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Appropriation Bill 2021 – A Time to Discuss Money Matters of State

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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.“

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117 responses to “Appropriation Bill 2021 – A Time to Discuss Money Matters of State”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    Education, Health still big two
    EDUCATION AND HEALTH will again have the largest share of public spending when Government’s new financial year starts on April 1.
    This was outlined in the Appropriation Bill 2021, which Attorney General Dale Marshall told Parliament would be debated by members of the House of Assembly from Monday at 10 a.m.
    Meanwhile, Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment Marsha Caddle said public sector investment and competitiveness would be key pillars of the 2021-2022 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure.
    The Estimates, which detail Government’s expenditure and revenue for the next 12 months, were to be laid in Parliament yesterday, but the document was not available last night at the time of writing.
    Spending
    However, the
    Appropriation Bill,
    which deals with the spending aspect of the Estimates for the next financial year ending March 31, 2022, detailed that the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training would have a budget of $313.1 million next financial year, down from 2020/2021’s $320.4 million.
    With Government expected to spend more money responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, the proposed budget for the Ministry of Health and Wellness is $272 million, up from the current financial year’s $207.7 million.
    Based on the bill to be debated, the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, which includes the Welfare Department, is also getting more money – $86.1 million in the new financial year versus $71.7 million in the current one.
    In a statement released yesterday evening, Caddle indicated that the Estimates would offer more support to Barbadians while seeking to boost key areas that would prepare the economy for a return to growth.
    Commitment
    “As was the case pre-COVID, but is even more so now since COVID has been with us, Government’s first commitment in its expenditure, alongside public health, is to the social safety net and making sure people are able to survive,” she said. “The allocations you will see, therefore, continue to strengthen support to the work of the Welfare Department, Child Care Board, Household Survival Programme and other key agencies responsible for people’s well-being and for helping those who have been most impacted by the COVID crisis.”
    The minister added: “This capital works programme, while initially slow to get off the ground, is now starting to come into its own and the Ministries of Housing, Transport, Works, Water and Environment in particular will be executing an ambitious but critical set of capital projects which will drive job-led economic activity in the coming financial year.”
    Caddle also said that in the new financial year work would continue on initiatives intended to make Barbados more competitive. These included the national payments system, digitalisation and modernisation of the public sector and sustained efforts to improve planning and licensing.
    Supporting the productive sectors and small business through Fund Access and other key work of the Ministry of Energy, Small Business and Commerce, as well as through a revitalised Enterprise Growth Fund Limited was also on the agenda, the minister said.
    “We expect that with the ongoing rollout of the vaccination programme and once those related protocols are eventually established, some level of economic activity will return. We want to make sure all Barbadians are well placed to participate in and benefit from this recovery,” she said. (SC)

    Source: Nation

  2. David Avatar
    David

    Minister Caddle outlines key pillars of 2021-2022 Estimates

    Article by
    Barbados Today
    Published on
    March 9, 2021

    Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment Marsha Caddle today highlighted the critical activities and commitments of Government that are driving the Estimates, as the Appropriation Bill 2021 was laid in Parliament this evening.

    The Minister explained: “As was the case pre-COVID, but is even more so now since COVIDhas been with us, Government’s first commitment in its expenditure, alongside public health, is to the social safety net and making sure people are able to survive. The allocations you will see therefore continue to strengthen support to the work of the Welfare Department, Child Care Board, Household Survival Programme and other key agencies responsible for people’s well-being, and for helping those who have been most impacted by the COVID crisis.”

    Caddle also discussed Government’s role in substituting for the economic activity that was lost as the private sector contracted. “In a case where the private sector has had to stand still, not because they want to or because of an absence of demand but because the public health protocols and the preservation of life require it, Government must then step in. And we have. We have maintained public sector employment and are investing in the Barbados Employment and Sustainable Transformation (BEST) Programme and an intensified programme of capital works through our Public Sector Investment Programme, which this Ministry coordinates so that people’s incomes are protected.”

    “This capital works programme, while initially slow to get off the ground, is now starting to come into its own, and the Ministries of Housing, Transport, Works, Water and Environment, in particular, will be executing an ambitious but critical set of capital projects which will drive job-led economic activity in the coming financial year.”

    Making further reference to another area being coordinated by the Economic Affairs Ministry, she explained that the competitiveness agenda underpins the successful delivery of Government programmes as well as the capacity of the private sector to emerge ready for growth. “Work on the national payments system, digitalization and modernization of the public sector and sustained efforts to improve planning and licensing are key. We have always said that good governance goes beyond tax and spend, but is also about the legislative and regulatory powers of Government to make citizens’ lives easier.”

    “In the end, it will all be about implementation. We are confident that the key Ministries are each day becoming better organized to deliver their programmes, and where implementation support is needed, it will be given.”

    A final but essential pillar of the economic programme to which Caddle referred relates to supporting the productive sectors and small business through Fund Access and other key work of the Ministry of Energy, Small Business and Commerce, as well as through a revitalized Enterprise Growth Fund Limited.

    “We expect that with the ongoing rollout of the vaccination programme, and once those related protocols are eventually established, some level of economic activity will return. We want to make sure all Barbadians are well placed to participate in and benefit from this recovery.”

    Debate on the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure begins on Monday, March 15, 2021.

    Source: Barbados Today

  3. David Avatar
    David

    Suite of corruption bills by Easter
    ATTORNEY GENERAL Dale Marshall says a full suite of anti-corruption legislation will be presented to the House of Assembly by Easter.
    Government’s attempts to legislate against corruption have often been stalled, with bills like the Integrity In Public Life Bill failing to get past the Senate and being sent back down to the House for reconsideration.
    Yesterday, Marshall said Government had accepted all the concerns “and we have taken the opportunity to try to find the mechanism to try to deal with some of those concerns in a way that is open; that represents the highest traditions of any Parliament” because he acknowledged “a government should never be embarrassed to take counsel from the people on views that vary slightly from ours”.
    The Attorney General said whistleblower legislation drafted and sent to Integrity Barbados, the local watchdog on corruption matters, had since been returned and “is now being refined”. In addition, he advised that the Anti- Corruption Bill also sent to Integrity Barbados for comment and their consultation had been returned and was currently being “tweaked.”
    The Attorney General gave the assurance that: “By Easter I will be able to present the full suite which will round out the statutory and legal framework for dealing with the issue of corruption.”
    The update on the set of legislation to address corruption issues, a matter which the Barbados Labour Party administration had promised to address in its 2008 manifesto, was given when Marshall introduced the Anti-Corruption and Anti-Terrorism Agency Bill, 2020,
    designed to put the institutional framework in place by the time the various pieces of proposed legislation become law.
    The Anti-Corruption and Anti-Terrorism Agency Bill provides for the establishment of an Anti-Corruption and Anti-Terrorism Agency to investigate acts of corruption and terrorism.
    Marshall told the House the current unit in the Royal Barbados Police Force which deals with such investigations did not have the capacity to handle all the matters that were anticipated once the law went into force. He also pointed out the objective was to have a well set up independent agency, free from any semblance of Government interference.
    The bill makes provision for input in investigations by the Director of Public Prosecutions; the Chief of Staff, Barbados Defence Force; the Commissioner of Police; the Revenue Commissioner; the Comptroller of Customs; the Chief Immigration Officer; the Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit; the chairman of the Integrity Commission; the Registrar of the Supreme Court and the Superintendent of Prisons. (GC)

    Source: Nation

  4. David Avatar
    David

    Further 11-Plus delay likely
    by MARIA BRADSHAW mariabradshaw@ nationnews.com

    THERE IS A PROPOSAL to further delay the Barbados Secondary Schools Entrance Examination (BSSEE), also known as the 11-Plus, by another month.
    July 20 is the new proposed date.
    Only last month, Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw announced that the exam which was normally held in May had been pushed back to June 22 because of disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
    However, yesterday Acting Chief Education Officer Joy Adamson sent the teachers’ unions a memo indicating that the proposed new date was July 20, as she pointed out that Class 4 teachers had expressed an interest in having additional preparation time of four weeks for their students and that they had expressed a desire to return to face-to-face instruction to better prepare students for the exam.
    Face-to-face instruction
    The memo also noted that at a recent meeting with the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Chief Medical Officer Dr Kenneth George “had stressed that students should return to face-to-face instruction as soon as possible and that the ministry was facilitating the vaccination of all teachers and ancillary staff in the next phase of vaccinations”.
    In addition, the Ministry of Health and Wellness indicated that officers from the COVID-19 Monitoring Unit had been designated to work with schools and that they would commence assessments of the school plants from March 9 (yesterday).
    In relation to these developments, the Ministry of Education invited the unions to a meeting on Friday to discuss these matters along with proposals that special needs schools and students writing Caribbean Examinations Council exams return to school from Term 3.
    On Monday evening during an interview with the NATION, Bradshaw said the ministry was still reviewing “all options” related to the 11-Plus following meetings with stakeholders, including parents and children.
    “In terms of the 11-Plus exam, we did shift the date to June 22. There were concerns a few weeks ago as to whether or not students would be ready to sit the exam. We sent out a number of surveys to teachers asking them in terms of where they were with the syllabus; their ability to complete the syllabus; and student readiness for the examination, and we received that feedback.
    “We are now in the process of trying to complete discussions with parents, students, stakeholders, focus groups and also the unions to get feedback from everybody as to how they feel and we would soon be able to say this is what we are doing specifically in terms of the 11-Plus exam.”
    Options on the table
    She added: “All options are on the table. We are going to be driven by what the data is saying. So in other words, it is not about how anybody feels about the 11-Plus examination. This exercise is being driven by input of all of the stakeholders, including the students, parents, teachers, unions, and I think only then can we make a better judgement as to what all of the options are.”
    Bradshaw noted: “Obviously there is an option to proceed as normal with the current date; there is an option to extend the time that is allocated; we’ve looked at deferrals, allowing students to defer similar to what was done with CXC; and changing the criteria for deferrals. We have also looked at a full cancellation and being able to make a transition if we were to start to go into the direction of middle school.”
    She explained yesterday that the proposed date of July 20 was the date coming out of the discussions from the survey with Class 4 teachers.
    “It isn’t the ministry’s proposal. They (unions) are to come back to say whether their survey of the teachers has suggested four weeks or whether they prefer six, or whether they prefer not to do the examination at all. So it is just to let them know what is being discussed.”

    Source: Nation

  5. David Avatar
    David

    https://barbadostoday.bb/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/6A42F3BF-55EE-44C1-93F1-B0D0DCDA5DF3-730×456.jpeg

    New Chairman Of National Youth Policy Committee
    Avatar
    Article by
    Barbados Today
    Published on
    March 9, 2021

    The National Youth Policy Coordinating Committee has a new chairperson and members, who are representatives from a variety of youth-led organisations.

    She is Attorney-at-Law, Sade Jemmott, a former Barbados CARICOM Youth Ambassador, entrepreneur and action-oriented Barbadian. The deputy chairperson is Jamilia Burgess.

    The committee members are: Shakeem Howell; John Jones; Miranda Blackman; Dario Greenidge; Kameisha Jessamy; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment, Yolande Howard; Director of Youth Affairs, Cleviston Hunte; Acting Principal Youth Development Officer, Andrea Titus and Oneta Forde, who is secretary to the committee.

    In sharing her perspective on her new role, Ms. Jemmott stated: “I see my chairmanship of the National Youth Policy Coordinating Committee as more than an opportunity to shape and influence the relevant policy landscape of Barbados. It is also a responsibility to facilitate and amplify youth voices, whether mainstream or marginalised, as it relates to all matters that touch and concern us.”

    Ms. Jemmott stressed that the committee is not an exercise in tokenism, or established to create a report “just for the sake of it”, but is intended to work towards the empowerment and mobilisation of young people in Barbados to create an effective social contract with Government.

    In acknowledging the ground work laid by the previous committee, the new chairperson noted that the focus would now be on overseeing the development and implementation of a timely, robust and purpose-driven youth policy.

    “We (committee) are certainly up for the challenge, and now that we have reached the consultation stage of the process, we sincerely look forward to frank discourse and meaningful engagement over the course of the next few months,” Ms. Jemmott said.

    The committee is supported by technical consultants, Dr. Lawrence Nurse and Professor Dwayne Devonish.

    Source: Barbados Today

  6. angela cox Avatar
    angela cox

    Would be of interest to see how much financial aid would be appropriated to Small businesses many of whom had to bear the burnt of Govt COVID measures during lockdown
    Presently only few have received the proposed financial help govt rolled out as a financial ease for the small business during lock down
    Going forward these small businesses deserves better by govt if they can survive

  7. David Avatar
    David

    If you took the time to scan the PDF attached you would have been able to answer your question.

  8. angela cox Avatar
    angela cox

    It did not answer the question of not many small business receiving the funding proposed by govt during the lockdown
    Most notably govt hastened to help big businesses especially those in. tourism during COVID
    The help for small business so far has been slow incoming
    Wouldnt expect much of a change going forward
    As usual govt promises for the small business always come up empty handed

  9. David Avatar
    David

    Would be of interest to see how much financial aid would be appropriated to Small businesses many of whom had to bear the burnt of Govt COVID measures during lockdown

  10. John2 Avatar
    John2

    Positive note

    USA. Being vaccinated and opening up.

    air travel back to around 50 %

    I don’t know about the tourist but bajans ready to come home

  11. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    David
    It is right to see these as a crisis on top a crisis. BTW there maybe a third financial crisis, like 2008/9, seeking to conjoin.

    For there is no way we could arrive at a heightened understanding of the distinct forces driving each unless they are disaggregated

  12. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    Our Supreme Leader shows once again that she is making the right policy for our island. Thanks to the IMF’s support we will survive the financial side of the Corona disaster, thanks to our Supreme Leader and General Bosstic we are vaccinating faster than many other states and can welcome tourists sooner.

    Just as importantly, Lord Marshal Dale is announcing the resubmission of anti-corruption legislation. What a great Easter gift!

    Thank you, Most Honourable Prime Minister, Honourable Attorney General and Honourable Minister of Wellness!

  13. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Is the full Appropriations Bill going to be published or just a brief amended form? What use is this?

  14. angela cox Avatar
    angela cox

    The Tourism Sector no doubt would receive a large part of finances
    Going forward after Covid what other plans govt have to revive the economy is still an outstanding question which needs to address
    One placed smack into the question about employment

    Torn so IMF money being borrowed must be paid back

  15. john2 Avatar
    john2

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2021/03/10/lockdown-payments-reached-only-half-applicants/

  16. David Avatar
    David

    @Pacha

    If there is another global crisis in the pipeline it will be a concern for all economies given global market interdependencies. What we will want to hear in the debate on Monday is our policymakers invoking meaning to the numbers read framing a mid to long term visualization for Barbadians.

  17. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ Tron March 10, 2021 9:08 AM
    “Our Supreme Leader shows once again that she is making the right policy for our island. Thanks to the IMF’s support we will survive the financial side of the Corona disaster, thanks to our Supreme Leader and General Bosstic we are vaccinating faster than many other states and can welcome tourists sooner.

    Just as importantly, Lord Marshal Dale is announcing the resubmission of anti-corruption legislation. What a great Easter gift!

    Thank you, Most Honourable Prime Minister, Honourable Attorney General and Honourable Minister of Wellness!”
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Queen-maker Tron, you ought to ‘temper’ your exuberance in showering a flood of encomiums on your would-be Empress of Bim and goddess of the Bajan tourism skies before your Supreme Leader ends up a casualty of a deluge unfathomable problems.

    Why not proceed with a lifeboat of caution by waiting until the Estimate(s) of Revenue(s) are perused to see if they will reflect, in any conservative way, the worsening ‘real(i)ties’ in the consumer spending and (un)employment markets?

    You could simply focus on the overall revenue projection and see if it comes close to the actual for the fiscal year 2019-2020 or even the one estimated for 2020-2021 before reaching the conclusion of conferring the title of miracle worker on your only besotted daughter of a goddess.

    Any major ‘variance’ between the estimated expenditure(s) and projected revenue(s) for the coming fiscal year (2021-2022) could result in only one thing of more taxation in the fast disappearing rabbits called taxpayers.

    Your MAM is no saint. She might be the maid of Bush Hall but certainly no Jeanne d’Arc; neither can she ever be an Athena with you, Tron her chief advisor, performing the role of that ‘Wise Owl’ instead of a plain old court jester.

    Look on the bright side but let us all wait on the outcome of her human (frail) deliberations done in a socio-economic environment of major uncertainty and daunting expectations.

  18. GP Avatar
    GP

    For once I agree with you Miller
    MIA IS MOST SURELY ON TOP OF HER GAME…….AND WE ALL KNOW WHAT IS.
    SHE IS GOOD AT USING HER MOUTH

  19. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Is that all Christians think about?

  20. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    For GP only White people can be so venerated

    This is the same Black man in White mask who, up until now, supported to the death of an insurrection and beyond, the most vile son of a bitch known to either man or mammon

  21. GP Avatar
    GP

    RE Is that all Christians think about?
    NOT ALL. OBVIOUSLY NOT ALL, WHATEVER ALL IS
    BUT YES CHRISTIANS ARE INTERESTED IN MIA’S ACTIVITIES IN TOTO
    Christians think about A RANGE OF THINGS. LOL
    IT SEEMS THAT YOU ARE DISOBEYING JOHN 7:24 IN YOUR ATTEMPTED REBUTTAL

  22. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    David
    What you should expect it more of what we’ve had before. Platitudes and apologetics. More of the same. Can any inspiring come from Nazareth.

  23. GP Avatar
    GP

    RE This is the same Black man in White mask who, up until now, supported to the death of an insurrection and beyond, the most vile son of a bitch known to either man or mammon

    AS A CHILD OF SATAN, YOU LOVE TO SLANDER
    WHERE, WHEN , OR HOW DID GP supported to the death of an insurrection and beyond,
    QUESTION DO YOU KNOW THAT THE EVIDENCE NOW INDICATES THAT THERE WAS REALLY NO “INSURRECTION”

    GP IS HAPPY TO BE THOUGHT OF AS VILE FOR BELIEVING THE WORD OF GOD

    NOW SPEAKING OF “VILE””, LET US CONSIDER PHILIPPIANS 3 V2O & 21
    For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

    THE PLYMOUTH BRETHREN WRITTEN COMMENTER SAYS THAT THE PHRASE “VILE BODY” IN VERSE 21 MAY BE TRANSLATED “”THE BODY OF OUR HUMILIATION””

    HOW APT AS MANY OF THE ELDERLY CAN ATTEST

  24. GP Avatar
    GP

    RE Can any inspiring come from Nazareth.

    DO YOU KNOW THAT THE JEWISH UNBELIEVING LEADERSHIP WERE EITHER IGNORANT OF THIER HISTORY OR JUST STUPID WHEN THEY ASKED CONCERNING THE LORD ” CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME FROM NAZARETH? FOR BOTH THE PROPHETS NAHUM & JONAH CAME FROM THAT AREA

  25. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    Our sense of what is real and what is not can never coincide with those whose very being is constructed on the unreal, an eponymy.

  26. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    You should know my opinion of the Bible by now. You should also know that no man dictates my thoughts or actions.

    Think of Mia as a pussy biter, if you must. But also think of Trump as a pussy grabber – a man accused of sexual assault by numerous women.

    I have no love for Mia Mottley but the reality I faced on May 25th, 2018 was that she was not Freundel Stuart. He was burying Barbados under a pile of filth! I have no regrets about where I placed my ‘X’.

    The women Mia has are not raped. They have a choice in the matter.

  27. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    Seems like a pussy riot. A group supported by US foreign policy to disrupt Russia.

    By the same wicked christians who replaced the Goddess with a nonexistent holy ghost.

  28. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    @ Miller March 10, 2021 10:26 AM

    Of course, the economic and financial situation is catastrophic. No one disputes that. Also, our budget hole will be as deep as the Mariana Trench.

    However, we should also look at the positive aspects: In our country, a large proportion of the population will soon be vaccinated, and the Americans and British will be fully vaccinated in the summer. This means that we can expect a reasonably profitable winter season. Provided we stop the quarantine nonsense for those entering the country with a vaccination certificate.

  29. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    And, I forgot – they also get the financial benefit they were seeking when they walked into it with their eyes open.

  30. David Avatar
    David

    Who do we have on the political opposition side shadowing finance portfolio matters?

    Who do we have shadowing in civil society filling the void?

    We are meaning a credible voice. The people will want to hear independent, intelligent probing of what government put out. And alternates!

  31. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    The Law requires that an Appropriation Bill be laid in the Houses of Parliament to be debated and so it is. One should expect no significant changes from last year and so there is none.All the factors undergirding the measures have already been ventilated and discussed. Any tweaking will be done when time and circumstance dictate.

  32. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Is the full Appropriations Bill going to be published, or just the amended version? Are the Opposition and media going to demand the full document be published?
    We are drifting in to a secret society. Government sold the 49 per cent share ownership in LIAT, but we were not told the deal under which it was done; government called in White Oaks to renegotiate and restructure our external debt, but we were not told what that debt was and to whom; now government is publishing a Appropriations (Amendment) Bill, but we have no details of government staffing.
    We also have emergency legislation that bypasses parliament. What is going on?

  33. angela cox Avatar
    angela cox

    A large section of the population would soon be vaccinated and there are no jobs for them to go to
    Already big business eyes are on the wage bill
    Threats are being sent out to govt to beware
    Beware of more unemployment coming if govt gets it way

  34. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    @ Hal Austin March 10, 2021 1:11 PM

    Since there is no parliamentary opposition, there is no need to disclose all the figures. The extra-parliamentary opposition called DLP has no rights.

    I therefore advise our Supreme Leader, by virtue of an emergency law directive, to disclose only the most necessary figures. The rest should not worry the masses and investors. The less, the better!

  35. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ Tron March 10, 2021 12:28 PM
    “Of course, the economic and financial situation is catastrophic. No one disputes that. Also, our budget hole will be as deep as the Mariana Trench.”
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    That’s a bit over the top!!

    Isn’t it being too deeply melodramatic to compare the pending drop in the GoB’s revenue with the deepest well on the planet to make Maxwell pond look like a Bajan pit toilet?

    At least you are not talking like some parrot of a theoretical economist living in some ivory tower in la-la land who- looking through some unfocused lens- sees nothing unsound about presenting the national financial budget in the most rigidly pedestrian way.

    An approach bereft of any foresight and proactive rigour obviously not recognizing the serious ramifications for the revenue collection efforts caused by a conservatively reported drop of almost 20% in GDP with the concomitant increase in unemployment.

    A downward spiral in economic activity which, through its multiplier effect, must translate into less consumer spending in an economy based not on the export of commodities, manufactured good and services of relatively inelastic high demand but on an import, sell and buy transaction-based business model.

  36. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Tron

    In the UK we are now getting books and parliamentary reports on CoVid and its economic and social costs. Are we going to get any such reports in Barbados?

  37. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ Hal Austin

    We have already done that analysis. Do we need to publish them in books etc,?

  38. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Vincent

    My apologies. Where was this analysis published?

  39. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    @MillerMarch 10, 2021 2:25 PM

    At least the severe crash of all economic activities teaches our diehard island nationalists that international tourism is our number one economic driver.

    Our prosperity on the island will suffer as long as medical Taliban scream for quarantine, isolation and other medieval methods. Vaccination is the only way out of this mess, both for locals and tourists.

    I am therefore very pleased that our honourable government is doing everything right when it comes to vaccination. I just saw a graph in an international magazine that listed Barbados as one of the ten vaccination superpowers. Time to celebrate this great success!

  40. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ Tron March 10, 2021 4:34 PM

    In addition to stemming the loss of forex blood from the tourism haemorrhaging, your imaginatively creative supreme leader has to come up with alternative sources of quick revenue to help replace the direct taxation losses from the large reduction in employment and indirect shortfalls from the significant erosion in consumer discretionary spending which forms the base or foundation of VAT collections.

    Any ideas to offer your Queen the hamstrung chancellor of the exchequer?

    There is a big-fat-obese one ready for the plucking and which can be used to help plug at least a few holes in the indirect taxation bucket.

  41. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ Hal Austin

    Who ordained that every analysis of Barbados Economic and Financial Affairs is for public consumption? Is that what is done in the UK.?

  42. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    @ Miller March 10, 2021 5:06 PM

    I recommend the usual well-tried remedies of the IMF: First, currency devaluation to 1:4 and second, reduction of the civil service by 50 percent in combination with an emigration programme.

    The medicine must taste bitter for it to work!

  43. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @Vincent

    Are you suggesting that you have access to confidential government analyses, especially on CoVid? Don’t you think public discussion of public policy is what democracy is all about?
    And yes, in the UK we discuss all government policy, not only in parliament, but in our media, think-tanks, and households.

  44. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    Hal Austin
    When will you stop playing your stupid debating tricks? How did you manage to transform ‘analysis’ into ‘policy’?The issue is not that of discussing . But the publication of analysis done on the economy of Barbados. Any body of competence can do an analysis. It is their work and property not the public’s and certainly not yours. So please stop setting up straw men and shifting goal posts. A course in logic was compulsory for those doing Social Sciences in British and Commonwealth universities in my day.

  45. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    “The Law requires that an Appropriation Bill be laid in the Houses of Parliament to be debated and so it is”
    Wondering if ‘The Law’ requires an Annual Report on the NIS to be laid annually in the Houses of Parliament?

  46. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Vincent

    Aare you saying that government analysis of social problems are done for fun? You claim analyses have been done, when asked when and who by, you claim that any body of competence can do analyses.
    Two points: first, if such an analysis has been done, it will be interesting to read it. You went o0n to say the issue is not on of discussing. I ignore that for the moment, since I am sure we interest that sentence differently.
    Second, these are public servants, and their work is a matter of public interest. If they want their ideas to remain private the answer is simple.
    You also say anyone of competence can do an analysis. That is the key. I do not believe our policy-makers are competent. I have said that here on numerous occasions, our big problem is incompetence, not qualifications.
    You go on talking about straw men and shifting goal posts. Before you become even more hysterical, here was my original question: “In the UK we are now getting books and parliamentary reports on CoVid and its economic and social costs. Are we going to get any such reports in Barbados?”
    A reasonable question. You claimed it has been done and I asked for further information, then you had a hysterical collapse. Do you know if it has been done, or you think it has been done?
    There is either a publicly available analysis, or there is not one. If after a year we are still struggling to draft an analysis then it goes to the very heart of our policy-making incompetence.
    Plse explain the strawmen and shifting goal posts.

  47. angela cox Avatar
    angela cox

    Caswell Frankkyn suing govt accussing Mia of not taking proper procedures to implement COVID laws
    This is not the first time Caswell brought similar accusations against Mia
    It would be interesting to see how the court responds
    However Caswell noted that he is willling to take his actions as far as the CCJ
    This govt has treaded to hallowed ground too many times as it is about time citizens stand up to them

  48. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ Northern Observer March 11, 2021 12:53 AM
    “Wondering if ‘The Law’ requires an Annual Report on the NIS to be laid annually in the Houses of Parliament?”
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Well spotted by a very perceptive mind supported by a quick recall, “NO”!!.

    The ‘double-standards’ position taken on the NIS law versus the ‘contrasting’ position on the Appropriation Bill is now exposed to the sunlight of intelligence.

    How can any large business organization- whether private sector or public sector- make ‘reliable’ forecasts or projections about financial outcomes (and achievement of objectives) unless their managements have ready access to the actual results of the recent past in order to inform and support ‘managers’, in a more effective manner, with their decision-making function?

    It would appear the deliberate breaking of the Law by senior public officers in collusion with the political administrators for the people’s business is par for the course in Barbados making Adonijah sound like a prophet of doom.

    We really don’t want to play the violin to Hal Austin’s harping tune of “ Beautiful Barbados but a Failed State”.

  49. David Avatar
    David

    What is the DLP doing with its bevy of lawyers who are members?

    Senator Caswell is putting you lot to shame.

    Note the blogmaster posted this item to Caswell’s blog where it logically and sensibly belongs.

    >

  50. Enuff Avatar
    Enuff

    Stupse!

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