The Editor
Barbados Underground
Dear Sir/Madam
Recently,the Attorney General, Mr. Dale Marshall made some observations about the “Liquidation Center” which has been compulsory acquired by government. According to Marshall, the Center has been deemed unfit by the Public Health officials due to the high rodent infestation among other things. Marshall also went onto claim that four illegal connections to the potable water supply of this country were discovered on the premises of the “Liquidation Center.” I have some question that need clarification by Marshall.
1.) Were there inspections of the premises by the Public Health (Environmental) Officers up to the point of closure by government? If the answer is yes,the question remains why was the premises not closed before the seizure by government? One is left to infer that either there was political interference by both sets of government, hindering the Public Health Officers from doing their job, or that the Public Health Officers looked the other way,to avoid witnessing all of the defects which have suddenly appeared.
2). The four illegal connections to the country’s potable water supply seems to be a red-herring deflecting from the high-handed manner in which the closure took place. Marshall wants the populace to believe that with the water being disconnected, the business continued apace without toilet facilities. At some point following disconnection, the authorities must have wondered how it was that the business continued apace without a pause. One is left to conclude that there was some kind of tacit connivance on the part of the authorities.
The government seems to be acting in an totalitarian manner in this affair. In small countries like Barbados one must be on guard against totalitarianism .
Sincerely
Robert D. Lucas, PH.D.
@HA
in case you hadn’t noticed….on the topic of the Bay St compulsory acquisition….WE are on the same page. As are several others. It sets a very dangerous precedent.
As far as the CH case, you may continue as you wish. Bottom line….they didn’t have the evidence to convict. In fact, it seems highly questionable, whether evidence available at the time of charging, even supported a charge. Yet, in the Barbadian social context, how could they not charge him? 75% of the island already had him convicted. As you term it, part of the Barbadian Condition. Retribution for past untried offences by those of his skin tone.
Piece the jackass if you do not like how David BU is running his blog then take a hike amd go form your own. Trust me YOU WOULD NOT BE MISSED except by your wing man Theophilus and a few more.In my view Mrs Ram based on her treatment of bajan workers is getting what she deserves no sympathy from me whatsoever.
@Blogmaster
you mean when you name your main economic program, using an acronym of the name of the lead IMF person, one cannot have a likkle ‘wiggle room’. Surely you have earned it?
To besides, now that Sagicor is trading on the TSX, that has increased the foreign component of the NIS portfolio, which by itself creates ‘wiggle room’. In fact, that could be ‘jump up and party room’.
@Northern Observer
Members of the BU household will jump up when our hair grows back.
Hal
A man that is unfamiliar with the concept of existing use value+ and assumed that vacant or unused land meant a nil value is applied in this approach is telling me I don’t know what I am talking about. What I know in my little finger from knowledge and experience is more than your entire body’s worth and I can provide evidence to back up my claim too; but I enjoy the likes of you telling me I know nothing.🤣🤣🤣
Next thing, urban regeneration is based on broad principles and driven by a masterplan or many master plans, with individual plots coming forward separately with their own design etc. The Hyatt is just one facet. Did I not say there is a Bridgetown Community Plan and an Act to incentivise development? Does that sound like a disparate, ad hoc approach? Did the government not have an investors’ conference? What you think they sold to investors? Have you ever worked on a single regeneration project? You simply think that public purpose could only be infrastructure or housing but that’s patently false and tells me you are clueless. Public purpose entails economic development too; and only a fool, the clueeless or the narrow-minded would argue that the regeneration of our capital city Bridgetown, including tourism-oriented uses, serves no public purpose. You and the Enuff opposers may continue in your high ignorance.
NorthernObserver
December 7, 2019 5:55 PM
@HA
in case you hadn’t noticed….on the topic of the Bay St compulsory acquisition….WE are on the same page. As are several others. It sets a very dangerous precedent.
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Precedent? Precedent?
This is standard practice in Barbados.
GOB expropriates lands as an when it is so moved and pays or not according also to how it is moved.
Ms. Ram is actually a breath of fresh air!!
If she is successful that will set the precedent!!
David
December 7, 2019 4:31 PM
@Miller
Here is what we know:
the government is in dire need for projects to mobilize to kickstart economic activity especially in the construction sector for obvious reasons.
the government has gone out of its way to acquire Ms. Rams dump location to facilitate the proposed Hyatt project.
one must assume there is some legitimacy to the transaction which will have to be revealed at some point.
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We don’t know any such thing!!!
Four Seasons was one such project.
.. and Halcyon and God knows how many more.
Economy wasn’t kickstarted!!
Why not direct these investors to completing Four Seasons … or Halcyon.
How much NIS money is in Four Seasons?
Leff Ms. Ram and Mr. Maloney alone let dem figure out what is what for demselves!!
If Mr. Maloney can handle Ms. Ram, power to him, if not, learn from the experience!!
Miss Ram is a skeezy operator who is part of the problem in Barbados. It is good to see the public squabble with her former friends playing out. She has become a multimillionaire off the backs of black people in Barbados facilitated by the political and business class. May she rot in her current demise.
No sympathy from me either for Mrs. Ram based on the bd stories i have heard enough her
However two wrongs never make a right and i would be the proverbial jac.a.ss to sing from a hymn that states because Karma might have visited Mrs. Ram i would close my eyes to an ungodly opportunistic measure placed on Rams head by govt and say it is alright
Hell No. A precedent set means i might be next on govt hit list
Hell No .when i see my democratic rights being eroded i will kick up dirt come hell or high water
We would believe you IF your position was consistent. Do you recall you held no similar position when you found out MICHAEL CARRINGTON stole money from a 70 year old man sitting in a wheelchair?
David not even the weather is consistent nature made man with that such characteristic for good reason in avoidance of becoming robotic creatures
Any how can you remind me what was my position on Carrington…sigh..double sigh
Whatever my position it is clear that govt has set a precedent which can erode the democratic right of many
Which brings to mind the homes situated along that corridor that are still habitable and Mia promise of having hotel stock from bridgetown to the airport.
All when put together and stacked against the poor homeowner it wouldnt take much to figure out who would be the loser when the smoke of legal dust clears the air.
Spot on!
@ Piece
@ Baje
You would be well advised to look at the response to your post AND SEE WITH WHOM THE HONOURABLE BLOGMASTER IDENTIFIES
When he says and I quote
“… David December 7, 2019 4:58 PM
The buffoons must be doing some thing right with you lot logged in day and night…”
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I CALL IT A CHILDLIKE TANTRUM WHEN ONE DOESN’T GETS ONE WAY…
Spot on!
David the spots on you now have turned to sores for you not being able to understand how the mind of a megalomaniac works
Spot on!
David look i am agreeing with u
This might be a first
Spot on
Wuhloss muh belly
Did this one not get some shite title from Mia and UWI last year. Did it come with a diplomatic passport. Corrupt little Caribbean leaders at their ugly best. Caught at Gatwick with money.
https://www.facebook.com/1475836952667434/posts/2424674321117021/?sfnsn=scwspmo
The house negro baggage boys for the palace….lol
David
December 7, 2019 4:31 PM
@Miller
Here is what we know:
one must assume there is some legitimacy to the transaction which will have to be revealed at some point.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Your certain knowledge is based on an assumption!!
… and by your own admission!!
This is a lunatic approach to decision making, especially since simple logic shows the assumption is flawed.
If Parliament is unconstitutional, ie breaches the law, then how can there possibly be any legitimate act coming out of it?
The only way any act can become legitimate is if the next constitutional Parliament legitimizes that act!!
Mr. Skerrit in Dominica used his head unlike Ms. Mockley and Mr. Mitchell.
He reviewed his plans from 2018 to get rid of the opposition and decided 21 – 0 can’t work.
Better let the opposition have 3 and skirt the constitutional issue!!
Winning a fourth term and with a 21-0 “majority” is pushing the envelope and begs the rigging question!!
Ms. Mockley is the mock PM of a mock Government, like Mr. Mitchell.
Plain everyday logic dictates this to be the only relevant certain knowledge in existence in this matter!!
Ms. Mockley will have to manufacture a 27-3 result next time so this mock Parliament’s actions can be legitimized.
https://barbadosfreepress.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/mottley-familys-miami-mansions-were-real-estate-profits-declared-in-barbados/?fbclid=IwAR2O0BGIKtYVrXqk_XFahFhJjcP2gkVgYQXDlh_a_rNx3SfOutJCqWzh29E
Yo John…ah know ya love to peruse databases…here is one just for you, complete with FOIA…lol
@John
You already know, that Mrs.Ram and whomever sought to buy her land, were unable to reach a deal. Imagine if the Developers had chosen to move the project elsewhere? May still be an option.
Seems very tenable, as the Developers apparently own no land in that immediate area.
What then?
Mrs Ram brings a suit against somebody, preferably nuff somebodies, claiming the Hyatt project was hijacked, and the land value has now suffered? Not precedent setting either.
Dear Mr Austin
You have made some interesting points, the one that stands out for me is as follows:
”If the redevelopment of Bridgetown is not a single hotel, plse tell me where I can find a complete urban redevelopment proposal, which includes the Hyatt Hotel.”
We are in a situation where the Barbados economy needs a direct input drive of development to assist in its growth. I am going to assume that the current government fully understands that, and that the Hyatt, if successful, will only represent one aspect of that growth.
Our city is crying out for modernity. And, as much as I fail to see Hyatt being the single entity towards boasting the economy in the way that many feel it will do, we must agree that it will be a welcome addition to upgrading one part of the Bridgetown area towards a look of modernity and class.
Our main city, if it is to be competitive on the international market, must come with a plan to attract and captivate the interest of international developers and tourist, far beyond the traditional countries that frequent our shores. If we lack vision and foresight into this, we just need to look at Dubai, Singapore and other countries who have invested heavily in developing spectacles and creative wonders of modern architecture and tech, to see how their doings have people from around the world flocking to their cities like locust desperately in search of new thing.
Hyatt is a start, but Bridgetown needs a major redevelopment drive and, the powers that be, must commit to an urban plan of development over whatever time frame they set to see it come into fruition.
I would hope that the party in power places the national interest far above personal interests.
Yeah…well my other leg is free, they can try pulling that one too.
“More manpower and resources are needed if the Labour Department is to adequately crack down on companies that persist in having their workers operate in conditions that jeopardize their health and safety, says Minister of Labour Colin Jordan.
This morning Jordan made the revelation while on a walkthrough of stores on Swan Street and Tudor Street.
His comments come just days after the Liquidation Centre was condemned by health and fire officials as a safety hazard, giving rise to calls for an investigation as to whether the workers at the Bay Street store, which was compulsorily acquired by Government last month, were subjected to these conditions. When asked this morning if such alleged egregious violations could have escaped the checks and balances for any extended period, Jordan pointed to the limitations of staffing.
“I tend to be a person who is always forward focused and one of the reasons that I am coming out myself is because there are always gaps. We have a particular problem of manpower and how we distribute manpower. In my first year on this job I would have said to the Chief Labour Officer that more officers should be on the road, but in discussion with him I had the reality check that when workers call the office they need to speak to someone. If the officers are on the road they can’t also be in the department as well,” said Jordan, noting that due to the vast number of private and public businesses, some may slip through the cracks.
He added, “We hear from people in all kinds of areas from time to time, but resources are the issue in terms of going out to make those assessments and interventions. Some persons may ask ‘how come when something comes up Government can suddenly find persons to send?’ This is a disingenuous comment because whenever there is an emergency you always pull resources from wherever to address the emergency. However, I can assure you that we would be a bit more methodical as we approach inspections going forward.”
The Minister promised that his officers will be ramping up site visits in the future as well as keeping their ears to the ground for complaints of poor working conditions, which may not always come through the official channels.
“In terms of moving forward, we are going to continue these kinds of visits as a ministry. We also have to become sensitive to the areas that can be considered hot spots and by this I don’t mean information that we get through official channels, but rather noise that we may get in the atmosphere. Our intention is to do more visits in the areas where people bring things to our attention and strengthen our inspection process,” he said.
Jordan further revealed that as Government heads into the Estimates phase, the hiring of more officers was likely to be factored into his ministry’s request for finances in the new financial year.
“We are heading into the Estimates process and this is going to be completed early next year and these kinds of matters would be factored into how we compile the Estimates while understanding that there is not a lot of financial resources to create the perfect environment. We are not looking for perfection but we are going to do what we can, realizing that there may be gaps but we do our best to cover our bases,” he stressed.
Earlier this week, Attorney General Dale Marshall declared that Liquidation Centre, which was owned by the Mirchandani Group of Companies, was a vermin-infested former warehouse/store that no fewer than four Government agencies have condemned as a fire hazard and a serious threat to human health. According to the Ministry of Health’s report, obtained by Barbados TODAY, heavy mould and musty odour forced environmental health officials to use personal protective equipment including masks as they entered the building.
Inadequate ventilation, heavy residues of dust on all of the items in the building, adult mosquitoes and evidence of rodent infestation were among other findings. The environmental health officials also reported that the conditions were conducive to harbouring disease and vectors such as rodents and mosquitoes.
The inspectors also told the Government they found evidence of improper storage practices which would prevent adequate cleaning and maintenance of the Liquidation Centre due to congestion.”
Most of those side street dumps in Swan and Tudor Streets that do not even haveFIRE ESCAPE EXITS…mostly operated by toxic minorities have been in existence since the 60s, Ram included, so for over 40 years both governents have never armed the labor department with the necessary tools to shut these shitholes down, but these same civil servants are well known and could be seen over decades crawling into these holes to collect their brown envelopes…to keep the shitholes operating..nice try.
@ Mr Hal Austin
Hal
Take a read of this illiterate newspaper article
“…Inadequate ventilation, heavy residues of dust on all of the items in the building, adult mosquitoes and evidence of rodent infestation were among other findings…?
Could you explain why do they use the term “adult” mosquitoes?
Were there also “children” mosquitoes (larvae)?
“…The environmental health officials also reported that the conditions were conducive to harbouring disease and vectors such as rodents and mosquitoes…”
ALSO – in addition; too; besides; as well: He was thin, and he was also tall. likewise; in the same manner: Since you’re having another cup of coffee, I’ll have one also. conjunction.
Once one uses the word also ONE HAS TO INCLUDE ANOTHER CLAUSE OTHER THAN WHAT WAS PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED
so they repeat the same mosquitoes in the following paragraph (granted that these are not the adults, and they add rodents) and then introduce the word conducive to describe the same conditions mentioned previously.
What is your opinion about our journalists again?
@Piece the Legend December 8, 2019 6:59 AM “Could you explain why do they use the term “adult” mosquitoes?”
I can explain.
A mosquito just on the cusp of the age of reproduction, is neither a juvenile mosquito, nor an adult mosquito. It is kind of like an adolescent being.
@ SirSimple SimonPresidentForLife December 8, 2019 7:33 AM
“A mosquito just on the cusp of the age of reproduction, is neither a juvenile mosquito, nor an adult mosquito. It is kind of like an adolescent being.”
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Since you an expert on all matters differentiating the sexes, especially when it comes to homo sapiens, could you please inform us what’s the difference between a male mosquito and a female “mosquita”?
Are the male mosquitoes (like their human counterpart) genetically prone to violence and fight over the bloodline as in the mammalian species?
BTW, since your Yahweh created the lowly mosquito in the garden of perfection what real purpose does the mosquito serve other than to be a source of food for other species and as a natural instrument in culling the profligately dangerous human populations?
@Miller
Injecting some humour on the blog early on a Sunday morning?
Good one!
@Enuff December 7, 2019 2:25 PM “…the physical and economic transformation of Bridgetown if not public purpose?”
HINT: Use the term “the physical and economic BETTERMENT of Bridgetown” becaue whatever is done it has to be to make Bridgetown BETTER.
I am one of those people who love Bridgetown. I have seen many, many town/cities: London, Paris, new York, etc. etc, at last count 25 or more capitals and Bridgetown remains one of my favourites, for its walkability, its location on the sea, its clean beaches, Queen’s Park, its baobab tree, its public housing, including public housing across the road from an excellent beach, its historic buildings, including its places of worship and more. Keep it clean, and keep all of the buildings occupied, fix all of the sidewalks.
@ Mr Gulston
You are right about the urgent need for urban redevelopment, which is why I said instead of the badly advised austerity programme the Mottley government is following, it should have been a massive stimulus public investment programme for all the basic economic reasons.
Again it is why I asked if she was advised by Prof Persaud to follow that austerity programme, or if he favoured the one he supports in the UK, the economic proposals of the Corbyn Labour party.
I won’t repeat myself, but I have suggested putting the bulldozers in Nelson Street, Wellington Street and the neighbouring environs, turning it in to the heat of aa 24-hour economy.
Also in Suttle Street, Tudor Street, Baxters Road (which the Indians and Chinese apparently are now moving in on); and, most of all Weymouth and the Transport Board site. The cost would be covered across generations
A single hotel is not an urban redevelopment plan. In the civilised world, an urban redevelopment plan is a joined up plan, not piece by piece nonsense or badly drafted legislation. It is pushing at an open door.
Lying to or misleading parliament is a resignation issue under the so-called Westminster model. Read the story of John Profumo. It is my case that the Mottley has not come clean with the people or with parliament on the Hyatt issue. What is the public interest principle involved? That should be an impeachable offence. Can we impeach a prime minister?.
@ Piece
I have great respect for journalists, what ever their experience. There are also great mistakes by UK journalists which I also scream at.
If the barbados journalist was not so much hand tied to govt the question of what “is of public interest” they would asked of govt
The govt interpretation does not meet the standard and approved test applicable to the people interest when govt acquires land under the laws of acquisition and transfer the land to outside foreign investors for the sole purpose towards their investment
If govt purpose is to improve the landscape in an rundown area with the intent of handing property or parcel of land to an outside interest
Govt should have first involved the citizens by posting such intent within media sending letters of intent to the people living in that area and last but not least having town hall meetings
All of which would be recorded for public record interest
But what we see in this ongoing malaise is an uncontrollable govt having a belief that 30-0 mandate means doing as they dam place
Public records are necessary and a real and necessary source of information for the people
@ SirSimple SimonPresidentForLife December 8, 2019 8:59 AM
“Keep it clean, and keep all of the buildings occupied, fix all of the sidewalks.”
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Well said, Sir SS !
Bridgetown does not need any 18 stor(e)y tower of Babel to make it attractive to visitors.
On the contrary, its World Heritage Site status would be diluted as a place of attraction.
How can you talk about tourism being the main engine of economic survival while you are planning to throw a spanner in the very works which act as the only ‘magnate’ to tourists visiting the place?
What Bridgetown wants as a course of immediate and practical medication to revive its diminishing fortunes are not tall skyscraper monstrosities blocking out both sunlight and fresh air but a planned programme of upgrade and upkeep.
Visitors to Barbados, generally from a metropolis, do not look forward to seeing the same type of concrete jungle in the tropics from which they are trying to escape for a welcoming and relaxing break on a small island. Barbados is not Paris, Rome or Venice or even Kuala Lumpur, Singapore or Dubai.
With its ‘new’ world old charm why not go for a marina with modern facilities and amenities to ‘exploit’ its comparative advantage as a strategically located first port of call to the calm and beautiful Caribbean sea and with nearby lovely beaches to boot?
How about a massive sprucing up of its ‘old-style architecture’ buildings and the cleaning of the alleys and ugly lots as you recommended as part of a ‘planned’ programme of proper public hygiene practices right across Barbados?
Why can’t the same agencies responsible for public hygiene and, at the end of the political games, public sanitation start in their own backyard on Jemmotts Lane by removing the growing rat breeding station whose ‘adult’ population are using the abandoned vehicles as penthouses for their baby crèches?
How could a rat breeding ward like the one at the Liquidation vermin hospital have continued to operate right in the heart of a small city listed as a World Heritage site without the active connivance of the health and safety authorities if not with the known contrivance of these same corrupt rats; both bureaucratic in stripes and political in colour(s) in receipt of their brown envelopes?
Ram is notorious in Nigeria, she even set up a store at her filthy hotel to siphon off the Nigerian student’s money…anyone coming to the island to do anything, the first thing the skunks do is send them to that filthy hole…Bajans have no shame.
“Ever since 90 Nigerian students set foot in Barbados in December to pursue a nine-month study programme at the Barbados Community College (BCC) in tourism and hospitality, their presence has been shrouded in controversy. Among the main contentious issues were complaints of poor accommodation and bad food at Casa Grande Hotel at Oldburyin St Philip, and concerns over the manner in which the local project manager was spending the US$750,000 transferred to her for the Delta State Empowerment Programme here.”
Spot on, Miller and Simple Simon! That is ALL Bridgetown needs! Barbados should remain Barbados, just cleaner and neater. And Bridgetown should remain Bridgetown, similarly cleaner and neater. The Barbados I fell in love with when I was dragged here from England as a child had its own irresistible island charm. And so did its people, maddening as they are sometimes.
Improving Barbados does not entail seeking to compete with countries with whom we can never compete and should not even wish to become.
I recently took my son on an island tour because he really needed to see Barbados through older eyes (he had not been for a few years) and I realised that there is much in this country to love. We just have to take care of it better than we have been doing. It is not as Herculean a task as we make it out to be. All we have to do is break it down into parishes.
So, if some of us love old Barbados, does that make us nostalgic or appreciative? Some of us do not want skyscrapers and SUVs and online shopping and greasy unhealthy fast food and too many foreign restaurants and too much partying.
We just want our old Barbados back. Is that too much to ask?
@ Hal
@ Donna
@ Miller
The destruction of the country’s charm did not start yesterday. We had no building codes; only “certain”properties were protected by the National Trust; we refused to honor those who really made contributions- almost any party higher up is guaranteed a Knighthood ; we watched Bridgetown collapse while we developed Warrens; refused to replace broken underground water mains; paid little attention to our marine life.Our agriculture bid on ruins.
Pray tell me if any one of you can honestly say that there is any desire or developmental plans to halt the systematic destruction of what you call the old Barbados charm.
It will take a radical departure from our current thinking. Are we now into deluding ourselves. That old charm is gone. Welcome to little Brooklyn.
Should read agriculture “base” not bid.
Dear Mr Austin
I cited similar targeted areas for demolition in my second contribution on this topic but deleted those parts to provide a simple comment. However, since you cited what I consider to be a move towards major change, there comes a time when one must make serious decisions against the backdrop of noise for the greater good.
To this end, I indicated (along with some of your mentions) that all those buildings on the left and right of the harbour going towards Probyn Street bus stand that includes, if my memory serves me correctly, Pelican Village, the bus and mini van stands, post office, Cheapside (left from harbour); Trevors way, Bridgetown Fishing Complex, Old BMC building and slaughter house, Fisheries Division, building housing an assortment of shops and businesses (right from harbour road side) should be demolished.
The name areas you cited should have, indeed, long been demolished. They are prime areas for redevelopment. There are those who will argue on the basis of the poor, but what they need to understand is that it takes people with money to bring about infrastructural changes. The poor have no means to bring about development for greater good and, must, unfortunately, ”pay the price for progress.”
I share your concerns relative to the vague public relations optics presented by the party in power. Where we will part ways and disagree is on the subject of the austerity. But, that is a discussion for another time.
Regards
LPG
“Welcome to little Brooklyn.”
yo..you can’t afford to rent an apartment in certain parts of Brooklyn these days, not even in the Flatbsh area, the revitalization and renaissance efforts are in full swing and the Manhattan crowd is moving back in….years now because they can no longer afford a box for 10K per month..
… can’t compare to the degradation that now has the island in a vice grip due to systemic neglect…everyone (all the leaders and tiefing lawyers) wanted million dollar bank accounts, big SUV rides…huge luxury apartment buildings up and down the coast to rent out to tourists and whomever have deep pockets for their own gratiication and self pretense, huge mansions, beachfront properties to hold WILD PARTIES…multiple offshore bank accounts and the list goes on.
..not one of them thought of the people who elected them or the island’s future, they thought that long talk and lip service would fix everything…..guess they were all so very wrong, now they can’t come out and say much outside of more BAREFACED LIES…lol
Mr Gulston,
The environs of Nelson Street and Suttle Street, Barbarees Hill down to Eagle Hall, came out of the abolition of slavery. As the newly freed slaves abandoned the plantations in St John and St Philip and came to town, they settle in what we now call the old villages and town (Rouen, Licorish Village, Carrington Village, Ivy, Bird Hill, Haggatt Hall) on the one side and Eagle Hall, Black Rock, etc on the other. Nothing much has changed since then.
To ease the overflow, the Adams government created a few housing estates, which were revolutionary in their time. We need to take the country forward in to the 21st century as we have proposed above.
Every graduate of the university is a potential homeowner. Yet, for some reason, both the government and private sector have failed to meet the potential needs of this market. We have failed to develop a capital market because of the poverty of ideas.
The hysterical noise that comes out religiously is who is going to pay for this development. Two things: by having sovereign of our currency we can print money; the only risk from that is a liquidity risk and the subsequent asset price inflation and that can be managed through such devices as banks’ capital reserves.
The other funding mechanism is by buying off plan so that the cash received can pay for developments. In any case, the debt for such a development can be paid off over the generations and the plan can be carried out over a ten-year period. For example, Britain paid its final Marshall Plan debt under the Blair government. As I have said before, we waste Weymouth. Every time I see it I just ahake my head.
We also need to develop indigenous businesses; for example, the biggest in terms of numbers black-controlled businesses are law firms, but if you look at their business models they are still stuck in the 1930s, many in little rooms with piles of paper files.
We need large regional law firms with offices in every CARICOM nation, providing a comprehensive service (law, accountancy, business consultancies) with Chinese walls between sectors.
We need alternative funding to the banks and we can do this by monetising commercial business operations. I can go on, but you get my drift.
Or look at my trade; it is old hat just providing newspapers while leaving the wider markets opened to be exploited. A regional financial paper, for example, print or digital (I proposed such a business to a senior Jamaican businessman some years ago and he brushed it aside. Which was strange since he came to see me for a working breakfast). But news
By the way, you cannot have austerity and an economic stimulus. It is one or the other.
@ WURA
Haven’t you heard . We are not only punching above our weight. According to one blogmaster, we are going to successfully complete the IMF program and then create a whole industry, teaching other countries how to successfully negotiate IMF programs.
That is the type of arrogance and delusion that we carry and it comes from being fed “barefaced “ lies for the last half century. It comes from propping up the Duopoly. It comes from blaming the struggling poor people for every thing that is wrong with the country. It comes from giving the private sector a pass.
Stay tuned for more brilliant ideas and the new industries that we will be creating in the near future.
@ Hal
Don’t waste your time here with such great ideas. Contact the IMF and just maybe your ideas may at least get a hearing. Dey running tings right now Remember : you are just Hal Austin from the Ivy who live in Englan and you don’t even come back to Barbados for a vacation . And furthermore you up dey in englan living well under a duopoly too. I don’t know why dey don’t ban yuh from BU.
@William
The cold like it knawing at your understanding. You take a comment laced with sarcasm and running with it? Steuspe.
Another thing, what makes an idea good?
Look how quick govt got ownership of the liquidation centre
Meanwwhile squatters Row still remain occupied by illegal inhabitants
Mia also had the mitigated gall to.offer the squatters money to move
But in Ram case she gets nada
What could be missing here
@ William
You can only try.
If you want to see a city near us that has developed without building eyesores to do, so I suggest you look at Willemstad the capital of Curacao
“It comes from blaming the struggling poor people for every thing that is wrong with the country. It comes from giving the private sector a pass.”
William…. they are vicious..everyone’s eyes were glued to the marijuana blog recently and this little twit, someone says he is Mia’s cousin in charge of the marijuana trade on the island, he decides to boast and boast and when someone asked him certain questions he claimed…THAT IS WHAT BAJANS WANT…and when asked, did they take a survey to analyze the replies and make an informed decision about what the people wanted, the dummy did not even answer…even worse, when told that other countries were seriously legalizing or had already legalize, this thing for want of a better word declares, well Barbados government has no such plans and that is what Bajans get for wanting to be different….
people are still STUNNED by that shite…STUNNED…the blog has no recovered since..
that is why some people already made a preemptive strike on those assholes
it will only get worse, Bajans really have to watch that bunch, your safety and financial security depends on it..and not to mention the FUTURES OF YOUR DESCENDS….they do not have the majority black populations interests at heart..AT ALL…
house negros in all their stain and glory..
And as for the leeches and parasites in the private sector, all bajans got to do is STOP SPENDING THEIR MONEY WITH THEM…and shut all of them to hell down. See how quickly they all run off the island when they cannot suck on the people anymore.
@ David
Stay hot my brother . Drink plenty water.
“As I have said before, we waste Weymouth. Every time I see it I just ahake my head.”
sometimes i wonder about you, were you in Barbados in 1970 when they had that flood, i doubt it or you would never, ever consider Weymouth as any housing solution.
so when are you returning to Africa…i can just hear you in West Africa with that brit accent…
Lloyd P Gulston December 8, 2019 3:13 PM “all those buildings on the left and right of the harbour going towards Probyn Street bus stand that includes, if my memory serves me correctly, Pelican Village, the bus and mini van stands, post office, Cheapside (left from harbour); Trevors way, Bridgetown Fishing Complex, Old BMC building and slaughter house, Fisheries Division, building housing an assortment of shops and businesses (right from harbour road side) should be demolished. The name areas you cited should have, indeed, long been demolished. The poor have no means to bring about development for greater good and, must, unfortunately, ”pay the price for progress.”
I just hope that they do not do what was done in Salvador deBahia, also a World Heritage City where the “powers” felt that the areas where the poor lived should be demolished, and that the poor must pay the price for progress.
Cities are not only about buildings, cities are not even principally about buildings and certainly cities are not only about new buildings. Cities are PRINCIPALLY ABOUT PEOPLE. The buildings in a city MUST SERVE THE CITI–ZENS, anything else and we WILL get it very, very wrong.
Dead buildings, dead streets, dead parks, no life, why would anybody want to come there?
The comical aspect of this whole Ms Ram fiasco, & Hyatt, is that win or lose, the lady will be long dead & gone before she sees any money! Remember the episode up at Warrens??
The greedy lawyers involved will be laughing their way to the Banks, cause you can be sure they will get their fees first …. using the fee structure of those like Hal Gollop….lol.
@ WARU
You are correct:
Garbage issues behind rat sighting
PURITY BAKERIES says a rodent problem it is experiencing is nothing new, and is blaming it on the sporadic collection of garbage.
This is according to the company in response to two videos making the rounds on social media showing a rat between baking pans in Lower Collymore Rock, St Michael facility.
“Purity Bakeries, like every other food business, has experienced challenges in relation to the rodent population around our facility. The national issues related to garbage collection have compounded these challenges,” said Purity in a statement on its Facebook page yesterday afternoon after the DAILY NATION had earlier contacted general manager Ralph Holder for a comment.
https://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/243035/garbage-issues-rat-sighting
@ ks December 8, 2019 9:17 PM
“The comical aspect of this whole Ms Ram fiasco, & Hyatt, is that win or lose, the lady will be long dead & gone before she sees any money!”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
That’s what you think!
That cheque would be the fastest one ever cut by the Accountant General.
The payment would be from taxpayers’ money that has no owner.
The sad thing about it is that none of the outstanding liabilities due to the Crown or State-owned enterprises like the BWA would be taken into account in preparing that instrument of payment needed to help a long-time friend out of serious financial difficulties.
It’s high time the Ram reap the last big dividend due on her massive investment in the ‘leading’ personalities of both political parties over the years whether they were winners or losers in the electoral zero sum game.
Your suspicion has some currency Miller. You will recall Maloney was paid for work at the GROTTO from the Industrial Housing Fund. There was the unusual transaction at the BWA concerning the construction of BWA headquarters with Innotech that caught the attention of the Auditor General.
Baje..it told that ass that no lawyer was going to go on FACEBOOK…a community of billions of people to expose something like that…unless he or she has evidence, no lawyer worth his or her salt is that dumb and i do not defend lawyers UNLESS…i know they are right…
now were i that lawyer, i would drop a lawsuit in their asses, just because….
As usual, de ole man NOT BEING BRIGHT LIKE WUNNA, causing I left school at 11, cannot run wid wunna big boys..
So lemme axe wunna a question!
WHO IS DE RH EMPLOYEE RIGHTS REPRESENTATIVE IN THE PdP?
All uh wunna, after wunna ask WTR is the purpose of my stoopid question, gine say Senator Caswell Franklyn
AND ALL OF YOU WOULD BE WRONG!
It would be Senator Franklyn ‘s designate in the PdP WHO DOES NOT HAVE ANY “NATIONAL CURRENCY” @ 2019!!!
And what de FVUCK de ole man talking bout?
I gine explain!
Besides Caswell Franklyn NOBODY ELE IN DE PDP IS KNOWN NATIONALLY!
So de Caswell designate is being pulled along on his coattails!
Den, de next RH ting dat de PdP is to do is to have dis Shadow Minister WHOM CASWELL FRANKLYN HAS BEEN GROOMING, start going to RH stores, and businesses etc saying to people,
“look, de BLP out heah tekking way people property for health reasons etc. We understand how you as a business owner will feel.
But wunna dun know dat Caswell is a man deeply versed in Employee and Employer Rights!
What we are doing is working with Employers and employees to create independent records of compliance for….blah blah blah”
Wunna unnerstan de ole man campaign strategy?
And how dis is promoting de PdP and its unknown candidates nationally?
But remember dat Piece the Legend ent bright (savvy) like wunna ok?
@ the Honourable Blogmaster your assistance please with an item here for Senator Caswell Franklyn
@Wru,
Hopefully this is an eye opener for the person who was attacking you.
It was a classic example of people willing to carry water for others even though they do no know the full circumstances.
Hopefully he/she learnt something and will not just sit there with a water bucket.
You are doing a great job of showing that the interests of the majority population often plays the second fiddle. So continue beating your drums.
So nice, I post it twice
@Wurua,
Hopefully this is an eye opener for the person who was attacking you.
It was a classic example of people willing to carry water for others even though they do no know the full circumstances.
Hopefully he/she learnt something and will not just sit there with a water bucket.
You are doing a great job of showing that the interests of the majority population often plays the second fiddle. So continue beating your drums.
Theo…i know you mean well…but that is what fowls unable to think for themselves do…they will come out again to COVER UP CRIMES AGAINST THEMSELVES AND THEIR PEOPLE….it’s an ugly residual colonial stain and reminder of the DAMAGED BLACK MIND…
.in yardfowls…IT’S even WORSE….they do it even while knowing that it will kill them and their families in the process….very, very ugly to watch…they do it their whole lives in self-destruct mide…why do you think the useless pokiticians are so sureof themselves in their cirruption and evil…they get no resistance.
The logic is because we expose lawyers for wrong doing….when a lawyer has the public’s best interest at heart…we should not have his or her back…and that makes perfect sense to brain damaged fools..
….the intent…protect government corruption and bribetaking that destroys Barbados and bajans……at all cost.
So look out for more of same.
Hal
When the pierhead project was conceptualised were there not also jointly funded IADB projects for Cats Castle, Garden Land and Greenfields? You just string words and phrases together based on what you have read (sadly not enough), not what you have actually done or understand. Yes you interviewed a man, so what? How could one carry out urban regeneration without assembling different parcels of land to ensure a “joined up plan”? How could land assembly be achieved without public acquisition, unless land owners agree thru private treaty? How could urban regeneration happen without private developers? What is urban regeneration without an aspect of economic development? In the case I cited, the Council could have acquired the land for the pedestrian and cycle infrastructure only, but it also provided for an expansion to the shopping centre. Why?It is important to note that the shopping centre developer was not contributing to any housing or public park etc. The shopping centre owner could have bought the land (as you argue so vociferously for Maloney to have done) and expanded; and the Council would have secured similar public purpose through the Section 106, in other words planning obligations/gain.
@ Enuff
I am out of any further discussion on this issue with you. You are too far ahead of me on this matter. I am not that bright. Sorry. I give up.
Barbados has been FIGHTING BLACK POWER and Black enrichment from the 1970s, always beating down their own black people and fighting postive change to keep a stinking racist, colonial slave system alive to rob their own people…disgusting and repulsive negros in parliament have always done that..
https://www.nytimes.com/1971/02/07/archives/barbados-keeps-its-distance-to-resist-change-barbados-keeps-its.html?fbclid=IwAR3u3D4FKE6fss4dyv_rbuexpjqCuXxREt_HeuB3SxVLYwMZBJubxsKYmnI
BTW…this article is compliments of our brother who deserted us on BU..Vincent Haynes, he has a nice blog on FB..
Hal
You would have to exit stage left. I would too, if I were completely pulverised and exposed as talking nonsense by someone who, according to you, does not know what they are talking about.🤣🤣🤣
@ Enuff
You got it in one. You are now my new urban regeneration hero. Great bloke. Politely, no more comment on the subject.
Dear Mr Austin
Thank you for the historical perspective. There are those who would contend that much has been achieved and much has been gain since adult suffrage. But, what yard stick of measurement has the powers that be and those who support them used to measure the progress of our country?
When we look at progress in the context of economic development versus human development, there is an out of sync balance that indicates a set back in the forward motion of a country’s people due to the existence of social inequality. As a result of this inequality, the situation that avails much in our beloved Barbados is a reduction in the human development index. Take note that our literacy rate does not reflect, truly, that we are 99.9% in tune with all that we have to do to keep Barbados competitive, appealing, and well maintained.
Our systems that cater to our development have pushed us so far backwards that we are now in a downward spin. As a result, the effects of that spiral have caused us to see the reality that we are in and that is: a major crisis.
Why must it always take a crisis to wake us up to the reality that we have been operating backwards and have been doing so for years? Are we so intelligent that we have become foolish, hence the reasons why we are reaping the whirlwind instead of harnessing it towards our good pleasure?
I have long come to the conclusion that during the so called days of plenty when Barbados was alleged to be doing very well economically, that that there was a systematic neglect of developments to push our people towards a high level of awareness, if not realization, that they must contribute towards Barbados growth by become producers and not simply consumers who are always dependent.
Even if we read the comments on here, some are adamant that what is, must remain as it always was, and what was should not subjected to change regardless of the predicament or circumstances. How, therefore, are we go forward if we do not want to embrace change towards creating attractions that would bring that much needed FOREX into our shores?
As to asuterity versus
Dear SirSimpleSimonPresidentforlife
There is no society that does not have poor people. They must be catered for and helped based on their needs. However, the poor cannot help in a situation where money is needed to change misfortunes. Barbados certainly is not going to get anywhere depending on the poor. They must play their part by understanding that if they are to be helped than there must give up something in order to get something back. This is why, I said, sacrifice for the greater good has to be made. If poor people are living in areas that are prime for development they should be relocated. As harsh as that may sound, there comes a time when you have to face up to reality. We cannot keep on going on over the same things and expect to improve out situation base on old concepts and drab infrastructure. This is why I agreed with Mr Austin and added that the entire stretch of the harbour road should be demolished for purposes of redevelopment that will benefit Barbados. Barbados needs to kick start a WOW factor, and if it is do so, the government must effect further its compulsory acquisition of other key areas of interest for the nation’s benefit.
@Mr Gulston
Barbados is a remarkable place. It has produced someone like you while at the same time producing some of the noisy BU regulars. You raised some interesting points.
We are obsessed with economic growth as the measure of our progress; it is wrong. I think a better measure should be our sociality, how we interact as a society.
We have become victims to Enlightenment thought, from which GDP has grown; a better investment, and one that would have benefited society more, would be spending a higher proportion of our GDP in education – not jut in getting paper qualifications, but in being a better people.
This has led to the one-dimensional view hat economic development means the provision of services, and by that we mean tourism, at on end, and white collar professional services at the other.
In the process, we have deprived ourselves of the skills we once had while not replacing them with new ones. Take law, the most popular professional training in Barbados, there are not transferable skills outside CARICOM.
If you are a qualified lawyer in Barbados and go to the US you are forced to take their exams; although this applies to most other professions, the barrier to entry is not the same.
As I say this I remember the security man at my cousin’s apartment block in Brooklyn; he qualified in Panama as a lawyer before moving to New York; on my visits I would try to have a serious conversation with him. He regularly reminds my cousin of that.
Barbados used to provide teachers, magistrates, prison officers, etc for countries such as Bermuda, the Bahamas, Antigua, St Lucia, St Kitts, and others. We now cannot even provide our own trainee nurses, a nation that once had a feeder line to the UK’s NHS.
We once had a dry dock, what has happened to that? We once had the Central and Barbados Foundries? What has happened to those – including the collection of skills they housed?
Just look at black belly sheep and the mess we are making in trying to capitalise on it. We are hopeless. The future of Barbados lies in hands like yours; not in the grasp of second hand lawyers or crooked and dishonest politicians, but with young people like you who resist the hysteria of the mob.
@ Enuff December 9, 2019 1:48 PM
Would it be nonsense to enquire about any pending sale of the Sam Lord’s cum Wyndham hotel project?
Since there is a new breed of hotel magnates on the local scene would it be stretching the wallet too much if some local investors of the calibre of Maloney & Friends could dig a bit deeper and find another US $ 75 to 100 million on top of the Hyatt $175 million?
After all, if money can grow on trees lining the ‘Bay’ street to build a tower of uncertainty, so too it can found to rebuild a Castle of a hotel from sand.
Let’s be fair by putting you on the (end) node of the decision tree!
As a project analyst of international repute and advisor in finance of the highest order which hotel project would you recommend to your highbrow ‘foreign’ investor clients?
A babbling bird in the tree singing sweet-sounding promises on the Carlisle Bay of a crooked ‘towering’ imagination or a partially baked pie in the sky for a pirate’s castle with a panoramic view of the less cluttered ‘semi-virgin’ Atlantic Ocean?
@MTA
sale? I read the project would be “resuming” and the land at Sam Lord’s divided to make way for potentially another project. This from MAM’s comments at the BLP’s annual conference. Where she also spoke to the ‘resumption of work at Paradise’.
Dear Mr Austin
From your comments, I have taken the liberty to conclude four points base on what I think is your trail of thought. They are as follows:
a) that our system of governance is not essential when it comes to keeping a good thing going.
b) its approach to capitalizing on that good thing is subjected at times to too much laissez faire.
c) it is not seeing enough to know when it is time to effect corrective means.
d) Economic growth does not automatically reflects growth in human, social, and environmental development, nor is a healthy GDP a good indicator that a country is well and good.
This is very unfortunate, but the truth is: it is so.
To zoom on your comment on economic growth, we need economic growth but we also need wealth distribution or reasonable wages to ensure that we are in a position to develop the social aspects of a society towards maintaining well-being.
To this end, I believe, just like you, that you cannot have economic growth without human development because you will be faced with a cataclysmic set of problems as you proceed along your merry way. I mean what good is a growing economy in a ”sick” society, with ailing infrastructure and poor social services.
Barbados, unfortunately, is in that rut.
We have to hope that some of the more unconventional decisions of our current party in power is towards the betterment of Barbados. This is why I supported Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley on her tax free breaks for corporate Barbados.
Many Barbadians will see this as unfair, because the poor must carry the burden of increase taxes. What we need to understand is that if corporate is burden any further in our reformation efforts to bring Barbados back, the fall out will be massive job lost, and that will only add further to our escalating set of problems.
Will comment shorty to my cut off sentence of Austerity versus stimulation.
Me Gulston,
I believe there are other ways of stimulating the economy apart from tax breaks for the poorly managed hotel sector. Our problem in Barbados is a poverty of ideas.
On May 25, 2018, I was overwhelmed that the grossly incompetent Stuart government, which tried to squat in office, had been turfed out by the voters.
But within days it was clear that Mottley had taken the wrong turn – defaulting on our debt. That was economic self-wounding. I still cannot believe that any serious economist would have given her that advice. We are still paying the price. However, it is not too late.
The problem is the prime minister, who governs more like a president, clearly has no guts for details; she prefers photo opportunities, the big speeches with the gestures (these may go down well in Barbados but I advise her to read Francois Caradec’s Dictionary of Gestures), issuing instructions and leaving her underlings to carry out the work.
In law, in QC’s billing, there is something called a refresher fee; what it means is that you pay the QC to remind him/herself what the case is about. In the UK until recently it was £3000 a day. I am not sure what it is in Barbados.
The point is that Mottley should cut out the unnecessary overseas trips and sit at her desk and look after the affairs of state, like a leader and not like a QC; drop the nonsense about punching above her weight and get Barbados back on track.
Sort out the basics; think things through; stop making impromptu speeches and promises that cannot be fulfilled; take advice from a wider range of people, such as yourself.
The affairs of state do not have to be managed sitting at a desk on Bay Street. She has the largest Cabinet, what are they suppose to be doing? You are the one always critical of her getting involved in every dog fight. We live in an age where meetings can be held using the technology from anywhere any time. Get use to the modern way of doing business. What Mottley is doing is establishing a Barbados presence in the international space, little islands like Barbados must cultivate relationships outside our borders, it has become very important in a world consumed by globalization.
Dear Mr Austin
My commenting on tax breaks was to identify with a decision by this administration that I was in agreement with. Please note that I reference the other decisions as unconventional because I hope that they will produce the desire results base on the justifications given.
It is not my desire, any longer, to proceed in commentary that bashes any person or party unless the evidence and facts speaks for themselves. With the Democratic Labour Party, we had overwhelming evidence of their incompetence, but a lot of speculation regarding their corruption. I was displease to know that it was not desire of this new administration to follow the trails of unaccounted monies and financial irregularities. That is why, when I reference the current Attorney General as one whom you have to be very skeptical about when he presents facts, I reference him on the basis what you hear is not necessarily what you are going to get.
In the past, I have stated that one of the biggest problems facing Mia Amor Mottley is her indifference. I made those disparaging remarks on the nationnews blog because there was no evidence coming from her that what she says is often what she intends to do. So like you, I found her ”Punching above its weight again” comments to be a reflection of that indifference and a rush of blood to beat chest and pompersett because of a few positive outcomes. Human nature I suppose.
That said, I have consented to giving her the benefit of the doubt to show us all that we were wrong about her. Until that time, I will reserve any further disparaging remarks until she proves all that we think we know or assumed about her intentions, was absolutely right.
Let me end by saying this. I believe it is essential for a head of state in trying times to (re) establish lost ground through diplomacy and ”courtesy’ calls. I have no problem with her travels because TIME will provide the evidence regarding whose interests were being served. As the owner of this blog have indicated, Barbados as a small state (in struggle and lapse), needs to (re) establish a presence internationally so that it will not be forgotten.
We are not stupid to the devices of the DLP or BLP, persons like yourself, and the work of the owner of this blog, must continue to apply the necessary pressure and increase the awareness, to keep the actions of two very dubious parties, accountable.
What Mottley is doing is establishing a Barbados presence in the international space, little islands like Barbados must cultivate relationships outside our borders, it has become very important in a world consumed by globalization.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
She is hunting $$!!
Any $$ will do because the island’s credit rating is through the floor and many lenders prefer to keep their $$.
She is hunting dollars that will come partly through through cultivating relationships. Relationships with international agencies, private sector players, making speeches to grow the Barbados brand and help to infuse confidence in an emotional and economic fatigue nation.
@LPG
it was the OECD, and pressures it was bringing via grey or black listings, due to its objection to the operation of dual, parallel corporate tax systems, which led to the tax changes. These were the ‘idea’ of neither party.
Seeking facts or cause in public financial dealings, appears to be non-existent within the political playbook. Rather much talk and accusation during political campaigns, followed by some huffing and puffing, seems to suffice. Nor is this restricted to Barbados. This paucity of evidence, forces a continued narrative of incompetence. Unless you are FIFA of course, the cat got out of the bag there, because somebody broke the ‘code of silence’.
Every leader has a style. I agree fully, we should rate them upon their results, and not our judgement of their style.
World stage .
Population 5 million
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50709422
Hal
She should look after the affairs of the state like completing a debt restructure and S&P upgrades from SD to B-? Ya know the one you said would end in tears? Unless you meant tears of joy? Yet people think you’re the Oracle.🤣🤣🤣
https://barbadosunderground.files.wordpress.com/2019/12/miss-ramm-david-seale.png