Last week the four main opposition political parties announced they will combine forces to support one candidate in the by-election to be held on the 11 November 2020 in St. George North. Leading political commentator @budavid described the move has “shrewd”and one that finally demonstrated a level of political maturity not witnessed since universal suffrage in the Caribbean.

When asked to elaborate by international foreign affairs correspondent @Pachamama, @budavid indicated adversarial politics was the vestige of a colonial past and had demonstrably failed to optimally define the people of the island state of Barbados. He stated, “we are a homogenous society and a consensus type of politics should be the alternative to determine the future of our small predominantly Black nation- and to ensure the hopes of a proud small island developing state are realised and fears are assuaged“.

The entrenched incumbent political party has implemented and supported a raft of polices on winning office which have weakened the voice of the opposition and served to destabilize the system of governance as envisaged by the framers of the Westminster system which the country has parodied. Two polices continuing to attract scathing critique from the BU intelligentsia are the politics of co-option and the reluctance of the incumbent and entrenched government to relax the rule governing a subvention for opposition political parties.

And the politics of inclusion practised by the incumbent party reared its head again last week with the head of the largest trade union fast tracked for membership in a record setting one week to support her candidature in St. George North. The leader of the incumbent party admitted party rules had to be ‘abridged’ to accommodate the new member.

The incumbent political party has dismissed repeated calls to relax the rule that prevents a subvention to political parties who have not faced the electorate. @budavid recently reminded the prime minister from the #barbados_underground that she had a “duty of care” as primus inter pares and guardian of our democracy to be bipartisan when treating with certain matters. She was also reminded that there was no hesitation by the government she represents to amend the Constitution for less important matters as reflected in Hansard.

The shrew decision of the Opposition parties to coalesce behind the candidate with the best chance to win has resonated across Barbados and resulted in the needle on the Political Apathy Index (PAI) shifting +10 – the most significant movement in 40 years. A desirable outcome of the tectonic shift in political sentiment has resulted in the redundancy of political pollsters.

That the political system has mechanisms by which political parties can reach a compromise even though they disagree on policies. In Sweden, difficult issues are sent to a commission on which all the parties and key interest groups are represented in order to reach an agreement, and, in Austria, Government, business and the trade unions agree on the main economic policies and the left and right parties accept what has been agreed.

Britpolitics

@budavid throws his support behind the move by the main opposition parties to embrace a consensus style of politics and hopes that it will be the catalyst for a transformation event to a consensus style of democracy. For too long the hopes and aspirations of a proud people have been superseded by the paramountcy of the political party.

369 responses to “Opposition Parties Reach Compromise to Run One Candidate in St. George North By Election”

  1. Disgusting Lies & Propaganda TV Avatar
    Disgusting Lies & Propaganda TV

    Sigh……. Carson C Cadaver and Maripoorer….the tweedle dee and tweedle DUMB of BU..wunna need to stop clucking wunna yardfowls!!!!!! wunna soon gine get pelt in a nice big RED and YELLOW bonfire!!!!!!! .Now wunna cursing poor Sir Roy Trotman because he turned his back on the DEMS (ever since the workers union march in 1991 and helped bring down the abject failure called Sandi’s Gov’t in the 1994 no confidence motion). Any man that can choose not to tow the political line and speak out against the party and Gov’t that he was part of to save this country from total failure can only be an honourable man in my books!!!!!!
    Added to that Sir Roy Trotman groomed Miss Moore as successor to the General Secretary of the BWU so it was no surprise that he would be on a BLP platform supporting Moore!!!!!.

    To Floyd you might be a “good” person but that doesn’t means you would make a good politician especially when you join a party that Bajans don’t want to touch with a 30 foot pole!!!!!…..he might get more votes than Jester Ince and Spencer though… ill give him that!!!!!!


  2. Bracing for EU backlash
    Prime Minister blames Dems for blacklisting
    GOVERNMENT is bracing for a blacklisting “lash” from the European Union (EU) today, but Prime Minister Mia Mottley has served notice that she is fighting back to defend Barbados’ reputation.
    She also blamed the former Democratic Labour Party administration for the island being named among countries that were uncooperative in the exchange of tax information with other states.
    Addressing a political meeting at The Glebe in support of the Barbados Labour Party’s St George North candidate, Senator Toni Moore, Mottley said over the weekend she wrote the chancellor of Germany and the president of the European Commission and told them that the blacklisting of Barbados was “wrong and disproportionate”.
    “And why? Because they’re going to get their banks and their financial institutions to put measures on us,” the Prime Minister said.
    “And we say that when they try to do that, most of the banks say . . . Barbados too small; they don’t even think that we’re a problem for them because as far as they’re concerned, we’re a dot on the map.
    “But the dot on the map means that they’re going to say to people, ‘We’re not banking with you; we ain’t doing business with you’.”
    Mottley said some long-standing companies in Barbados “now stand to be affected” by the blacklisting, which is expected to be made official today, and which Minister of International Business and Industry Ronald Toppin recently said Barbados was hoping to have reversed by February 21.
    She took offence at the term blacklisting, she said, adding that the EU felt it had the right to call Barbados to account in a way that suggested it wanted to reduce this country’s attractiveness globally.
    Mottley told the audience this was important to them because “almost more than half of the corporation taxes that are paid in this country are paid by companies [that] come from over and away.
    Less taxes
    “They chose to put their businesses in Barbados. Because of that, we have been able to ease your burden with the level of taxes that you as a Bajan have to pay in this country,” she said.
    “You can pay a little less because others do business here and are contributing to the same taxes needed to pay for your child to go to the university, to pay for the hospital to treat you, to pay for us to do the roads, to pay for us to pay the public servants, to pay for us to do all the things we got to do as a Government.”
    The Prime Minister also criticised the former Government for failing to take the necessary steps to respond to the tax information exchange
    concerns raised by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
    “When I therefore tell you that we are cleaning up, believe you me, as God is my witness, this is the nonsense that the Democratic Labour Party and Freundel Stuart left for us to clean up,” she said.
    “The last administration was supposed to answer countries when they say, ‘I want information on these people’s taxes’, for whatever reason, usually some kind of legal reason. The Government never answered the people.
    “The European Union [wants] to give us a lash today and tell us that because the last Government did not exchange information with countries, and because the last Government did not do audits on the people who do business with the international business companies – what we call the corporate service providers – that you now have to take a lash as a country.” (GBM)

    Source: Nation


  3. Barbados PM writes German Chancellor, EU on move to blacklist country

    Monday, October 05, 2020 2 Comments

    BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC)— Prime Minister Mia Mottley has written to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the European Union (EU) on the issue of plans to blacklist the country, stating that “it is wrong and disproportionate.”

    Barbados is scheduled to be blacklisted by the EU tomorrow, due to the country’s failure to enact tax framework in the 2015-2018 timeframe.

    ”The EU is adamant that it has the right to blacklist countries, and even that phrase I find offensive…Well, I’m black and I’m proud.

    “(They have said ) that we will take a lash on Tuesday, not because of anything done by this government but because between 2015 and 2018; they are now going to give us a lash by something not done by this government but by the last administration. Because the last administration did not do audits ….We will take it, but we will disagree with them. I told them that it is wrong and disproportionate…” said Mottley who was speaking at a political rally late Sunday, ahead of the upcoming by-election.

    According to the Prime Minister, the EU will be getting banks and their financial institutions to “put measures on us…. We say that most of the banks will say that Barbados is too small. They don’t even think that we are a problem for them, because as far as they are concerned, Barbados is just a dot on the map.”

    Barbados was required to implement a number of changes to its tax exchange framework between July 2015 and June 2018 in order to become compliant with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Global Forum Standard on the exchange of tax information.

    However, the changes did not take place in the stipulated time frame, and the necessary legislative framework was put in place by December of 2019, but this did not save the country from getting a rating of “partially compliant” when the review was completed in March of this year for the July 2015 to June 2018 period.

    For the European Union, once a jurisdiction receives a partially complaint rating by the OECD, it will be automatically blacklisted.

    Speaking last week, Minister of International Business Ronald Toppin sought to assure the nation that “we have done and are doing everything possible and beyond to ensure that we secure a rating of at least ‘largely compliant’ in the shortest possible time.”

    http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Barbados_PM_writes_German_Chancellor,_EU_on_move_to_blacklist_country


  4. It’s pure hypocrisy
    BARBADOS HAS BEEN HERE before. Yet again the threat of being blacklisted by an international entity is hanging over this country.
    Based on what Minister of International Business and Industry Ronald Toppin said last week when Global Business Week 2020 was officially launched, today the European Union (EU) is expected to put Barbados on its list of states not cooperating enough in the exchange of information for tax purposes.
    It is about 20 years since the then Owen Arthur administration led a battle against the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) decision to blacklist Barbados and other small states as tax havens. Since then, it seems like this country has fought a never-ending battle against such characterisations.
    Toppin reminded the country last week that compliance with the OECD’s Global Forum’s standard on the exchange of tax information, coming out of the Global Forum’s 2015 report, meant that Barbados was required to implement several changes in its framework between July 2015 and June 2018. He said this task was left to the current Government after not being completed by the former administration.
    Government has made several legislative changes to meet the standards demanded by the OECD and EU. The minister noted that with the OECD having given Barbados a partially compliant rating, the EU was blacklisting Barbados even though it was just a question of observing us for a period of time to ensure that we are effective in our regulation and enforcement of the legislative framework.
    Toppin has called the EU’s actions unthinkable and heartless, and we share that view.
    Government is taking steps to have Barbados delisted by February 2021, but the blacklisting is particularly harsh considering that the island’s economy has been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. This has the potential to be a major setback for Barbados as it fights a big health and economic problem simultaneously.
    The Mia Amor Mottley administration and stakeholders,
    including the Barbados International Business Association and the Association for Global Business, must work to ensure Barbados complies with international provisions as it has agreed to do. But they and others with a vested interest in Barbados’ future success must also be brave and call out the hypocrisy of the OECD and in this instance especially the EU.
    Barbados-based Caribbean economist Marla Dukharan has been persistently bold enough to criticise the EU’s changing methodologies which determine how it chooses who to blacklist. She has also rightly observed that while Barbados and other Caribbean countries are tarnished with such a label, the world’s biggest financial centres, including London, New York and Zurich, are never touched. Pure hypocrisy.
    Government should hold on to its democratic right to pursue Barbados’ economic destiny as it sees fit. But, as with the COVID-19 pandemic, we should also see this latest blacklisting as fresh motivation not to abandon tourism and international financial services, but to diversify our economy within and outside of these two still vital sectors.
    But they and others with a vested interest in Barbados’ future success must also be brave and call out the hypocrisy of the OECD and in this instance especially the EU.

    Source: Nation Editorial


  5. @David,

    did she state why we were backlisted in definitive terms or was it just a blanket the DLP fault after 3 years of BLP in power mantra? or is it only because of not sharing tax information?


  6. @Greene this was addressed by Minister Toppin and posted to this blog elsewhere. There is legislation that should have been cemented by Barbados in the 2015 to 2018 period we were told. As you know this is a battle small jurisdictions like Barbados will always have to fight because the OECD will continue to shift goalposts anyway.

  7. Carson C Cadogan Avatar
    Carson C Cadogan

    See why one the reasons he is sellout ?????

    Barbados Labour Party YARDFOWLS stoutly defending him.


  8. exactly so how convenient to blame the DLP. the tax exchange information should have been passed long time ago even if it was in the DLP time. it can be argued that the laws relating to attaching ML to dishonesty offences beyond possession of drugs should have been passed during the BLP time too. lax laws are a feature of both parties. it is nothing novel so i find it offensive that MAM and her sycophants continue this blame game.

    in any case most bajans dont understand the implications of the backlist so she better talk about improving roads in Char row bridge and out flatrock and market hill and how she must campaign for her henpecked maiden or Reifer might smoke her


  9. The average Bajan will not understand the finer points about the blacklisting, what they will understand is messaging that the DLP was an inept government in the “lost decade”. It is about crafting the messaging that will resonate.

    >

  10. William Skinner Avatar

    “What are the priorities for Barbados? What kind of society do we want to build? I have seen many articles, blogs and social media posts about remaking the economy, but the question remains, is Barbados going to address the structures that perpetuate inequalities? Is Barbados going to go forward on the same old unequal base that COVID-19 reminds us exists, essentially a plantation type society and economy? Or does Barbados set about to build a more equal and meritocratic society with opportunities for all? Barbados must be set on a new direction where integrity and good governance cannot be just words. However, as I said in the last column, Barbados can only change when we accept that it needs to change and set ourselves to that task.”

    Dr Ronnie Yearwood holds degrees in Political Science, Sociology and Law. He is currently a lecturer in law at The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill. He is a Chevening Scholar, National Development Scholar, and Overseas Research Scholar. He is called as a lawyer in Barbados, England & Wales, and the British Virgin Islands.
    Barbados Today Oc. 6th 2020

    Why listen to Dr. Yearwood when we have the distinguished Hartley Henry .

  11. Carson C. Cadogan Avatar
    Carson C. Cadogan

    BOO, HOO, HOO, MIA.

    Mia was in Govt. for nearly two and half years.

    During that time she sat on her fat Fanny and did nothing.

    The DLP has been out of office for nearly two and a half years. But she still blaming the DLP.

    BOO, HOO, HOO MIA.


  12. @William

    This is a good path to follow however our society is too “indisciplined” to make this a reality. It is a key difference of separation between a Barbadods and Singapore as one example.

    >


  13. How others on social media respond to Mia attacks on Floyd

    Hell No . you dont know who is Floyd
    No u dont
    Look at u a big a.ss woman in politics for a lifetime and Floyd shows up on the landscape and u acting like a gully bore on a political platform
    No class at all
    Maybe if u take a look at Floyd u would understand the meaning of class


  14. Mia the despot
    Some people get it
    A sound and well analysis of Mia dictatorial actions from adrian fb page

    Barbados Politics:

    Of Despots and Prime Ministerial Dictators.
    Mia suggest that anything Reifer wants (his big works) done, has to come through her, and it was said to infer that any services and or monies needed for community purposes that is requested by a DLP member of parliament from central government on behalf of the tax paying residents of St. George North – has to come though her, and by making this point in the manner that she did she is suggesting that if they vote for Reifer – she will see to it that the People suffer for exercising their democratic right to choose their representative in a free and fair election. That is the classic tactics of a DESPOT.


  15. quote] Condemning the blacklisting as “wrong” and “disproportionate”, during a political meeting at The Glebe, St George on Sunday, Mottley blamed the last administration, saying the then Government repeatedly refused to answer requests from authorities in North America and Europe for tax information on international business companies that operate from Barbados.

    But this afternoon Brathwaite told Barbados TODAY that Government was a continuum and the same legal drafters in the Attorney General’s Chambers and technocrats in the Ministry of International Business that were there in 2018 are there still and are aware of the challenges.

    “The Government has been in place from May 2018. This is October 2020. One thing about Government is that there is continuity. The Ministries responsible would have known what needed to be done. So two years after the fact to be blaming the DLP because we did not address the issue makes no sense to me.

    “The more fundamental thing is that earlier this year the Attorney General Dale Marshall came out and said that he was concerned that EU and OECD keep moving the goal posts, and I agreed with him at that point in time,” Brathwaite contended.

    The former Attorney General added: “Rather than blame the last administration, you need to look at what the issues were. Did we have legislation issues? Were there issues with the structure of our compliance regime and make a determination whether we did all that we could have done at that point.

    “The Prime Minister’s approach which is to cast blame back is immature and not well thought out as opposed to looking at the overall framework and maybe she should give way to the Attorney General and the technocrats who have been, on a daily basis, establishing what the issues are or were and what our approach should have been.” [quote

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2020/10/05/former-ag-tells-pm-stop-looking-for-scapegoats/


  16. so i hear Caswell say that MAM wanted to get rid of Cynthia Forde and begged him run in St Thomas but he refused.


  17. @ Greene

    The president is disingenuous. Do you remember when the OECD first talked of blacklisting Barbados and Owen Arthur came out being abusive and aggressive. To paraphrase him, Barbados was a sovereign state and they could not tell us what to do.
    What he forgot, was that we could not compel them to do trade with us either. The EU and OECD are not moving the goalposts, they are standing firm.
    This is now 2020, since 2008 we have been aware of the shortcomings in our regulatory paradigm and not a single thing has been done to sort it out, by the DLP or BLP. It is small island arrogance and gross incompetence.
    We keep on blaming others for our shortcomings; it is all racism. Our regulatory system is not fit for purpose, but don’t mind that, give us a hand out.
    We need a public register of all companies, domestic and offshore, which lists all beneficiaries by name, and not the shadow of corporates. The president cannot get her priorities right. She is fake. Just look at her Queen’s Speech promise of a post office/credit union bank. It is now three weeks since that promise, and what has she done?
    As I have been saying for years, she is not as clever as her fan club keeps telling us. We must ban corporates from owning residential property the same way we must ban our own fund mangers from owning ski chalets in Canada is they are used for leisure by friends and family.
    We need a new companies Act, and get rid of the 1920s modelled one which is badly abused by company directors.


  18. @ William

    Ronnie is also sympathetic to the BLP, or was; why has the president not tried to get this son of the soil in to parliament (senate or House) nor has she brought him in as a ‘consultant’?
    Is it because he does not have a MSc in political sociology from the LSE, or is not like Avinash Persaud, a doctor, a professor and a man about town? Or is it because he is a working class lad from St Peter?
    By the way, Ronnie he is also an acknowledged expert on WTO regulations.


  19. Here is the biggest govt in the history of barbados
    With highly paid consultants and advisors all at taxpayers expense
    Yuh mean to tell that not one of them could have given Mia /govt meaningful advice on how to avoid barbados being blacklisted
    Rather that take blame she pointing fingers
    What a dam shame

  20. Carson C Cadogan Avatar
    Carson C Cadogan

    THE LOST DECADE

    so we are still interested in TOURISM????

  21. Carson C. Cadogan Avatar
    Carson C. Cadogan

    Hal 8.08 AM

    Well said.

  22. William Skinner Avatar

    @ Hal
    If you really want to see where we are going all you have to do is listen to Brasstacks. Imagine nearly sixty years of Independence and we still seeing debushing ; operating sewage plants properly and water delivery to rural areas along with flooding as major occasions for ministerial photo ops.
    @ David
    You can’t change a society / economy with fancy cliches and political PR.
    Ask the Japanese after WW2. They figured you have to reform your educational system. Ask Castro if you get a chance.
    Or you could ask the distinguished Hartley Henry. If all else fails consult the kool aid drinkers on BU.
    Peace.


  23. @ William

    I often listen to Brasstacks; I used to appear as a guest on it, but that was a long time ago. In a previous life I worked as a news and current affairs radio producer at the BBC, which included a regular phone-in. I know the drill.


  24. @William

    We are saying the same thing, eastern societies operate with a different kind of culture rooted with discipline as a main characteristic.


  25. @WS,

    it calls for a complete overhaul and a reset.

    but we foreigners cant say so tho. so be careful muh brodda or some body will tell you to “stay weh yuh is and lef buhbadus lone” lol


  26. David,

    you seem to forget discipline was instilled in Singapore by the leader. before that it was a corrupt society. he made anti public corrupt with the follow on features like discipline and getting things done central to his benevolent dictatorship. we did the opposite it seems


  27. @Greene

    This is a tired line and adds nothing to the debate. Where is the value in responding to comments on the fringe? It is a cheap tactic to garner support.

    >


  28. @Greene

    Hold it. You overseas Bajans always like to talk about discipline. But you know nothing about us and how we live. Shut up and send the remittances. We are the best in the world. We have nothing to learn from these people.


  29. @ Carson C. Cadogan October 6, 2020 7:13 AM
    “The DLP has been out of office for nearly two and a half years. But she still blaming the DLP.”
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Isn’t that the ‘exact same’ thing the DLP did from February 2008 to May 2018?

    That is, blame the Arthur administration for every economic and social ill under the Bajan Sun.

    Why do you think Willy Skinner calls them the Duopoly aka ‘Tweedle Bee’ and ‘Tweedle Dem’?

    The difference between the BLP and the DLP is the same difference which lies between the yellow breasted yardfowls called CCC (the carbon copy cun*t) and that ac currently posing as Mariposa the blue-blooded partisan political dickhead.


  30. Anti-virus software entrepreneur John McAfee has been arrested in Spain and faces extradition to the US where he has been charged with tax evasion.

    Prosecutors say he failed to file tax returns for four years, despite earning millions from consulting work, speaking engagements, crypto-currencies and selling the rights to his life story.

    None of the income is connected with the software firm which bears his name.

    Mr McAfee has not publicly commented on the charges.

    If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison.

    In a statement the US Justice Department said Mr McAfee allegedly evaded tax liability by having his income paid into bank accounts and cryptocurrency exchange accounts in the names of nominees. As a result, it is alleged, he failed to file any tax returns from 2014 to 2018.

    He is also accused of concealing assets, including a yacht and real estate property, in the names of others.

    The strange life of John McAfee….(Quote)


  31. i believe Bim could do the same as Singapore or at least try to instill some discipline in our people. Politics should encompass telling people about their attitude towards one another. their mendicant behaviour, their uncleanliness, their child rearing skills or lack thereof. and instead of people looking to Govt to solve their every problem how about working together to do so.

    we must talk about the role of Govt and how it affects our daily lives. do we want an invasive govt or a limited govt with people and businesses carrying the load and govt only interceding to provide the regulatory regime / security as to the businesses to people and the people to people interface?

    an all invasive govt exerts too much control and the public becomes dependent on it. when i was growing up people in the countryside used to clean their yards and houses every so often and especially around xmas. they scarcely begged anyone for anything except for perhaps family. they were proud. i saw over the years people stopped cleaning around them, stop doing repairs to their houses and begging the govt for help. when i went school at cawmere, in town was the first time i saw people begging and then all that came to the countryside because politicians failed to address these issues seriously. the minibuses and that attitude was allowed to fester. squatting was excused and then we began to dump and dumped indiscriminately and no one said anything. nuts and snowcone cups thrown out of bus windows and cars, household item discarded in gully and other hideaways

    we are now trying to put the genie back in the bottle after 40 plus years of govt dependency and a nasty attitude. we have let our previous hard working nature and cleanliness, mannerly nature slipped and replaced with some foreign american crap we saw on TV.

    i have considered this matter a lot and i believe it is time for people to take charge of themselves. stop this cradle to grave dependency on Govt otherwise politicians think they own you. be proud and be independent again like we once were. work hard and be grateful for what you have. build on on the board house house bit by bit. if you cant afford a mortgage dont get one. live within your means. be mannerly and give a day work for a days pay. get rid of this woe is me victim attitude. become parents to your children, discipline them forcefully but dont abuse them. remember words hurt sometimes more than blows. stop trying to rip off one another. say eff you to the political handouts to get your vote.

    of course they are some people who must be helped.

    i am not talking about them. i am talking about the slackers who think getting ahead is about cheating, corruption, by passing the normal systems and then looking at others as suckers.

    this mendicant and woe is me attitude have permeated our society to such an extent that i am afraid it will be difficult to address


  32. @ DavidOctober 6, 2020 6:10 AM

    Now that Britain is out of the way the EU will not let up on the republic of Barbados until a few sacrificial lambs are thrown to the wolves.

    It was the acts of the Don, a minister of the Crown, which sealed the deal in condemning Bim as a pariah state as far as tax havens go.

    The two “Parisses” were made sacrifices to the local mob

    Why not make the local collaborators in the Donvillegate bribery and M/L affair the necessary scapegoats in order to gain a pass to international regulatory acceptance?

    BTW, what is happening about the Billion dollar heist from the BWA?

    Didn’t the Auditor-General make recommendations which are in keeping with the ethos of a well-managed international business jurisdiction?

  33. Carson C Cadogan Avatar
    Carson C Cadogan

    When I used to live in St. Lucia, the St. Lucians used to ,ask me why some Bajans so high and mighty.

    I said because they think they are better than every one else even though they have very little. The WHITE BAJANS have every thing and keeping them poor , but they believe that you all are small and stupid. EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE NOT.

    That would explain why they have a Caricom bench at the Airport. And its for BLACK CARICOM people like you , not WHITE PEOPLE.


  34. no it was not. this was in the works since our anti ml regime was assessed. we failed bitterly. and we have not seized any assets as a result of ML such was the weakness of our laws. the FIA hasnt submitted an annual report in some 15 or so years. the AG installed his friend as the director so lets hope that changes. he has also changes the ML laws and other laws in response.


  35. in addition, our company law is archaic and need a major rewrite with beneficial ownership open to public inspection. the same goes for our tax laws and treaties, and mutual cooperation that regard with other countries. these are the systemic failures i always talk about.


  36. @Carson

    In every Caribbean country I travel to with my Barbados passport the first thing said to be at immigration is ‘welcome’. I have never been told ‘welcome’ to Barbados when arriving on a Barbados passport. On a few occasions I have been asked when was I leaving.
    I have also been to the new registry to get certificates of birth, marriages and death and when asked for identification and produced a Barbados was told, admittedly once by an eager young lady, not that. I needed an ID card. When I asked if ID cards were compulsory, she snapped, like Bajan women often do.
    The matter was sort of resolved by her boss, a short, plump middle-aged man. Barbados is a failed state.


  37. quote]Today, Acting Senior Crown Counsel Rudolph Burnett asked the court for an adjournment so that he could prepare his closing submissions, much to the dismay of the judge. Burnett told the court that he needed to review the transcripts of the day’s session before he could make his submissions.

    The judge called on him a number of times to make submissions in the “short case” but he repeatedly informed the court that he was not prepared. Justice Greaves eventually gave him 10 minutes to prepare.

    On his return, Director of Public Prosecutions Donna Babb-Agard was also in attendance. The lead prosecutor was the first to rise to her feet to address the court. However, before she could start the Justice Greaves granted the adjournment.

    “I realize we have a cultural difference. I’ve been away from Barbados for so long that it is very different to how we are. So if you all want to take as much time as you wish to do what you want to do, I will adjourn for the day,” said Justice Greaves, who sat in the Bahamas’ high court.

    The DPP however, said the comments required a response in the prosecution’s defence.[quote

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2020/10/06/judge-peeved-with-crowns-inability-to-proceed-with-case/

    even the Judge recognises the differences


  38. @Greene

    The blogmaster appreciated your last comments on this matter.

  39. Carson C. Cadogan Avatar
    Carson C. Cadogan

    When I lived in Antigua the same thing happened , when Antiguans found out i was a BLACK BAJAN the questions started.

    Why “Bajans are so uncouth””????

    when you are BLACK they treat like something the dog dragged in. They never talk to you properly. They become aggressive when you them a question. They curse you. They tell you you about arriving in a box. What is the matter with them???

    However Antiguans treated everyone , including BLACK BAJANS with the utmost respect. When I was there a man killed a woman and somehow it got around the he was a BLACK BAJAN WHICH HE WAS NOT. He was from another Caribbean Country, even though they are respectful people not like some BAJANS, The people became angry at BAJANS.

    I could only replied that most of them are STUPID.

  40. William Skinner Avatar

    @ David
    Are you trying to tell me that the poor Black people who from 1937 to this very day still carrying the weight did not have discipline and a proper work ethic in their genes . Are you saying that we loyal sons and daughters all out their working for less than $300 per week trying to raise families while consultants work for $20 million and welfare staff being cut ain’t got no work ethic?
    BTW to all those clowns who praising Hartley Henry now please remember he also managed the DLP campaigns and was high in praise of David Thompson. He even ran fir the DLP one time. Had a big job in Thompson’s office. Then he switched to Mia!
    Proving my point six and half dozen.
    Blind kool aid drinkers will never get it.

  41. Carson C Cadogan Avatar
    Carson C Cadogan

    “”Director of Public Prosecutions Donna Babb-Agard “” was now in attendance.

    Her job was now to make the Judge accept the unacceptable. She was there to maintain the status quo. After all it was a Black man there were dealing with.

    She was not there to tell Acting Senior Crown Counsel Rudolph Burnett he should done his job PROPERLY AND EFECTIVELY.


  42. Skinner trust you to misrepresent a statement.You presented some article quoting Dr Don Marshall who i know is a Dem sympathiser and brought in Mr Henry, s nameI told you to compare Dr Marshall with a noted regional political stratagedt was chalk and cheeseI am well aware of Mr Henry, s link with Mr Thompson i live here so what point are you making?It also does not change my view of Mr Thompson of this ascribe greatness.Perhaps as a Thompson apologist you van place on the table anything he did in his 23 years in parliament as MP or PM or refute anything i dtated earlier to Greene who obviously could find nothing.


  43. @William

    We live in a different time. The ease with which foreign values dilute local culture; Internet, tourism etc.

    >

  44. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    Wait. De got an election or sumting? De wurums comin’ outta de ole wood. Scratch grain all ovah. Steupse.


  45. @ Greene October 6, 2020 9:20 AM

    Likewise, your contribution surprised me. However, I agree with you 100%.


  46. I hear some where in St
    Lucy is being washed away
    Boulders travelling like there on wheels


  47. Is Mia fault.


  48. David but Mia said she had a solution to ALL of barbados problems
    So when things happen the finger is pointed in her direction
    Hopefully she would be more careful next time and keep her long winded utterances to her self

  49. William Skinner Avatar

    @ Lorenzo
    In all your time/life on BU have you ever heard William Skinner sing any praises to David Thompson?
    I have said the only PM I honestly thought was worth my time was Bree St. John because I maintain he had a clearer understanding of how our economy functioned than anybody else.
    Once again I beg you to only use your high level of literacy and obvious tremendous reading and comprehension skills , to stop attributing things I have not said or written to me.
    Now I don’t know where in my last post I attributed anything to @Lorenzo or anybody on this blog. I said the “kool aid drinkers”.I Never said @ Lorenzo.

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