Appropriation Bill 2021 – A Time to Discuss Money Matters of State
The Appropriation Bill 2021 will be debated in the House of Assembly starting Monday 15, 2021 at 10AM. It is one year since Covid 19 occupied the attention of countries on planet earth with the impact on Small Island Developing States (SIDs) obviously the most affected. There is no doubt the debilitating impact on the economic and social well being of earth dwellers has not been fully felt. The blogmaster has not forgotten that before the pandemic showed its head the economy of Barbados was precariously perched.
Read the Appropriation Bill 2021 designed to “provide for the grant of a sum of money [$1, 682,795,117] out of the Consolidated Fund and to appropriate the same for the service of Barbados for the Year ending 31st March, 2022.“
@ Donna March 13, 2021 8:02 AM
I happen to KNOW that they are being worked on in some cases for sure and that pressure was applied by both BLP and DLP governments for years from as far back as Owen Arthur. And ministers are forever demanding some report or the other urgently.
Unfortunately the accounts are so far behind that it would take ages to get them current without additional staff dedicated to the matter. What normally happens is that current staff is asked to address the backlog along with their current work. That makes the going slow. And really you cannot hold current workers accountable for work that should have been done before by somebody else who got paid for it.”
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Who is putting blame (solely) on the shoulders of the “Current Staff”?
It is and has always been a top-management problem and reinforced by political irresponsibility which was deliberately exercised to achieve their partisan objectives of feeding from the pork barrel of largesse funded by the hapless taxpayers.
We are sure you have heard about that oft refrain sang by the political head honchos when it comes to the award of government contracts: “Where is My Cut?”
Even Donville the blabbering giant- who could not pay his bills from his minister’s salary was caught with his hand in the crooked cookie jar locked away in the big Cabinet- confirmed that getting one ministerial palms greased is par for the ministerial course in lilywhite Barbadoes.
Let’s put aside the distant past of incompetence and corruption for a moment and yourself what is being done about the glaring financial infelicities which took place at the BWA and the TB (including other SOEs too numerous to mention) and highlighted in the recent AG’s reports with recommendations to bring legal prosecution against the ‘alleged’ wrongdoers.
Even the chief accuser declared there was sufficient evidence stored in a red bag to bring a some redress to the financially-raped taxpayers.
Maybe you have inadvertently hit upon the highly probable reasons why those long overdue financial reports cannot be completed in a true and fair, even if untimely, manner.
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Rest in peace
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#déjàvu
Source: Nation
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Source: Nation
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We are in for a rough period, declining revenues, reducing taxbase and demand for more pay. All during a pandemic. Something will have to give.
Source: Nation
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Some years ago, on this forum, I suggested that legislation needed to be enacted to protect homeowners who are unable to pay their mortgages.
Legislation to ensure that they would be protected from being turned out of their home. Further, that any settlement of the arrangement would wait until such time as a judge had a review of the case to ensure that the matter was settled fairly in the interest of all parties.
While this is part of any humanitarian approach in a civilised society, it also ensures that the homeowner is able to receive full payment for their property based on fair market value, in all cases and that such property is properly advertised and auctioned, if a judge so decides, to ensure that such market value is achieved.
The current conditions may see much more of these occurrences and I would venture to say that it is inhumane to recoup loans in this scenario, when it is logical that the pandemic is causing severe distress to many.
Such legislation would have served to protect people now. Unfortunately, the then government did not act on any such suggestion and now people are bearing the result.
But remember, negotiation and working with people can often yield more than cutting the ground from under them. Especially in difficult situations.
These days are funny nights and it may not be advisable for a company to be making itself unpopular at this time.
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@ Crusoe
All you need is a court order before eviction and court applications cannot start within six months of default.
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Hal AustinMarch 17, 2021 8:16 AM
You are right but it should be a policy initiative at first instance.
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@ Crusoe
You get policy when the voters demand them. But in this case you do not need new legislation. What you need is a competent financial regulator.
For an educated society, our politics are very elementary. We must stop allowing the banks to get away with murder.
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@Crusoe
Some years ago, on this forum, I suggested that legislation needed to be enacted to protect homeowners who are unable to pay their mortgages
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You is a boy I like but yuh talking sh.te
The Gov’t should not be expected to protect everyone against every eventuality, we already have a nanny Gov’t and now you want the Gov’t to bail out some people who may over- extend them selves to get that “dream” home.
The best thing that can be done is a required high school course that teaches a basic course financial literacy, financial planning and the ins and outs of making poor financial decisions. We would be on much better footing if people knew the risks of what they may be getting into and how to protect themselves.
Next thing somebody will propose that Gov’t enact legislation to protect us from the next pandemic, when we only have to avoid drinking water 😊.
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Financial literacy has nothing to do with people who fall on hard times. The problem in Barbados is not financial literacy, although that is badly needed, but opportunities for income protection cover, so that if someone loses his or her job, for at least six months they will continue to receive an income equivalent to their monthly salaries.
The intention is that within that time they should be able to get a job or make other arrangements. In the meantime, the financial regulator should restrict lenders from repossessing properties at the first sign of a default.
I suggest they should only be allowed to do so after obtaining a court order. This is not being a nanny state, it is good government.
By the way, during CoVid government should impose a mortgage and rent holiday. We do need financial literacy as part of a general curriculum; we also need a minister for the portfolio.
As things stand, we do not even have a senior official at the Central Bank responsible for financial literacy, nor do our media think it is important enough to run a regular column on the subject.
How about a BU financial literacy blog? We can start that today.
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@CrusoeMarch 17, 2021 8:13 AM
Your proposal makes a lot of sense from the point of view of consumer protection.
However, please bear in mind that the banks already had to suffer a lot as a result of the debt cut, while our population did not make any sacrifices for the national bankruptcy. The banks simply cannot bear a qualified moratorium. Furthermore, once the matter goes to court, it will take at least 20 years for the local sleepyheads to get a first-instance decision.
At most, a simple moratorium until September is in line with the market. Anyone who cannot pay after that must move out. The beach is a wonderful place to live under the open sky and with palm trees. Instead of a supermarket, there is free love, sea air, bathing fun and coconut milk.
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Sir Courtney Blackman died in the USA at the age of 88.
Condolences to his immediate family, relatives and friends.
Should we discuss Sir Courtney tenure as Central Bank Governor and his contribution to economic policy?
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@Artax
Wasnât Sir Courtney a creature of the minister like his predecessors and successors?
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@ David
Yes, but, he was the Central Bank’s FIRST Governor, which I believe is much more important than the politics involved, and he should be given some recognition.
Why not focus on his contributions to the development of the Bank?
Although some people are of the opinion, for example, the Governor General, Commissioner of Police, etc, are likewise ‘creatures of the government or minister,’ we still recognised the contributions of our first native GG and Police Commissioner and their contributions to the society.
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I have heard of instances where banks sell foreclosed properties for way below fair market value as they are only interested in recovering their interest.
Sometimes I hear about hook-ups.
Crusoe is correct.
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@Donna
There is fair market value and then there is what the market is prepared to pay. The arithmetic suggests a financial institution will want to recover as much of the out of pocket as possible.
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