The Upper House is currently debating the Estimates 2020 – 2021. Debating is a strange word given the fact the Barbados Labour Party won all the seats in parliament 30 to 0. A wart of the government system. The 2020 -2021 Draft Estimates document Follow the debate from 10AM of Parliament TV. http://www.youtube.com/c/BarbadosParliamentChannel
The Upper House is currently debating the Estimates 2020 – 2021. Debating is a strange word given the fact the Barbados Labour Party won all the seats in parliament 30 to 0. A wart of the government system.
The 2020 -2021 Draft Estimates document
Follow the debate from 10AM of Parliament TV.
@ Commander Theophillus Gazerts
When I read that article you provided de ole man wept crocodile tears!
Look at what De PdP get authorized to write.
“…A call has been made to look at increasing the punishment for those who commit crimes against visitors to Barbados.
It has come from Scott Weatherhead, tourism spokesman for the People’s Party for Democracy and Development.
He made the suggestion Thursday, saying stronger punishments would have a better effect than first trying to improve regulation of the non-traditional accommodation sector….”
What sort of jobby is this?
Who tell he to write dis useless chvunt!
“…A call has been made to look at increasing the punishment for those who commit crimes against visitors to Barbados…”
Instead of looking for votes from Bajans by writing
“…The PDP is calling on the Rass**le Courts to look at increasing the punishment for those tourists who break de law or commit crimes against bajans while in Barbados…” he writing chvunt bout locking up bajans WHO GINE GET LOCK TO FVUCK UP ANYWAYS!
And how comes it dat dem ent say Rass**le Word One bout Senator Caswell Franklyn robbery, A BLACK MAN, and now talking bout a white man ?
You see de optics heah?
@ Miller February 29, 2020 4:24 PM
You’re right again.
It seems to me that there are two major problems that the official press is keeping quiet about:
First, the apparent overpopulation of the island. We are totally dependent on tourism, but this sector offers only limited profitability and a limited number of jobs. However, the breeding behaviour of the natives in the past was similar to that of a typical developing country, so we now have a large surplus of people. OSA tried to get all these lazy bums into government service. The consequences are well known. Solution: The government must persuade at least 50,000 civil servants and slackers at SOEs to emigrate. However, only those who are on our pockets, not the top performers in society.
Secondly, the collapse of the manufacturing sector. You can hardly get locally produced furniture in Barbados today. Those totally useless UWI graduates can’t even hammer a nail into the wall, let alone work in the fields. Instead they lurk around in offices and – as Deep Southerners – they are almost frozen and hibernating because of the air conditioning.
The Weatherhead man is obviously considering the dollar damage to the tourism industry and not the human value of the tourist. He is thinking that without the tourism industry many Bajans would starve to death. Therefore I do not think he is valuing the tourist higher than the Barbadian. He is ultimately making the connection between the well being of the tourist and the tourism industry and the well being of the Barbadian. He is thinking stiffer penalties would deter crime against tourists but has forgotten that that only means more crime against us. When a man is looking to steal he will find a target. If it is not the tourist it will be the residents. But here’s a thought – if the tourism industry collapses there will still be more crime against locals but probably only a few will have something worth stealing.
There is no simple solution to this problem. His solution was stupid and insensitive, especially with his colour, that of the tourist and our history of slavery.
Donna,
It is a fact that Singapore is so safe because the authorities use draconian punishments against all criminals, from flogging to death penalty.
Look at Singapore and Barbados. In 1960, both countries were at the same level of development. Now Singapore is at the forefront and Barbados has fallen back to the level of many other failed countries in South America and Africa. Singapore is clean, modern and rich. In Barbados, the local academics, the so-called middle class, beg for food on Broad Street. That is a fact.
The main problem on many Caribbean islands is that the upper and middle classes sympathize with the criminals as long as they have the same colour. They don’t care if the country breaks up. The main thing is to show solidarity. This act of solidarity is also the reason why foreign companies in Barbados do not want Barbadians as managers. They don’t want a human resources manager who turns a blind eye when the majority of workers are late every morning and go home early.
In Barbados in the 21st century everything is justified with slavery before 1834: The poor work ethic, corruption, crime, financial illiteracy of the population and so on. Stop lying to yourself.
@ Tron March 1, 2020 4:05 PM
“Look at Singapore and Barbados. In 1960, both countries were at the same level of development. Now Singapore is at the forefront and Barbados has fallen back to the level of many other failed countries in South America and Africa. Singapore is clean, modern and rich. In Barbados, the local academics, the so-called middle class, beg for food on Broad Street. That is a fact.”
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You got it ‘slightly incorrect’, Tron!
In the 1960’s Barbados was way ahead of Singapore on the pathway to social and economic development.
Even up to the early 1990’s Barbados was ahead of Singapore on UN Human Development Index being rated at No.19; whereas Singapore was at some place in the 30’s.
Today the same Singapore is at No.9 compared to Barbados’s dramatic fall from grace and languishing somewhere in the 50’s.
And all this occurred while the UWI was churning out degrees like a paper mill spitting out pulp with the names of certified idiots embossed in a frame of incompetence and laziness.
@ Tron
You are wrong about Singapore and Barbados. In 1965, the year Singapore became independent. Barbados was a more advanced society. Singapore was a swamp, rejected by Malaysia, and used by the British for military training.
In that time, Barbados could have progressed by strides without the Singaporean authoritarianism. We failed because we lost our imagination. We have lost our manufacturing businesses because we all want to be lawyers.
I remember a few years ago a young plumber re-trained to be a lawyer. It was at a time when lawyers in the UK were re-training to be plumbers because plumbers were earning more and doing a more socially useful job..
Dear Hal,
Thank you very much for your fair and balanced opinion – as always.
Tron
There is a system of government often described as a benevolent dictator that supports a culture Barbados will struggle to copy. We cannot cherry pick when comparing the two countries.
n Barbados in the 21st century everything is justified with slavery before 1834: The poor work ethic, corruption, crime, financial illiteracy of the population and so on. Stop lying to yourself.
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And here is MY advice to YOU – you should go back and read what I said again and then tell me where I used slavery to justify bad behaviour of ANY sort! What I said was that suggesting stiffer penalties for crimes committed against tourists than for those committed against locals is insensitive, especially coming from a white man, when our tourists are mainly white (and the recent victim certainly was) and our local victims are mainly black and we are still sensitive about racial issues rooted in slavery. It gave some people, even on this blog, the impression that he, being white, values whites over blacks. You should also notice, if you can truly read, that I was not one who felt devalued.
I am one of the few people who NEVER lies to herself. I am too logical. What’s the point?????
Here’s my favourite quote – “What is, is and what ain’t, aint” and since I am not God nothing I say will change that.
Now you can take your unnecessary advice and stuff it! Bloody condescending jackass!
Any early numbers on the nos of people who returned for the “ Gathering”
@Hal Austin March 1, 2020 4:36 PM “I remember a few years ago a young plumber re-trained to be a lawyer. It was at a time when lawyers in the UK were re-training to be plumbers because plumbers were earning more and doing a more socially useful job..”
I would bet anything the young idiot was one of your close kin.
It’s amazing that some on BU can write with such authority on why any particular event occurred.
The manufacturing sector started to collapse over a quarter century ago. It failed because we simply failed to protect our manufacturers from the importation of vastly inferior products.
Another factor was serious under minding of some black manufacturers by other ethnicities who either sabotaged the businesses or used readily available cash to put them out of business by unfair competition.
Of course at the top of all that was a very uncooperative banking sectors.
All of these comparisons to Singapore reveal one single fact: The Duopoly paid lip service to the cry of people who look like them who were in manufacturing. There was no efforts to finance innovation and assistance with export opportunities.
Sometimes when I read the grossly inferior crap about how lazy we are and people spouting a lot of negative garbage about essentially poor people who have been marginalized , I really feel like sending a garbage truck to collect the verbiage and pure stupidness that some write on BU.
The truth hurts.
It also occurred because small manufacturers did not appreciate the advantage of operating with scale by cooperating.
@ Miller March 1, 2020 4:32 PM
Thank you too for your kind support in the name of truth. I’ve obviously stirred up a hornet’s nest of national sentiment here.
TronMarch 1, 2020 8:25 PM
@ Miller March 1, 2020 4:32 PM
Thank you too for your kind support in the name of truth. I’ve obviously stirred up a hornet’s nest of national sentiment here.
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No, you idiot! What you have done is TOTALLY MISREAD my post and annoy me, as most men do, with your condescending, TOTALLY UNNECESSARY advice.
And you were not even man enough to acknowledge your error. That is because YOU are the one who practises self deceit, thinking yourself superior and incapable of making an error.
Jackass!
Another factor was serious under minding of some black manufacturers by other ethnicities who either sabotaged the businesses or used readily available cash to put them out of business by unfair competition.
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YOU SEEM TO BE CAUGHT UP WITH BLAMING EVERYTHING OUTSIDE OF OTHER ISSUES SUCH AS PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY.
I AM NOT GOING TO DISMISS BANKING AND LARGER COMPANIES COMING INTO THE FRAY.
HOWEVER I WILL GIVE ONE CASE FIRST HAND.
I HAVE A RELATIVE WHO HAS BEEN IN MANUFACTURING FOR OVER 40 YEARS WHO USE TO BE ONE OF THE MAIN MASS SUPPLIERS TO A LOCAL ISLAND WIDE RETAILER.
HE WOULD MAKE ITEMS IN LARGE QUANTITIES AND SELL WHOLESALE FOR ABOUT 20% WHAT WOULD EVENTUALLY BE SOLD IN THE STORES (80% PROFIT AND THEN COMPLAIN BITTERLY ABOUT HE AND HIS WORKMEN/WOMEN WORKING LONG HOURS TO PRODUCE AND HIS VERY LOW PROFIT MARGINS.
SOME YEARS AGO I TOLD HIM THAT I COULD HELP HIM TO DO BETTER BY SELLING DIRECT TO THE PUBLIC BY HELPING HIM OPEN A STORE IN A BUSY SHOPPING PLAZA.
HOWEVER HE WANTED ME TO HANDLE ALL THE RISK FINANCIALLY.
I SAID TO HIM COULD NOT BE SERIOUS SINCE HE HAD PROBLEMS MANAGING MONEY AND WAS A FUNCTIONAL ALCOHOLIC.
THIS LACK OF RESPONSIBILITY WAS PREVALENT AMONG MANY SMALL MANUFACTURERS LOCALLY WHO USED THE BOTTLE AS A PROP OR CHASING WOMEN WHILST STILL ASKING FOR HIGH PRICES FOR THEIR PRODUCTS AND NOT TAKING PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR NEGATIVE BEHAVIOR.
THE WORLD MOVED ON WHILST THESE MANUFACTURERS OPERATED AS STILL 1970 WHEN THERE WAS NO INTERNET GIVING PEOPLE A WIDER CHOICE AND THE SAME RETAILERS THEY SUPPLIED GIVING SMALL MONTHLY PAYMENTS TO CONSUMERS VIA HIRE PURCHASE RACKET.
The reasons for the collapse of the manufacturing sector are many and varied. The black businessmen must shoulder their share of the responsibility.
My experience is with the farmers. They refuse to take good advice to upgrade their practices, keep little or no records, refuse to cooperate with respect to planning which crops to plant to ensure a steady flow of a variety of crops and to also prevent a glut and refuse to band together to fight praedial larceny and refuse to pool resources in partnerships and co-operatives. This remains so even with the shining example of the St. George Co-operative to look to and follow. This co-operative is making it work and have done so for quite a few years now.
@ Baje
@ Donna
I have no problem with either of your positions. I simply offered other reasons for the collapse of manufacturing.
As @ Donna says there are a variety of reasons. What is interesting is that we tend to identify the worst examples from within our race . We seem reluctant to speak of those who did everything right , even going penniless at the end because they simply could not get any help or their efforts were sabotaged.
We seem reluctant to speak of those who did everything right , even going penniless at the end because they simply could not get any help or their efforts were sabotaged.
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I PERSONALLY WILL NOT GIVE YOU A CRY ME A RIVER STORY AS I KNOW FULL WELL ABOUT BEING SABOTAGED LOCALLY.
HOWEVER IT IS NO EXCUSE FOR DROWNING IN FAILURE AND SHOUTING OUT THE POOR BLACK MAN SYNDROME.
THAT IS WHY I ADMIRE MOHAMMED NASIR (CONSTRUCTION) AND NEVILLE RICE (JULIE-N) WHOM I KNOW BOTH PERSONALLY AND AS BUSINESS ASSOCIATES.
OVERSEAS ONE IS ALLOWED TO FAIL TIME AND TIME AGAIN WHILST PICKING YOURSELF UP TO BECOMING SUCCESSFUL WHETHER BLACK WHITE OR BROWN.
IT IS DOWN TO THE INDIVIDUAL’S ATTITUDE AND LEARNING FROM ONE’S MISTAKES.
OR IMMIGRATE TO GREENER PASTURES.
WE ONLY FAIL WHEN WE CHOOSE TO GIVE UP AND WALLOW IN SELF PITY.
@ Baje
“HOWEVER IT IS NO EXCUSE FOR DROWNING IN FAILURE AND SHOUTING OUT THE POOR BLACK MAN SYNDROME”
What is the poor Blackman syndrome?
I don’t talk about syndromes ; I prefer hard facts over feel good nonsense. This idea that we should just go about the world believing that Blacks are on some level playing field is utter crap. I don’t care where you are.
We get knock down and we pick ourselves up everyday. We need to stop these old fashioned red herrings and deal with reality when discussing socio economic issues.
If we used to “ drown ourselves in failure “we would have been extinct ever since.
We will continue to beat the odds.
https://barbadostoday.bb/2020/03/02/the-cheese-is-gone/
The cheese is gone!AvatarArticle by
Barbados TodayPublished on
March 2, 2020
My first 11 Plus class was in 1995 when a friend asked me to tutor her daughter and thus began a journey that altered my destiny. Twenty-five years later, I am still accidentally teaching 11 Plus English. Her daughter had a brilliant, logical mind, challenged by the hidden inferences incomprehension.
In my garden, sitting on a swing and just simply tossing thoughts around, I Socratically questioned and clued her into the eureka moments that only thinking differently makes possible. The result was that we proverbially ‘cut a road through a limestone cliff’ using prior knowledge, higher-order thinking and imagination, incrementally chipping away years of rote learning which had led to a well-concealed sense of academically driven, personal inadequacy. Sounds familiar?
Every year since then, my heart has wept, witnessing bright, able minds, with vastly different talents, who in too many instances, were ‘fish’ being taught and tested on their ability to ‘climb a tree’. The objective: get the grades to enter a school that would provide them with social inclusion of the ‘right kind’ and be taught by ‘the best’ teachers, thereby ensuring a social and academic future that would make their parents proud.
I don’t even want to go down the road of wondering to what extent, for some teachers and parents, our children’s learning is REALLY about bragging rights. I believe that social mobility was the correct fundamental objective of education in 1950. While still incredibly valid in our society, its objective of 2030 must reside in access to creative prospects and competency in communication leading to GLOBAL contribution.
Read, Who Moved my Cheese by Dr Spencer Johnson. The Honourable Santia Bradshaw has moved our 11 Plus cheese permanently and the response is the wail of, “Bring our cheese back, now!” It’s not coming back and let’s be brutally honest – it was old, rotten cheese that had grown detrimental bacteria because it should have been tossed out four decades ago. “Well, what and where is the new cheese?” many will demand in response, as if life is a fine dining experience, being served by Huxley’s ‘Epsilons’, rather than a buffet where you actively help yourself. Here’s the terrifying part – it is for us to find together with hard work and persistence, receptivity and ultimately, love of our country’s best interests.
From my perspective as both an observer and participant in Barbados’ antiquated educational system, the educators’ fear of change is objectively and pragmatically driven and the parents’ fear of the unknown is subjectively driven. The common ground (hopefully) is that both parties want children to be safe at school, learn for the purpose of meaningfully contributing to an independent and fulfilling life and just to be happy. If we keep that in mind and accept that all radical change is painful, inconvenient, confusing and takes collaborative sweat, we can then move on to designing it together without a magic wand.
Parents don’t have a choice, but those in all education roles do. If any feel that there will be too much effort, personal development, discomfort or displacement, perhaps they need to re-think their future. This change is about our nation’s children on a global stage. However, I have hope (and parents should take comfort) because I personally know dozens of teachers and education administrators who are currently silenced by the din of the status quo brigade looking in problem terms rather than solutions. This band of brothers and sisters will get on the team of a learning revolution in a heartbeat with unbridled, enthusiastic support.
Underneath and beyond all of this, is my deepest reason to support the Minister’s decision: behaviours are manifesting at home that parents are faced with condoning or correcting, negative choices our youth are making in society are tossing away innovative futures this country desperately needs and the inordinately high level of classroom management teachers are having to implement is wearing them down, while they try to just get a lesson taught. All of this indicates that our methods have expired and we are on a runaway Victorian train to disaster.
My truth is that if a child is unable to CRITICALLY THINK through cause and effect and fact and opinion (concepts introduced in Class 2, by the way), we have an educational system that is a failure. These basic tenets of thinking have been left unapplied since introduction because our focus is on preparing students for the great Vegas trip to the 11 Plus examination. No one goes to Vegas without the hope that they will win big, even if they know deep down the odds are less than slim. Let’s face it, in our imaginations, we have already planned how we will spend the hundred grand we will come home with and we haven’t even checked in at GAIA yet!
As Nehemiah said, “I have great work to do and I will not come down.” Minister Bradshaw, you have great work to do and this accidental teacher is behind you 100 per cent. Whatever new ‘cheese’ comes, I look forward to the renewed hope in the future that it brings with it.
Julia Hanschell can be contacted on:
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My thoughts exactly!
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