est. 2007

Barbados Underground

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Peter Odle Under the Gun

A dispute involving Irish investor Alan McIntosh and other parties with local hotelier Peter Odle continues to be a source of embarrassment for Barbadians and makes public what ordinary Barbadians have been complaining about for many years. We have a court system that is broken and a ‘buddy system’ that protects the favoured in society.…

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A dispute involving Irish investor Alan McIntosh and other parties with local hotelier Peter Odle continues to be a source of embarrassment for Barbadians and makes public what ordinary Barbadians have been complaining about for many years. We have a court system that is broken and a ‘buddy system’ that protects the favoured in society. In local parlance, two Barbadoses.

The two political parties come and the two political parties go and the problem remains.

See other blogs posted on a dispute which continues to expose our moribund court system and to dent our reputation as a domicile fit and proper to conduct international business. This imbroglio is occurring as Prime Minister Mia Mottley has been promoting the Barbados Welcome Stamp – Work Remotely in Barbados initiative in the international media. It should not be forgotten that attracting foreign direct investment is important to the economic planners to ensure we can honour foreign commitments.

Alan McIntosh dubbed by Barbados Underground as that pesky Irish investor has written a second letter to the Prime Minister of Barbados which encapsulates in summary detail the dysfunctional governance setup and toxic business ethos prevailing in Barbados. The letter separates the issues for the Prime Minister’s under the headings – Court Delay Tactics, Corporate Governance and Abuse of Personal Relationships to Circumvent Creditors.

It is clear from reading the letter that Attorney General Dale Marshall is also aware of the ongoing dispute that threatens to compromise Barbados’ economic recovery effort. In an Affidavit filed with the Barbados court, Abagi Ekoku who is a shareholder in Sandy Bay Holdings Inc (SBHI) named as First Defendant in the pending court matter, explains how a repurchase agreement with Richard Bradford and Peter Odle has gone south and precipitated litigious action.

Clause 23 extracted from the Affidavit sworn by Agagi Ekoku:

On Monday the 10th day of February, 2020, pursuant legal advice which I received from my Attorney-at-Law, I wrote to the Attorney General of Barbados, the Hon. D. Marshall, Q.C., MP. I requested acknowledgement of my aforementioned letter from the office of the Attorney General and received the acknowledgement on the same date from Hazel Mederick, the executive secretary to the Attorney General. To date, I have not received a response to my letter. True copies of the email/letter dated 10th day of February, 2020 and the acknowledgment of the same date are hereto attached and marked “AE3”.

Extracted from the Affidavit of Abagi Ekoku

It pains the blogmaster no end each time a blog of this type is posted which shines a light at the underbelly of Barbados. The upside is that it is being done with the aim of making Barbados a better country for ALL.

– Second Letter sent to Prime Minister Mia Mottley by Alan McIntoshDownload

Barbadians should be reminded of an Irish saying – May the enemies of Ireland never meet a friend..

186 responses to “Peter Odle Under the Gun”

  1. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    the Bim Bar Association is an embarrassment

  2. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @David September 20, 2020 6:34 AM “…loyal to his former employer…”

    There is no need to be loyal to a FORMER employer.

    Employers pay employees for X amount of work.

    Once the work is done, and the wages are in hand, and you have left that person/organization’s employ, then you owe that former employer ABSOLUTELY NOTHING

    Since they have already got EXACTLY what they paid you for.

    To give or to profess some lifelong loyalty is simply foolish.

  3. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Quaker John

    A few weeks ago there was an almighty row at the QEH and a doctor was meant to be disciplined. Whatever happened to the case? The Barbados media are so strange that one never knows the outcome of high-profiled stories.

  4. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    WE THE PEOPLE OF BARBADOS are now Mr. Jordan’s employer.

    His loyalty must be to us.

  5. David Avatar
    David

    @Simple Simon

    What happens if Jordan loses his seat next time around? People try not to burn bridges in the real world.

  6. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @John A September 20, 2020 9:15 AM “…party faithfuls could do as they like? This gone past a joke now.”

    Have you seen the front page of today’s Sunday Sun?

    Word on the street is that Wu’k fah Wu’k coming wunna northern way.

    Don’t thank me.

    Thank auntie.

  7. John A Avatar
    John A

    I have no doubt based on what i have heard about Mr Jordan, that IF he is asked to meet with the PM he will speak open and honestly. Of course he would need to be asked first!

    Remember every politician has taken an oath to serve us the people first. They basically are employed by us, although they seem to forget that after a year or 2 in power.

  8. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @Hal Austin September 20, 2020 10:09 AM “We cannot have trial by the mob.”

    i don’t see why not.

    Juries are ALWAYS chosen from the people you refer to as “the mob”

    I prefer to call them “we the people”

  9. Crusoe Avatar
    Crusoe

    Cuhdear BajanSeptember 20, 2020 2:17 PM

    Agreed. Employers’ loyalty begins and ends the day you start and the day you leave. Sometimes, they are not even loyal while you are there, just want to get as much out of you that they can. Seen that, been that.

    Only a truly exceptional employer would I stick my neck out for. Had just one of those.

  10. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    In nearly 70 years Never yet experienced a mob in Barbados.

    But on my first visit to England, 1978 I was walking down the street with my Bajan English friend and I heard shouting and cursing, so I asked “what is happening?” then I was told that a football match had just finished and the fans of the losing team were on their way to the train station. Police armed with boots, batons, German shepherd dogs and what not had to escort the fans of the losing team to the airport before they ripped the high street apart.

    A real-real English mob. Scary as hell.

    Familiar to Hal the Englishman, I am sure.

  11. David Avatar
    David

    @Simple Simon

    There a euphemistic way of referring to it- hooliganism LOL

  12. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “Familiar to Hal the Englishman, I am sure.”

    bunch of hooligans, but Ha, Ha would have to run for HIS LIFE…if he saw them coming before they saw him……..😂🤣

  13. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    Correction: to the train station.

  14. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @David September 20, 2020 2:26 PM “S David, what happens to a politico, male or female, if he or she loses his or her seat BECAUSE his or her constituents are unhappy with him or her.”

    Sure party leaders have authority.

    But we the people have the POWER of the vote.

  15. David Avatar
    David

    By your reasoning it seems we have a win win with each party getting a turn to feed at the trough and the electorate expressing themselves at the polling booth.

    Great!

  16. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    The post above is all mine, in response to David’s post of 2:26 PM

  17. John Avatar
    John

    Dunno Hal

  18. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    But surely the English are all civilised! They are not savages are they??? Are you certain you did not infect them with the Bajan Condition?

  19. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Quaker John

    Here is one for you. What is going on at QEH? Are there any Quaker doctors at QEH?

  20. John Avatar
    John

    Dunno Hal.

    I try to keep clear of the QEH!!

  21. John Avatar
    John

    … and that’s two, not one!!

  22. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Ah guess Whitehoax will now have to register their little outfit so they can be monitored for money laundering just like everyone else…and don’t talk about the little social climbing crooks in the government and minority community, they love to hobnob with world class criminals, let’s wait and see if their names fall out of bank reports….

    “Why is this leak different?
    There have been a number of big leaks of financial information in recent years, including:

    2017 Paradise Papers – A huge batch of leaked documents from an offshore legal service provider Appleby and corporate services provider Estera. The two operated together under the Appleby name until Estera became independent in 2016. They revealed the offshore financial dealings of politicians, celebrities and business leaders

    2016 Panama Papers – Leaked documents from the law firm Mossack Fonseca showed more about how wealthy people were using offshore tax regimes to their benefit

    2015 Swiss Leaks – Documents from HSBC’s Swiss private bank showed how it was using the country’s banking secrecy laws to help clients avoid paying tax

    2014 LuxLeaks contained documents from the accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers showing that big companies were using tax deals in Luxembourg to reduce the amount they were having to pay

    The FinCEN papers are different because they are not just documents from one or two companies – they come from a number of banks.

    They highlight a range of potentially suspicious activity involving companies and individuals and also raise questions about why the banks which had noticed this activity did not always act on their concerns.

    FinCEN said the leak could impact on US national security, compromise investigations, and threaten the safety of institutions and individuals who file the reports.

    But last week it announced proposals to overhaul its anti-money laundering programmes.

    The UK has also unveiled plans to reform its register of company information to clamp down on fraud and money laundering.”

  23. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @Donna September 20, 2020 3:30 PM “But surely the English are all civilised! They are not savages are they??? Are you certain you did not infect them with the Bajan Condition?”

    There was no Bajan Condition in 1978. The Bajan Condition was invented by Hal just recently.

    The English mob was very real though.

    Scary as hell.

  24. whiteHill Avatar
    whiteHill

    Cuhdear Bajan, so you observed some Brits carrying on over a soccer match and you thought to yourself, not in our little Barbados, we don’t behave like that. Can you imagine if we did our court/legal system wouldn’t treat us like fools?

  25. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    ‘mornin’ whitehill

  26. BrathwaiteE Avatar
    BrathwaiteE

    Blogmaster, I expected the trials and woes of Mr Odle to diminish and die over time. But we must keeep the fight for an efficient and fair justice system loud. More than ever before.
    BU rightly exposes the miscarriage of justice and Mr McIntosh raised SERIOUS questions.
    Has he received a response from the PM? I suspect not.
    I still await comment from our PM. Barbados was tarnished. The matter involved a public board appointee and implicated a cabinet minister. Silence might be a good strategy, but it breeds suspicion and mistrust in public office. Surely this isn’t good when many of us are facing a harsh winter. A statement would be refreshing and reassuring.

  27. David Avatar
    David

    The blogmaster is waiting for additional information. Maybe the players are waiting…

    >

  28. Ramona Avatar
    Ramona

    Too often I see these things happening various companies and businesses , I’ve had my own negative experiences , for example Blades courier services , run by Alex Blades is a fraudulent operation , I am highly dissatisfied with the service . My requests for service are usually met with sexual harassment amongst other profanities .

  29. David Avatar
    David

    Irish tale of two sides of Barbados
    Barbados means different things to different people from Ireland.
    To one man, the island comes close to being a slice of vacation paradise, a place of beauty, so much so that when COVID -19 struck and Barbados set about to deal with the crisis, he considered it a stroke of luck being here during the pandemic’s first wave which triggered a global economic downturn and cost more than a million people around the world their lives, including seven here, hundreds across Ireland and 223 000 in America.
    “Barbados is such a beautiful place to spend any time,” he said a few days ago to the Irish Times, a leading daily newspaper in Dublin. “Growing up in Ireland in the 1980s and 1990s, hearing someone had gone to Barbados on holiday was shorthand for being very wealthy. I could never have guessed that I would visit, let alone spend a year living here (in Barbados).
    But to another Irishman, a businessman, Barbados is not the place to invest your money because of its slow pace of justice. And if you become embroiled in a business dispute you may be forced to wait years for it to be resolved.
    “My advice to anyone contemplating investing in Barbados is do not do it,” he wrote to Mia Mottley, the Prime Minister, who has gone on Irish television and radio extolling the investment virtues of her birthplace.
    Those two competing images of Barbados were painted in recent months by Dave McInerney, a helicopter pilot who has flown heads of state, pop stars and royalty in different parts of the world, and by Alan McIntosh, the founder of Cairn Homes and Emerald Investments, who went so far as to write to Barbados’ Prime Minister complaining about the length of time it has taken the courts to hear the case.
    And both Irishmen have aired their feelings to the almost five million people in Ireland.
    Take the case of McInerny, a former Irish Army helicopter pilot who has served with the United Nations in Lebanon, flown across the North Sea and has held pilot licenses from the United States, Lebanon, Europe, Qatar, Malaysia, Bermuda and the United Arab Emirates.
    “I have spent the last ten years working as a VVIP helicopter pilot for very, very important people,” he wrote.
    “I have been fortunate enough to fly all over the world and my passengers have been heads of state, royalty, rock stars and everything in between.”
    Stranded in Barbados
    McInerney, who is married to a Trinidadian, Captain Sofia Hosein, also a VVIP helicopter pilot, left their jobs in the UAE at the end of last year and planned to spend time in Barbados “before moving on” to something else. That was when COVID-19 struck, and the couple found themselves unemployed on the island.
    “Suddenly, all of the jobs we had been offered were no longer available. The aviation sector has been hit hard and many friends and colleagues are furloughed or unemployed,” he explained.
    But considering the circumstances, it was among the best things that could have happened to them, he suggested.
    “We were extremely fortunate to be in Barbados for the pandemic,” he said. “The country has a population of about 287 000. Since COVID-19 hit there have only been 189 confirmed cases of whom seven have lost their lives. Barbados had its first recorded cases on March 17 and by March 26 there were 24 cases and the Prime Minister Mia Mottley had decided
    a national emergency and curfew from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. You still cannot go into any stores or on transport without a mask, hand sanitiser is at the door of each store along with temperature checks.”
    McInerney explained “there is a long history of Irish people in the island” and when one heard the Bajan accent and its sing-song tone, it reminds people a “little like the Cork accent” that’s heard in an Irish county.
    Little wonder he said he was enjoying life in Barbados.
    “I swim each day at the beach, free diving or scuba diving,” he wrote. “It is a small island, but there are caves to discover, wrecks to dive and reefs to explore. For a tiny rock there is a lot to see,” he said.
    But while the pilot and his wife think the world of Barbados, Mcintosh does not share that view. The businessman, who made an investment of $2.5 million in Barbados three years ago and “ended up in a dispute with one of the shareholders”, a Bajan hotelier. But the case has not been heard.
    “I am an Irish investor who invested in Barbados and I wish I had never done so,” he told Mottley. “Unless changes are made to the legal system in Barbados, I would urge no one to invest in Barbados, either commercially or to buy a condo, holiday home or even take a holiday there. Why? The legal system is not fit for foreign investment or even to settle minor disputes in a timely manner.”
    He went further: “My advice to anyone contemplating investing in Barbados is do not do it.” (TB)

    Source: Nation

  30. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Have we asked people such as David Ames and the Sandy Lane group what they think of Barbados?

  31. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    What became of Odle?
    What became of CXC?
    There was something else that should happen 6 minutes ago.
    Escaped 5 minutes memory.

  32. David Avatar
    David

    The question you have to ask is to what extent does the government listen to the people.

    It (political class) will judge the fallout and act in the interest of protecting the status quo.

  33. David Avatar
    David

    CXC exams concerns remain
    By Stacey N. Russell
    Students and parents are still outraged over reviewed Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) grades that have been left largely the same as preliminary results released ten weeks ago.
    Paula-Anne Moore, spokesperson for the Concerned Parents of Barbados Group agitating for upward revision of 2020 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examination grades, spoke to the Weekend Nation
    about the trend of final decisions being slowly released, and leaving students no better off.
    ‘Not happy’
    “We are not happy with the communication thus far by CXC, and certainly the trickle of results that have come in so far. Reviews? Most of them are unchanged,” she said in an exclusive interview. Thousands of Caribbean students, including hundreds in Barbados, who felt shortchanged by CXC with preliminary 2020 results agitated for regrades and this was supported by recommendations of the Independent Review Team (IRT) that CXC chairman, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles convened to investigate complaints.
    The IRT found that although the 2020 grading model was acceptable, compared to data from previous years, there were “limitations of the model, namely shifting in the distribution of grades – reduction in Grades I to IV”, and recommended that CXC “revert to the pre-January 2018 position and practice where a review included a remark”.
    “We are no worse off, I guess we should be happy
    for that. But justice still has not been provided for the children that got grades that they know are not theirs. To leave the grades unchanged is not acceptable either,” Moore said.
    She said many families were “deeply concerned and disillusioned” over the perceived injustice from the very educational authority they said had the power to remedy the situation, and negative comments from sections of the public, who thinks we’re only representing “spoilt, selfish, bougie, privileged” children.
    Earlier on Wednesday, Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw said things had “settled down” among disgruntled students and parents.
    Before she took her seat on the panel of the National NGO Impact Consultation Seminar Barbados Resort, Needhams Point, St Michael, Bradshaw said: “Truthfully, recently things have, for the most part settled down. In the early stages where, obviously, there was a lot of anxiety, we were receiving a lot more calls, I was getting a lot more emails, but I cannot say that within the last few weeks since we would’ve taken a position to cover the cost of the review that we’ve really had any complaints or concerns expressed.”
    She said dialogue with CXC was ongoing and talks with school principals and teachers were expected.
    ‘Talks ongoing’
    “I know the discussions are still ongoing. They also met with us in relation to the way forward for CXC and those discussions are taking place with the local registrars as well. I know they were supposed to also have a meeting with the principals and I believe the teachers as well at some point in time because those were some of the recommendations
    we made that the consultation needed to be wider than just ministry. It needed to be inclusive of all of the stakeholders, who should be allowed to weigh in on what has happened, but also the way forward,” the minister said.

  34. BrathwaiteE Avatar
    BrathwaiteE

    @The OGazearts
    “What became of Odle?”

    I have pondered on this too.
    Was Mr McIntosh paid what he was owed by Mr Odle?
    Did the PM or her office ever respond to the allegations made?

  35. David Avatar
    David

    No, as expected public questioning was ignored. The political class closed ranks not even the regular opposition voices asked questions.

  36. BrathwaiteE Avatar
    BrathwaiteE

    @ David
    I was embarrassed and deflated by your certainty. Undoubtedly and disappointingly true. Frustration turned to anger and I couldn’t respond. Thankfully reason and research has prevailed and allowed me to find this brilliant piece

    The Real Economic Costs of Inefficient Institutions,
    Political Systems, in the Caribbean

    The Inclusive Agenda January 19, 2021

    In mid-2020, Alan McIntosh, founder of Emerald Investments, sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Barbados in which he advised people not to invest in Barbados. The letter appeared soon after the Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley appeared in a Business Post article, and on TV promoting increasing economic links between Ireland and her country. Mottley also appeared on Irish radio and numerous other forms of media to talk about her “work from Barbados” scheme.

    Copies of the letter were also sent to multiple media outlets in the UK, “The Times”, “The Independent”, “Sunday Independent Ireland” and more, and of course, the story made its way onto social media: Twitter and Facebook, building all kinds of narratives along the way.

    Therefore, what could possibly motivate a wealthy European investor, and highly respected businessman, to write such a letter?

    From what the letter says, McIntosh made a US$2.5M investment in a Barbados hotel project about four years ago. He then ended up filing an action against Hotelier Peter Odle, for breach of contract, the individual he loaned the money to. The investment was in relation to “The Sands Barbados” hotel, led by Mr. Odle. Emerald Investments started formal legal action in 2018 against Odle, who had signed a personal guarantee.

    This letter clearly reflects McIntosh’s exacerbation with the situation: “I am an Irish investor who invested in Barbados, and I wish I’d never done so. Unless changes are made to the legal system in Barbados, I would urge no one to invest in Barbados, either commercially or to buy a condo, holiday home or even take a holiday there. Why? The legal system is not fit for foreign investment or even to settle minor disputes promptly.”

    McIntosh went on to say: “I have waited for the court system to allow me due process, and after almost three years have seen no progress in the courts whatsoever.”

    “My advice to anyone contemplating investing in Barbados is: “Do not Do It.”

    Now, imagine for a moment, that you are a potential investor in the UK or elsewhere in the world, or even a potential vacationer to Barbados, other Caribbean islands, with thoughts of making a business investment, purchasing a vacation home, or condo?

    After hearing that “the legal system is not fit for foreign investment,” and said by a multi-millionaire businessman, co-founder of Irelands biggest home builder, Cairn Homes, owner of the Radisson Hotel at Dublin Airport, the Fleet Hotel in Dublin City centre, and numerous other property holdings. It would defy logic or common sense for one not to heed such a dire warning, and from such a credible source. You might ask yourself, how am I supposed to stand a chance as a small investor, if this powerful and sophisticated businessman can’t even get a day in court to settle a basic commercial dispute?

    The story reached Canada, the US, Europe, even Asia and Africa. In the digital age, all stories are global.

    Of particular note, the story was also published on “AfricaBrief”, a digital business and investment news platform in Africa. It so happens that Mottley is trying to court wealthy African’s to invest in Barbados. This story is a blow to her efforts because wealthy African investors traditionally look to move their capital out of the inefficient, corrupt home jurisdictions, into safe and reliable ones. The reason why countries like Canada and the UK continue to experience robust property investment markets, via wealthy Asian, African, and Indian investors particularly, is because these destinations are seen as safe, stable counties with transparent and effective governing and legal institutions. Country-specific risk scenarios are a primary factor in investment decisioning; perception, real or imagined, about corruption or lacking legal institutions, drive negative investment narratives.

    Potential investors take in that information subconsciously through media then make really consequential decisions, consciously, based on the subconscious information they’ve processed. This is how bias is formed and opportunity lost if no counter-narrative is actively applied in the information age.

    Negative stories in the digital era often take on a life of their own, permeating exponentially, killing opportunity and economic growth without anyone being the wiser. If governments in the Caribbean are not mindful of the economic impacts of the information/misinformation age, they risk the long-term prosperity of their nations.

    The future of growth and prosperity of the region must be underpinned by efficient, well-functioning, transparent institutions. Strong and inclusive institutions are the hallmarks of prosperous societies in the promotion of global trade and commerce. Gaining foreign investor confidence is something all societies must do, both the developed and developing ones.

    According to the World Bank, weak political, economic and legal institutions lead to countries operating with high levels of inefficiencies, unable to function, or prosper, which causes suffering for its society foremost. For emerging market economies, inefficiencies drive corruption and can lead to an uneven distribution of wealth as small businesses face unfair competition from larger companies or business people, with established yet dubious connections with government officials. Resources are inefficiently allocated to friends/companies that otherwise would not be qualified to win government contracts, opportunities, or business facilitation, had it not been for relationships with officials. This crony capitalism holds back innovation and entrepreneurship and stifles younger, more educated and talented entrepreneurs from coming up. Wealth then tends to concentrate with the very few and much older “elites” in the society, and the nation remains stuck in a perpetual economic loop of underdevelopment, never reaching its full economic potential.

    In 2018, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said: “Corruption is poisonous, corrosive, vicious and an enemy of sustainable development. It destroys people’s confidence in their leaders, their politicians and their country.” However, currently, five Caribbean countries – the Bahamas, Barbados, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica and St. Lucia – rank amongst the 50 least corrupt countries in the world (out of 180), according to Transparency International’s 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index. So, the news is not bad.

    Therefore, without a coordinated response from the government, its leaders are essentially leaving the reputation and economic growth of their countries, not to fact, but to narratives on the internet.

    One of the main reasons, Mr. McIntosh has gone to such lengths, is his dismay with the system, not being able to get his case heard in a reasonable time in the Barbados court system. This then fuels his perception that the Barbados political system is inherently corrupt and that Barbadian hotelier, Peter Odle, is being purposefully protected by friends in high places. Odle’s personal friend does happen to be Prime Minister Mottley. So, it is merely a logical connect-the-dots mental process for McIntosh, and other investors watching from afar. We really don’t know if these perceptions are true or not; however, that does not matter. If not countered, perception becomes the prevailing reality! Furthermore, it exacerbates the problem when we learn that in September 2020, Mottley appointed Odle as Chairman of the Barbados Port Authority, (BPI)—a clear patronage appointment, for a friend who helped her in the election.

    McIntosh has also made it clear in the letters he’s written to PM Mottley, that he is not asking Mottley to use her influence towards a favourable outcome for him. He simply seeks to advocate for himself in bringing to the PM’s attention, the state of her legal system, and how it is a negative factor for those considering Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Barbados. Mottley not responding simply hurts Barbados and the broader CARICOM region’s FDI climate.

    In 2019, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Caribbean, declined 7.8%, which represents a precipitous decline from its highest historical value reached in 2012. Furthermore, the impact of the current COVID-19 crisis has caused a profound reduction in FDI in 2020 and is expected to continue to fall further by at least another 10%, in 2021. Therefore, it is not helpful when these types of stories get out and are not countered. These stories only reinforce bias, preconceived notions, perceptions, and stereotypes of Black people and the region as corrupt and backwards.

    To help sustain and stimulate FDI in Caribbean markets, as a base, strong, efficient, active, and transparent institutions must bolster the recovery and future growth agendas. Research shows that FDI is the most critical factor in economic expansion for any society, particularly for developing Small Island States (SIS). SIS without mature, robust, localized global capital markets—building investor confidence becomes even more paramount to a viable future growth existence. If negative public discourse around foreign investors’ losing money, due to local business people hiding behind systems of corruption, or inefficient institutions, and an indolent legal system, this then becomes the prevailing narrative, which investors make decisions off of.

    Programs like Citizenship by Investment (CBI,) for example, a program Grenada and other Caribbean states currently operate, have been plagued with an abundance of shady characters over the many years.

    Major media outlets have produced non-flattering documentaries about CBI programs throughout the region, a blow to the reputations of these SIS. According to the Economist, the “defenders of the schemes insist that criminals seeking a bolthole are the exception and that they are making great strides in imposing stricter due diligence standards. The vast majority of their customers, they argue, are honest, respectable people with a legitimate hankering.”

    Nevertheless, after looking into it, we couldn’t find any reasonably positive CBI story online.

    Therefore, the big risk, and future priority towards a positive growth curve trajectory for the region, is the un-branding of the region away from the narrative as a haven for illegal, unscrupulous, criminals. We must control our own narrative, write our own stories, otherwise, others will write them for us. The well-written story that needs to be told going forward should be about well-intentioned, legit investors like Allan McIntosh, Emerald Investments, honestly investing in the region, finding the place efficient, well managed, with strong public institutions that build investor confidence. The story should also go on to say, that McIntosh makes good money on his investments, and creates meaningful amounts of jobs, the enterprise becomes a responsible corporate citizen, contributing to climate change mitigation, specific to the region, and investing in education and skills training programs to prepare the next generation for the future-of-work.

    In an era of digital transformation, the world is increasingly competing for limited global investment dollars. Unless the region can become savvier at controlling information and communication narratives, in its favour, valuable investment dollars will end up elsewhere.

    Leadership, from islands like Barbados, about public occurrences like the McIntosh/Odle saga, which finds itself closely associated with the Prime Minister, cannot go unaddressed. For example, on social media or in public discourse in the investor community abroad, the story/narrative going around is that Peter Odle is notorious for using political relationships to protect himself from numerous lawsuits. We, of course, do not know if these narratives are true or not, nor can they be substantiated in real-time, but that’s the nature of social media, and if you don’t have your own media strategy in place or story to tell, your image becomes whatever narrative emerges online. Salacious, headline-grabbing stories get more attention and go on to create further unwanted narratives.

    This fundamentally works against the efforts of the PM, for example, who is whole-heartedly trying to sell Barbados to the world, with her “work from Barbados” scheme.

    However, in the end, while the big boys fight it out publicly, the little guys bear the economic brunt.

    I would think it critical and responsible for government to understand precisely, how the new digital playing field works, and that everything comes back to economics in the end. Digital message control and business image strategies are now an essential discipline in order to carve out your place in the digital universe. To have a long-term sustainable economy for the benefit of the people, you must adapt to globalization, and promote your country to the world, this is how the wealth of nations grow.

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