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Open Letter to Financial Institutions – What is the COVID-19 Plan?

 

As the COVID-19 cripples world transportation, many areas will be severely affected…. these include Food, the opportunity to work & earn money, etc…… I would like our PM & her Government to engage the business sector/others and begin planning on methods to reduce the economic impact on the population:

  1. Banks, Credit Unions, etc. to reduce/suspend for a period of time, Loans/Mortgages/etc. payments
  2. Credit Card companies to do similar
  3. Food Importers, Supermarkets, etc. to NOT increase prices

and other transactions/processes that ordinary people have to bear daily. We are not asking to ‘wipe-off’ these agreements ……. just suspend them until (we hope) the virus is under-control and the World begins to get back to normal.

ks, BU commenter

The comment quoted connected with an online article Caribbean Banking Association Says It Can’t Be Business as Usual as Coronavirus Spreads the blogmaster read yesterday. The impact COVID-19 is having on the world spans the gamut – Italy on lock down to other countries  at various stages of executing a containment strategy. Unfortunately it translates to the global economy projected to slip into a ‘recession’. This is not good news for Barbados given the current state of the local economy. There will be some more pain Barbadians have to endure bearing in mind it is a country already suffering from economic fatigue.

Why should the comment by ks be of interest to all of us?

We are observing local financial institutions mobilizing to protect the health of staff and customers. A good thing all agree. What we have not heard so far – is how financial institutions plan to react to rising unemployment because of the economic slowdown. Global commentators are ominously forecasting that this recession will be worse than 2008. How will financial institutions commit to foregoing revenue to support economies like Barbados about to crash and burn?

Many businesses in Barbados are experiencing a significant drop off in sales, especially in the hospitality sector. If Barbados has to move to stage 2 and 3 of the Covod-19 disaster plan the situation will get worse. The ‘haircut’ Barbadians had to suffer  would have been in vain. Barbadian households and businesses will default on loans. The government does not have a Stabilization Fund like Trinidad and Tobago or the capacity to print money for stimulus like the USA.  The greenback is still considered the world’s reserve currency.

The question for the financial institutions in Barbados is –  What is the plan? We are in this together right?

 

 

 

 

 

315 responses to “Open Letter to Financial Institutions – What is the COVID-19 Plan?”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    @Hants

    No and No.

    The traditional economic model many islands in Caribbean rely on will be hard to replace for several reasons discussed on BU pages.

  2. David Avatar
    David

    It is encouraging to read the MOA reassure Bajans in the press this morning that the island should be able to satisfy certain vegetable production in this period of threatened food supply.

  3. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ David,
    Has anyone come up with a comprehensive plan to replace Tourism ?.(Quote)

    No. Tourism dominates our mindset. But there have been a number of recommendations and examples we can follow. Look at some countries outside the Caribbean. With tourism and other related services, such as offshore, we do not have to think. Why think, when you can be abusive?

  4. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Interesting story. Farmers were on TV lobbying for Jamaicans workers to be exempted.

    https://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/news/local-news/breaking-feds-grant-travel-exemption-for-migrant-farm-workers/wcm/edf90d51-41ba-44e0-8f7f-83620a1dbc22

  5. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Univariate vs multivariate

    The conclusion is that tourism will fall off and then increase later in the year.

    A few steps along the way are: lay-offs, increasing hardships and crime, stress on organizations that helps the needy, loss of motivation by workers and citizens … It is more than having new/different numbers.

    We should hope for the best, but we need to be honest with each other

  6. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “How ironic that an industry that has shown contempt to the majority population is now dependent on 250,000 darkies to keep them in business. Karma is a bitch!”

    they deserve to sink and drown, never to recover.

    Those who have european/UK ancestry can immigrate to the UK and plant food on a farm, they are asking people to help plant food.

    …. the minorities/hoteliers in Barbados and their children and grandchildren need real employment. I keep telling them that living off the backs of Black people is not a real job.

  7. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Reality says it would be hard to replace tourism with agriculture
    Factors embedded are politics in small island nations
    Labour force which hinges on immigration policies as well as politics and wages
    Ongoing concern of drought

  8. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @Hants March 21, 2020 10:50 AM

    Lay-offs everywhere and this? The only reason the farmers want them is because they pay them less. Take a bunch of UI recipients and now the Feds only need to pay the difference? When the welfare state bares its botsy.

  9. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    @ NorthernObserver,

    https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-farmer-says-orchard-suffering-because-seasonal-workers-can-t-get-into-canada-1.4860262?cache=yes%3FclipId%3D263414%3FcontactForm%3Dtrue%2Fexpert-advice-5-ways-to-get-rid-of-annoying-fruit-flies-1.2492904

  10. David Avatar
    David

    911 changed how we travel across borders.

    Covid-19 is shaping up to do the same. Entrenched attitudes and mindsets will change win order to survive.

    Bear in mind the scientists are not on top of covid 19 as yet.

  11. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @Hants
    allow me to interpret for you…
    ““These men that come in from Jamaica are highly trained. They know their work. We have had some people offer to help and it’s much appreciated but typically people come with the wrong set of skills,” Thwaites said”
    Interpretation? The workers we import know how to do the job AND we pay them less than going rate. We COULD train others, but that takes our time and effort and we are required by law to pay them more.
    You mean that among 1,000,000 unemployed Canadians drawing UI; they cannot find 100 who ‘have the skills’? Betchya you and I could learn to prune fruit trees in 2 days?

  12. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    @NO & Hants

    In the follow up to the PM’s Press Conference today the Minister of Agriculture said that there are 60,000 seasonal farm jobs across Canada and the Gov’t is allowing farm workers in as long as they serve the 14 day quarantine period.
    BTW Mexicans make up the majority of those workers.

  13. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    DavidMarch 21, 2020 9:51 AM

    How about all those workers about to lose their jobs.

    What about them
    Are u inferring that this group mostly in govt jobs or tourism would be schooled fast enough to go into farming and other areas of agriculture to make a huge economic difference for barbados economy
    Are u for real
    All this long talk about rebuilding the agriculture industry is simply to massage the intelligence of barbadians now looking for hope as they see before their eyes hopelessness in a broken food supply chain worldwide
    The hardened questions which remains unanswered for agriculture to blossom lies in a sorry state of political affairs across the Carribbean basin once described by Barrow as having tin horned dictators as leaders having no knowledge or ability to understand that unification can create world power

  14. David Avatar
    David

    What will they do if the tourist sector ceases to exist as we know it?

    Necessity is the mother of what?

  15. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    @ Enuff March 20, 2020 10:33 PM

    Please send the police for a message to those commentators on BU who are talking about a virological holocaust on the island. According to my information, the virus will not be able to spread substantially in the tropics. We just have to be careful not to get too many imported cases. As far as the government’s policy on the medical side is concerned, it has my full support. Barbados, with its effective but moderate measures, has not decoupled itself from international traffic like other islands.

    However, we should discuss the local entitlement mentality while enjoying a corona beer in the swimming pool. I don’t know what planet the SSA workers are living on when they demand a wage increase. Even raising civil servants’ salaries by five percent was totally wrong. Workers in Barbados are too expensive relative to productivity.

    The government should make the financially uneducated masses understand that we expect zero growth by 2030. Unless we finally devalue the Barbados dollar and adjust its value to local productivity. A political compromise would be 1:5, although 1:10 is more in line with economic reality.

    I am, of course, aware that the government can hardly act here, as such a sensible economic policy encounters massive resistance from the indigenous masses. Barrow has educated the local population in the false belief that blind nationalism is better than economic rationality. In the end, therefore, I am naturally not blaming the government for the current economic course, but large sections of the population infected by a kind of virus called Barrow welfare mentality.

  16. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    I would much prefer to hear more information about the virus itself and how it is circulating in case it has mutated instead of all the DAMN SELF BACK PATTING.

    https://youtu.be/BUjFBflKTb8

  17. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    Tron has always believed that we need fewer civil servants and academics, but more craftsmen and farmers. There is no shame in working on the plantation from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. This change will radically reduce the number of overweight people with type 2 diabetes. I will soon set an example and instruct my gardeners to plant more coconut trees on my property.

    Every crisis is also an opportunity. Our government is currently doing everything right.

  18. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @Sarge
    Yes at least they speak Spanish. More and more from Latin America. Good jobs in the summer resorts, who seem to like the Lucians and SVG folks. A second language is a plus.

  19. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @Tron
    U r truly special. “Instructing” will not help YOU. Lol.

  20. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    Northern,

    I think people here are not quite aware of what a return to an agricultural society means. The standard of living will drop significantly. Instead of SUVs and monthly shopping in Miami, it’s back to the chattle house and donkey cart.
    At least the labour force will be cheap again.

    Barbados therefore has no choice but to continue to rely on the pillars of tax haven and tourism.

  21. fortyacresandamule Avatar
    fortyacresandamule

    I have no pity for wall street, let them crash and burn. Over the years, since the great recession, they us cheap QE money to buy back shares ( to artificially inflate their stock price) and pay generous dividend to investors. Now, they looking for government to bail them out again. Talk about welfare and socialism. Hypocrites. Privatise the profits when times are good, but socialise the loss, when times get bad.

  22. fortyacresandamule Avatar
    fortyacresandamule

    In order or us to decoupe from this system of dependency on the import front, we must first withdraw from WTO. I said over and over again, that their is enough land in Belize, Guyana, and Suriname combined to more than feed CARICOM countries with the basic staples.

  23. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    Forty,

    Imagine the following dystopia:

    “The popular cry was that we need local production. So the government sent 50 percent of the civil servants and academics back to the plantations to grow potatoes and herd the pigs. As some citizens opposed to the measures, the government reactivated certain old 18th century laws at the request of the people. COW and Bizzy provided the farmland and supervised the new day laborers. Both of them already had a lot of experience with this, for example with Apes Hill Plantation. The military made sure that the day labourers actually stayed on the plantation and worked there from Monday to Saturday. After all, Barbados once again became an important exporter of sugar cane and tropical fruits, as it had been in the 1950s. The standard of living subsequently dropped by 75 percent. Tourists came to Barbados in the following period to experience once in real time the living conditions of the black masses in the 18th century.”

    Should we really replace the mediocre money bringers called offshore financial industry and tourism with a return to the plantation?

  24. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ Tron March 22, 2020 10:45 AM

    One must admit that you do possess a vividly fertile imagination.

    But there could be contained therein some nuggets of prescient wisdom.

    For there is a saying that “what goes around comes around”; or put in more ecclesiastic language, ‘there is nothing new under the Sun’.

    But we ought to look at the bright side of the wheel of economic fortune(s) as the clock of progress is set back to shock black people out of their slumber and bring them into the light of reality.

    Here is the golden opportunity for the black leaders and policymakers to refashion the broken economy in the image of a Marcus Garvey.

    The poor and dispossessed have nothing more to lose in this crisis.

    Likewise, the young black entrepreneurs have the ‘last’ chance to create the opportunities for the future direction of the Bajan economy in serving the interests of the black majority.

    Let the policymakers get off their blackened backsides to prepare and roll the Covid-damaged wicket by starting with the refusal to allow the importation of new luxury-class vehicles, those are powered by ICE and those functioning as used or second-hand asthma dispensers whose importation is mainly controlled by those whose economic and commercial interests are at variance with the country’s long-term development.

    Barbados does NOT need any more vehicles unsuited to its landscape and inimical to its economic survival and the physical wellbeing of its already challenged population.

  25. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    Miller,

    once again you have recognized that my exaggerations have a rhetorical and pedagogical purpose. LOL.

    Of course, not everyone should work in agriculture. We don’t want to go back to the manual labor of slavery, which was extremely inefficient. If we are going to get more involved in agriculture, we must do so at industrial level. But the machinery must be locally produced and easy to maintain. You know that the locals have problems with maintenance…

    We should also rely more on local materials and products when building houses.

    In any case, it’s a fact that the island has become increasingly Americanized since the 1990s: The many fat people. The many pickups and SUVs. The many fast food chains. None of this is vital and must stop immediately. Cutting costs here means progress.

    One thing is certain: the expansion of agriculture will certainly not be a driver of growth and will not ensure great prosperity. Otherwise, Guyana would have to have been a prosperous nation for twenty years.

  26. David Avatar
    David

    A thought provoking article on the ups and downs to shutting a country down.

    COLUMN-Coronavirus confronts decision-makers with a terrible trade-off: Kemp
    By John Kemp
    18-Mar-2020 15:27:48
    John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own

    LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) – At the heart of responses to coronavirus is a terrible trade-off between maximising social distancing measures to suppress the disease and the need to maintain some sense of normal economic activity.

    Extreme social distancing can reduce the number of infections and deaths by reducing the person-to-person interactions necessary for the transmission of the disease, but only an extremely high economic cost.

    Business-as-usual, with limited interventions such as handwashing and self-isolation, can to keep food, essential services and the rest of the economy going, but only at the cost of a large number of infections and deaths.

    First in China, and now around the rest of the world, policymakers have been confronted with the same appalling trade off, from which there are no good outcomes, only choices between lesser evils.

    China’s experience with locking down the province of Hubei and implementing a prolonged holiday from normal business seems to show extreme social distancing can bring an epidemic under control.

    But the experience suggests economic costs are high, with the supply chain pushed close to breakdown, and could only be maintained for a short period before pressure to restart the economy became overwhelming.

    At the other extreme, Italy’s early experience suggests uncontrolled transmission overwhelmed the healthcare system leading to a surge in deaths, and forced the government to introduce a nationwide lock down to arrest the rising death toll.

    As the epidemic has spread around the world and infected more people, governments have struggled to identify a strategy that is politically, medically and economically sustainable, with policy oscillating as costs increase in various dimensions.

    MITIGATION OR SUPPRESSION?

    In Britain, the government’s initial strategy was to mitigate transmission through the population, flattening the peak and maintaining hospitalisation and intensive care rates within system limits.

    The objective was to manage the case rate until the epidemic burnt itself out naturally, when enough of the population had been exposed that herd immunity had been achieved.

    Policymakers abruptly reversed course when new epidemic modelling suggested the mitigation strategy would still overwhelm the capacity of the healthcare system and lead to 250,000 or more deaths.

    So, the most recent policy focuses on extreme social distancing with the objective of suppressing the epidemic rather than simply mitigating it.

    The switch was prompted by epidemic modelling from Imperial College London (“Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions to reduce COVID19 mortality and healthcare demand”, March 16).

    But as the authors of the study note, “suppression, while successful to date in China and South Korea, carries with it enormous social and economic costs.”

    Such costs may be feasible in the very short term for a few weeks or a month, but become much more significant if extreme social distancing measures have to be maintained for longer periods.

    In the Imperial College study, the authors considered social distancing the entire population combined with case isolation and household quarantine and possibly school/university closure for five months.

    But the epidemic risks flaring up again once controls are relaxed. The authors acknowledge intensive restrictions on social contacts might have to be repeatedly reintroduced for an 18-month period.

    Extreme social distancing measures might need to be in place two-thirds of the time until near the end of 2021, until either herd immunity has been achieved naturally or a vaccine is available.

    ECONOMY-WIDE STOPPAGE

    In most major economies, including Britain, the United States, China and the European Union, government strategy has now shifted to suppression.

    But the enormous economic costs are being reflected in the sharp drop in equity market valuations and other risk assets.

    Suppression has brought much of the passenger aviation, tourism, public transportation, retail, restaurant, entertainment, personal services and other industries to a near complete halt.

    Suppression also threatens the manufacturing and distribution systems and their ability to keep moving food and other items to consumers.

    The sudden stoppage threatens sales, wages, rent and tax payments, with a cascade effect that will spread even to those parts of the economy not subject to formal shutdown.

    It has no parallel since the Second World War, except perhaps for the few days in the immediate aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Centre in September 2001.

    LOSS-SHARING MECHANISMS

    In response, monetary policymakers have cut interest rates to zero, injected large volumes of liquidity, and promised forbearance on debts and other liabilities.

    On the fiscal side, governments have pledged large tax cuts and/or increases in public spending, including transfer payments to individuals and businesses, to counter the economic crisis.

    So far, most monetary and fiscal measures have done little to restore confidence, with equity prices and other risk assets continuing to slide amid a sustained flight to safety.

    But monetary and fiscal stimulus can do little to sustain or revive business activity that has been shut down for non-economic reasons.

    At best, policymakers can socialise losses, spreading concentrated losses suffered by the worst affected businesses and individuals and sharing them more widely across society.

    Interest rate cuts spread losses among the most heavily indebted borrowers to savers. Transfer payments spread losses from the worst affected businesses and individuals to taxpayers as a whole.

    Loss-sharing is a conventional response for societies facing catastrophic costs, normally through commercial insurance in the first instance but ultimately through the fiscal and monetary systems.

    But loss sharing cannot make the costs go away. Shutting down large parts of the economy for much of the next 18 months will have enormous costs which is weighing heavily on financial markets.

    In that sense, the fall in equity values and oil prices is entirely rational, reflecting the current assumption business activity will be severely reduced for at least five months and perhaps as much as two years.

    As the full economic costs of suppression come into focus, it is possible policymakers will refine strategy further, leading to a blended strategy between suppression and mitigation, social distancing and business as usual.

    In most cases, when confronted with an uncomfortable trade-off, decision-makers ultimately choose a middle course, rather than one of the extremes.

    As they weigh up health and economic costs, policymakers may ultimately move to a strategy that mixes elements of suppression and mitigation, that tries to limit transmission and deaths, while re-opening parts of the economy to minimise the financial and social fallout.

    (Editing by Toby Chopra)
    IF YOU know anyone else who might like to receive best in energy and my research notes, they can add their emails to the circulation list using this link: http://eepurl.com/dxTcl1

    John Kemp

    Senior Market Analyst
    Reuters
    Twitter: @JKempEnergy
    Phone: +44 7789 483 325
    Recommended reading on energy

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  27. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Mia was dealt a tough hand and played it (I believe) in a masterful way.

    Some were suggesting that she took the easy way out and close down everything. But Mia demonstrated courage and determination when she maintained her own course.

    It is doubtful that if she acted on the advice of Mariposa then we would have avoided the introduction of the virus to Barbados.

    It is clear that if she not stood resolute and strong in the face of constant condemnation/criticism then she would have panicked the entire nation.

    One cannot accuse me of being her fan, but I believe she has successfully demonstrated what leadership means.

    Let’s give her our support. Let’s hope Barbados weathers this storm with the minimum of damage.

  28. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Sorry i see this virus entirely different
    I weigh the difference between comprising the health of people and the economic health of a nation in times of a health crisis
    The results should be one of whether the end justify the means
    By all means the economic health of a nation is very important as it lends to stability
    However what good is the result if the health of the people the economic wheels which helps to drive the economy is no longer functional
    Take China a clear example of placing China economy head over heels the health of the people and what is the result a whole world suffers
    The same analogy can be said of Mia who took the path of protecting one sector based of economic support whilst the health of the people remained comprised
    Even though the jury is still out on Mia decision one just have to look at china results because of their arrogrance in not understanding that the people play a much better importance in driving their economy
    The virus takes control the people becomes sick and China buckles
    Go figure

  29. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Stop blaming China. You are playing Trump’s fascist game. Of greater importance: 5000 Italian healthcare workers have been infected. Are our frontline workers equipped with the right gear?

  30. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    @ TheOGazerts March 22, 2020 4:04 PM

    I’m glad to hear that you have joined our team, the Red Knights of Ren. The true greatness of great leaders only becomes apparent in the crisis. If our leader should succeed in navigating Barbados safely between the monsters Corona and IMF, we should proclaim her the new national heroine instead of Barrow. Of course, she should then find her place on the $50 bill instead of Barrow.

    We must trust Goddess Bim and the ancient Gods. As soon as the crisis in China and in the West is resolved to some extent, these countries will help the South. It’s in their own best interests.

    In fact, Barbados is now cut off from passenger travel. But we still have free movement of goods and capital, without which we would die in three months.

    And Barbados has gained a great amount of trust in the international community. All the other islands have closed down in an overreaction of panic. But Barbados has enabled tens of thousands of people to travel home from ships and surrounding islands. People, airlines and tourism companies will not forget this. In the future, tourists from the North will think very carefully about whether they want to spend their holidays in Tobago or St. Vincent, or whether they would prefer to stay in Barbados.

    Better an expensive holiday in Barbados than a cheap holiday on the Trixidad Islands, which you will only leave in a body bag at the end. In future, tourists will have to decide whether they want to spend a safe holiday on our island, Switzerland of the Caribbean, or among wild tribes.

  31. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    For the retarded government…NO…the economy does not come first in a global pandemic.

    Healthy food for the people, healthcare and EMPOWERING YOUR PEOPLE…comes first. It’s time to RESET from dependency…

    “Coronavirus has shattered the myth that the economy must come first
    Adam Tooze

    Since the 1990s, faith in ‘the market’ has gone unchallenged. Now even public shopping has become a crime against society

    The coronavirus shutdown of 2020 is perhaps the most remarkable interruption to ordinary life in modern history. It has been spoken about as a war. And one is reminded of the stories told of the interruption of normality in 1914 and 1939. But unlike a war, the present moment involves demobilisation not mobilisation. While the hospitals are on full alert, the majority of us are confined to quarters. We are deliberately inducing one of the most severe recessions ever seen. In so doing we are driving another nail into the coffin of one of the great platitudes of the late 20th century: it’s the economy stupid.”

  32. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    The people of barbados have in the past two years paid a heavy financial price in their role of helping to place barbados on a path of economic recovery
    Hard for me to endorse a path which has placed barbadians health on a dangerous path to secure and protect barbados economy
    The only thing which matters is putting barbadians first
    The govt says that 1.5billion is in reserves
    Those reserves are not meant to be sanctimonious.
    There is a moral and ethical persuasion which should convince the powers (that be) that the large amount of money being hoarded should be used in times of a serious health crisis for the benefit of people
    Using the people as pawns to secure the economic health of a nation is morally wrong
    Some body needs to read literature on a pure guide to ethics and morals in times of crisis

  33. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    Mariposa,

    How mentally challenged are you? I almost think it’s Chris “Decimals” Sinckler writing. Most of the money must be paid back to the IMF and other international institutions.

    Besides: without reserves we end up very quickly at an exchange rate of 1:10 to 1:200 as in Guyana. Without buffers no more 1:2 peg to the US dollar. The angry and hungry mob would cut your wedding ring (if you have one) off your finger to get gold and rip out your gold crowns. Even Tron pleads only for controlled devaluation.

  34. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    That is the problem with Uncle Toms they rather hurt there own people than their white slave masters
    Rather see their people drop dead to save the fortunes of their white slave masters
    The only thing that has changed since slavery is that the chains which bound hands and feet have been removed
    However the Uncle Toms like Tron are alive and well doing the slavemasters bidding
    That a boy Tron
    Mariposa speaks of morals and ethics in times of crisis
    Tron speaks of protecting the wealth of the rich
    Fuh real u need putting in a barrell and giving a ride over Niagara falls

  35. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    Mariposa,

    If we run out of currency reserves, there won’t be just a dozen corona deaths. Then many people will starve and at least a hundred thousand Barbadians will emigrate. Barbados will look like Guyana without the oil, of course.

    Stop stirring up the population against the government and creating panic.

  36. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Who say anything about runing out of currency
    Just another excuse to protect the wealth of the rich
    U couldn’t wait to jump both feet head and hands to raise a hullabaloo to defend the 1.5billion part of which hard working barbadians put in
    The truth lies in what is important for the people in times of crisis .
    But then again u like Mia only see the rich as the rightful owners of the dollar bill and people well being be damn

  37. David Avatar
    David

    Verla has endorsed the governments handling of the pandemic so far for the most part. This is not a time to play politics.

    Small minds tend to attack people at the expense of ideas.

  38. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    In a democracy all has a right to agree or disagree
    Mariposa has not followed Verla response
    Be that as it may Mariposa does not go along to get along where i see a moral and ethical wrong i response accordingly
    After the horse has bolted is not what i see as preventive measures
    The airlines has made a decision to protect its crew
    A decision which is morally and ethically right despite the fact they will lose billions of dollars
    Mia still grabbing at the dollar in spite of knowing that the virus is highly contagious and persons tested positive on the island are have known to come from countries affected with the virus
    Thank God that the major airlines have made a decision which would make way for closing our airport as all flights cease
    Just a matter of time

  39. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Depending on who is behind this latest scam on earth, they will just ignore the concerns of the scientists…there is more danger out there than people know…it’s not corona alone.

    “Arthur Firstenberg writes:

    Wireless Radiation: Stop The 5G Network On Earth And In Space, Devastating Impacts On Health And The Environment
    To the UN, WHO, EU, Council of Europe and governments of all nations

    We the undersigned scientists, doctors, environmental organizations and citizens from (__) countries, urgently call for a halt to the deployment of the 5G (fifth generation) wireless network, including 5G from space satellites. 5G will massively increase exposure to radio frequency (RF) radiation on top of the 2G, 3G and 4G networks for telecommunications already in place. RF radiation has been proven harmful for humans and the environment. The deployment of 5G constitutes an experiment on humanity and the environment that is defined as a crime under international law

  40. David Avatar
    David

    Good, what do you agree with? Anything?

  41. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    When the going get’s tough, the touch AND INTELLIGENT get going.

    the mentally weak and dependent will remain years behind.

    https://www.nydailynews.com/coronavirus/ny-coronavirus-brooklyn-distilleries-create-hand-sanitizers-20200322-tamxmyegzfgl7poxewuxthtoxi-story.html#nt=oft-Single%20Chain~Flex%20Feature~new-center-chain~handsanitizer-729p~~1~yes-art~curated~curatedpage

    “Brooklyn distilleries shuttered over coronavirus are making good use of their leftover alcohol: manufacturing desperately needed hand sanitizer.

    Distilleries are using their equipment to make sanitizer after the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau lifted regulations Wednesday to allow the tax-free production of sanitizer, Eater first reported.”

  42. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    I agree with her stating that people whose water was disconnected should be turned on
    Nothing else she said impress me
    In that decision there was a longstanding duty to give aid no matter how small to those who could not afford to pay their water bill in times of austerity
    Water is a necessity with a built in conduit that is important to preserving the health of its people and entire country
    So on that issue i agree
    All the others measures implemented are politically grounded that within time when the economy rebounds would be removed or incur fees by govt
    The water issue should be considered a necessity on humanitarian grounds and those less fortunate or unemployed should have late fees and taxes removed going forward to ease their financial dilemma

  43. David Avatar
    David

    Fair enough. A pity you were not consistent in such a view when raw sewage was flowing on the streets of Barbados. In fact we had TWO not one hardback ministers diving in shit filled waters to fool Bajans. And you agreed.

    https://barbadosunderground.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/sealyandboyce.jpg

    #integrity

  44. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Ok David u want to speak of two people diving in sh.it filled water with a comparison of putting a whole nation at risk by having the nation confront a deadly virus unprotected
    Be my guest

    Btw stop the presses

    Three more people have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total in Barbados to 17.

    The three – two men and one woman – all arrived in the island from the United Kingdom. One is the partner of a visitor who was included in yesterday’s count.

    Acting Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anton Best, reported that they had all been placed in isolation, and so far were displaying only mild symptoms of the viral illness.

    A total of 17 tests were done by the Best-dos Santos Public Health Laboratory yesterday. All of the others were negative for COVID-19.

    Meanwhile, three people are quarantined in the medical facility at Paragon. As a result of aggressive contact tracing being conducted daily, the Ministry of Health and Wellness has reported that numerous others are in self quarantine and being monitored by public health officers.

  45. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    I guess barbados is punching above its weight
    I notice the speak formula to say how much people in quarantine is devoid of transparency

  46. David Avatar
    David

    Barbados has joined almost every country in the world with reported cases, what is your point?

  47. David Avatar
    David

    All the info about COVID-19. If uou have an issue with how the information is being presented sent feedback, it is the constructive thing to do.

    https://gisbarbados.gov.bb/covid-19/

  48. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    David Why the defensive posture
    I did not make the story
    I simply report the story
    What is your problem

  49. David Avatar
    David

    You tell lies.

    You have been exposed as being dishonest many times on the blog.

    You are rabidly partisan which is not a heathy position at a time of national crisis.

    There is more that can be stated but will leave it.

    You may have the last word.

  50. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    The race against contamination would be harder and more costly than closing the borders
    That is my point

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