other bus/or third bus goes to the end of the route the extra distance that they may have to travel going from the first turn around point to the end of line can be charged $1 extra. People that have cars pay extra for their gas in traveling their longer routes.
4 Contract out the road cleaning, grass cutting, gutter cleaning ETC. no longer have to pay 10 men to do the job of one person. The private man will use a weed whacker, the government workers will use a hoe and put the gutter dirt at the side of the road for a later pick up which does not happen and at the first rain the weeds and muck is back in the gutter. Use small contractors for this.
5 Pot-hole department works 5 days a week driving around filling the pot holes this is not expensive and you do not need 10 people on a truck to fill pot holes these same persons can give reports on the road conditions that they may find as to which roads may need recovering and a final inspection made by someone in authority. A simple phone app with proscribe fields to fill in ETC can do the reporting to the head office with pictures to show the condition. This report need not be more than a few lines. After the road is fixed the same information can be brought up on the phone and with additional pictures and saying the job is now complete.
6 Consolidate the amount of ministries not expand it. Barbados is too small. This should be the goal, I concede after hearing the PM speak that the PM may have an expanded amount of ministries but this must be only temporary if this passes 3 years the Bajan public will not look at this favourably.
7 The Government Drainage unit was absorbed they did good work, we no longer have the gullies flooded like the old days but more work needs to be done like the wells created in the gullies to contain the water and channel it underground, filling up the aquifers rather than letting it run off to the sea with flooding in low lying areas. Restart digging the wells in gullies program.
8 Sell all Government housing as is, to the renters do not rent anymore. Have a tribunal to make quick decisions if needed. Arrange with a mortgage lender to finance these homes and if the people default the lenders will have to deal with that. Now is the best time to divest, interest rates are low and favourable to the purchaser. If there is a problem with the law in detailing the extent of the property, amend the law to include this class of housing.
Planning
The coming changes at Town & Country Planning bodes well for Barbados, the wiliness to listen to other views shows that the Bureaucrats may be getting wisdom. (I hope) even a chicken picks here & there and at the end still gets a belly full so I hope they will listen to “We the people” and implement what we need/want/require/etc. especially speed & less burdensome/costly regulations.
9 Instruct the Town Planner he has forgotten why he is there, it is to promote the development of Barbados quickly within the rules/regulations that the Town Planner & his team has to follow.
10 Have the town planner give revised guide lines as to what is allowed so that other private Planners/Architects/Engineers/Builders/Landscapers/Environmentalist can comply before submitting and this will speed up the process. The guide lines are just that Guide lines they may have circumstances that you are not able to completely comply with.
11 I love the idea of immediate approval for small houses the threshold should be those that do not need to have run off water storage tanks. Just a meeting with the planning department to see if all is right and the services are available.
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12 Have a fast track approval for projects over >1 Million dollars or X square Feet. Approval or rejection within a hard and fast 3 months but quick access to planners at town planning so that the rejection is not abrupt. Changes, advise given or made during the 3 months to help lead to a successful application. We need the construction Industry to thrive. This department should be an enabler for the development of Barbados not an obstacle course that People/Business/Hotel Industry/Industry have to overcome. An example of crap by Town Planning it has never allowed a water slide into the ocean using sea water or a beach facility using sea water and we are surrounded by it and the tourist would love it. It is unique & no kind of sea water park/pool/recreation facility in a tourist destination? Sea Water is not a resource we will run out of, it sure beats using fresh/drinking water in Pools at every hotel and increasing water rates on the people.
Imagine a Waterslide like this Constrictor landing you into Crystal Clear Blue Water.
https://www.worldsoffun.com/play/oceans-of-fun/constrictor
13 Conceptualisation desk at town planning for projects over $5 Million Bds with 2 top officials (persons that can make easier decisions) for early meetings to say if this is something we want or not. These meeting and the contacts made are important to the investor that his project is getting the respect and attention that it deserves, as this at this time is of utmost importance to the investor, and will give the investor confidence that what he is proposing will fly/or not fly, he just needs to fulfil the planning requirements leading to outline planning approval. At this point the booklet of revised guide lines can be given to the applicant or his project manager if they do not already have one.
14 Have one stop agencies for permission to open a business or build. EG: To open a restaurant one needs the permission from 6 Government agencies: (a) Town planning, (change of use, zoning etc.) (b)Traffic planning used to be called MTW. (c) Environmental Health. (d) Public health. (e) Police, liquor Licence (f) Fire service. All or any of these agencies can say no at any time even when you have finished the building and your money is spent. Also each planning arm of the various agencies should be in the same office to fast track
15 These extra costs in the aggregate can mean extra productive construction we now do not have. It is 22 years that the onsite storage of runoff water was made mandatory, from all of my experiences it does not work, it does not help, it is an unnecessary cost to any project and who is going to use brown literally brown water, do you want to see when you flush the toilet the water is brown? And when it is dry you cannot irrigate with it because there is none left, it is easier to use hardy plants and shade that can survive dry spells. Do your homework who uses the water, not Lanterns Mall not any hotel I know on the South Coast not even Sandals it is built and forgotten and marked as a cost of doing business in Barbados.
16 In Barbados we have had regulations that force professionals on to the public EG: anyone can do the paperwork to start a company but it cannot be registered unless a lawyer signs it. Please do not foster on us the requirement that you have to have an approved engineer/architect sign off on it. If the concern is structural integrity for earthquakes etc. in your building guideline say if the external walls must be 8” or 6” or have brick force steel or rebar’s etc. these can be and should also be shown on the drawings that are submitted for approval. I know that the registered architects and the registered professional class are itching for this as it will guarantee them work/$$ in which their input is minimal. Are they not going to try to implement a scale of fees like the lawyers? All big Jobs will already have an architect and an engineer to make this a requirement will only effect the hundreds of good house builders who were in most cases trained on big job site and under the best of construction firms also some of these same individuals are engineers but are not now practicing so your requirements may force an builder/engineer to hire a registered approved engineer to sign off on something that he is already competent at, adding cost to the small house owner or job. The types of minimal accepted structural components necessary can easily be included in the planning guide booklet by a onetime hire of an engineer. EG: How to reinforce a wall.
National Insurance Scheme:
17 Revamp some of the NIS policies, the waste is great because of people taking advantage not looking for work until the end of 3 months living off of the freeness, or getting a job and saying to their employers do not take out NIS until I tell you when the 3 months are up.
18 When government borrows money from the NIS who pays it back? It is not the government, it is the people, and the Government must first get the money from the taxpayer again to repay the debt. This must stop. On paper the NIS says all is well we have Government IOU’s, the books are in good shape but the NIS do not have the cash to pay its operating expenditures the government has taken it all/most. And the tax payer is faced with paying the NIS money twice, once for the NIS and secondly to the government to repay their loans from the NIS. This is not right.
19 The NIS wants to raise the retirement age hoping that we die before we can collect any pension. Go to work at 18 years retire at 67 that means we work 50 years paying 20% (10.25%+11%) of our wages to get a small amount and say that is retirement pay till death at 75 years life expectancy. Who is able to work past 60 like we did when we were younger, imaging an agriculture worker after 60 having to work till 68 to collect pension they will go on disability and collect full pay then collect pension it is better to have a flexible lower retirement date (60-68) than force people to work longer and push them to game the system and collect full pay with disability until they retire at a later date like they do now with unemployment. How long will people take to learn to game the system. The actuaries no matter how brilliant they are they do not see what I have outlined above they are bright bureaucrats not business people they will always lengthen the time to retirement with their attractive graphs showing the propose growth of the NIS funds. This will lead to more gaming the system. Here again the slothful person reaps the sweets while the honest man will try his best to reach the date proscribe and who do we reward? Bureaucrats always miss the mark they always make the wrong decisions.
Immigration
20 Institute merit based immigration whether you are poor or rich. A man might be poor but, may have a Skill (Carpentry). But also have Citizenship by Investment say over EG: $3 Million US. Barbados’ Structural Adjustments might be workable but too painful and I would like to make a Suggestion that Barbadian Citizenship should be granted by Investment of a Deposit not less than $3 million US Dollars (choose a number) in the Local Banking System to be used for Investment, Spending, Starting Businesses and setting up Holding Companies. Just Attracting 100 of these High-Worth Individuals who may desire to have an additional Citizenship of another Country (Barbados) will net the foreign exchange position by $300 Million US Dollars. And that is only for a hundred people. If we can encourage these Wealthy Individuals to seek greater Participation in the Local Economy through the formation of partnerships with local Entrepreneurs bringing with them their skills in Finance, Big Management Know How that will raise the local Companies reach globally. Imagine if you opened up the Citizenship to a 1000 of these Rich Individuals that would give you an in-flow of $3 Billion US Dollars that could more than pay off the Barbados Debt with no IMF in Sight.
See previous BU article at this address: https://barbadosunderground.net/2018/07/13/for-the-good-of-our-country-barbados/
The Brick & Mortar business are the ones under pressure because of all the regulations/taxes etc. but we have a wealth of talent in the electronic/digital field these individuals are horning their talents and skills but no capital as yet. Now is time to change course and make the individual important, a committee did not start Apple nor Microsoft nor any of the innovative companies in the world including BITT in Barbados. Barbados will boom with the right condition that you create with the freeing up of the individuals, regulation, taxes & size of Government,
It is said that when you give a man a hammer he sees nails everywhere. We have had lawyers for leaders and we get laws that bines men’s spirit, nothing that encourages, it always hinders that is the nature of a law, it never encourages. As the scriptures say “the law is an ass” Get some real business (Practical) men in the government or advisors not the ones who believe in crony capitalism where they use the monopoly status or concession to fleece People/Government via subsidies. All living at the expense of the tax payer with these special subsidised carve outs.
I will continue to pray for Barbados it is my Home and I want Live and to be Buried here, I want the best for us and pray God will bless us all to make the right choices.
See also:
Merit Based Immigration & Citizenship by Investment:
https://barbadosunderground.net/2018/07/13/for-the-good-of-our-country-barbados/
Barbados Improvements Part 1: Bridgetown
https://barbadosunderground.net/2018/07/21/barbados-improvements-part-1-bridgetown/
Still to come Barbados Improvements Part 3: Agriculture
Still to come Barbados Improvements Part 4: Looking to the Future
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VERY WELL DONE!
not bad ideas at all. one thing we lack in Bim is problem solving in delivering service to the public. and we move v slowly in changing and implementing laws.
in addition to the above with which i agree to varying degrees, no house should be built without planning permission and no house should be permitted to be built without an indoor bathroom.
why cant MTW implement a system where they serve bajans by their last names- example the licensing department in the Pine could look at the amount of people they can reasonably service in a day against what they have in their system for d/l renewal etc and then issue a statement that mondays they will service people with surnames a-b, on tuesdays c-d etc. i believe this would alleviate congestion and the requirement to sit around for a whole day before being served. there may be emergencies where one can get fast service for an additional fee
I thought it was a given that houses should not be built without toilets. The Idea of going to MTW based on your Surname may have some kind of problems because Companies do not have surnames and they are many commercial vehicles on the road. It might have been a good thing to use under the Old System but under the New System I do not think we need to go at all. You can now fill out all of your pass port information requirements on line. Why can’t we make the application for our license Disc on line? And they just have to post it.
We do not want to waste our time standing in line for no reason.
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Freedom Crier,
i stand corrected. i did not know that to build a board house you have to have indoor bathroom. all those that i see must be violating planning code then.
neither did i know that you can complete a new or renew a driver’s licence on line. Bim has really progressed then. thanks for the corrections
1966 …July 28, 2018 11:57 AM
“Freedom Crier,
i stand corrected. i did not know that to build a board house you have to have indoor bathroom. all those that i see must be violating planning code then.”
Most people with Chattel houses because of the nature of the construction meaning movable they may have been granted a wavier but I always thought it was a given that you should have built in toilets…thank you for the correction 1996.
You said…”neither did i know that you can complete a new or renew a driver’s license on line. Bim has really progressed then. thanks for the corrections”
I said …”You can now fill out all of your pass port information requirements on line. Why can’t we make the application for our license Disc on line?” As far as I know this has NOT been implemented as yet but they should. Why go there and wait and waist valuable time…
We are making suggestions and thank you for yours 1996, none of us have perfect knowledge we can help each other to come to a better understanding. Then we can make progress.
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@ Freedom Crier.
When I asked what were your thoughts about how to help black bajans I did not think that you would have done this.
Commendations are in order and even though i have not read everything yet I do have to pause and say this.
I will tell you that I will examine its content and its style and will comment further anon.
I still have to finish the assignment set by the Honourable Blogmaster as it relates to the Estonia meeting with Analee? Babb and the chap from the Data Processing Department
Plus you know that i have my job as Leader of the Opposition and am still working with the grandson converting Granville Phillips comments on the pernicious Integrity Legislation of 1933 sorry 2018.
Plus there are things here that I have to do that cant be done by proxy
Grenville needs to put people like you to champion his message instead of talking all up in the air with airy fairy drivel (i get that word from Senator Caswell Franklyn and I gine use it to death)
Mr. Piece…Honourable Leader of the Opposition BU, thanks you for your comments and look forward to your commentaries later.
Hopefully others will also contribute… Time to Break the Chains!!
https://www.brainyquote.com/photos_tr/en/c/charlesdickens/379740/charlesdickens1-2x.jpg
David why did you remove my comment?
Georgie Porgie July 28, 2018 1:22 PM
RE “SORRY Freedom Crier, prefer to avoid the cut and paste stuff.”
FREEDOM CRIER
PLEASE KINDLY NOTE the cut and paste stuff. IS ONLY IMPORTANT WHEN IT IS ANTI-TRUMP OR SEEKS TO EMBARRASS HIM AS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE THREAD
OTHERWISE…………..
SUCH HYPOCRISY IS EXPECTED BY DEVOUT DEDICATED DONALD DESPISERS!
Thank you Dr.GP the HYPOCRISY is Glaringly so.
My Article has been on BU since 9 am and you were the First to Comment … Georgie Porgie July 28, 2018 9:17 AM “VERY WELL DONE!”
I am Heartened by your Learned and Discerning Comment.
I am yet to have a Comment or Encouragement from the Burgomaster…
Maybe he thinks those ideas are Copy & Paste Too?
Maybe he is busy Propelling his own Post?
Maybe he hopes that Freedoms Voice would not gain Traction?
Maybe I should have made it a Controversial Topic?
Wonder what his thoughts are on Improving Barbados? Who Knows?
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Correction “Blog master”.
Remove what comment? Some of you love to be blogging intensive.
What else have you to contribute to the subject on Improving Barbados David?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9XGUpQZY38
Principles of Success
x. A national bank that will allow foreign exchange deposit accounts.
Thanks Money Brain good video for a Successful outlook in life and working towards goals.
When we should Teach Correct Principles that thereby men may Govern themelves.
Opposition is necessary in all things, we do learn by our mistakes, we Taste the Bitter to know how to Prize the Good.
Truth is the Essential Foundation for Producing Positive Outcomes.
We should work towards Big Dreams, while embracing reality while having a Determination to achieve our Goals.
Everyone has uniqueness in their outlook- Truthfully we need to be completely open-minded and learn from one another… Creative thinkers see endless possibilities. Surround yourself with thoughtful people who can do things better than yourself those who are independent thinkers working towards their unique fulfillment.
Resist letting your ego get in the way we all struggle …Our Strengths are connected to our weaknesses, we are given weaknesses that we may become Strong.
Reach for greater heights in your understanding and Do the Best you can with the gifts and talents you have been given.
https://www.brainyquote.com/photos_tr/en/j/johannwolfgangvongoethe/161315/johannwolfgangvongoethe1-2x.jpg
PoorPeacefulandPolite July 28, 2018 3:30 PM… “x. A national bank that will allow foreign exchange deposit accounts”.
Any Business in Barbados that receive US Dollars and who purchase items from overseas they can apply for and receive a US Account in the Bank they do business with. We know that system works so there is no need for a “national bank”. The Clearing house for all foreign currency is the Central Bank of Barbados.
All the foreign currency goes through the Central Bank.
Crooks looking to fast-track land crooks to get rich,No Clear title to land all things will bring you back to the Massive Land fraud and the names of all persons on these papers,,,, BBLP names and crook lawyers and Ministers done F up Banking,Inside laundering of land and taxpayers dollars, Do your homework before jumping on another Drug Boat -Barbados,
Excellent recommendations Freedom Crier.
I too continue to pray for our Governor General, Prime Minister, Cabinet, House of Parliament, Police and Judiciary as instructed by God Almighty.
I also pray that mercy would be extended to the widows, fatherless and oppressed.
We need a society built on the Foundation of God’s laws. Not men’s.
Every society that has turned their backs on God fails.
The Roman Empire is a perfect example.
Certain lifestyles ALWAYS accompany their demise.
Psalm 146:3-5 King James Version (KJV)
3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:
@ Freedom Crier / June Naime,
Unless and until white privilege is utterly and totally destroyed in Barbados and replaced with the introduction of laws that promote racial equality for Barbados black majority population then I fail to see how Barbados can be improved.
Excellent Recommendation also Beautiful Beige our Prayers as Alms giving ascend up on high and are heard and answered with blessings on the heads of those petitioned …Thank you for your Prayers a most generous offering.
https://quoteslifepic.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/motivational-bible-quotes-for-sports-motivational-biblical-quotes-sports-inspirational-bible-verses.jpg
I like many of the ideas that your have presented.
Something that I would like to add is for government to stop picking the winners and losers. This hard, this even exist in the USA and the larger countries. The power brokers have the money so they craft the legislation that finally passes
I am not in full agreement with the below suggestion. The part pertaining to public transport.
3 Privatise Public transport, close down CBC and have the cable providers do a common news channel with government oversight and input if desired. Only privatise the statutory corps that have revenue, only those will be attractive to the private sector. For EG: do not privatise the SSA as the population already pay their taxes so that their garbage is removed. The private sector will buy into the transport system even if it is the mini bus men forming an association/company to buy it. Presently the mini bus men run their buses with a conductor in a minivan and less than 15 people per trip and they make money yet the government can’t make money with 40 passengers and no conductor, losing money to the tune of I think of 70 million a year yet they do not want to sell. Who dreams up this stuff? Do not give me the bogus story that the privatise bus will not go the whole route so farther out travellers will not get to and from work. Any business have a cost of doing business and this one does also (go to the end of the route) even if it is not every bus but every other bus/or third bus goes to the end of the route the extra distance that they may have to travel going from the first turn around point to the end of line can be charged $1 extra. People that have cars pay extra for their gas in traveling their longer routes.
The transport board doesn’t need to be privatised. Once that bridge has been traversed it very hard to go back. We had a national bank that many say it was a bad decision to sell it. Now we would like to have a greater say in the “commercial bank” industry, but not having an active entity we can only talk and ask the real players to do us a favour. etc.
We can consider having a for profit management company run the transport board. Let some enterprising barbadians run the transport board. In this scenario the politicians will need to keep their hands off the entity. Hiring and firing or right sizing of the transport board will be solely the role of independent management company decision. etc No political interference period. Let try that before we up and sell it off. I think the Barbados Hilton has an independent management team. I think the Hilton is profitable.
I am sure that you see the current psv situation. The private operators by and large operate their buses only on certain profitable routes, don’t adhere to a schedule, stop running at a times that suits them. That is all well and fine but if Barbados is moving to 24/7 five days a week operation a scheduled reliable and affordable bus service is necessary.
If we cant imagine that something like this is possible and that we can only out right sell the TB as a solution then we are really worse off than I think we are. The leaders and/or politicians are in need for as much REFORM as the statutory corporations that they oversee on our behalf etc.
It cannot be politics as usual, nor business as usual. If Barbados it to Rise Again.
Just my thought on this suggestion.
Freedom Crier, do you really believe that “All the foreign currency goes through the Central Bank” ? Do you think we can continue putting our trust in foreign retail banking ? Please.
Presently the mini bus men run their buses with a conductor in a minivan and less than 15 people per trip and they make money yet the government can’t make money with 40 passengers and no conductor, losing money to the tune of I think of 70 million a year yet they do not want to sell. Who dreams up this stuff?
The reason the mini bus operators can make.money is that every passenger/Rider is a paying passenger/rider unlike the government owned buses where sometimes more than 75% of passengers/riders do not pay any fare. How can this be sustainable? The cost of maintenance, salaries, down time, not to mention fuel must be factored to realize the true cost of operating public transportation. Long range planning for the cost of replacement buses must Lsobe included. Transit Oriented Development should be looked at as part of long range planning.
Presently the mini bus men run their buses with a conductor in a minivan and less than 15 people per trip and they make money yet the government can’t make money with 40 passengers and no conductor, losing money to the tune of I think of 70 million a year yet they do not want to sell. Who dreams up this stuff?
The reason the mini bus operators can make.money is that every passenger/Rider is a paying passenger/rider unlike the government owned buses where sometimes more than 75% of passengers/riders do not pay any fare. How can this be sustainable? The cost of maintenance, salaries, down time, not to mention fuel must be factored to realize the true cost of operating public transportation. Long range planning for the cost of replacement buses must Lsobe included. Transit Oriented Development should be looked at as part of long range planning.
@ sirfuzzy July 28, 2018 6:27 PM
With a name like Sir fuzzy you thoughts are clear. Thank you for liking most of the ideas. Government cannot help themselves they will interfere they may say the retired persons travel free and two years down the line add another class of free travelers this will be a local company not an overseas one. By having one foot in the door they will be trying to pick winners and losers lets reduce the role of government to what we really need this will right size it, get rid of everything else that is the only way to have lower taxes, duties, VAT etc… More of one’s own money in your pocket, the price of everything will drop.
But I may be speaking too soon, wait till September and phase 2 kicks in, we will all howl for their remedy need not be how we are accustom to thinking but we will see. Hold tight!
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@ Jean July 28, 2018 7:49 PM
I do not think that Government should be in the Business of Transport. Because Government runs everything inefficiently the price they may have to charge just to break even that price being charged by private transport will make the private transport people smile all the way to the Bank.
Knowing this fact the PSV owners will want the Government to be in the Business because they know the fares will go up. We want the Government to fix the roads, widen the roads where necessary, sort out the the Traffic Bottle Necks and get out of the Transportation Business.
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@ Freedom Crier
You continue to lift the contents of this blog. I am delighted , that we are finally sending a message to the Dees and Bees that we have indeed had “Enuff” of their non-productive nit -picking.
1.I have long suggested that all public servants be put on four day weeks and that all perks be stopped for at least seven years.
2.All MPs salaries should be frozen at 15 % less of what they are at present. Their salaries should be frozen for ten years. MPs who have no ministries and are otherwise gainfully employed should receive no more than $700. per month
3. Salaries in the Senate should be abolished and no pensions offered.
Finally be very careful about selling the Transport Board to mini-bus owners. You may be surprised who really owns the mini buses. Rest assured many owners don’t drive them.
The object should be to avoid the shark guts-not swim right into um. Nowaday Massa coming in many different shades. A word to the wise.
I look forward to your other submissions.
@ Freedom Crier
As I read I will respond
You said and I quote “…Imagine that you do not have to pay licence for vehicles anymore but the same amount of people still works there and we all must still waste our time to get a disk every year.
The university of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus Faculty of Social Sciences Dean George BELLE developed and offered a complete solution to MET in 2007 for the complete automation of the registration of automobiles under an Electronic vehicle Registration system.
Dean George BELLE secured $6 million from a private sector underwriter that would among its several benefits for online registration, generate some 40 to 60 million dollars in annaul revenues.
THAT was 2007 11 years and two administrations later.
If you want de ole man is sure that doctor BELLE who has retired could still drum up said document for the GoB if asked
But that would be a bridge too far
We are making the same mistake by adopting a piecemeal approach. The key to making the system efficient is to adopt the Estonia model, it will have to be scalable, we don’t have the money to do Big Bang implementations.
Dust of the national ID project which is rumored to be designed to use chip technology. When vehicle insurance is paid, a file is uploaded to the central database and the National ID chip card will prompt alerts to traffic and police personnel. All citizens must have an ID card if not this will issue an alert also.
You said snd i quote “3 Privatise Public transport, …”
Government is going to go green and in that greening electrically powered buses win be acquired
Þhey should do a partial privatization whereby those new green vehicles purchased will run to and from Bridgetown to hubs and PSVs be allowed to effect cashless transfers from these hubs inland
This will increase the density of our public/private transportation coverage and frequency
Full proposal available on request
@ Freedom Crier
You said and I quote “…5 Pot-hole department works 5 days a week driving around filling the pot holes this is not expensive and you do not need 10 people on a truck…”
Dem days are done.
A mobile application on the phone of every citizen advocate becomes the GPS enabled intake report mechanism for potholes dead dogs streetlights not working, non working workers so that we start contributing to the logistics of our daily maintenance of our infrastructure
Said application can be expanded to facilitate the anonymous reporting of neighbourhood crime etc.
Blueprints available on request
FC
I also believe the Transport Board should be privatised. If not, then the market should determine bus fares, whereby commuters should pay bus fares according to distance travelled….. similar to a stage system.
I don’t believe it’s fair that a commuter traveling, for example, from the Fairchild Street terminal to College Savannah should pay the same fare as one traveling to Government Hill.
However, an academic advanced the argument that a St. Andrew resident working in Bridgetown, has the same “economic value” as someone traveling from Eagle Hall to Bridgetown…….in other words, both individuals bring similar value to their work places. And it is upon this basis why they should pay the same fare.
I also agree with Jean’s comments re: “The reason the mini bus operators can make money is that every passenger/Rider is a paying passenger/rider unlike the government owned buses where sometimes more than 75% of passengers/riders do not pay any fare. How can this be sustainable?”
Before exploring any long term plans for TB, we must first determine if it should exist to maximize profit or provide a social service.
Artax:. I agree with you. The first question is whether or not government should be providing this service. For many reasons I think they should but the management and operations should be privatized. That’s how it is done in the US at least in the Northeast. Accessibility, affordability, and reliability should be goals for both the government and or the private sector. We have to rethink what we think about public transportation and how it is perceived by the riders and the general public. Is it is service just for the poor? Or is it a viable option or alternative to driving my car? Is it affordable, available, accessible, reliable? The answers to those questions will help determine the future of public transportation.
Artax:. I agree with you. The first question is whether or not government should be providing this service. For many reasons I think they should but the management and operations should be privatized. That’s how it is done in the US at least in the Northeast. Accessibility, affordability, and reliability should be goals for both the government and or the private sector. We have to rethink what we think about public transportation and how it is perceived by the riders and the general public. Is it is service just for the poor? Or is it a viable option or alternative to driving my car? Is it affordable, available, accessible, reliable? The answers to those questions will help determine the future of public transportation.
Freedom Crier you may be interested in this link.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/20/business/energy-environment/the-20-billion-question-for-guyana.html
I am of the opinion that the Transport Board never recovered from Barrow’s “political decision” in May 1976, to reduce bus fares to 25¢ for all destinations.
And I mentioned “political” because it was done prior to the 1976 general elections….. perhaps as a political gimmick.
On the topic of public transport, they are so many ways that the TB can be evolved /made into a better service provider without the outright sale. We got so many smart persons out there that it seem rather funny that we only seem able to come to one conclusion.
I am not a transport expert by any means; but i think reading the stuff we know exist points us to the many options that a reconstituted TB can have.
a) The TB can do a lease type of operation. lease the buses from an entity and TB provide the operational crews.
b) The TB can purchase the buses; and allow an entity to do the maintenance and/or daily operations.
c) The TB can do all that its doing now but will a totally independent management team/operator.
d) The TB can contract private operators to provide exclusive service on certain routes, (concessionaires like we have before).
They are many combinations of the above plus other options that may be available that i am not aware of. Let put the 40 years of free UWI education/training to work on our behalf. WE GOT TALENT! LET’S USE ‘EM BEFORE THEY MIGRATE!
BTW the “required community service” component of the under graduate programme is a good thing. These persons can work on giving us ideas on fixing the TB etc for “free in a sense” if we looking to make use of their “community service” to the country.
Now, if the union protest do invite them to sit and smoke the “peace pipe” or “try cashing the reality check/cheque”. If they refuse introduce them to the cold hard reality that exists. It not business or politics as usual.
The TB must be right sized top to Bottom. Additionally, remove the board of directors; they perform no useful purpose at the TB.
Just my thoughts
Sir fuzzy you are spot on… Is there a way other than this BU forum for those who have concerns, questions and doable solutions to sit down and draft a white paper or something other way of getting these solutions to the transportation problems addressed? Would love to participate. Sometimes I find that some responders just bash each other and that is not productive. All of the suggestions I have read are via lesllutions. It just takes courage. Thank you sir fuzzy.
@Jean
You know the suggestions to be viable how?
There is a government email address for the public to forward suggestions. The government will have to be convinced that it is an idea worth pursuing?
https://www.facebook.com/BarbadosLabourParty/photos/a.162965473846843.49628.162423417234382/1302503173226395/?type=3
@ Artaxerxes
You said and I quote “…Before exploring any long term plans for TB, we must first determine if it should exist to maximize profit or provide a social service….”
Both PSVs and TB vehicles can exist with transfers.
The transportation system MUST ALWAYS BE A SOCIAL SYSTEM AND MUST NOT EVER BE PRIVATIZED
You would destroy Barbados as a country go do any rate/distance fee cause only my poor brethren live at these distances and work for minimum wage at today
Where are you guys living at today?
@ the Honourable Blogmaster
I would be grateful if you posted the link to that analee babb session again because it isn’t visible in the current list
At this time the National ID thing while desirable does not give any equity to indigenous effort which cans be integrated with anything one wants
You speak of piece meal but the fact is that any system can be integrated with anything one wants as you can see from your home security talking to an app on your phone
The point that I am making is the nuances of empowering the very organs that we get here and condemn and say ghat they are not doing a damn thing
Then you and others come here and instead of supporting them TRY TO DO BACKDOOR STUFF TO GIVE ILLUMINAT AND THE REST THE HOGS HEAD while the black led initiatives get relegated to the background
The UWI led the Electronic Vehicle Registration Initiatile for 4 years yet here you are seeking to cut up Mia’s pie for Estonia
But carry on smartly.
Then we wonder why the UWI ent doing nuffin to participate
Steupseee cause wunna so disenfranchising dem
@PUDRYR
What are you saying, the ID project that has been mothballed should be scrapped?
https://www.facebook.com/gisbarbados/videos/1000982780066534/
@the Honourable Blogmaster your assistance please with an item thank you
@ Talking Loud and Saying Nothing
The unofficial rule of the blog is unless the party with the anonymice name says I am called Mickey mouse other anonymice don’t use their names irrespective of what they post
This way while a feller might talk nuff around who they obviously are we tries not to use dem names.
But dat is only me opinion and I ent nobody and is given to talking drivel
Viable solutions.
As Jean and I suggested, before any long term plans can be developed for TB…….. government need to determine whether:
(a) to maximize profits, which would require TB to operate reliably and efficiently…… with passengers paying “realistic” bus fares as determined by the market.
(b) if TB’s main purpose is to provide a social service, which means government subsidising bus fares and providing supplementary financial support……at a continued burden and expense of taxpayers.
(3) if government should be involved in providing public transportation, under conditions where operators of privately owned PSVs can easily enter the market and are not inhibited by certain constraints such as time schedules.
@Artax
You are knowledgeable enough about these matters to appreciate the misuse of SOEs is because of an endemic problem where political parties have historically padded the agencies to shore up popularity by feeding the base. What will disrupt this approach? Will Mottley’s government be the great disruptor?
Artax, you sound like a transportation planner. I like the way you think.
I am old enough to have travelled on the bus when the stage system was in operation. I was not old enough to pay the stages fare as my parents did that for me. I spent time in Trinidad where their public transport system is a bit different to what i experienced in Barbados.
What i found really different was how the Maxi taxis did things. To be honest with you where i was located in Trinidad you were more likely to catch a “maxi taxi”(ZR bajan equivalent) than the Govt. bus as the PSTC(equivalent to TB) buses did not run on every route.
I am not sure how it has changed over the years but when i was there this i how remember it operating. It was a stage system but it eliminated the need for a conductor collecting fares again as the bus passed through the different stages/landmarks.
If the passenger embarked the bus at the starting point of the route they paid the full fare, say TT$5.00 from Port of Spain to Arima.
As the bus travelled along the route moving closer to Arima the bus fare reduced to TT$4.00(if you embarked in the San Juan area) then to TT$3.00(If embarking in the Cruepe/Tunapuna area). This is where i usually disembarked the bus in the St. Tunapuna area.
To me these stages/landmark coincidentally were around major PSTC bus stop. There are not too may bus-stop/ pole in Trinidad especially on the Priority Bus Route(PRB). It was hard to miss these PSTC bus stops as they were brightly painted and stood out.
My question as part of the public transport reform in Barbados is can this work here? Take for example the Bridgetown to Connell Town bus route.
Maybe its will have four stages.
Stage One Princess Alice to the Black Rock /University Hill Round-About. (embarking at Princess Alice pay $5.00)
Stage two ends at Hole town Police Stn, (embarking in stage two $4.00)
Stage three ends at Speightstown Terminal. (embarking in stage three $3.00)
Stage four is Speightstown terminal to Connell Town (embarking in stage four $2.50)
The in-between stages will be difficult to police. So the potential passenger “buyer beware” you are paying for the service whether you use it or not. The idea of “short stop/drop” taxis/ZRs/maxis as they have in Trinidad may catch on and possibly flourish?
Just my thoughts
• William Skinner
July 28, 2018 10:46 PM
@ Mr Skinner:
I understand your frustration in thinking we are paying for something and not getting our monies worth. If a man works he should be paid BUT there are many persons in the society that would be willing to be a senator for free and contribute the skills and talent to my mind the senators should be the wisdom of age who wants to contribute to Barbados before they pass on, if they can influence real progress for the better not the straw men we have now. We want these men to determine the rightness of the legislation they are called to pass and let them vote no/yes (I hope no most of the time) and force the legislature to rethink. We have too many laws fostered on us by other world bodies EG: UN.
(a) to maximize profits, which would require TB to operate reliably and efficiently…… with passengers paying “realistic” bus fares as determined by the market.
(b) if TB’s main purpose is to provide a social service, which means government subsidising bus fares and providing supplementary financial support……at a continued burden and expense of taxpayers.
(3) if government should be involved in providing public transportation, under conditions where operators of privately owned PSVs can easily enter the market and are not inhibited by certain constraints such as time schedules.
@artax . U are very correct. These decisions have to be made. We therefore need the maximum engagement form all and sundry. Public transport decisions should no be made in a vacuum; unfortunately too many bajans are professional complainers but offer no solutions. We do very little when we can stop the bleeding etc, but do nuff nuff crying and balling and wailing after the man dun dead.
Just my take.
• pieceuhderockyeahright July 29, 2018 2:52 AM
“The university of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus Faculty of Social Sciences Dean George BELLE developed and offered a complete solution to MET in 2007 for the complete automation of the registration of automobiles under an Electronic vehicle Registration system.”…
That is an excellent idea but that time is passed as we now do not have to pay MTW but now pay the EXTRA gas fuel tax.
This is more efficient in that the government gets paid everyday 365 days less the days the sellers snooze. We have all grown up to believe in heavy taxes but it need not be so. What we need is a rethink of the role of government the nickel ($500) & dime ($1,000) of the population with these endless bureaucracies (as in MTW) to allow people to have jobs need to stop.
• pieceuhderockyeahright July 29, 2018 3:04 AM You said snd i quote “3 Privatise Public transport, …
Government is going to go green and in that greening electrically powered buses win be acquired
Þhey should do a partial privatization whereby those new green vehicles purchased will run to and from Bridgetown to hubs and PSVs be allowed to effect cashless transfers from these hubs inland
This will increase the density of our public/private transportation coverage and frequency
Full proposal available on request”.
I am not one to promote big capital outlays in a time of desperation the saner route is to take the low cost option and when the country is full of money rest assured the government will find many wasteful projects to spend it on. Why should the government be in the Transport business? How does that help governance again?
• pieceuhderockyeahright July 29, 2018 3:15 AM @ Freedom Crier
You said and I quote “…5 Pot-hole department works 5 days a week driving around filling the pot holes this is not expensive and you do not need 10 people on a truck…”
“Dem days are done.
A mobile application on the phone of every citizen advocate becomes the GPS enabled intake report mechanism for potholes dead dogs streetlights not working, non working workers so that we start contributing to the logistics of our daily maintenance of our infrastructure
Said application can be expanded to facilitate the anonymous reporting of neighbourhood crime etc.
Blueprints available on request”
Mr. Peace…This is an excellent idea for the citizenry that can even be used on the fly for road repairs while on the road if nearby. My idea only went so far as to the guys on the truck but you took it farther that’s excellent.
• Artax July 29, 2018 3:55 AM FC
“I also believe the Transport Board should be privatized. If not, then the market should determine bus fares, whereby commuters should pay bus fares according to distance traveled….. similar to a stage system”….
Profit is wealth creation, social services drags us to pay for it. With wealth creation everyone benefits. If you look at any public company financials the sales are 100% but the profits are (if they are profitable) around 10% MAX many are a lot lower. Why would you work if you got nothing out of it? Pay the 10 % everyone wins including the people that work including the managers.
• Talking Loud Saying Nothing July 29, 2018 4:03 AM
Freedom Crier you may be interested in this link. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/20/business/energy-environment/the-20-billion-question-for-guyana.html?ref=oembed The $20 Billion Question for Guyana
This largely underdeveloped country on South America’s northern Atlantic coast is the unlikely setting for the world’s next big oil boom. But is it ready to handle the riches?
What a lovely problem to have after so many years of destitution brought on by the likes of Burnham
• Artax July 29, 2018 4:08 AM “I am of the opinion that the Transport Board never recovered from Barrow’s “political decision” in May 1976, to reduce bus fares to 25¢ for all destinations.
And I mentioned “political” because it was done prior to the 1976 general elections….. perhaps as a political gimmick.”
Ah the getting of wisdom is a wonderful thing!
https://www.brainyquote.com/photos_tr/en/c/camillepissarro/309695/camillepissarro1.jpg
“You would destroy Barbados as a country go do any rate/distance fee cause only my poor brethren live at these distances and work for minimum wage at today….”
PUDRYR
Barbadians brag about Barbados “punching above it’s weight” and salaries/wages are among the best in the Caribbean.
According to therichest.com, Barbados is #4 on the of the richest Caribbean islands.
Yet Barbados remains the only island that has a standardized bus system.
For example, let’s look at St. Lucia. An individual taking a bus from Castries to Pigeon Point has to pay a higher fare than one traveling from Castries to Monchy. And we boast about their wages not being at our level.
Why should Barbados be different?
Rather than introducing policies geared at self sufficiency, both BLP and DLP administrations have inculcated Barbadians with a “culture of mendicancy.”
There are systems that could help people coming from impecunious households…..such as means testing.
Instead of encouraging people off this “chronic” dependency on government and enhance their ingenuity to develop ideas for supplementary income…..we prefer to complain and want the state to provide our basic needs “free at the point of delivery.”
Ironically, many of the same people that want everything free, are the same that frown upon noncontributory pension.
• David July 29, 2018 4:25 AM
“We are making the same mistake by adopting a piecemeal approach. The key to making the system efficient is to adopt the Estonia model, it will have to be scalable, we don’t have the money to do Big Bang implementations.
Dust of the national ID project which is rumored to be designed to use chip technology. When vehicle insurance is paid, a file is uploaded to the central database and the National ID chip card will prompt alerts to traffic and police personnel. All citizens must have an ID card if not this will issue an alert also.”
David careful for what you wish for BIG BROTHER government never bodes well for the people it is always abused in ways we will not think of as yet.
https://cdnews-pull2-mvaqgu6sx.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/quote-government-big-enough-to-supply-everything-you-need-is-big-enough-is-big-enough-to-take-everything-thomas-jefferson-370415.jpg
• Jean July 29, 2018 5:23 AM
“Artax:. I agree with you. The first question is whether or not government should be providing this service. For many reasons I think they should but the management and operations should be privatized. That’s how it is done in the US at least in the Northeast. Accessibility, affordability, and reliability should be goals for both the government and or the private sector. We have to rethink what we think about public transportation and how it is perceived by the riders and the general public. Is it is service just for the poor? Or is it a viable option or alternative to driving my car? Is it affordable, available, accessible, reliable? The answers to those questions will help determine the future of public transportation.”
Free up the transport system with some regulation to insure the full destination is served but get out of the way the market will be served because there is a market.
• sirfuzzy July 29, 2018 7:59 AM
“On the topic of public transport, they are so many ways that the TB can be evolved /made into a better service provider without the outright sale. We got so many smart persons out there that it seem rather funny that we only seem able to come to one conclusion.
I am not a transport expert by any means; but i think reading the stuff we know exist points us to the many options that a reconstituted TB can have”…
There are many option why would you want any other than get rid of the losses let government do what a government suppose to do, govern not play business, they stink at that (do you think they stink at governing also? Somewhat I do.)
A mobile application on the phone of every citizen advocate becomes the GPS enabled intake report mechanism for potholes dead dogs streetlights not working, non working workers so that we start contributing to the logistics of our daily maintenance of our infrastructure
@FC.
Do we have a problem in that we don’t have capable persons that can fix the roads etc? Or do we have a problem where the capable persons don’t fix the roads etc.
I think that we have more of an accountability problem. We over the years have reinforced bad unaccountability behaviour across the civil service etc. Just dropping technology on a dysfunctional(i speaking about attitudes only ) will lead to frustration by the mobile equipped citizenry that report and report and still see nothing being done.
We have almost 100% landlines penetration; the average Jane and Joe before the mobile device revolution called into the many SOE and Central Govt. agencies to report failing and failed infrastructure, etc. Often little was done in a timely manner. I don’t see much of a change if the reports are done via a mobile device.
The root cause is more than deploying technology. I have said before the civil service(permanent opposition) is not known to be suicidal. It will fight tooth and nail for the retention of is privileges even if this means the worsening of the situation.
Mind you we have feed this now “big as arse” monster from a little “cute cuddly as arse” baby monster. This monster is so accustomed to being fed and is now soo large that it will easily devour you and not be satisfied. The question is how do you put this monster on a diet or lifestyle change without the monster feeding super hungry and not seeking you the reforms as his/her next meal?
JMT
“Ah the getting of wisdom is a wonderful thing!”
FC
I believe you are treading on the wrong path.
I am not a member of the Errol Barrow “fan club,”……or of any other politician.
Barrow, Adams, St. John, Sandiford, Arthur, Thompson, Stuart and Mottley will not receive any special thanks from me because they were paid by taxpayers to perform their duties.
If politicians were as patriotic and concerned as they want us to believe, when they run out of ideas, they would step aside and let someone within their party take over or hand the mandate to the opposing party…..
…… rather than hold on to power at all cost and holding the country to ransom in the process.
@ artax
I am not a member of the Errol Barrow “fan club,”……or of any other politician.
Barrow, Adams, St. John, Sandiford, Arthur, Thompson, Stuart and Mottley will not receive any special thanks from me because they were paid by taxpayers to perform their duties.
If politicians were as patriotic and concerned as they want us to believe, when they run out of ideas, they would step aside and let someone within their party take over or hand the mandate to the opposing party…..
…… rather than hold on to power at all cost and holding the country to ransom in the process.
Good morning. May i propose a small amendment of your quote? ” i want to remove the four words “run out of ideas” and replace with “run out of good ideas” 🙂
Again artax you are spot on.
@FC
Good job. You have taken BU bloggers in a different direction. I saw your post here for some time, but was so busy following other pressing matters on BU that I did not get to it until today.
I mention a few names here at the expense of omitting other significant contributors but I enjoyed the posts by sir fuzzy (not so fuzzy after all 🙂 ) Jean, Artax, piece…
Let me make statements which may be sheer folly to others #5
1). Part of the problem is that Bridgetown is the center of the transport system This is obvious for several reasons bu if we could attract some ’employers’ including government away from Bridgetown then we begin to transform the flow of people in Barbados. This is the technological age, the grip of Bridgetown can broken with minimal damage.
2). It may be different now, but at one stage you could not get from St Lucy to some parts of St Andrew (a neighboring parish) or St John without going to Bridgetown. How do we get a man from St Lucy to St John without going through Bridgetown? How do we change the traffic flow? Is there enough of such traffic?
3). These numerous different fare zones….It is a very small island, Perhaps we should stop mimicking big countries, realize our size and try to have as few zones as possible PSVs guy will not like that. Perhaps we have not arrive at the correct answer, of how do we get someone to travel from St Lucy to Bridgetown when buses could make the same money dropping someone from their house to next door.
Your #6 was spot on… The source of our problems comes from our thinking we are punching above our weight and our being Lilliputians with giant size egos,
Keep up the good work.
• sirfuzzy • July 29, 2018 10:04 AM @FC.
“Do we have a problem in that we don’t have capable persons that can fix the roads etc? Or do we have a problem where the capable persons don’t fix the roads etc.
I think that we have more of an accountability problem. We over the years have reinforced bad unaccountability behaviour across the civil service etc. Just dropping technology on a dysfunctional(i speaking about attitudes only ) will lead to frustration by the mobile equipped citizenry that report and report and still see nothing being done.”
I agree with you The mobile app is only to assure accountability (Work done and where to go) but the real problem is the monster bureaucracies as you say have become “big as arse”
• Artax July 29, 2018 10:08 AM
“Ah the getting of wisdom is a wonderful thing!”
“FCI believe you are treading on the wrong path.
I am not a member of the Errol Barrow “fan club,”……or of any other politician.
Barrow, Adams, St. John, Sandiford, Arthur, Thompson, Stuart and Mottley will not receive any special thanks from me because they were paid by taxpayers to perform their duties.
If politicians were as patriotic and concerned as they want us to believe, when they run out of ideas, they would step aside and let someone within their party take over or hand the mandate to the opposing party…..
…… rather than hold on to power at all cost and holding the country to ransom in the process.”
As far as I can tell he was pointing out that the reduction in bus fares was political and I agree hence the “getting of wisdom”
But we the citizenry need to have a healthy dose of distrust as everyone lies but governments they do not lie they SPIN things so what lies they tell appear to be the right thing to do, the caring thing, ETC but it is all politics they never pay it is the taxpayer who pays.
How do you think the debt ran up so high all the while no one benefited (if we did it was in spite of) who pays? the last two previous admins are gone but we the taxpayer are on the hook and looking at Phase 2 of the austerity plan. But their escape with no repercussions is because they have made us we the people part of their malpractice.
David July 29, 2018 8:43 AM @Jean
“You know the suggestions to be viable how?
There is a government email address for the public to forward suggestions. The government will have to be convinced that it is an idea worth pursuing?”
David I have shared twice previously on two different Blogs …On Play your Part in the RESCUE< RECOVERY & REBUILDING exercise…Share Your Ideas for a better Barbados ….
Freedom Crier @ David…July 15, 2018 11:29 AM
Suggestion, Why not share your ideas in the form of Articles even if it is a separate tab on BU for the Betterment of Barbados so more may have the opportunity to See it and participate where the ideas may be discussed and not just go into an email where you do not know where it goes, who is reading it and the Biases they may hold.
Put your ideas in Public view for scrutiny and comment as this one does on BU.
https://barbadosunderground.net/2018/07/13/for-the-good-of-our-country-barbados/
For example if they receive these emails and should they hold certain views they are more than likely to conclude based on their Biases thy may say “we have received 1,542 emails and we have found Three that are credible. Depending e.g. if they are Socialist/ /Capitalist/Crony Capitalist/Marxist/Communist/Dictator Environmentalist / just to name a few.
Because of their Bias the Population of Barbados would never see 1,542 emails. That does not make Sense, let alone being Transparent.
Make these emails Public or even if you say send it to this particular email have them Published on a Website.
If you do not do that you are fooling the people, by wasting their time and energy!
For Heaven Sake allow others the Freedom to make their own Choices within Reason and Righteous Laws!!
Remember The Intuitive Mind is a Sacred Gift…
http://www.ideachampions.com/weblogs/398798_3468989518577_1086244246_32589011_1525554871_n.jpg
Are you an idiott? Because someone post an idea it cant be questioned? You want to say to the blogmaster how he should contribute to the Barbados space? By hosting your articles are we doing a service you think? How do you know what the blogmaster is doing to promote ideas besides hosting this blog? Post your articles and leave the blogmaster the hell alone ok?
On Sun, Jul 29, 2018 at 4:02 PM, Barbados Underground wrote:
>
Sir Fuzzy
You made some very interesting and reasonable recommendations.
a) The TB can do a lease type of operation. lease the buses from an entity and TB provide the operational crews.
Mottley offered a similar suggestion…….. as it relates to leasing garbage trucks.
One of the useful benefits of leasing buses………it will eliminate the TB from storing retired and dismantled/scrapped units at the Mangrove Depot.
The TB previously mentioned that it needs approximately 180 units (I write under correction) in operation on a daily basis to provide adequate service.
So……will TB lease 200 units and at what to taxpayers?
However, the TB will definitely have to improve its operations, improve efficiency and reliability of service…….to honour its lease payment commitments in addition to other operating expenses……unless lease payments will come from the consolidated fund.
b) The TB can purchase the buses; and allow an entity to do the maintenance and/or daily operations.
This is the current situation that exists at TB, where the Board owned the fleet and UCAL was contracted to provide maintenance services. This can only work in an environment free of political interference. Remember, UCAL repaired bus transmissions at a “fraction” of the cost Trans Tech Inc. charged…….yet, TTI was the preferred service provider. But often UCAL had to “re-repair” those transmissions after the buses left TTI.
BM563 leaving TTI after undergoing repairs, made it as far as Sheraton Centre…… and was subsequently taken to UCAL for similar repairs.
c) The TB can do all that its doing now but will a totally independent management team/operator.
Such an arrangement would minimize an occurrence of situations such as the one I described above.
d) The TB can contract private operators to provide exclusive service on certain routes, (concessionaires like we have before).
We have a similar situation, where private PSVs provide exclusive service to routes such as Deacons Road, Silver Sands, Silver Hill, Gall Hill.
We could explore the possibility of the PSVs servicing certain routes within defined “urban demographic”……..
……..while a fully equipped and efficient TB concentrate on long haul routes or rural Barbados.
******So……will TB lease 200 units and at what COST to taxpayers?
FC @ TheOGazerts
Thanks for your encouragement! We have a Bridgetown bypass bus from the south to the west. Could we not another one be from say St Peter to St Lucy to St Andrew to St Joseph to St John to St Phillip to CH CH to Bridgetown. That now sounds like a round the island tour. Great for the retired ones and a cheap tour for the tourist at $20-$25 per person @ 40 persons that’s $800 – $1,000 a trip.
That job is desirable seeing the countryside every day. One problem the roads in Bath and the surrounding areas are narrowed by bush and needs real repairs they are like a rollercoaster ride with plenty of humps and pumps and some washed away.
The last admin really did us in they allowed everything to run to ruin. Addressing the zones for fares we need 3 at Max, 2 would be possible but remember not all buses need to go to the end of the route, as an example the hourly buses go to the end but not the ½ hourly. This is a lucrative business it is just government needs to be out of it they are not business people they are lawyers and bureaucrats.
Business decisions elude them; they make political decisions which cost us the tax payers paying for their idiocies even if you do not catch a bus.
https://www.brainyquote.com/photos_tr/en/m/michaeljordan/167382/michaeljordan1.jpg
David you surely can determine what you do or do not do and Freedom Crier is Appreciative of you sharing Ideas in the Public Sphere.
https://www.brainyquote.com/photos_tr/en/b/benjaminfranklin/151577/benjaminfranklin1.jpg
We Should become better Listeners everyone is of Worth and Entitled to an Opinion…
When we do not listen we will not hear those things that are necessary for our progress.
The Greatest listeners are are those in tune with their Intuition!
It is Never my Intention to Offend or be Offensive.
We are All here to Learn…None are Perfect, not one!
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We have all grown up in Barbados and have come to believe things as they are, and with just some small tweaking to make things better. We sometimes are surprised by others who lived elsewhere and who express views that are not who we think we are. We sometimes feel that they are bringing what they have seen overseas, but they do not know how “life” is in Bim and that can’t work here.
“If we do what we have always done we will get what we have always got” To put it in Biblical terms we have to repent. Repentance means change, change means CHANGE. The beliefs of the political spouting from the politicians have us in this mess if we do not CHANGE we will suffer big time. You will see more of this when Phase 2 kicks in.
The social things we try to hold on to will delay the recovery. As the bible says the wages of sin is death. Who wants that? Or in other words not CHANGE-ing means death/hardship/destitution to us all. I want the best for Barbados. When cutting out cancer you cut it out, failure to do so leads to more pain and death. Our desires for freeness have given us cancer.
The government cannot give anything for free without taking it from us first though taxes, Vat ETC. they are not a business that makes/creates money they consume money they do not create wealth they spend it, they say on our behalf. But we know of the waste the cronyism the kickbacks the giving of favourable contracts ETC.
We need less government size not more government size we want government to work for us as we put them there not we work for the government as in heavy taxes we need to really wake up before it is too late my child and his children are the ones going to pay for the mess we made, so it is up to us to correct it before we old people pass on. Make the CHANGE be the CHANGE.
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Well said.
Well said.
@ Artax,
The cost is yet to be seen if the TB does a leasing operation. I am still scared that the politicians will “juk ’em hands into the pot”. Idle hands do the devils handiwork. It may just be the nature of the beast? Maybe we need to keep those politicians and friends of the politicians fully and gainfully employed so they can’t “juk dem hands” in the workings. I heard once that someone said ” what is the use of having all this power if you cant use it to do something; any thing?” Again idle hands…
Another thing that maybe a impediment to the proper functioning of a newly reconstituted TB is the ethos that surrounds the SOEs.
That has to change. How do we change it? We have to demonstrate that its not business or politics as usually bout hay.
Now will the political lackeys or the politician themselves want to be “reborn” and sin no more is a big question. We the taxpayers also need prayer as we may often relapse if the TB is not what it used to be; but yet we still want change at the TB. That is a dichotomy that some one with bigger brains than me has to show me the answer.
Words of Wisdom…Take Note!
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Something to Consider…
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We need to be Standing on Higher Ground Before we can Raise Others Up!
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There is no such thing as Luck…
You will Reap What you Sow!
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We Need to be Doers not just Talkers and Well Wishers!
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Never Tire of Doing Good!
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True True!!
We Need to Exert our Energy to Succeed at what We Put Our Minds Too…
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Do what is Right and Let the Consequence Follow!
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Life is to Experience and Learn the Lessons of Life!
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Inspiration is the Greatest Teacher and comes from Within!
Listen Well and you will be able to Motivate Others!!
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To have a Brighter Future you have to start changing yourself and work outward to change the society for the better, if everyone change for the better the society will better. In Biblical Terms it’s called Repentance.
“If you want Change be the Change!”
Let Everyone Start with Themselves!!
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Matthew 5:48 (KJV) “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
He gives us no commandment unless he provides a way whereby we may accomplish what he ask of us.
After all we are the Seeds of Deity and as his off Spring he would want us to become as he is!
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We Get out of Life what we Put in Plus the Increase!
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2 Timothy 1:7-10 (KJV)
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
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