Minorities Laughing

Posted on by 128 comments

Debate about the commitment of the two political parties honouring promises outlined in glossy manifestos aside, the documents serve a useful reference for citizens to hold political parties accountable.

All agree the last twenty years in particular have gotten progressively challenging for Barbados and Barbadians. The outgoing government with its bevy of financial consultants have focused mainly on executing macroeconomic arrangements. However, the harsh economic condition of the last decade and a half has meant less disposal income and some destruction of wealth for the middle and upper class. Of equal concern to the blogmaster is the lack of investment opportunity for wealth generation available to Barbadians, especially after the domestic debt restructure.

What does a check of the manifestos share with the public by the two main parties – Democratic Labour Party (DLP) and Barbados Labour Party (BLP) on plans to address the lack of investment opportunities?

The DLP makes no direct reference in the manifesto about a plan to create or facilitate opportunities for Barbadians to invest. It is embedded in general and vague language. The BLP’s message is more direct – see page below.

This is important because it is no secret the economic pie is disproportionately owned by minority groups in Barbados, comprised of less than 10% of the population. Why would majority Black political parties not prioritize implementing policy to afford mainly Black Barbadians greater opportunity to invest? Some will dismiss the manifestos as fluff, BUT, what else does the citizen have to hold the parties accountable?

There is little doubt in the mind of the blogmaster who added to the coffers in the last 20 years.

There is little doubt in the mind of the blogmaster who added debt.

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2022 DLP ManifestoDownload
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128 comments

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  • Dirt Farmer
    January 16, 2022 10:50 PM

    Cuhdear Bajan HOt Hot Like Fire 🔥

    Fire Fire In Me Wire!!!!

    I heard a bawling, like somebody crying
    I could imagem what was happening
    I saw this old lady running
    Calling out to she neighbour Ramsingh
    Neightbour neighbour, come o lord
    My house on fire
    And if yuh hear she

    Fire Fire!
    In meh wire papa
    Ay ya yeye
    O yo yoye
    Fire Fire
    “Spanish”
    Heat for so

    Ah jump out me bed
    Start holding me head
    Well ah say tonight lord
    somebody dead
    Because this old lady
    She ent living with nobody
    So ah jump from meh house
    And ah start bawling like ah crazy mouse
    and if yuh hear me

    Fire Fire!
    In she wire papa
    Ay ya yeye
    O yo yoye
    Fire Fire
    “Spanish”
    Heat for so

    When me neighbour Ramsingh
    He came running
    He thought it was a joke
    Because he didnt see no smoke
    She bawling come over Ramsingh
    Where is the ladder
    Unreel the house
    And let go the water
    To out the fire
    and if yuh hear she

    Fire Fire!
    In she wire papa
    Ay ya yeye
    O yo yoye
    Fire Fire
    “Spanish”
    Heat for so

    Fire Fire!
    In she wire papa
    Ay ya yeye
    O yo yoye
    Fire Fire
    “Spanish”
    Heat for so

    Davie, Fire in She Wire 🔥

    Like

  • William Skinner
    January 16, 2022 10:50 PM

    @ Cuhdear Bajan
    I was merely quoting what was said or implied by Ms. Moe.
    I don’t know who was destroyed or not. Politely , I don’t care. They can do whatever they choose to do to each other. I don’t have a dog in the fight.
    My only interest is that our country looks after the poor and those who are the most vulnerable.
    Peace.

    Like

  • Dirt Farmer
    January 16, 2022 11:02 PM

    @ Skins

    How is your Shoulder and Left Wrist doing these days, my Brother?

    Nuff Respect to de principal..🎓

    Like

  • William Skinner
    January 16, 2022 11:06 PM

    @ Dirt Farmer
    Doing ok , thanks my brother. Hope all is well with you and yours.

    Like

  • Cuhdear Bajan
    January 16, 2022 11:12 PM

    @ African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2021. All Rights Reserved January 16, 2022 4:49 PM
    “So is it true that 1,2 MILLION US was spent on entourage, wardrobe, dinner…”

    So the USA Vice President “goes Dutch”/demands that her guests to pay for their own dinner, when she invites heads of government to dine with her?

    Like

  • Dirt Farmer
    January 17, 2022 12:47 AM

    Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley.

    Significant 7 In de eyes of her people:

    1) Quick to make decisions, preferring intuition over heavy analysis or lengthy process.

    2) Tends to be rational, principled, and judicial. Mia usually has a desire for justice and equality and is motivated by a strong sense of right and wrong.

    3) Mia is charismatic, direct, and logical. She enjoys taking charge, working to achieve goals, and encouraging growth from others.

    4) Mia is comfortable functioning as the primary speaker in a group

    5) Mia feels comfortable making decisions with limited information.

    6) Mia makes a decision more quickly than most people. She’s not a procrastinator.

    7) Mia will always Love and Support de people of Barbados 🇧🇧 to de end..

    Like

  • David
    January 17, 2022 5:29 AM

    Sinckler gives Govt B+

    Martindale: You have been out of the public’s eye for some time, since your loss at the polls in the 2018 General Election. What has Chris Sinckler been up to?

    Sinckler: After the last elections when we all lost our seats, I thought it was an appropriate time to take a break – come out of the system so to speak, and to reflect. It was a long time that I was in the political fray and very long time that I was working consistently. I thought it was an appropriate time for me to spend some quality time with my wife, family and my children. I really took myself out of the system almost completely.
    After 18 months to two years of a complete break, I started to do some consultancies, many with external organisations, some regional ones. I am now back with CPDC [Caribbean Policy Development Centre] working on a project sponsored by the Open Society Foundation on debt and international development finance reform.

    Martindale: As a former Minister of Finance, you would still no doubt be watching keenly what is going on. We have had COVID-19 and the tourism fallout, a freak system, Hurricane Elsa, the ashfall, that would have set us back financially. From where you sit, how do you view where we are as a country at this point?

    Sinckler: We are in a fairly challenging position and that is understandable because of all you just pointed out and their impact. The impact of COVID, which was absolutely devastating to countries around the world and Barbados, has had its own challenges. In 2020, our economy declined by as much as 18 per cent and that is a significant decline. We lost just short of $2 billion in value on our GDP [gross domestic product]. That is a considerable level of decline and we know why. The country basically shut down; the economy was shut off.
    Our main trading partners and our source markets for tourism were equally in periods of shutdown or various periods of economic collapse. So the impact of that has been heavy. I don’t think anybody should or can understate the level of impact.
    If you lose as much as $2 billion of your economy, and you decline by as much as 18 per cent, you don’t make that back up in six months or 12 months. It is a process and it takes time, particularly in an environment where there is uncertainty.

    Martindale: How do we navigate this situation as a country?

    Sinckler: The pandemic is still here; every six to eight months there is a new variant. We now have Omicron, which is not as virulent in terms of impact medically as Delta, but it is having the impact in that it is spreading so widespread and quickly and infectious. Even though people have mild symptoms, once they have tested positive they can’t go to work. So we are now hearing employers around the world and here in Barbados as well, saying there are people who are not at work, and we can’t find people to fill these jobs on a temporary basis because it is so widespread.
    That level of impact means we will lose revenue as we have, over $600 million over the course of the 18-month period we have been battling with this. You will have to increase expenditure, the Government has had to increase expenditure, relative to public health interventions to manage the impact of the virus, but also to help people keep their heads above water. So the impact will turn up in your fiscal accounts, your deficit, and also in your other financial accounts.
    On top of that, you have it layered on, issues pertaining to cost of living. Because of the very steep rise in inflation overseas, you have disruptions in international trade because of supply chain issues that are occurring. The compound impact of that is great.
    And then you put alongside that, prior to this, Government would have had to do its interventions from 2018 to deal with the financial situation, trying to stabilise that which they were able to achieve to some extent under the BERT [Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation] programme so it is having a compound effect. You are now looking at almost a 12-year period in which the country has had flat growth, or very little growth or no growth at all. That has impacted on people. That is at the macro level.

    Martindale: What about at the micro level because there would have been some impact there as it relates to individuals?

    Sinckler: At the micro level, people have lost jobs, so their personal incomes are down, disposable income is down, the earning capacity is down, their savings obviously would be down. So it is having an impact at all levels – at Government level, at business level and of course at the personal household level.

    Martindale: Given all that you just pointed out, how do you rate Government’s handling of our economic situation?

    Sinckler: It is challenging, but it is not totally lost. I think the Government, because of its participation in the Extended Fund Facility with the International Monetary Fund, has been able to get access to credit, to lending, has borrowed. I think that in the circumstance that we found ourselves, in 2020 and last year, with that level of uncertainty, with that level of decline in our major foreign exchange earning sectors like tourism, I don’t think the Government had that much of a choice but to borrow.
    I know people speak about the debt but at the end of the day, if you are not earning it because of what is happening with the pandemic, then you have to be able to put yourself in a position where you have to rely on the savings of others through borrowing to get you through that difficult period, until you can smooth it over and start to increase your capacity to earn again. So that is where we are at – a challenging situation but not insurmountable by any stretch of the imagination.

    Martindale: If you were to rate the handling of the economy of the last two years given all you have said and you know we have been through as a country, how would you rate Government’s performance?

    Sinckler: I think they have done a reasonably good job.

    There have been missteps. I don’t think anyone can say anything differently, but given the impact of the pandemic this thing could have gone sideways. This could have bottomed out completely.
    The fact that we still have commerce going, we have reopened the economy, the tourism sector seems to be going good, the winter season from all reports seems to be going reasonably well. The Government has been able to keep its fiscal situation relatively under control.
    You have lost about $600 million in revenue. You had the impact of increased expenditure. Between those have caused the Government to have to run deficits, but those deficits have not been entirely out of control. There is a concern about the amount of money that has had to be borrowed – close to BDS$2 billion in the last two, three years. That is a concern. The debt-to-GDP ratio has gone back up, I believe, to 140 to 145. Quite a bit of that is because the GDP has basically contracted so significantly, so you have had an explosion in debt-to-GDP ratio but by and large, we have kept it stable.
    Businesses are still running; yes they are under pressure and the earning capacity has declined. But given those circumstances, and given what is happening internationally with prices, you don’t get the sense that people feel this thing is going off a cliff.
    So in that regard, I would give the Government a strong, a good B+.

    Martindale: Still there must be some challenges the Government would have to face going forward. What do you see as some of those?

    Sinckler: One is getting that fiscal back on track, meeting the target they said they want to meet in the BERT programme, but all of that rests on getting growth. I think that is really where the challenge is. This is not just an issue of economic theory, this is not just an issue of financial numbers, this is an issue of execution. This is an issue of when the appetite returns for investors to push ahead with projects that were put on hold because of COVID or any other reasons. You can get your business indicators going in the right way so that you can get things done to get the investment going to get growth. I think that is where all the emphasis has to go.

    Martindale: How optimistic are you that this year you will see some of what you are talking about – the execution, the growth, the projects going?

    Sinckler: There are three things that will be critical in that regard. First is the appetite of the investors to move ahead, if they are ready, and from all indications there seems to be the appetite to get going. Then there is the operational aspect of getting things done. Those responsible for the execution in the public service have now to become driven, nimble, very concerted, and they have to be pretty aggressive because you are now operating in an entirely different environment where investors are looking around.
    If you are playing around and taking too long to do things, people will look elsewhere. So it is the administrative system that has to execute.
    The third thing is leadership. Someone has to lead it, someone has to drive the process in terms of pulling all these things together and ensure there is an appropriate team behind them to get these things done. If those things are in place, then I am very optimistic.

    Source: Nation

    Like

  • angela cox
    January 17, 2022 5:39 AM

    You Go Sinckler
    Pressure does bust pipes
    A bird in the hand is worth a thousand in the bush
    All and sundry does not forget that you were called the worst Finance minister of Barbados
    Funny enough how your opinion counts on economic matters in 2022

    Like

  • David
    January 17, 2022 5:40 AM

    He gave the government a B+?

    Like

  • African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2021. All Rights Reserved
    January 17, 2022 5:42 AM

    i will not be REELED INTO A SEA OF IGNORANCE, especially on an anonymous blog

    ya TINPOT leaders are ROBBING YALL BLIND at every turn….that’s what yall should be checking for but don’t tell me i know…”the fella/.gals gotta get a little someting for dey selves too ya know they gotta live too, we don’t mind if dey take some,.”.only problem is dey TIEFING IT by the BILLIONS and leaving yall in poverty………..sea of IGNORANCE…

    William…the situation is really, really bad tongues are wagging everywhwere,,…even on the world stage…

    stand clear…..you want none of this landing on you…

    Like

  • African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2021. All Rights Reserved
    January 17, 2022 5:46 AM

    “My only interest is that our country looks after the poor and those who are the most vulnerable.”

    as noble as your intentions are….THEY ARE NEVER GOING TO…sorry William..

    Like

  • David
    January 17, 2022 5:46 AM

    A prelude to what?

    I DO NOT DOUBT that the Barbados Labour Party will prevail in the coming elections. As a matter of fact, if elections were held in January 2023, the same unpreparedness probably would be seen from the opposition parties.
    The real question is, why elections this early? Are there signs of what will happen, like measures that will be undertaken that may have difficult consequences?
    The burning issue now is the increasing dependence on loans from the Chinese. A new stadium, Scotland District improvement, sewers assistance, road repairs and so on will mean that we will be up to the baller with China. Not only that, other Caribbean countries that look to Barbados to take the lead will be so persuaded to incur debt.
    Along with China’s money will be China’s labour, a problem in itself in the light of the dispute among the trade unions. Would not the increasing borrowing from the Chinese decrease our attractiveness to the market of lenders? What then will the reaction of the market be? Perhaps we should not care as long as we get what we get – loans? What about China’s hegemony?
    Right now a healthy response to the issue of bonds for the Government so that it can offer assistance to people under pressure from layoffs, COVID-19, is not in evidence. Government has to find funds. Surely we would not be relying on the Chinese for budgetary support. That would be the last straw. Taxation is the next help for support, and this, coupled with an already overtaxed situation, will have its own consequences – only the International Monetary Fund.
    So far we have not heard any response from the outside world to the appeals against the taxation requirement of international companies operating in countries like Barbados to be 15 per cent. This will affect Barbados. No one has stepped forward to help with the effects on Barbados with climate change. Countries worldwide have had their own unprecedented problems with storms, floods, fires. The idea of offering help to Barbados may be pie in the sky.
    There is no doubt that there are a few bright spots on the horizon. We have the ability to build more hotels. There are three waiting to break ground on the waterfront alone. But building hotels takes time and requires finance. This COVID-19 has upended the industry in many ways. Airline operation with crew availability is affecting scheduled flights and has reduced reliability.
    What I am getting at is that we have a bleak future ahead that might have created the decision to ring the bell early and the Prime Minister has noted it. As I have suggested, the opposition forces are in disarray. Even the Leader of the Opposition in the last Parliament is scratching around on two issues. He had to be looking for a constituency to represent (three weeks before elections) in addition to the critical move to form a new party.
    I am quite familiar with the herculean task of forming a new party. Indeed, his position in the Parliament is due to the clean sweep in 2018 and we wait to see if he will lose his voice. With luck, he may get a pick in the Senate.
    I guess that people will listen to lofty speeches from the platform of promises, but I believe that the calling of the election at this time is a prelude to something. That something will no doubt be hard to swallow. But, there is probably no better time to call the election than when the country is in a state of confusion.
    The shortness of the silly season also means there will be a shorter period for contentious issues to be in circulation and discussion. This shows savvy on the part of Government that has left the opposition struggling in the blocks. Normally, a manifesto published well in advance of election day holds the party’s feet to the wheel, but this time we mainly have to rely on the lofty speeches made on the platforms. Words, like the wind, have short tenancy.
    So far, I give credit to Mia Mottley for the way she has sought to deal with the myriad of problems faced by the island. The low mortality rate and exceptional organisation for the sick are indicative of a caring administrator. We wait to see what challenges are on the way. The cry of dictator may be an empty response of shortsightedness and envy, and if it is echoed in the past, it is disputed by the results.

    Harry Russell is a banker.

    Source: Nation

    Like

  • 555dubstreet
    January 17, 2022 6:00 AM

    2 days to go
    penultimate day
    last but one in a series of things
    second last

    People should be more mindful of what they say and make an effort to be more intelligent positive and constructive

    The best way is to absorb this study as a spiritual ‘vitamin’ to enhance your empathy and understanding of other people. Reading a person by feeling him/her spiritually gives us a whole picture rather than reading a few traits of a person from some hand and face markings.

    Like

  • 555dubstreet
    January 17, 2022 6:11 AM

    White folks are anti-China and prejudiced AF
    “No Viet Cong ever called me Ni993r”
    White folks dispute Muhammad Ali said that
    but, they have been calling black people Ni993rs since slave days

    Like

  • angela cox
    January 17, 2022 6:14 AM

    DavidJanuary 17, 2022 5:40 AM

    He gave the government a B+?

    Xxxxxx
    Well.who would have thought that Sinckler opinion mattered to the B’s
    What a ting doah

    Like

  • African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2021. All Rights Reserved
    January 17, 2022 6:26 AM

    It’s all gone to hell in a handbasket, it was bound to….the warnings were ENDLESS…but everybody believed they had this, well ya never did, ya weren’t meant to….

    how can a people just one day wake up and be positive and constructive when they were colonized not to with LEARNED BEHAVIORS…very few knew how to make that EFFORT….even less succeeded UNTIL NOW……

    HOPE = a lot are VOLUNTARILY jumping the colonial ship..you can see A BIG difference now that they FINALLY realize they have been PLAYED for over half century and are LISTENING TO THE RIGHT PEOPLE…finally, you have no clue how heartening that is, after YEARS and YEARS of pushing them in the RIGHT DIRECTION… ..RA

    Like

  • 555dubstreet
    January 17, 2022 6:47 AM

    “how can a people just one day wake up and be positive and constructive”

    they just need to say to themselves that everything that they feel inside themselves from head to toes is the visible presence of God
    and keep repeating it in everything they do

    Like

  • 555dubstreet
    January 17, 2022 7:02 AM

    Jah Is By My Side
    By My Sound (Live)

    Like

  • TheOGazerts
    January 17, 2022 7:39 AM

    ” but I believe that the calling of the election at this time is a prelude to something. That something will no doubt be hard to swallow”

    HR, join the crowd. This is the fear of thousands of Bajans.

    Like

  • 555dubstreet
    January 17, 2022 7:55 AM

    “” but I believe that the calling of the election at this time is a prelude to something. That something will no doubt be hard to swallow”

    “This is the fear of thousands of Bajans.””

    let’s hope it is not semen sperm cum or the more vulgar term spunk

    Like

  • David
    January 17, 2022 7:59 AM

    Are we pretending to be ignorant about the present state of the Barbados economy?

    Like

  • 555dubstreet
    January 17, 2022 8:04 AM

    “Are we pretending to be ignorant about the present state of the Barbados economy?”

    the poor are already poor
    the rich have more to lose
    and will go crazy like madmen

    Like

  • angela cox
    January 17, 2022 9:13 AM

    Liz Thompson comes out swinging against Moe stating the PM is not vindicate and uses OSA as an example of proof
    Liz said that even though OSA had said back things about OSA
    The PM forgive and hire him

    Like

  • Tron
    January 17, 2022 1:07 PM

    The house-building programme of both parties serves only our high lords of the island, the white shadows.

    Barbados is still one big plantation, the population lives in an illusion of freedom. Emancipation is only on paper, but not in the bank account.

    We finally need a bold culture with entrepreneurial venture, not sleepy slaves in the public service.

    Like

  • Tron
    January 17, 2022 1:14 PM

    @ angela cox January 17, 2022 9:13 AM

    Your naivety knows no bounds.

    Our smart Supreme Leader has sent the arrogant OSA on two suicide missions, first to the savages in Guyana and second to this bankrupt airline. If Moe gets another government job, it will only be one where she fails completely and that failure will be her personal end.

    Tron, second month of our New Republic

    Like

  • TheOGazerts
    January 18, 2022 8:06 AM

    @Tron
    Yesterday some were talking of the use of BCE and CE instead of BC and AD.

    I see you are now inventing a next scale as we are now in 1 NR (year 1 of the New Republic). How is 2018 measured on this scale.. BR or BM?

    Like

  • Tron
    January 18, 2022 12:31 PM

    TheOGazertsJanuary 18, 2022 8:06 AM

    2018 is year 1 SL = Supreme Leader
    2021 is year 4 SL or 1 NR.

    Like

  • Donna
    January 18, 2022 2:11 PM

    Tron,

    Yuh good! I heh dedding!

    Like

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