One of the things we have to respect is that vending has been a way of life from slavery days, whereby people would have plied their trade whether selling fruits, whether selling whatever to feed their families and indeed vending has taken people in this country out of poverty. It send [sic] many children to school including myself. I am testimony of a grandfather who was vendor in Ellerton, St. George… so indeed I am supportive of vendors …We just need to give them the respect that is due to them and also give them the space that they require to be part of the landscape of this country.
Last weekend the Prime Minister Mia Mottley at the Barbados Labour Party’s annual conference made passing reference to itinerant vending in Barbados and the need for some order to be brought to bear. The matter of vending along the streets of Barbados has been given lip service by successive BLP and DLP administrations. All will agree that citizens of Barbados from the lowest social class are members of the vendor class.
A scan of parliament’s website shows the Markets and Slaughter-Houses (Amendment) Bill, 2019 on the Order Paper. One of the reasons for the amendment to quote the Bill – “… is to amend the Markets and Slaughter-Houses Act, Cap. 265 to make provision for the imposition of pecuniary penalties and other matters related thereto…The pecuniary penalty in respect of an order made pursuant to subsection (3) is $300″. The current fine is $50.00.
Given the class of person who will be affected by the increase in penalty begs the question – is the proposed increase in the fine and other amendments to the Act fair?
If it means clearing the “Duncan-O’Neal” bridge, so that pedestrians can have free passage, I have no problem with it. Try using the bridge’s walk-way and you will see what I mean.. This post may result in some saying that I am insensitive to the needs of others. The converse point surely can be made that the vendors are inconsiderate to the pedestrians.
Penalising the very poorest in society, while giving wealthy owners of zombie hotels tax breaks.
So what is knew
Govt penalising vendors.if u asked govt neeeds to be penalised for letting piles of garbage lined the streets for more than a year
It is down right inhumane and unconscionable that after a year of a promise by govt for barbados society to be clean and healthy that govt has not found the means necessary to pick up garbage off the streets in timely fashion
However can open mouth about penalising the poor in society
The mere talk of govt making statements in such an insenstive manner makes one want to puke
This is the same govt who refuses to pay Sanitation workers overtime to keep barbados clean
Well i be dam
@ Robert Lucas,
Take a look at the increasing number of businesses that are erecting structures on our beaches. Speightstown and the boatyard being a good example. What of the number of beach recliners that are restricting the free movement of locals on public beaches. I am totally against this.
We should never try to curtail Barbadians from trading local produce on our streets. It is entrepreneurial and should be encouraged.
With all the travelling to international countries govt has done
Mia could take a page out of the way other countries handled these problems instead (of )at every move she rides the tax payers backs and now vendors for more fiscal support
From what i have observed during my travels i take note that there are large dumpster placed in certain areas for the vendors to dump their garbage or residue
Govt now boast about the savings they have
Now govt can take that savings and used them in a useful manner for barbados society and remove this dictatorial way of governing off the peoples back
What a dam shame and a 30-0 waste
For where there is no vision the people perish
What is a damn shame is if a general election were held tomorrow it would probably yield the same result. Every issue you must distil to Mia this or Mia that. Do we need to bring structure to itinerant vending. If yes what are the measures to introduce, do we model St. Lucia, Jamaica or go with a nuanced approach.
@TLSN October 30, 2019 5:26 AM
I see the connection you are trying to make . It is invalid for the following reason: on the beach there is room to manouver. quite easily around the tourists, who in any event cannot be sited below the low-tide level. Do Barbadians go to the beach to tan? As far as I am aware, they go to swim and some do build sand castles. The beach area in comparison to the bridge is vast. There is very little room available for transit by the pedestrian on the bridge. I am not an aficionado of tourism, but at present if this country wants foreign exchange, it has to bite the bullet. The vendors do not provide a great deal of foreign exchange. Let me very frank, there should be no vending on the bridge, period. You can holler as much as you want about the small black man being disadvantaged. I am discriminated against by the vendors blocking the bridge, when I seek passage across it, which is pure bs.
For the vast majority of ordinary Barbadians walking the bridge it is seen as a necessary inconvenience as they make their way to the bus minibus stand.
All I would say is that Barbados is a land of much law and legislation. Also a land of the lawless and lawbreakers. Certainly not a land od serious and unbiased enforcement.
Amend the act as they have done on so many previous occasions. I am just wondering if any of it will have real-world consequences or any realtime enforcement.
Just asking
So yuh” fine” the vendors.isnt the idea to stop littering from accumulating
Govt does not provide larger enough containers to place the residue made from customers and vendors and garbage is not collected by sanitation dept
Then what
For argument sake vendors decide to bag all their garbage and take it home and placed it on the side walk or even left the garbage where they ply their business. No collection occurs for weeks
Then what
can you not see that the problem goes beyond fines but govt implementing formulas that would work long term as added incentives
Govt needs to have effective planned measures which can prevent this nagging issue along with the large collection of garbage left behind by the vendor instead of hot and sweaty ideas to penalized every Tom and mary
In other words pro active measures are necessary
Obviuosly fines passed previuisly as law has not worked
“For where there is no vision the people perish….”
Spot on!!
And this was verified when Froon’s lack of vision resulted in 24 consecutive credit rating downgrades, junk bond status and an almost devaluation of the Barbados dollar.
This BLP administration seems to be continuing along a similar path.
According to Mr. Skinner…….. “the duopoly rules.”
Governor of Central Bank says the central bank has no say in the fees being set by banks. He said he will have a conversation with bankers.
Bajans are a lazy people.
In other climes there are Food Markets and Bazaars and all the above MILES AWAY and people will, bus, take trains and drive there for products.
So this issue of brekking we backs to accommodate these itinerants is rendered moot regarding how we have turned this into a “proximity issue” for people who blocking sidewalks AND BREKKING THE LAW!
Conversely, the fact is that few spaces exist for these persons to ply their trade lawfully.
De ole man feels that WHEN DE PDP COMES TO POWER, they should invest in a major Bridgetown Waterway development project that will
a.Change the full length of the constitution river
b. Place vendor huts all the way from Tweedside Road to Bridgetown ON EITHER SIDE OF A REPURPOSED CONSTITUTION RIVER WATERWAY
Wunna is invited to discuss these points made by PIECE THE LEGEND, NOW EXPERT, cause walter Blackman, the admirer of the jiggling botsies of 12 year old Parkinson girl students, recognizes me to be such.
Heheheheh
There’s a post the algorithmic Dustbin
PIECE
RE De ole man feels that WHEN DE PDP COMES TO POWER, they should invest in a major Bridgetown Waterway development project that will
a.Change the full length of the constitution river
b. Place vendor huts all the way from Tweedside Road to Bridgetown ON EITHER SIDE OF A REPURPOSED CONSTITUTION RIVER WATERWAY
KEEP YOUR IDEAS TO YOUR SELF TIL ELECTION TIME
MIA AND GRANVILLE WILL TIEF THEM AND PRESENT THEM AS THEIR ORIGINAL IDEAS
Does it matter whose idea it is? Who benefits if the system can be improved? Why do we educate citizens? Should citizens cede governance to the political class? We need to see the big picture.
@ David BU
It seems as though these fines are confined to markets only and do not have anything to do with garbage as one political yard-fowl is suggesting.
However, I agree with you 100% that measures need to be implemented to regulate vending. Successive BLP and DLP administrations built markets with toilet facilities so vendors could ply their trade. Instead, they opt to sell on the streets blocking alleys and sidewalks, as well as erecting shanties in various places of the city……. all of which is against the law.
As I constantly remind this forum, there are vendors around the environs of the old Fairchild Street market, many of whom are non-nationals, such that some sections are called “Vincy Town” and “Georgetown,” …….selling food and beverages without the required health certificates, liquor licenses and toilet facilities.
Vendors, many of whom are non-nationals, are allowed to ply their trade in front of the Cheapside market, while Barbadians are forced to rent market space within.
Are they any concerns about health, when vendors handle food, fruits and vegetables where they aren’t any toilet facilities for them to wash their hands after urinating or defecating?
We cannot continue in a society where people use the mantra “a poor black man trying to mek a dollar” as an excuse to break the law.
@Artax
We need to stop making this a political football. Have you tried to negotiate Ricketts Street leading to Roebuck Street recently?
It is getting worse.
Governor of Central Bank says the central bank has no say in the fees being set by banks. He said he will have a conversation with bankers.(Quote)
What a thing for a regulator to admit. Can someone tell the governor that he should have a say in the recruitment of senior executives, in the design and marketing of products, fees and other charges and customer service. If he does not, then we need new legislation.
David BU
Of course “it’s getting worse.”
We also have vendors endangering their lives by “setting up shop” at the junctions of round-a-bouts and on the highway.
It is high time that there are progressive laws in relation to vending. I have long maintained that allowing poor black people to build or put up pieces of boxes old wood and galvanize was not helping them in any form or fashion. It cultivated a hole in the wall mentality that bred other negative influences.
I remember well trying to stop the hoteliers from discriminating against beach vendors and trying to brand all of them as petty criminals.
Successive regimes refused to give the beach vendors any real assistance to graduate to successful business persons. Eventually the authorities came up with stalls at some beaches that ruined the whole atmosphere .
We need to streamline the vending industry by investing in it as a real economic entity rather than an “ Ah getting by” escape from poverty.
I am no prophet but if the powers that be intend to build a hotel corridor and if the investors have told them they want all vendors out of the way, it is obvious that they have to make a move.
One suspects that there is more to come. However if it is a genuine move to make it an attractive and sustainable profession, well regulated vending can create hundreds of jobs; businesses for future generations and be used as a launching pad for even greater business enterprise.
I recall suggesting that several acres of land strategically throughout the island should have been earmarked for mechanic and body work shops thereby removing road side mechanics and getting them into regulated business enterprise zones. Of course I was told that will affect the poor black man.
Had the opportunity to visit Cheapside Market recently. It takes tremendous intestinal fortitude to enter that market. Long before one is even persuaded to enter the marker there is a wide vendor offering lining the entrance of the market.
@ Dr. GP my myopic friend.
I recently imposed a self ban on my Stoopid Cartoons
Not because of the threat of the Honourable Blogmaster as he was instructed by The Rented Jackass Hee Hee who was instructed by Mugabe
But because de ole man gine show dem THE POWER OF THE PEN!
The Honourable Blogmaster going end up banning me purely based on what I am writing AND THE EFFECT THAT IT WILL HAVE!
I will explain meself more here.
I call the Honourable Blogmaster the minister of Disinformation and further claim that he is the Official Portal for the Collection of Ideas for Barbados
Additionally, if there is an issue to be tested, Mugabe sends down the issue, he launches it and they get feedback.
Ergo the idea about vendor fees increasing.
So, IF I HAVE STOPPED THE MEMES that they proposed to debar, how do I continue to fight this Mugabe regime?
We fight them by strategy Dr. GP.
As Caswell Franklyn said earlier, WE DO NOT HAVE THE CONSOLIDATED FUND TO BRIBE FOLLOWERS, as Mugabe is doing now with 26 ministers, but what we do have is a commodity that they dont have.
Ideas.
De ole man has floated 5 ideas which are PDP projects over the last 2 weeks.
1.the Intellectual Property Escrow Facility and
2.The Constitution River Causeway Repurposing Project of which part benefits the indigent Vendors.
3….
4…. and
5….
I choose not to repeat
All are “Suggestions for the incoming PDP” government right?
Can any one of these concepts be stolen AS IS MUGABE’S PRACTICE Dr GP?
No.
And CAN MUGABE PERMIT THE INCOMING PDP TO PLACE SAID AS YET, UNREALISED, BUT GAMECHANGING, PROPOSALS in their manifesto in 2021?
No!
Are you understanding what de ole man is doing now Dr. GP, my fellow myope?
Who benefits SHOULD EITHER THE TEIFING MUGABE REGIME or the incoming PDP, with its men of integrity and competence, implement de ole man’s ideas?
BARBADOS!
David BU
The link you provided re the Markets and Slaughter Houses Bill is actually information about Parliament (Administration) and the amendments to the Management Commission of Parliament……..
……… unless the Bill is included therein and I overlooked it.
Thanks Artax, corrected. Shows you are reading with comprehension.
Does it matter whose idea it is? Who benefits if the system can be improved?
Of course it does. Especially where there are benefits – not only financial– that can accrue to the author of said ideas. But in a culture where stealing of IP is commonplace no surprise at comments like these. I have struggled to find as much stealing of work and ideas as I’ve seen in Bdos.
@Dullard
Stop spouting nonsense. We are taking about enforcing fees, improving management, building stalls, educating people etc. We like to make every thing a big deal, is it any wonder the other islands passing us by?
What IP what!
@ William Skinner, excellent points. I believe that the government should make it compulsory for anyone wanting to set up a business selling fruit and veg. They should undergo a diploma for one year – free of charge – in order to become a certified street vendor. This should elevate the status of the profession. And would alter the mindset of these industrious individuals.
@TLSN
A diploma like in the UK?
Sweet!!!!!!!
@Dullard
Stop spouting nonsense. We are taking about enforcing fees, improving management, building stalls, educating people etc. We like to make every thing a big deal, is it any wonder the other islands passing us by?
Blogman you should be the last to make an accusation of ” spouting nonsense”.
Since, according to you, “enforcing fees, improving management, building stalls, educating people etc” is not a ‘a big deal’ then why can we get these basics right after decades of trying.
It not that ” We like to make every thing a big” it is that we are too blase and not treat issues with sufficient seriousness.
Doubt the Dullard? Ask the IMF.
Its because of laziness in thinking and behavior but people like you that “the other islands passing us by” not because of being too serious. If anything we are not serious enough in our affairs.
How can any government in a democracy effectively function without greasing the feedback loop with the citizenry? Have the last word.
@ David October 30, 2019 6:20 AM
“For the vast majority of ordinary Barbadians walking the bridge it is seen as a necessary inconvenience as they make their way to the bus minibus stand.”
What do you mean by ordinary Barbadians ? I would like to think of myself as an ordinary Barbadian, as I walk where ever I am going and some days cross the bridge between two to four times(sometimes I use the swing bridge).. Your use of English is to be admired in this instance for its ambiguity.
@Dr. Lucas
Ordinary reference is to the vast transient traffic flow catching the bus, moving to and fro to the Nelson Street, Martindales area etc.
@ TLSN
Thanks.
William Skinner,
I agree with you wholeheartedly. These vendors and others you mentioned should be assisted in stepping it up. Anything else would lead to just getting by rather than thriving.
Lawlessness, dilapidated stalls and unhygienic practices are not the way to go. Short-term convenience often becomes long-term inconvenience.
I hope this government looks at the problem in a wholistic way.
All yuh really understand the Bill though?🤔
@enuff
What is there not to understand about the proposed amendments to the Bill? It does not mean we cannot have a wider discussion.
@ Donna
Thanks.I have been reliably informed that with a good business plan an average coconut vendor, can easily earn in excess of $40,000 per year after expenses.
I was also informed that anybody who invests in dedicating several acres to coconut trees is guaranteed a tremendous source of income in about eight or so years. I was also told that on a huge scale a coconut tree estate can earn millions in foreign exchange because of world wide demand.
We can easily create about three thousand jobs in vending over the next decade. I mean sustainable well paying jobs
@”One of the things we have to respect is that vending has been a way of life from slavery days.”
Mostly true. Except. Human beings have been trading, buying and selling for thousands of years. So our people were trading long, long before slavery, since human societies started in Africa, is is more than likely that trading started there first, and then spread to the rest of the world as humans migrated to the rest of the world.
Sometimes the “boys of BU” try to farm-shame me because I work the soil. But I am not at all ashamed, inf act i cannot be shamed, because I know that our people, in fact all people have been farmers, and before that gatherers who lived off the land from the beginning of our common humanity.
I don’t think that I have the right to expect someone in China, or Europe or the great white north to grow my food for me, and put it in a microwave-ready container for me.
Lolll!!!
@Dwight Sutherland “lowest social class.”
Can someone explain “lowest social class” to me?
Am I “lowest social class?”
I grow produce. I eat some, give away some, but also sell any surplus. Does that make me “lowest social class?”
I have enjoyed a tertiary education.
How does one determine “lowest social class?”
October 30, 2019 4:04 AM
“Penalising the very poorest in society, while giving wealthy owners of zombie hotels tax breaks.”
these people seem to misrepresent Jesus’s pronouncement ” the poor will always be with us” and take it to the lowest level.
these people seem to misrepresent Jesus’s pronouncement ” the poor will always be with us” and take it to the lowest level.(Quote)
What does this mean in simple, comprehensible English?
“We should never try to curtail Barbadians from trading local produce on our streets. It is entrepreneurial and should be encouraged.”
and not only that; vending is part of our heritage and with regulation could be a useful part of our business landscape for those at the bottom end of the ladder. Why not bring them into the tax by registration and licensing and monitoring their activities
“What does this mean in simple, comprehensible English?”
Mr Bright Boy
it means what you was trying to say in highfalutin hyperbole
” that the the rich would be richer and the poor poorer
Gothcha. I thought that was what it meant, but could not believe anyone in this day and age could be so crass about social justice. But what do I know?
DavidOctober 30, 2019 7:33 AM
“Governor of Central Bank says the central bank has no say in the fees being set by banks. He said he will have a conversation with bankers”
in my ignorance always thought that one of the principal mandates of the Central Bank was regulatory control of banks. i always had a difficulty with the mission of the Central and given its budget if it was operating to the benefit of the country. I felt that the issuing of quarterly reports was insufficient to justify its existence. Regulation of exchange control in my view to the disadvantage of the ordinary citizen is not enough. Even Vincentians can access foreign exchange without government interference. .
“We cannot continue in a society where people use the mantra “a poor black man trying to mek a dollar” as an excuse to break the law.”
That is quite true but my difficulty is with the double standards. When the rich white or indian man break the law incoherent noises bay for a while and then the situation remains the same.
Maloney hard rock cement et al. It has been alleged the boat yard is in breach of Town and Country permission
i”dOctober 30, 2019 9:16 AM
@Artax
We need to stop making this a political football. Have you tried to negotiate Ricketts Street leading to Roebuck Street recently?
It is getting worse.”
What is the difficulty in implementing vigorous regulation
@ David October 30, 2019 12:41 PM
Based on your clarification I easily fall under the heading.
@ Dullard
You said and I quote
“… Dullard October 30, 2019 10:32 AM
Does it matter whose idea it is? Who benefits if the system can be improved?
Of course it does. Especially where there are benefits – not only financial– that can accrue to the author of said ideas…”
The simple problem here is that there are 3 Blogmasters.
The first and original one is the one who, in floating these ideas about jumpstarting an ethos of national participation, is the man who is both patriot and thinker.
It is he who, even though hated by the DLP AND THE BLP has formed and maintained The Vanguard.
When you continue with this concept and I quote
“…But in a culture where stealing of IP is commonplace no surprise at comments like these…” and you say so during the job schedule of either of the other two, you have encountered a Mental Vacuum and An Expanse which cannot see the connectivity between though capital protection and providing people with proximate space.
So whereas some of us read BU as a “continuum of lumen” seeking to thread all of the vibrant ideas here together for a single working society, by and large our society is made up of sheeple WHO THINK LIKE THE OTHER 2 BU BORG
They are incapable of making the connection between this article and another article blogged here a. ARE WE ANY BETTER? Or b. Barbados: Shifting from Vision to Action
So Dullard, when you finally arrive at “…I have struggled to find as much stealing of work and ideas as I’ve seen in Bdos….” this instance of the BU BORG is absolutely lost AND, WHILE THE PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHERE YOU ARE GOING, the sheeple here, who are like Legion, dont have a RH clue.
Watch the retort to de ole man now Dullard merely because I have been kind while calling them …
@ the Honourable Blogmaster your assistance please with an item here for Dullard thank you
@ David BU
I have noticed several references to the Governor’s of the Central Bank statement on the Commercial Banks charges of fees for the electronic transfer of funds from customers accounts to those of Traders. I would like to point out that money transmission involves costs. It is preferable that the price of these services be determined by the parties without the interference of the CBB. CBB interferes with the process only if the settlement threatens to disrupt the exchange of goods and services.
In another section of the press earlier this week I also noticed a debate about the high costs of currency. Currency as a medium of exchange always incorred a cost ,transferring to digital money does not remove the costs. Digital money use a high percentage of energy/ fuel. One needs to do a cost benefit analysis before jumping to conclusions.
The bottom line is there are costs in the money transmission process. We are transitioning to a digital process and there will be costs.
@Vincent
By the Governor’s own admission he confirmed complaints about exorbitant bank fees and promised to take it up with the banker’s association.
@ David BU
Yes. I read that. But there were comments on this blog that gave the impression that he was not aware of the complaints. The approach of the CBB has always been that of moral suasion/discussion . Traditionally the Financial System has cooperated.
@Vincent
Is that so? As far as one can remember there have been complaints from the public about high bank fees. With banks taking a deep haircut will they be so ready to cooperate with the expectation to maintain ROE from their shareholders etc?
@ David BU
You need to wake up and smell the coffee. There are no free lunches in the economic system. Some body pays.
@Vincent
You are happy with the distasteful profits banks have been making in an austerity period?
@ David BU
My personal happiness is irrelevant.
My role is that of arguing for an equitable distribution of the costs and the benefits.I live in the real world. Like most of the BU Household, I am concerned about the inequitable distribution of National Income. It is getting worse and we are assisting in the process unwittingly.
@ David BU at 4 :53 PM
You may recall that in previous submissions that I advised we must view the economic process as an exercise in Game Theory. Did the banks take a deep hair cut? Or was it the banks customers and the tax payers( present and future)?
@Vincent
Banks held government paper whether to satisfy reserve requirement or investment opportunity?
Water level at Bowmaston at 4 feet. Normal level at this time of year is 19 ft.
“Chairman of the Barbados Water Authority, Leodean Worrell says water levels in some previously unaffected wells are dropping. Addressing the Barbados Labour Party’s 81st annual conference in Queen’s Park on Saturday, she outlined the dire situation of the water supply as drought conditions persist, despite the island being five months into the six-month rainy season.
See video at Nation News online.
@ David BU at 5:53 PM
Did they hold them of their own free will? If something is a statutory requirement , is it an investment?
@Vincent
Reread the comment, whether statutory requirement or investment the debt restructure resulted in revenue forgone.
@ David BU
And they are recovering it from the customer through fees and future interests payments.
And we have not yet factored in the negative interest rates on deposits.
@Piece the LegendOctober 30, 2019 7:47 AM “Bajans are a lazy people. In other climes there are Food Markets and Bazaars and all the above MILES AWAY and people will, bus, take trains and drive there for products.”
Bajans are NOT lazy.
Buying and selling, vending, markets, should be where the people naturally gather. And all over the world people naturally gather in towns and cities. The idea that people should bus miles away to marketplaces is pure foolishness.
For thousand of years farmers have brought their produce to town. In fact places became towns because people gathered there to buy and to sell.
The market places and the bus, taxi stands, and car parking lots should be integrated. Ideally people should have to walk through the various markets in order to get to their bus, car or taxi.
That way people buy as soo as they get out of vehicles, or people buy before boarding their vehicles.
Transportation and markets belong together like husband and wife, or hand and glove.
@ Vincent,
https://www.pwc.com/ca/en/industries/banking-capital-markets/canadian-banks-2019.html
Of course market stalls should be well constructed, clean, beautifully painted, and toilets and sinks with hot water and soap for hand washing (solar of course) should be provided for the vendors and the customers and should be cleaned as regularly as the toilets at the airport and at Sherbourne/Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Center.
Why do we seem to believe that markets should be grungy?
Markets do not have to be dirty and grungy.
Markets should NOT be dirty and grungy.
@ Hants at 6:50 PM
Thank you
Barbados punching above its weight whilst Mia cares.
Workers unpaid for three months
Acting General Secretary of the National Union of Public Workers Delcia Burke says she is deeply concerned by the level of exploitation that some workers in the private sector are currently facing.
In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Burke made reference to a St George-based nursing home where she said that “none of the workers has been paid in the last three months” and they have no word on when their next pay cheque would be. Burke contended that the workers were essentially being treated as “modern-day slaves” as some were even forced to keep their children home from school because they simply did not have the money to send them. She also complained the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) payments were being deducted but none had been paid in to the state-run social security safety net.
“Those workers have some very serious concerns. Their manager is telling me that the workers would have to wait until November 6 to see if they can get paid and this is after not getting money for three months. In addition, they have been deducting monies from these workers for NIS and not paying it in,” said Burke.
She explained that while her union does not represent these workers, who number about 24, she made an attempt to negotiate with the owner on behalf of the workers, but got the sense that there was no urgency on the part of the owner to have the matter rectified
“Since August none of the workers has been paid, not one, and these salaries are not even large salaries. The owner invited me up there and [the owner] wanted to meet me without the workers and when I refused, I was told to leave the place. Some of the workers are saying that they want to be severed.
Barbados TODAY visited the facility this afternoon to attempt to speak with the owners but was unsuccessful. Several telephone calls were also made to the elderly care facility and messages were left, but no calls were returned.
However, the consensus among several of the workers, who would only speak to Barbados TODAY on condition of anonymity, was that they were being taken advantage of because the owners seemed to think that they had no options.
“Right now, none of us in any union and they know that with the little bit of money that they paying us, none of us can afford to pay a lawyer to deal with our matter. So that is why they could afford to tell us that they would pay us whenever they get money,” said one worker.
“It is just a shame how they treat human beings. They don’t care if we can eat or send our children to school. All [they] care about is that we get to work however we can and do the laundry and whatever is needed for the patients. This cannot be fair,” another worker said.
Barbados TODAY understands that the average salary at the nursing home is around $600 per month while those in supervisory positions receive $1,200 per month. Meanwhile each patient at the facility is charged $2600 per month. Burke contended that this was just one more example of why Government needs to implement minimum wages across the board.
“Right now, the minimum wage only applies to shop attendants. So, these workers are being paid less than if they were working in a supermarket or gas station. These are caregivers that are being treated this way but are expected to be in the frame of mind to administer proper care to people’s loved ones. These are things which need to be looked into as a matter of urgency because this could be problematic down the road,” she stressed.
https://barbadostoday.bb/2019/10/29/workers-unpaid-for-three-months/
” Barbados TODAY understands that the average salary at the nursing home is around $600 per month while those in supervisory positions receive $1,200 per month.
Meanwhile each patient at the facility is charged $2600 per month.”
Who are the owners of the Nursing home ?
Hants
HOW THE RH DOES SOMEONE LIVE OFF US$300 A MONTH, ARE THEY EATING ROCK STONES AND DRINKING SUGAR WATER?
“That is quite true but my difficulty is with the double standards. When the rich white or indian man break the law incoherent noises bay for a while and then the situation remains the same.”
What “double standards?”
“When the (poor black man” breaks the law incoherent noises bay for a while and then the situation remains the same” as well.
Let me give you an example. On November 21, 2015, there was a police operation to clear the City streets of illegal vending and to remove displays from the sidewalks.
On Tuesday, May 31, 2016, those vendors plying their trade along the Charles Duncan O’neal Bridge and at the entrance of the Fairchild Street Bus Terminal were given notice they would be removed.
On Friday, June 3, 2016, police made those without licences pack up and leave. Again, on June 9, 2016, police swooped down on illegal vendors operating on the Duncan O’Neal Bridge, at the entrance of the Fairchild Street terminal and St. Michael’s Row, forcing those who did not have valid permits to move.
The vendors, some of whom were non-nationals, were adamant that each time the police removed them they would return to the locations after the officers leave and said in Guyana vendors are allowed to “set-up shop” anywhere they pleased.
The “incoherent noises bay for a while” ………. and as at today, October 30, 2019, “the situation remains the same.”
@ my Brother Hants
When de ole man posted my now banned Stoopid Cartoons that declared that POST THIS IMF AUSTERITY PLAN 5,000 people had been sent home, the 1st of the Rented Jackasses Hee Hee complained about my Stoopid Cartoons being a lie, said their head man Mugabe had only sent home 1,000 AND THAT I WAS TO BE CENSORED FORTHWITH.
The following day Brother Hants true to form, the Then BU BORG on duty threatened that memes would soon be banned.
So I stopped mine KNOWING THAT THEY HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED TO GET RID OF PIECE THE LEGEND from BU for my comments.
Heheheheh
Euphemism for support of the PDP must not be allowed here.
Dem soon going contrive a next reason but all wunna going see dat one too…
But the fact is that several thousands have been fired and the private sector is mekking poor people shy$e
Nobody should insult their workers by paying them $600 per month. I pay the young man who cuts the grass and trims the hedges $100 each time, he spends about 4 hours, and he deserves every cent of his pay.
Some people too like to exploit others.
And
“Meanwhile each patient at the facility is charged $2600 per month”
As well I trust that the facility is actually collecting the $2,600 per patient per month, and not just collecting promises from the spouses and adult children of the patients.
Some of us always like to reference slavery, poverty, and blackness to justify lawlessness, chaos and just downright indiscipline behavior. We need to rise above this simplicity and self-pity. No wonder the europeans still think we can’t govern or run a model country. I have been to way poorer countries than BIM where people ply their wares in organise bazzars or specialise markets. None of this UNSIGHTLY illegal vending you see all over the place.
Bridgetown is slowly evolving into Kingston, Jamaica, where all sort of lawlessness goes on. Kingston, is the most unsightly CARICOM capital in my opinion. People will even set up vending shacks right in front of your home with no compunction. As a matter of fact, NO public space in Jamaica is safe from illegal squatting or vending.
Mark my word, we are surely and slowly on our way to that state of affairs in Barbados. I am a firm believer in the broken window theory of law enforcement. Turning a blind eye to simple rule of law can lead to much bigger problem.
@ Piece
Great idea re “The Constitution River Causeway Repurposing Project ” ! But it won’t happen in your lifetime, unless it is accompanied by massive corruption ! Should have been done in the first place, instead of the unsightly and unhealthy mess which currently exists !
@ The Honourable Blogmaster your assistance please with an item here for FortyAcresandaMule thank you
How long has Cost U Less been operating in Barbados? If at the outset they felt it was necessary to employ someone from overseas who was already employed by them and familiar with their operation I can accept that, however as a condition of that employment it should have been stipulated that a national be trained to take over those management duties at some time. Every year UWI sends people into the world with undergraduate and graduate degrees am I to believe that none of those could be trained to manage what is basically a retail operation? Its time that the Gov’t put a stop to this stupidity of foreign owned operations from importing employees because they can’t find “suitable” local candidates to fill some positions.
BTW under the wording of that ad Cost U Less is under no obligation to hire anyone familiar with their system it can hire any run of the mill non- resident and claim that they fulfilled the requirements of the job.
@Sargeant. Spot on. It’s ridiculous when you consider the number of management degree majors graduating from UWI. These are trainable individuals plus the learning curve to work in retail management is not that steep.