Mystery @National Insurance

Mia Mottley exerted her prerogative as prime minister in the system of government we practice by making a few changes to her Cabinet last month. Two of the changes included the promotion of two chairmen of statutory boards Senator Lisa Cummins and Ian Gooding-Edghill.

Both individuals have distinguished themselves as competent, hard workers with a capacity and resolve to get the job done. I have been impressed with their stewardship in their respective roles as chairman of the National Insurance Scheme and the Transport Board, in the case of Gooding-Edghill… Mottley said.

Nation Newspaper

The promotion of Ian Gooding-Edghill piqued the interest of some including the blogmaster. On paper he is/was responsible for the influential NIS and problem riddled Transport Board. We cannot be sure of the performance metric used to determine how he has “distinguished” himself in the dual role. However, as a concerned citizen the blogmaster must evaluate from an armchair distance. In a simple summary the blogmaster has not observed any gargantuan shift in the performance of the National Insurance Scheme if a most important metric is applied- the production of current audited financial statements. Audited financial statements are important because it provides a comfort level to the public through the eyes of a qualified external agency about the financial health of the Fund. The failing of successive governments to remedy the situation points to a systemic problem that should concern an ageing society.

The raging pandemic has serve to make a bad situation worse given the stress currently being exerted on the NIS and will for some time to come. Although Ian Gooding-Edghill has uttered mouthings in an attempt to assure the public the NIS is solvent. His voice cannot replace the independent assurance of the external auditor.

Two observations continue to puzzle the blogmaster. The avoidance of the normally loquacious prime minister Mottley when it comes to discussing any and everything under the sun. The recognition of Gooding-Edgehill given the current state of the NIS. Until we are told what measures have been implemented at the NIS under his tenure a sensible public must assume was business as usual.

Mottley and government may miss the irony that despite its focus on the economy – supported by an army of ministers and consultants – it has been the other ‘issues’ that have been clipping at the political heels.

96 thoughts on “Mystery @National Insurance


  1. @David
    What mystery? There is no mystery the PM said the Chairman of the NIS did a good job in her words “I am impressed with their stewardship in their respective roles” etc. and that’s good enuff for me. 😊

    As recorded in the good book “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”


  2. David, is this the same Mia Mottley that your now criticizing, that only a couple of years ago you could not stop blowing a HORN for. Remember what Wily told you at the time, SAME OLD SAME OLD. Some crusty old seniors with poor eye sight can still expertly read between the 30-0 lines. Don’t give up your optimism as it eventually may come to pass, however Wily does not expect to see it in his lifetime.


    • @Wily

      What is your point? We are playing the cards dealt. Whither the third party movement in Barbados?


  3. Beg KK to see if he can unravel the mystery? It is sure to be a red tainted view, but will provide a few laughs. Laughing is good when discussing the NIS, for truth is likely to be painful. So let’s ignore it.
    The challenge is the NIS needs to be explained in black and white terms. That is the onliest thing the BU gang will jump on.


  4. The NIS is bankrupt after the Sinckler government systematically plundered it. If we had invested the money in decent stocks or in ETFs, Barbadians would be incredibly rich now – instead, “Professor” Robinson and the other figures inexperienced in money matters sunk the money into useless projects like the Apes Hill Plantation.

    The main reason for the misery is that Barbados has nowhere near the foreign currency reserves to invest the local NIS contributions in foreign stocks. The Barrows Dollar is just a piece of toilet paper without any value for really good investments.


  5. @NorthernObserver August 10, 2020 5:28 PM “Beg KK to see if he can unravel the mystery?”

    Now why are you assigning big people’s business to a callow youth?


  6. We have discussed the NIS ad nauseum. But we could definitely discuss it from a white and black perspective. Plenty there to discuss. For instance, I understand the government used the funds to invest in certain projects involving the usual suspects.

    You see, the reason why we discuss everything in terms of black and white is because everything in this country CAN BE DISCUSSED IN TERMS OF BLACK AND WHITE.

    Our country was build in terms of black and white. We have yet to replace that foundation.


  7. @SS
    because the big people have failed miserably; maybe the youth can help. It is less about age, than the inclination to work and produce tangible results. David is pushing for audited financials, which while the ultimate goal, the Act requires an annual report from the Board AND audited financials. People like Ms Moore, who has been a Board member for umpteen years, can wax poetically about a Senate vote, but be completely quiet on the NIS. As a union member is this what you expect from your leader? Silence on your pension.


  8. Parliament is now prorogued until Sept 15. Keep your eyes and ears out for this president trying to force through policy on the sly. She is not above such things.
    Watch out for special perks to the business class; selling off Crown lands; grants and tax waivers; appointments; etc. She is also not above using Dale Marshall, the legal expert, to do some of her little deeds. Be on the ball.


  9. @NorthernObserver August 10, 2020 10:51 PM

    You completely misunderstand me. I was not talking about KK at all. I was responding to David’s concerns about NIS, and saying that the NIS is a big job for a big man or several big men and women, that we should not overburden our young people with something that is no fault of theirs.

    Of course I want the NIS to be well managed. Of course I want my pension to be secure

    I may be foolish, but not that foolish.


  10. But having said that, I am my mother’s daughter. When she was just a teen her stepfather told her that she “could survive where an ant would starve”. And that’s exactly she did, until she was nearly 86.

    Survived World War 1, survived the 1917/18 ‘flu pandemic, survived the harshness of Barbados’ economy pre-1937, survived the1937 uprising in Barbados heard the police and the military shooting the people, survived World War 2, survived raising me [and many others], survived a 30 year battle with diabetes, then one Friday morning, woke up, drank her tea, and went quietly to be with her God.

    Stepdaddy? He was gone by his early 60’s.

    Neither you nor KK should worry ’bout me.

    I am like my fore-parents a survivor of the crossing.


  11. @ Hal Austin August 11, 2020 6:58 AM

    Barbados is going through its worst economic crisis since the abolition of slavery. Our leader and lifelong president of our hearts will not simply sit back until mid-September, but will act quickly to save Barbados.

    As long as the emergency legislation is in place, our Most Honourable Prime Minister is the supreme legislator and is not accountable to anyone. The people want it that way.


  12. @ Tron

    You are again absolutely right. Clearly you are earning your crust. Under the cloak of the prorogation of parliament and an extended emergency, this president can do as she pleases. Since she has no original ideas, and @PLT will be stupid to offer her any more, her only recourse is to brutalise ordinary working people. Watch this space.


    • First thing in the morning. Into the vituperative bucket this goes

      Time will tell if you are AGAIN proved wrong. Barbadians were expected to starve when COVID struck. Supermarkets should have seen food stocks depleted according to you.

      #steuspe


  13. The reality on ground is dire yes they are bajans who are close to starving not knowning where there next meal be coming from
    Unemployment numbers are enough to figure that many households have met poverty levels sufficiently so that the social impact of some of these households are severely compromised
    David you can sit back and scrutinized all u want but even if the supermarkets are well stocked the end result of people having no money to buy food to put on their tables would very well mean starvation for many


  14. Well where are all the fat cats govt help in first year in office
    Tax waivers and cuts galore went to the most elite and influential in business
    Yes they were financially rewarded while the working stiff were handed the debt wagon and told to hold strain
    Millions were handed to the big cruise industry in docking fees while the poor was becoming penniless and hungry for lack of jobs
    Presently barbados has become the bread basket for visitors on a policy of Humanatarian “cause “while the bajan sucked salt for lack of everything including water
    Meanwhile govt boast of million in reserves
    Go figure


  15. Poverty must be managed true
    Why it is of most importance govt release some of those millions in reserves and put money in the populace pocket to maintain a semblance of spending power which goes into the local economy and in turn the spend is way of collecting taxes for govt revenue
    A win win for all


    • Aren’t foreign reserves used mainly to pay external debt, fund capital projects etc. Will give way to Vincent and the other financial gurus on this matter.

      >


  16. “ACCURATELY AUDITED FINACIALS” for the NIS is never going to happen. Yes some audits may appear in the future, however they will be politically messaged and only present the auditing facilitator in a positive light/lite. All previous government’s have/are using NIS as their personal ATM and thus do not want any kind of audit which would imply their malfeasance. Barbados implimented a good Canadian idea with the setup of the NIS, however operation of the same has been a downward trend ever since.

    Do not understand how a country that is always trying to BAT ABOVE ITS WEIGHT can fail in most endeavours it undertakes, starting with independence.


  17. Can we get a full financial breakdown of the NIS from 1994 to 2008? Such historical data should be freely available. Can some enterprising and competent newspaper reporter take this on as a project?


  18. NIS saga

    For years run by a bunch of incompetent and govt using it as a ATM machine to bail out businesses
    Nobody ever thought the money belonged to the people
    So now what is the point of all the noises
    People with an arrogance having an interest unto themselves and who were in part given authority to managed public purses should be hauled to jail for this kind of injustice done towards the working class
    Even the Union bosses who took membership fees and have not delivered means which are of effort to help the members should be held accountable
    All this unfairness towards the people must stop
    Can only be done when these low life officials are handcuffed and put in jail
    People backsides are suffering will the morons enjoy a quality life


  19. Yes . However when the debt is paid off and the other projects are completed
    A story of devastating failure would result because govt refused to be guided by commonsense to help the
    people
    Presently the local economy is suffering because the spending power of the people has been depleted
    Furthermore i indicated that such money borrowed from the reserves would return to the economy with dividends
    Hence a profit margin would result because of taxes paid on that money by way of spend
    As for hotels they also can derived benefits from such spend with a need to be creative and innovative lead by a desire to have plans to attract local culture and entertainment for the people along with other plans of attraction for the locals


    • The supermarkets didn’t run out of food and the sun will rise tomorrow bet your bottom dollar…

      >


  20. @ Mariposa

    There is an even bigger trick, worked not only by the incompetents at NIS, but by commercial organisations, such as banks and hotels. It is called tax arbitrage, based on the corporations own internal markets, but for tax waivers. In effect, taxpayers pay these companies to operate in their jurisdictions.
    This is also backed up with regulatory capture, which is big in bigger economies, in that the top tax personnel are offered jobs by the very companies they are meant to be supervising.
    Because there is no clarity on how businesses report in Barbados, we can be certain that the scams they run are even deeper than the mess at the NIS. Then we get economic waffle about fiscal space.


  21. “Tax waivers and cuts galore went to the most elite and influential in business. Yes they were financially rewarded while the working stiff were handed the debt wagon and told to hold strain.”

    ++++++++++++++++++

    You know you’re being disingenuous and ‘spinning’ a situation to suit your political agenda. Government did not give “tax waivers and cuts galore.” It WROTE OFF taxes deemed uncollectible for EVERYONE…… individuals, small, medium and large businesses.

    Taxes that were due and remained uncollected under both BLP and DLP administrations. The same taxes that remained outstanding when you established the BRA to manage and improve the efficiency of the tax reporting and collection system.

    But we know the fibbers and self appointed lawyers will ‘tell’ you “spot on” and “you are correct.”


  22. If memory serves correct there was a significant lowering of taxes to the business class in govt first year in office


  23. If memory serves correct there was a significant lowering of taxes to the business class in govt first year in office
    This govt has asked of the people to use some of their finances to invest in govt and some have responded
    When is govt going to return said favour of investing in the people
    Could it be a lack of trust in their populace
    A trust that is only afforded to the elite and influential
    Yes it get it
    Politicians have a strange way of rewarding the poor which usually occurs around election time in all shapes and manners


    • Are you referring when the government moved to a ONE rate tax regime for companies in Barbados? Do you understand why this was done and how it impacts?


  24. @ Mariposa

    The notion that taxes are uncollectable is a nonsense. Government is obliged to pursue all taxes owed to the state. If people have defaulted, then they should be prosecuted.
    I have called for changes in corporation law so that directors and shareholders can be pursued in their private lives for corporate debt. The idea that companies are bodies legal in themselves is 1920s crap.
    The alternative, is the transfer of wealth from the poorest to the wealthiest in Barbados, a policy pursued by both DLP and BLP governments – Stuart because he was weak, the president because she has not a clue.
    We have the obscenity of companies collecting VAT and then refusing to hand the money over to the tax authorities. What? This is lunacy. Then we get some bogus economic notion of fiscal space. Collect all taxes or prosecute the deviants. Make them pay, and on time.


  25. Hal
    Correct only in barbados and turd world countries would such nonsense be fed to the people
    Only to prove that govt like to blind the people with smoke and mirrors
    If what govt claim is true then what did govt of recent hauled a black man to prison for not paying his taxes
    The same could have been applied years ago to the big shots before this now expiration date of past period time became a fools fantasy for the people


  26. @ Mariposa

    It is an even bigger scandal. Taxpayers pay for company directors’ cars, their petrol, their expensive lunches in classy restaurants, sometimes their children’s education, mobile phones, etc. some of it tax deductible and some of it not. All of which ordinary workers have to pay for themselves.
    I worked in a job in which if I wanted to I could have had a long list of benefits paid for by the company. Apart from the basics, I declined them all, including reclaiming the costs of lunches.
    Again, we need to reform our corporate legislation and make these highly paid people pay for their keep. That will create the fiscal space.


  27. Here comes the fibber to spew his usual know-it-all rubbish.

    It’s customary on BU for certain contributors to refer to or dismiss other jurisdictions as examples, when it conveniently suits their purpose. However, even the USA’s IRS deem taxpayers’ accounts as uncollectible or temporarily uncollectible.

    Also, what purpose does it serve coming on BU to call for changes in laws other than one of self-aggrandizement?

    Rather than harping on about written off taxes, citizens and special interest groups should be lobbying government not to allow a situation where income tax and VAT receivable are collected instead of remaining outstanding for several years.


  28. The biggest fibbers is the govt
    Enough proof out there
    Gives govt workers. 5 percent pay hike and take all back in taxes and fees
    Then to add insult to injury sell them a pig in a bag call a BOSS program


  29. A lady on social media always say bajans dotish as sh..te
    They allowed the merchant class to lead them down a fanatical path of prosperity
    Now the merchant class got the benefits and the people got gripe


  30. I have to agree this Mottley administration has so far performed terribly. To borrow a phrase from Freundel, they seem to be in a dark room searching for a black cat. I’m also a bit disappointed that, after being a robust, proactive Opposition Leader, Mottley has ‘flattered to deceive’ as PM.

    However, I await their new throne speech to see what direction they’re going to take.


  31. @ MMariposa

    It is not the merchant class. The biggest traitors to ordinary Barbadians are the half-educated men and women in their robes, that professional middle class, the sons and daughters and grand sons and grand daughters, of carpenters, and blacksmiths, and mechanics and cane cutters, who now see it as their mission to penalise people for being poor.
    Just look at our braindead magistrates. But, give them time. When the New Barbadians have the appropriate numbers (and they breed like rabbits), they will take over the island and traditional Bajans, black and white, will be driven in to the sea. If the whites think they are going to get a pass, they are living in a dream world.


  32. I’ll have to agree this Mottley administration has performed terribly so far. To borrow a phrase from Freundel’s notebook, they seem to be ‘in a dark room searching for a black cat.’

    We have the PM as Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment; Marsha Caddle is Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment; Ryan Straughn – Minister in the Ministry of Finance; Dr. Clyde Mascoll – Chief Economic Counsellor to the Prime Minister; Kevin Greenidge – Senior Economic Advisor and Professor Avinash Persaud is the Special Envoy to the Prime Minister of Barbados on Investment and Financial Services, yet Barbadians are not clear on what are ‘government’s’ economic policies.

    I’m also a bit disappointed that, after being a robust, proactive Opposition Leader, Mottley has ‘flattered to deceive’ as PM.

    However, I await their throne speech to see the direction they’re going to take.


  33. Yes Mia threw out the scamp George Psyne and a few others
    However kept White Oaks and other largess consultants at ridiculous fees
    Pray tell what help are these high flying well to do big wigs are to an economy feeling the pangs of COVID
    All of them should have long be show the exit sign in order to save the barbados economy some much needed funds


  34. @Hal Austin August 12, 2020 10:36 AM. “When the New Barbadians have the appropriate numbers (and they breed like rabbits)”

    How many children do you have Hal? Have you moved to England and “bred like a rabbit”?

    “They breed like rabbits” statement is exactly the sort of thing said about immigrants, and especially about black and brown immigrants. But do you have any data to support that the birthrate of New Barbadians is any higher than the birth rate of “Old Barbadians”?

    The demographic truth is that the number of children a woman has in her lifetime is mostly determined by her level of formal education. In this 21st women with no formal education at all may have up to 10 children, women with only an elementary school education may have 5 or 6, women with a secndary educaion ma have 3 or 4, university educated women will have maybe 2; and women with a post graduate education even fewer than that.

    In 21st century Barbados every female has to attend formal education until she is at least 16, many choose to remain in education even longer than that. Blck women, white women, brown women.

    If you think that 21st century women will let themselves be bred like rabbits by irresponsible men, you are living someplace in the 1950’s.

    it int going to happen.

    So you can dream on.

    And it is really about time that you garbage the hate which you have learned in miserable England.


  35. @Artax
    Aye…you live in Hope? Maybe Strong Hope? or Hopewell? or Hopefield? or Hope Land? Maybe your home is Good Hope, Hopecot, or Hopeville, or Casa D’esperanza. We all live in hope.


  36. @ Mr. Greene

    Unlike you, I don’t drink the very strong rum punch Astor was famous for serving at George Street…….. or the Koolaid in Roebuck Street.

    But, if you believe its sarcasm….. then, ‘whatever rocks your boat.’


  37. Once again sad news an eleven year old stab his sister and she is in critical condition at the QEH
    The stress and burdens of this economy placed on the shoulders of people would not even escape the young
    However we have a PM in pretentious gladiator style prancing up and down on TV singing the praises of Barbados
    Hopefully her eyes would soon wake up to the realities that are on the ground


  38. on a more serious note….”that despite its focus on the economy – supported by an army of ministers and consultants”
    I will argue the focus has never been the economy. They did what was needed to stay afloat. After that, it is all politics. The army of Ministers is political, not economic. Most of their implemented efforts have been band aids, targeted at not rocking the political boat. It has been political business as usual. Now the hiatus. And I ‘believe’ the next IMF report is due shortly before Parliament resumes? We haven’t seen much recently from the IMF to suggest how they are handling Covid, but we know they are at the helm.


  39. @ NO

    No, Mr. Skinner and I are not neighbours…… but, it would be good if he were, I would be able to learn a ‘thing or two’ from him.

    And, unlike him, I prefer single malt Scotch ‘on the rocks’……. Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie 12 or Glenlivet 18.
    ++++++++++++++++++++++

    “The stress and burdens of this economy placed on the shoulders of people would not even escape the young…”

    So, the stress and burdens of the economy caused an 11 year old boy to stab his sister???

    Being an overly melodramatic political ‘spin doctor’ is your method of bringing balance (and sophistication) to BU?

    You must be vying to be the female version of Tron.


  40. Dont worry about what i am vying for
    Look at the statistics and data of crime and violence in the past months then wheel and come again.
    If you think that the pain and suffering of the economy of barbados exempt children from stress
    You are making a terrible mistake
    The poor poverty levels rise
    The more crime increases and children become part of the free fall


  41. “The statistics and data of crime and violence in the past months’ gave you a clear indication “that the pain and suffering of the economy of barbados (has not) exempt children from stress,” which you’re essentially suggesting is responsible for an 11 year old boy stabbing his sister?

    Rather than spewing your usual broad, generalized statements, perhaps you may want to provide BU with your stats for our perusal, so we could see if poverty is the main factor that causes people to commit violent crimes.

    Otherwise, we will have to conclude you’re presenting alarmist, political hogwash.


  42. @Mariposa

    Empirical evidence does not tell us very much about crime causation. It says more about the people collecting the so-called evidence. Where are the Barbadian criminologists? What we do know is that poverty is the main cause of some forms of crime.
    You may not recall, but a few years ago a young white man was arrested on suspicion of arson. Whatever happened to that case? And a father and son, a lawyer, were questioned for beating a young black man fora walking in their neighbourhood. Whatever happened to that case? These, are just two statistic of alleged violence. What about the savage goons who walked in tot the boutique owned by the black woman in Speightstown?
    Some experts, such as neuroscientists, have given other explanations, especially for teenage crime. If there was any easy answer there will be very little crime.


  43. @Hal,

    the balkanisation has started already. Husbands by Queens College is highly prized by Indians. when zoning starts it might become known as Indira Ghandi College.

    the whites too have their enclaves. the black middle class theirs and of the course the muslims opposite the said QC compliment of my DLP.

    i am on record as saying that all racial groups should all get involved in politics. why not?

    if we give the initiative someone will take it up.

    just the other some people were calling for a black day of shopping and they were roundly criticised by blacks. tell dat to Indians and Syrians

    so we must endure whatever comes our way from these developments.

    we know the problem but we bury our heads in the sand whilst certain entrepreneurs facilitate the guns with which we kill ourselves and MAM chastises the public for speaking out about Ghanaian nurses but is MUM about murders.

    we deserve it.


  44. So far 28 murders
    Not to mention decomposing bodies found in strategic areas
    Btw how is it that almost three months after a soldier was shot no criminal arrest has been made


  45. @ Greene

    I have no desire to change Barbadian society. The people must make that decision. My role is to make them aware of the reality of how society is drifting and the likely consequences. That is the only reason I tolerate nonsense on BU. There is a bigger picture.
    I think some people on BU forget that I am a Barbadian too. I know how Barbadians stubbornly respond, it is learned behaviour, a collective psychological condition.. I hope that future generations will see that at least some of us tried to make a difference.
    I agree with you on political change. Traditional black and white Barbadians have to reach a settlement; we may not be best friends or invite each other to dinner, but for the sake of Barbados, and ourselves, we much have a rapprochement. The alternative is too horrifying to think about. Ask those black domestics trapped in Lebanon.


  46. @Hal,

    i suspect the bajan whites dont give a shiite. they have the buffer between themselves and us that Tom promised when he said that he wanted Bim to be more cosmopolitan.

    as usual we are too deaf to see


  47. I really don’t know what kind of race theories you all throw up. In the gated communities in Barbados, native whites, blacks, mulattoes, Indians and expats live peacefully side by side. I suppose this problem of segregation occurs mainly in the “inner cities”, “townships” of our Royal Island.


  48. @Greene

    I think you are right. It is false comfort, backed by small arms. But if there is an outbreak of social unrest that cannot save them. It will take the BDF to come to their rescue – black working class men and women shooting at their brothers and sisters and neighbours.
    We already know the white (creole) Bajan so-called business class are just as incompetent as their black counterparts, that is why the clever Trinis have moved in.
    Young Bajan whites are moving out to Canada, Australia, a few in New Zealand, and as I have said, 10000 in the UK. They will bring the kids to see their grand parents occasionally, otherwise Barbados is a bad memory..
    The Europeans and North Americans are not interested in Barbados apart from laundering money and for offshore bank accounts. On the other hand, the Asians, Lebanese/Syrians and the few coffee-coloured Latinos want to stay and make Barbados their home. That is the future frontline.


  49. Mariposa you return with your political rubbish? I do not know why the blogmaster reinstate you on this blog.Nobody except Hal Austin missed your shite talk and far from you coming back Austin should joined you in exile for his lack of respect for David BU.My advice go back in exile.


  50. Lorenzo i must be doing something right that i got u all worked up
    When i wasnt here you guys got a free past to talk about any and everything expect Mia dismantling of the economy and robbing the poor to make the rich richer
    Btw i was hanging out on other social media platforms which are many years ahead in variuos discussions u like BU who is stuck in a time warp of repetitive revolving shop talk discussions
    E.g Gazzert he still belives this is 1960 when there was 1 radio station and no internet
    Hence i chuckle when responds with the words ” no traction”
    See what i mean David had devise a plan for the reader which keeps them heading down the same dam rabbit hole day after day a plan to do with having a hands off approach to Mia
    But not me i dodged that rabbit like a mad hatter


  51. Gazzert yuh think so
    Glad to see yuh wakening up cause for a while i thought yuh had gone to sleep
    Btw some one just made me a deal
    Telling me i can make 5000 dollars in 42hrs
    I told them i have to check with u my financial advisor
    So what do yuh think
    Good or bad deal


  52. @ Artax
    “ And, unlike him, I prefer single malt Scotch ‘on the rocks’……. Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie 12 or Glenlivet 18.”
    No problem my son will join you . He drinks that stuff. I’ll stick with any good white rum from any island.

    @ Northern Observer
    I will learn something from you as well. What’s your drink of choice? We are all neighbours .
    👍🏾


  53. I admire your effort and tenacity.
    However, I could not encourage you to flog a dead horse.
    There are a lot more issues that you can focus on as even the faithful is beginning to falter.
    ————————xx———————————–
    The only financial advice I can give is “Take the money and run”


  54. Any and every horse dead or alive is worth a good a.rsee kicking when wrong is wrong
    If yuh dont like the arsee kicking the horse getting
    Tek out of stable and find anothet paddock to house it
    Cause i aint easy when i kick a rsee


  55. When I read Hal, I am reminded of Enoch Powell’s “rivers of blood” The savage black men from the West Indies would come and violate British society. And what did those savage black men from the West Indies do? They married the British lasses. There were no “rivers of blood” except when the English lasses went into labour to deliver their half West Indian babies, and once the labour pains and the bleeding was done,they like Hal lived happily after. The END


  56. @Mariposa August 12, 2020 12:45 PM “Once again sad news an eleven year old stab his sister and she is in critical condition at the QEH. The stress and burdens of this economy placed on the shoulders of people would not even escape the young”

    So Mari, when Cain stabbed it was Mia’s fault too?

    Because it couldn’t have been poverty or over crowding. The world was resource rich, rich enough to satisfy the basic needs of 8 billion people, plenty of room for people to move around, and yet murder?

    Why?


  57. My role is to make them aware of the reality of how society is drifting and the likely consequences. That is the only reason I tolerate nonsense on BU. There is a bigger picture. I think some people on BU forget that I am a Barbadian too. I know how Barbadians stubbornly respond, it is learned behaviour, a collective psychological condition.. I hope that future generations will see that at least some of us tried to make a difference. {Quote}

    I wonder what the future generation gine say when they read how stubbornly HAL AUSTIN does respond to other BU bloggers that don’t share the same opinion as him, by calling them savages, wild barking dogs, wild beasts that should be in the jungle, billy goats, keyboard warriors, appallingly ignorant brain dead semi literate buffoons that learn by rote?

    Or when yuh come here arguing that Elite was one of the bus companies the government take over in 1955 to form the Transport Board.


  58. @WS
    Rum with a good splash of coconut water. I prefer amber, but have been know to drink many kinds. The company and the chat are more important


  59. @David
    re. Phartford Files
    Will the blogmaster be kind enough to explain why neither of the two articles I submitted re. the influence of the Chinese in this region – the first as far back as July 19 – have NOT been posted to date?


  60. @ Greene & Hal,
    Your countryman are either blissfully unaware of the demographics that are re-engineering our country; or they are totally apathetic.

    Cudhear Bajan seems sadly detached from the voice of reality. She indulges us with her perceived and high pitched liberal voice. Yet, she remains unconscious as to the harsh realities of the difficulties faced by her fellow African brothers and sisters outside of Barbados.

    At some point there will be a rupture in Barbados between the governed and the so-called political and social elite. It would be a battle that the latter group would lose decisively.


  61. @TLSN

    We are the canaries in the mine. They cannot say they have not been warned. Normally, what sensible people do is act cautiously. In Barbados they simply want to party.


  62. Barbados Today seems as if it has enough of the govt incompetence
    The BT editorial hit all the right points in their scathing article
    Kudos to them


  63. @ Northern Observer
    “ August 13, 2020 12:26 AM

    @WS
    Rum with a good splash of coconut water. I prefer amber, but have been know to drink many kinds. The company and the chat are more important”
    Can’t beat coconut water as a chaser .
    Go easy and enjoy!
    Thanks for your response.


  64. https://barbadostoday.bb/2020/08/13/all-government-offices-to-close-at-noon-tomorrow/

    Let me be the devil’s advocate and oppose only for the sake of being the opposition.

    This closing of government offices for the sake of attending the funeral of OA is an ill-conceived idea. We should honor the man, but at the same time we should be against any action that is a threat to social distancing. In this COVID-19 era, the general public should be asked to stay away from the funeral.

    Keep up you guard at all times.


  65. @TLSNAugust 13, 2020 7:48 AM “Cudhear Bajan seems sadly detached from the voice of reality. She indulges us with her perceived and high pitched liberal voice. Yet, she remains unconscious as to the harsh realities of the difficulties faced by her fellow African brothers and sisters outside of Barbados.”

    Stupssseee!!!

    Just because i don’t agree with wunna misogyny and racism?

    How you know my voice high pitched?

    How you know I liberal? Aren’t all political parties in Barbados some kinda liberal parties? But which have to exist in a rampantly capitalist world. Sigh!

    @TLSNAugust 13, 2020 7:48 AM “she remains unconscious as to the harsh realities of the difficulties faced by her fellow African brothers and sisters outside of Barbados.”

    And how do you know this? How do you know that I am unaware? You know that I have literal brothers and sisters and friends too who have lived and worked in dozens of countries. You think we don’t talk? You think that I don’t listen? I told Hal that like him our family likes marry out. How you know we haven’t married out to virtually the whole Caribbean and to Africa and Asian too?

    Looka when you int see me here, it is because I am working on behalf of our African brothers inside and outside of Barbados. Sometimes the African brothers are even in my home. Were it not for COVID19 some of the young African brothers would be in my house all like now, and I would just have finished the pot, and we would sit and eat and talk and listen.

    You think that at nearly 70 I waiting pun you and Hal to lead or mislead me? You don’t think that I think, talk, read, travel, and listen?

    But when it comes to referring to other human being as “breeding like rabbits” I am NOT with you, partly because MY OWN MOTHER who had a large family when she was young and frequently pregnant was referred to as “down there breeding like a sow pig”

    So when you start referring to human women as breeding stock ya lost me, because in my time my own mother was referred to as breeding stock. However she was actually an excellent mother. One of the very best. Raised all of her own children in her own home, and raised some not born to her also, some fathered by nasty misogynistic Bajan men who did not even have the decency to tell her thanks.

    So if you think that I have”a high pitched liberal voice” so be it. We are all shaped by our experiences.

    You too.

    Me too.


  66. @TheoG
    Did you ever notice Coke changed its formula? In your country, at least in the southern part, they sell Coke in glass bottles, known as ‘Mexican Coke’. Coke made with sugar and not fructose syrup. Huge difference in the taste. And price.

  67. Pingback: The Phartford Files: Aliens Among Us Part I | Barbados Underground


  68. TheOGazerts August 13, 2020 6:06 PM

    @WS
    @NO
    “You can thank me later.
    Nothing beats a rum and coke …“

    Still the number one mix drink . Not my thing. I somehow prefer the good old straight up white like the old timers with a little ice water following as needed. In recent times a splash of cranberry juice.
    We have to agree that rum and coke is still the popular choice. 👍🏾


  69. No man!

    One of the boys.

    Haynes new NIB chairman
    QUEEN’S COUNSEL Leslie Haynes is the new chairman of the National Insurance Board (NIB).
    Haynes, who previously served as an NIB director, succeeds Minister of Transport, Works and Water Resources Ian Gooding-Edghill, who departed the board after being appointed a minister in July when Prime Minister Mia Mottley reshuffled the Cabinet.
    Government Senator Dr Lynette Holder, who is chief executive officer of the Small Business Association of Barbados, is also now an NIB director.
    Avinash Persaud has retained his position as deputy NIB chairman, a position he held when Gooding-Edghill chaired the board.
    The NIB’s directorship also includes a representative each from the Barbados Workers’ Union, the National Union of Public Workers, Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association, and the Barbados Employers’ Confederation.
    The Chief Labour Officer, the Director of Finance
    and Economic Affairs and the Permanent Secretary (Finance) in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment, or their nominee, are also on the board. (SC)

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