Here is a report scripted and posted to Facebook by Annalee Davis who attended the Blue Horizon town hall meeting – David, blogmaster
Report on Blue Horizon Town Hall Meeting
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111 responses to “Report on Blue Horizon Town Hall Meeting”
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@Hal
Was he there? Then again after his appointment to higher heights his opinions might have changed.
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Commisiong was present and spoke against the proposal to construct on the seaside.
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@Ping Pong
Many of the faces present last night were also involved against Cahill.
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@peterlawrencethompson July 19, 2019 1:17 PM
@Hal Austin July 19, 2019 12:59 PM
Barbados is a failed state. You are correct. You win. 😉We have plenty of company… the UK and USA too are currently failed states.
PLT, keep drumming that into the head of the bullshitter from the Ivy.
Ah waiting to see how BoJo will get out of the EU now that a motion to block the suspension of parliament has been passed. -
Commissiong was at the meeting and you can hear him in the video I posted if you want to sit through almost 4 hours of comments.
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Britain has spent about 60 million dollars so far on Brexit.
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LOL. You guys have claimed how bright and well educated you are. For decades you have had the audacity to look down your nose at your brothers and sisters from the UK diaspora and the majority of Caribbean citizens from the other islands. With your ludicrous claims that those from the UK are mad. Well look at the state you guys are in. You are waist high in sewage and you have zero chance of escape. I take no pleasure in taking comfort from your displeasure.
You should accept the advice from my compatriot – Hal Austin – that your country is a failed state. Stop pretending that there are enough adults in Barbados who can govern the country. And admit that you are incapable as a nation to manage your own affairs. Find a “decent” country who can take you under their wings and stop the long talk.
Many countries have endured famines, war, perilous climates, earthquakes, tribalism, flooding and the rest. And they have bounced back. Barbados has never had to endure these catastrophes. But it’s ill-equipped to bounce back.
There is no point in being a sovereign nation if you can’t feed your people and live in dignity. Fifty-two years of independence – bullshit.
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Near the end of the video you can hear Bjerkham admit that the $5 million purchase of Blue Horizon is not even finalized yet. Wierd! It was reported to be a done deal almost 2 years ago. https://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/99630/hotelier-blue
Smoke and mirrors. -
@PLt
Thanks for posting it will have to listen in segments. I watched the part where Gabby spoke and his point was shared by most that were present it seemed.
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Commissiong was very critical of the Planning Department… going almost as far as to accuse them of corruption.
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“Maloney says he can take his plant and his water and sow it any part of the world.White capitalist class attitude thumbing his nose and finger at a 95% black population.”
without whom none of them would have anything, so let him take his slave master wannabe ass elswhere and practice that blighted philosophy….and see how far he gets…no one tolerates parasites for any great length of time..
the island needs to be PURGED of these parasites and leaches to ensure the SURVIVAL OF THE CURRENT AND FUTURE BLACK BAJANS…these gotta go…they have overstayed.
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More like 52 years of CORRUPTION..
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@ Hal
Not only minister of planning but minister of finance so I have a question for her now.
When this purchase went before the house were those present made to understand that the assets of the entity were being sold as opposed to the stand alone land side hotel property? If you all in opposition were made aware of this why wasn’t it shared with the public and objected to?
Don’t tell me a whole side of lawyers sat there and not one bothered to look deeper into what was being sold!
Please answers now no more political pontificating! Cause it look like both wunna parties got to hold some licks here.
Also instead of looking at an application should this government not do the people’s business and hold an inquiry into the sale of this asset for half of what was offered by another party?
Answers please no more grand standing, the pot boiling!
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@PLT
The prime minister is also planning minister. Mr Commissiong is also our Ambassador to CARICOM and as such is subject to the civil service code. He is obviously playing a game. Is he implying that the prime minister’s department is corrupt? He cannot continue to have one foot in and one foot out.
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@Hal Austin July 19, 2019 3:36 PM
I was a bit surprised by Mr. Commissiong’s tone, although I can find no fault with the substance of what he said. I have no idea whether he is playing any game besides being his usual cantankerous self. -
@Hal Austin July 19, 2019 3:36 PM
There were cabinet ministers in the audience so I’m sure everyone in government is aware of what Mr. Commissiong said and how he said it. -
@PLT
So wait if the sale isn’t final why in God’s name are we even bothering with this nonesence. If the property is still owned by the state then the solution is simple.
Just amend the Conveyance to represent the sale of the hotel property on the land side only, have if valued and if it is less than the $5M they “offered” adjust the asking price to suit. If the buyers ain’t happy with that then walk away. We will then offer the land side property for public sale with the guarantee that THE SEASIDE LOT WILL REMAIN VESTED IN THE STATE AS AN OPEN LOT FOR PUBLIC USE.
This way anyone buying Blue Horizon Hotel would know their beach access is guaranteed and the public will be happy knowing Accra Beach will remain accessible to future generations of bajans and tourist alike.
Sound like a win win to me.
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@John A July 19, 2019 4:16 PM
It was almost midnight before this snippet of information popped out and I’d already gone home to do more important things like petting my cats… I only found out by looking at the video. -
I told you when the president talked about a hotel corridor she had already made up her mind. Here is further evidence. Any time the president raises an idea it has already been word out the airport, Morocco, the hotel corridor, Carlisle Bay development, national security, Bittcoin, the list goes on.
A second major hotel could soon be coming to the Bridgetown area.
Minister of Tourism Kerrie Symmonds today revealed that the legal work related to the construction of the Hilton Garden Inn at Carlisle Bay, Bay Street had already begun.
While not disclosing many details on the project, Symmonds told members of the media that a contract was in the process of being prepared.
He said once that was completed it would pave the way for construction of the hotel.
If given the green light, it would be the second hotel planned for construction in the area, with the Hyatt Centric Resort scheduled to be built a short distance away.
“You will recall that when the Barbados Labour Party had its meeting in the Carlisle car park at the start of June, the Prime Minister had announced that steps had been taken by way of an investor to express an interest in a Hilton Garden Inn being built at what is now Carlisle House.Minister of Tourism Kerrie Symmonds (left) in conversation with chairman of the Intimate Hotels of Barbados Soni Kessuram (centre) and Dr Kerry Hall, tourism consultant with the Ministry of Tourism.
“The legal work has been completed and we are on our way towards seeing the fruition of that investment,” Symmonds said on the sidelines of the Intimate Hotels of Barbados’ Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Sweetfield Manor, Britton’s Hill, St Michael.
“Obviously that is within the Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment, so I can’t really speak much further…”
But Symmonds said there was also a possibility that other hotels could also be coming to the area.
The Minister said the former chief executive officer (CEO) of Coca-Cola, who resides in Barbados, had expressed an interest in investing $30 million on the property by the Waterfront Café and Careenage.
According to the Minister that project could also see a hotel being built in that area.
“It is in the same area and it will probably be a number of things. Quite likely it may have a hotel component to it as well as some degree of shopping…” he noted.
He said such projects were always welcome as Barbados badly needed the foreign exchange along with the employment opportunities.
Symmonds said Government would be working with investors to ensure that these initiatives were quickly dealt with.
“So we are making progress. The basic good news is that people recognize that Barbados is open for business. They are expressing an interest in further investment and obviously we are trying to ensure that investment is facilitated in as transparent a way as possible, but making sure that we expedite it because the country needs the foreign exchange in order to get past some of the difficulties that we are still in,” the Minister explained.
“…But I do know that there has been a number of expressions of interest for people who are interested in doing hotel development in the Carlisle Bay area and in the general area of the Bayfront in Bridgetown, Barbados, which will be across the water from where the Customs and Immigration used to be.”
During a speech in Carlisle car park just over a month ago to celebrate the BLP’s first year in office, Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced that $3 billion would be spent in a Carlisle Bay project over the next seven years.
She said it would result in hotels being constructed between Hastings, Christ Church and Batts Rock, St Michael.(Quote) -
This is interesting!
We’ve almost never seen anyone as near to the centre of power as is Comissiong making these kinds of comments and still expect to be nearer my god to thee.
David, what is your reading of this? Is it merely familial?
Maybe, just maybe, the duopoly has matured. LOL
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@ TLSN July 19, 2019 3:24 PM
Very profound indeed.
I remember the treatment meted out to the Guyanese. there is now talk of Guyana being a lifeline for Barbadian investors . The sooner some of the pride in the motto is forgotten and stress placed on industry,the better. -
It will be very interesting to see how this unfolds seeing that the facts are now being vented in public forums. If these developers have in fact not closed on The Blue Horizon sale then the PM has the power to correct the wrongs of the last party.
On the Hyatt issue if the authorities and people in the area are satisfied, then I do not object to that project. All impact studies and such must however be met first and shared with the public.
The reason I don’t object to that project is simple. That is not a case of taking away from Bajans a public access and window to the sea as is the case with Accra. If the Hyatt for argument sake was to be located where the Bay Street Espanade is, I would also have major objections to that.
My point therefore is do not take from the public the little they have left in terms of beach access and beach parking. The development of Lower Bay St if properly done would be a plus, in that those old dilapidated warehouses building are an eye sore.
What ever is done though the public must be included in the process. We have experience enough by “the dark of night” deals with the last bunch, so understand clearly we will not tolerate any from you all.
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re Many countries have endured famines, war, perilous climates, earthquakes, tribalism, flooding and the rest. And they have bounced back. Barbados has never had to endure these catastrophes. But it’s ill-equipped to bounce back.
There is no point in being a sovereign nation if you can’t feed your people and live in dignity. Fifty-two years of independence – bullshit.
THIS CERTAINLY CAN NOT BE REFUTED!
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@Pacha
Unable to read his play. It is clearly a breach of acknowledged protocol.
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Frankly there’s little analysis re sewerage issues, money inflows, impact on the environment & cultural norms surrounding the building of new hotels, However Rockley is well represented and a compromise will be worked out. My concern is the poor man area that borders Carlisle Bay & Bay Street. My suggestion is that the Government of Barbados sell Government Headquarters plus GIS & the other tracts of land on the landward side after compulsive acquisition to build hotels and retain the window on the sea stretching from the esplanade past the old Fish market, the old hospital to the new Virgin Inn. The Hyatt will be built but should be the only high rise monster. All other hotels or inns on the beach side going towards Bridgetown should not be any taller than 3/4 stories.
Could the UWI graduates in the respective fields address the environmental, financial & societal issues raised by these budding issues
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Even though most of the objectors’ comments are straight out of the Guide to opposing development booklet by the privileged and nimbyist, I am happy to see government ensuring that there is public consultation. Long may it last.👏🏾
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@enuff
Is government facilitating or it is a planning requirement.
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The problem in the tourism industry is that Barbadians have not been trained for this. Instead of constantly teaching nonsense at school and university, the state should teach the youth things that are actually useful in the hotel: Polishing shoes, making beds, cleaning rooms, cooking, washing dishes, ironing laundry, serving as receptionists and buckling as butlers.
It would be enough to send 95 % of the population to school for only 6 years and then to train for another 3 years at a college for tourism. At the age of 15, the kids are fit for their first job in a hotel.
Of course, some of you will moan again and call me a disgrace. But we should face reality. It is not the government under our Prime Minister that is responsible for the disaster, but the people who, in the past, resisted any industrial innovation through lack of productivity and with their preference for the excessive bureaucratic welfare state.
If you want to diversify the economy, the public sector must first be radically reduced in size. This is the only way to reduce taxes and regulations so that the manufacturing and financial sectors can once again be profitable and internationally competitive. At present, Barbados is a no-go for investors because of very high labour costs, low local productivity and dubious work ethics.
The government must therefore amputate the welfare state so that the island can breathe freely again. The government must deprive the population of social benefits like it deprives drug addicts of drugs. Only then will the population be able to think rationally again and be happy to agree to the necessary measures to strengthen the economy.
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@ Tron July 19, 2019 8:46 PM
“The problem in the tourism industry is that Barbadians have not been trained for this. Instead of constantly teaching nonsense at school and university, the state should teach the youth things that are actually useful in the hotel: Polishing shoes, making beds, cleaning rooms, cooking, washing dishes, ironing laundry, serving as receptionists and buckling as butlers.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++You are making a profoundly serious indictment on the role of Bajan tertiary education system in its contribution to the country’s modern economy.
Why are the local tertiary papers-mills awarding useless certificates and conferring overrated degrees on people whose only opportunities for work can be found in the menial jobs in the tourism industry as listed by you?
Shouldn’t greater focus be placed on those vocational areas crying out for candidates like nursing, environmental protection and law enforcement?
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“But in our tourist brochures the Caribbean is a blue pool into which the republic dangles the extended foot of Florida as inflated rubber islands bob and drinks with umbrellas float towards her on a raft. This is how the islands from the shame of necessity sell themselves; this is the seasonal erosion of their identity, that high-pitched repetition of the same images of service that cannot distinguish one island from another, with a future of polluted marinas, land deals negotiated by ministers, and all of this conducted to the music of Happy Hour and the rictus of a smile. What is the earthly paradise for our visitors? Two weeks without rain and a mahogany tan, and, at sunset, local troubadours in straw hats and floral shirts beating “Yellow Bird” and “Banana Boat Song” to death. There is a territory wider than this — wider than the limits made by the map of an island — which is the illimitable sea and what it remembers.
All the Antilles, every island, is an effort of memory; every mind, every racial biography culminating in amnesia and fog. Pieces of sunlight through the fog and sudden rainbows, arcs-en-ciel. That is the effort, the labor of the Antillean imagination, rebuilding its gods from bamboo frames, piece by piece.”
Derek Walcott from his Nobel lecture, “The Antilles: Fragments of Epic Memory”
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Getting rid of the LEACHES in parliament and their bribers would save the taxpayers hundreds of millions per year…money which should be spent on UPGRADING THE EDUCATION SYSTEM INSTEAD……more AFRICAN HISTORY…..MORE TRADE SCHOOLS….more GIFTED YOUNG PEOPLE…given the opportunities to EXCEL that WERE STOLEN FROM THEM AND THEUR ANCESTORS….IN THE LAST 70 YEARS….
…..so that asses like Tron would stop embarrassing the island….on social media no less.
Those hundreds of millions STOLEN by the above mentioned RATS…over the last 30 plus years vould have had the majority population….TO WHOM THE MONEY BELONGS….on much stronger footing..
Glad to see the uppity and arrogant shitey whitehood in the above video reaching the REALIZATION….that this is not TIEF FTOM THE TAXPAYERS AS USUAL…..the expressions on their fraudulent, wicked corrupt faces….were PRICELESS.
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It is very interesting reading these comments and while some made good and relevant comments, I have to wonder why is the race issue brought up? We have plenty of of cooperation in the duplicity and corruption (skullduggery and subterfuge) going for years between colour/class – note how I say ‘colour/class’, as both are problems of the mind and certain thinking (i.e. aristocracy it is colourless by definition), need one say Clico or have we forgotten that?
I would have thought that as for years I have heard that we whites always stick together, and I have tried to say otherwise because I’ve seen shit from other whites, like my parents and so on, that now, that at the town hall meeting – while mixed but predominately white that it showed that all Bajan white people do NOT stick together and will piss on others that unfair them, as whites come in lower, middle and upper, and whomever unfair them is the same as done to blacks or others.
What you are seeing today, especially for the lower and middle class whites, and especially since some safety nets have dropped in the last decade or so, is that we have started to get a voice because before we were “under orders” – direct or implied or feared – to conform and keep our mouths shut or else. I’m suffering from that now myself but was warning of it for years before, and warned by my parents before that. My heroes along these lines that did much for all of us are Grantley Adams and TT Lewis, in fact I seem to be more like the later.
But we shall see what happens about this whole think and who certain people react to it, and that should be judged on its own merit.
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… “whomever unfair them is the same as done to blacks or others” meaning its happens all around.
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PLT….now you see up front and personal how wicked, deceitful and DISRESPECTFUL of the majority population they they ALL are……let’s see how this plays out…
http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/240826/deal
“The controversial Blue Horizon Hotel redevelopment at Rockley, Christ Church, is not a done deal.
Senior planning officer in the Prime Minister’s Planning Unit, Paula Smith gave this assurance to hundreds of protesters and other interested parties Thursday night, at the second town hall meeting for the developers and other stakeholders.
Though there as an observer, Smith told irate residents that permission for construction of the hotel on the land side and a beach club on the popular Accra Beach, had not yet been granted by the Town and Country Planning Department.”
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“.. to conform and keep our mouths shut or else” meaning get fired (laid off), or cannot get a job, or marked for life and we whites are small in number so we easy to identify.
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“What you are seeing today, especially for the lower and middle class whites, and especially since some safety nets have dropped in the last decade or so, is that we have started to get a voice because before we were “under orders” – direct or implied or feared – to conform and keep our mouths shut or else.”
Oh we know the most vulnerable of the minority community were ALSO…subjected to the keep your mouth shut OR ELSE PHILOSOPHY…
.cant do that anymore though, not when it has become very clear that YOU TOO…will be targeted to lose your properties and render your beneficiaries just as poverty stricken as the majority population has had to ENDURE FOR DECADES …..and who have felt the BRUNT of the criminality and racism practiced against them…by the wicked who colluded to do such…
Racism must be mentioned…it is the FUEL…used to drive the CRIMINALITY…it’s just that these days…no one is safe…GREED HAS TAKEN OVER….so keeping ya mouth shut for SELF-PRESERVATION…will NOT work anymore…time to SPEAK UP AND SPEAK OUT LOUDLY…as ONE VOICE..
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“hundreds of protesters” … why are we called that?
Or maybe we knew of the bullying tactics, along with subterfuge, that was going on. WE DID NOT WANT TO STOP THE DEVELOPMENT, WE ONLY WANTED OUR CONCERNS TO BE HEARD, after a first meeting only advertised in the Advocate – sorry, while my 87 year old father subscribes for decades it is a lower circulation, so only 5 turned up and only found a few chairs provide too. What would you think would happen after that white, black, brown or pink?
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@WURA-War-on-U … agreed
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[…] – Gabriel […]
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@ David G. Brooks
Why should people be ashamed to raise the race issue, especially in a segregated, former slave colony such as Barbados? True, colourism is just as important, but race is at the root of our culture.
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First and foremost, let me state that I am totally and completely opposed to the privatization of any part of Accra Beach in any form whatsoever.
An area that I have not heard discussed thus far as it relates to the construction of the hotel is that of traffic congestion and parking. Anyone familiar with the flow of traffic in this area knows full well that traffic can be bumper-to-bumper from Bubba’s Sports Bar to St Lawrence Gap at numerous times of the day. What will it be like when this new entity is added to the mix? Increased frustration and mounting road rage, perhaps?
Next, anyone traversing the area formerly known as “Dover Woods” will be well acquainted with the single-lane road that has evolved in front of Sandal Resorts. Single lane as a result of parking on one or sometimes both sides of the road by taxis, buses, delivery trucks, tour coaches, etc. Also, the impediment to the smooth flow of vehicular traffic by the indiscriminate crossing of the road by staff of the hotel, from one side of the road to the other. Take also into consideration the enlarged and growing footprint of staff parking into every nook and cranny surrounding the Sandals property. Will the residents surrounding this new Blue Horizon development project be expected to put up with this in perpetuity?
At what price are we to expected to sell our souls to tourism in the marketplace of progress?
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Tourists also hire vehicles.
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@WURA-War-on-U July 20, 2019 3:26 AM ” keeping ya mouth shut for SELF-RESERVATION…will NOT work anymore.”
Keeping your mouth shut never works for victims.
But it is a favourite advice given by victimizers.
Rapists want you to be silent.
Abusive husbands and boyfriends want you to “cry softly so the neighbours won’t hear”
Dirty politicians want you to be silent while they enrich themselves and their friends out of YOUR tax money.
Dirty cops want you be be silent, even when you are being beaten.
Dishonest customs officers want you to hand over the bribes and be perpetually silent.
Paedeophiles want you to be silent.
Refuse to be silent.
Scream, holler, louder and louder until the victimizing stops.
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@WURA-WAR-on-U July 19, 2019 3:30 PM “More like 52 years of CORRUPTION.”
Not 52 years.
How many times to i have to tell you that Marbados was conceived in 1627 and nurtured from 1627 to 1838 in the corruption of exploitation and slavery, and in the continued vicious exploitation in the post landless emancipation period from 1838 to the rebellion of 1937, to the deprivation and horrors of the food rationing during world war 2. There is not a time in Barbados’ history when the majority people have not been exploited, have not suffered.
Why do you insist in saying that the evil began 52 years ago?
There has always been great evil here.
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@TLSN July 19, 2019 3:24 PM “Find a “decent” country who can take you under their wings and stop the long talk.”
A Simple Response: Are there any “decent” countries in the world. If so can you name them for us please. Thanks.
@TLSN July 19, 2019 3:24 PM “Many countries have endured famines, war, perilous climates, earthquakes, tribalism, flooding and the rest. And they have bounced back. Barbados has never had to endure these catastrophes. But it’s ill-equipped to bounce back..”
Barbados has endured the worst TransAtlantic hurricane EVER in the recorded history of TransAtlantic hurricanes. Worse that Gilbert, worse than Ivan, worse than Katrina,
Barbadians have endured 211 years of brutal chattle slavery.
Barbadians including my own grandparents and parents, and likely yours too suffered through the a period between 1838 and 1937 when wages did not rise at all. Kindly name me 3 other places where wages remained stagnant for 99 years. Thanks. If our grandfather’s and father’s wages stagnated for 100 years is it surprising then that they had nothing to leave to us. That we had to start from scratch each and every generation.
Barbadians endured food rationing during World War 2. So often the stories of the colonised are not told. We learn about food rationing in the U.K. and how the British suffered, and ‘yes” they did suffer, but unless we have spoken with out own parents and grandparents we remain ignorant to the fact that our mothers–mine too–had to take a ration card to the village shop. My poor sister who endured that food scarcity is scarcely cold in her grave, my brother who suffered greatly during that period is still alive. Many other Bajan babies born in the 1930’s did not survive. You should make some trip to our public library or Archives. There you wil learn that 1/4 of our elder brothers and sisters did not survive to their fifth birthday. A child dying of hunger is SUFFERING. Many, many thousands of Bajan children suffered.
This myth that Barbados has always been a rose garden for her people, especially for her majority black people, but also for her poor white people is more than a myth. It is a LIE.
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@TLSN July 19, 2019 3:24 PM “Many countries have endured famines, war, PERILOUS CLIMATES earthquakes, tribalism, FLOODING and the rest. And they have bounced back. Barbados has NEVER had to endure these catastrophes.”
From Wikipedia:
The Great Hurricane of 1780, also known as Huracán San Calixto, the Great Hurricane of the Antilles, and the 1780 Disaster,is the deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record. Between 22,000 and 27,501 people died throughout the Lesser Antilles when the storm passed through them from October 10–16. Specifics on the hurricane’s track and strength are unknown because the official Atlantic hurricane database goes back only to 1851.
THE HURRICANE STRUCK BARBADOS LIKELY AS A CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE, with at least one estimate of 1-minute sustained wind speeds as high as 200 mph (320 km/h)[5] (greater than any in recorded Atlantic basin history)
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@TLSN July 19, 2019 3:24 PM. “Stop pretending that there are enough adults in Barbados who can govern the country. And admit that you are incapable as a nation to manage your own affairs. Find a “decent” country who can take you under their wings…Many countries have endured famines, war, PERILOUS CLIMATES earthquakes, tribalism, FLOODING and the rest. And they have bounced back.”
No country bounces back from a category 5 hurricane. Puerto taken under the wing of the great United States is still struggling 2 years after their last major hurricane:
2 years after hurricanes, Trump administration has OK’d only 9 projects for funding in Puerto Rico
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/07/18/trump-tweets-puerto-ricos-irma-maria-hurricane-recovery-trickles/1758820001/THINK, THINK, THINK of what London or Paris or Washington, D.C. would like like after a direct hit by a category 5 hurricane. And with global warning that possibility does exist.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.