The following (with minor edit) is a comment posted by Walter Blackman to BU blog Whimpering Opposition.
– David, blogmaster
David
April 27, 2019 8:48 AM“First thing this morning and we are off to the races attacking people instead of debating the real issues?”
David,
Through the vehicle of BU, you are getting a very deep insight into the nature of Barbadians, as a people.
We have paid billions of dollars into the NIS since 1967. The money that was paid into the NIS was supposed to be prudently invested and used primarily to pay benefits to participants and their beneficiaries, along with the administrative costs of running the NIS department.
Reportedly, the NIS for Barbados was first articulated by Charles Duncan O’Neale almost a century ago. From the moment the concept was aired, some anti-progressive minded members of the white minority on the island rationalized that they were wealthy enough to provide for their unborn great-great-great grandchildren and therefore should not be called upon to contribute to any fund which pays out benefits to perceived poor and needy black Barbadians. To this very day, some of these white Barbadians are still demanding that they be allowed to opt out of the NIS.
With this background in mind, any sensible Barbadian ought to have been outraged when they saw black politicians from poor, humble origins take up the hard-earned NIS money of Barbadian taxpayers and stupidly give it away to every Tom, Dick, and Harry on the flimsiest of excuses. All of us are forced to suspect that kickbacks, fraud, and corruption must have been associated with the squandering of our NIS funds.
Somewhere along the line, possibly within the next 30 years, many Barbadians will weep and gnash their teeth as they witness the NIS become totally transformed into a Ponzi scheme, and then collapse, never to be resurrected. By that time, the retiring age for a full pension might be 85 or 90 years old!
This is but one simple issue in the area of finance that is desperately crying out for political ventilation and a solution. There are many, many more financial problems, alternatives, and solutions that ought to be put to the electorate.
Barbados needs outstanding financial leadership now, more than ever.
Given the excessive, prolonged “spiriting away” of public funds, along with the deep financial morass that the country is now mired in, I must boldly ask BU readers a few simple questions:
- Who on the government’s side is seen as the person who can get up, address and communicate financial issues to Barbadians in a clear, understandable manner, and then get buy-in from the electorate and major stakeholders?
- Who is the named UPP’s spokesman on Finance?
- Who is the named Solutions Barbados’ spokesman on Finance?
- Who is the named DLP’s spokesman on Finance?
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.