Hope for the best, plan for the worst

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Submitted by Steven Kaszab

The Scout motto is “BE PREPARED”. That means a Scout is to be in a state of readiness in mind and body to do their duty. Simple but so very profound indeed. A fictional character created by Lee Child also has a message of importance that we all need to hear today. That is simply “Hope for the best, but plan for the worst”.  Wisdom offered to us by bright minds.

If we apply these two gifts of advice to politics, whether in the past, present or future, and we look at how our elected officials have performed, we can see none of them have been Scouts, Girl Guides or readers of the author Lee Child.

For example, let’s look at how they responded to the pandemic shall we? Warnings of such a pandemic have been historically recorded for many decades. Proof was in the pudding in fact. There was talk of a mass death event caused by influenza like illnesses over a hundred years ago. It is not like these politicians did not have historical examples to base their preparation upon. The Spanish Death killed over a hundred million globally. Historical fact. Influenza itself kills millions across the globe annually. America, Russia, China and other military establishments have been experimenting upon making such illnesses into weapons for decades. What did our elected officials do? Not much. 

Did they…

  1. Make sure there were enough skilled staff trained and available at all times?
  2. Make sure healthcare equipment was functional and not outdated.
  3. Continue Public scientific studies into how to fight such illnesses?
  4. Make sure senior homes do not become prison cells for seniors should a breakout happen. Make these homes climate controlled, with up to dated equipment and masks.
  5. Education Centers are self-regulating and controlled, with no need to keep student’s home.
  6. Not rely upon private concerns to provide lifesaving vaccines and antidotes.

In the region I live, politicians have been realizing these needs, but passing them onto the next administration with excuses like solving these problems cost too much money, the science is not here yet, there is no need to prepare for something that most likely will not happen. Don’t they look the fools?

Millions have died and suffered because of the politician’s lack of interest, preparedness and investment in community safety. Even when the pandemic came upon us, these politicians often denied the illnesses destructiveness like it was not important, an after though. Politicians lack what young Scouts and Guides have plenty of, namely imagination and courage. A Politician does not want to rock the boat, make their electorate concerned over things that probably won’t happen. Most of all the politician lacks the understanding of why they are in the jobs they hold, which is “To Serve the Community”. Instead of hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst, they do not act upon the needs of what can happen. Politicians are like Police lazy individuals. They lack imagination and foresight, seeing what is happening elsewhere, and preparing for its possible arrival upon their homeland’s shores. Politicians, like police see usually a duck, hear the duck Quak, and therefore assume it is a duck. It looks like suicide, there for it is a suicide, with no further investigation. 

Politicians have known for many years about the missing Aboriginal Women, and the stories of abuse in government managed schools., and yet they did nothing hoping that the horrors of the past will not come to light. Politicians knew that Putin’s Russia would probably invade Ukraine. Did they prepare for such an event. Nope. Politicians react, and never knowingly respond. There are in most government vaults studies upon studies regarding all the possible things that could happen, how to improve the community’s lot, and yet most studies remain hidden. 

I live in a region where housing is essentially in dire need. Did the politicians know about this issue, or about climate change? Of course, they did, and they did nothing of value to the community until the public pressures them to act. The officials spend our money Willy Nilly, making decisions that affect us behind closed doors. Responsibility, transparency and most importantly accountability is truly lacking when one speaks about a politician. Elected or appointed for years, they become dictators, until election time reappears.

We need to be prepared for what’s coming folks. Weak economy’s, huge national debts, an aging population reliant upon their unprepared national authorities to care for them. Poverty, racial and social struggles continue unabated while politicians make good dough, fail to solve our national problems, and then off to the private sector they go. Who do these men and women really work for? They have a plan, and they’re not sharing it with us. If those in power are “not prepared”, who will suffer the wrath of our world? Like the person living on a flood plan, reality tells them one day the land will flood, and yet they do nothing, only to ask for our help when needed. A Crazy World.

52 thoughts on “Hope for the best, plan for the worst”


  1. Thief a Man / Gregory Isaacs
    Don’t keep it up, don’t keep it up
    Thief a man, you’re just a part of Babylon’s plan
    Thief a man, you even steal a Rastaman

    Hear me, I ain’t no junkie and I don’t use hash, no
    So he who steals my purse, surely steals trash
    Me say, thief a man, you’re just a part of Babylon’s plan
    Bredda, thief a man, you even steal a needy man

    You’re just robbing the revenue and that’s the wrong thing to do
    But I know that there, some cell is empty waiting for you in penitentiary
    Thief a man, you’re just a part of Babylon’s plan
    Bredda, thief a man, you even steal a Rastaman
    Don’t keep it up, don’t keep it up, give it up, give it up

    You’re only just robbing the poor and then go give it to a store
    But I know that there some cell is empty waiting for you in penitentiary
    Thief a man, you’re just a part of Babylon’s plan
    Bredda, thief a man, you even steal a Rastaman, down in Babylon

    You’ve got to give it up, I said, don’t keep it up
    Yeah, yeah, woh, woh, alright, yeah, yeah, oh yeah

    Reply ↓

  2. Since the main objective FAILED…ah wonder what they will do now, cahn wait to see, should ask the minions how the spirituality switchover coming along, did they get Satan’s permission, have they even gotten to first base yet..

    the good news is, the jig, the game, the scam is up, it’s over for all of them…no one with any ethics, morals, integrity, intelligence, self respect or a social conscience trusts any of them, only their imps, fowls, slaves and pimps believe in any of them…the world’s majority 8 billion people will speak and set the tone… the 99% majority are the real rulers of our earth, the 1% are the minority, don’t know where they got their upside down math and philosoply from, but the intelligent are not buying it and never will.

    Reply ↓

  3. Politicians are the biggest scammers out in my opinion. The majority are lawyers, need I say more. One big ponsi scam. Just like the Central Bank that they always getting to print more paper money to pay public workers, etc. The only people who gain from this are those who print the money. Paper is like ganga, light a match and poof, up in smoke.

    Reply ↓

  4. When the only goal and ambition for some is to promote, hero worship, support and glorify lying, dishonest, thieving, ethics lacking, immoral politicians, they never get very far, at least not forever.

    Reply ↓

  5. Politics is a colonial construct, politicians are a colonial creation, neither are real….only the chaos, thefts, exploitation, oppression, economic/social stagnation/dislocation, disenfranchisement and misdirection they both create are.

    Reply ↓

    • CUSTOMS’ SAY ‘Officers will not be unilaterally subjected to lie detector test’
      By Colville Mounsey colvillemounsey@nationnews.com

      With Government ramping up plans to plug loopholes through which illegal firearms are entering Barbados, customs officers are making it clear they will not be “unilaterally subjected” to any form of lie detector test.
      Their concerns, raised through their bargaining agent, the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW), come ten days after Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley put workers at the ports of entry on notice that they will be required to submit to a “truth verification process”.
      Additionally, deputy general secretary of the NUPW, Wayne Walrond, told the Sunday Sun that officers are feeling as if they are being made scapegoats whenever there is an issue with guns entering the country. He argued that with a disciplinary process already in place for the Public Service, it sends the wrong message to “single out” customs officers to be treated
      differently. Walrond also pointed out that to the best of his knowledge, lie detector tests were not standard for customs officers in other jurisdictions.
      “The National Union of Public Workers is concerned that customs officers could be singled out to be subjected to lie detector tests, given the fact that there is a disciplinary procedure for all public officers. The disciplinary code and the code of ethics states that the officers can face disciplinary action for acts of misconduct and gross misconduct. If found guilty of gross misconduct, penalties can range from a warning up to dismissal. So what we are saying is that if you have a set of procedures for any public officer in terms of breaching the code of ethics or the code of discipline, why would you single out customs officers for a lie detector test?” Walrond queried.
      He added: “Are you saying that customs officers are to be treated differently from the rest of the Public Service? Are you saying that the disciplinary code is not adequate and you therefore want to apply this through the service? We are not pulling back on anything but there must be equity, fairness and transparency across the service. The union does not take kindly to any unilateral approach to impose this on public officers and customs officers are public officers.”
      At the time, Mottley who was responding to public concerns regarding an uptick of gun violence and the inflow of firearms into the country, said that officials could no longer tarry in the implementation of this measure.
      “In terms of the truth verification process,
      people who work in sterile environments will have to submit themselves to conditions that are necessary to that environment.
      We have given the agencies a wide perimeter in which to deal with the unions, but it has to come to an end, and I have sent that message,” Mottley said. During a press conference earlier this month, then Acting Commissioner of Police Erwin Boyce said the security systems at the ports of entry were only as effective as the people manning them.
      While no accusations have been publicly levelled at customs officers, Walrond said the officers were sensing that the finger was being pointed at them, given their responsibility for the cargo coming into the country. He pointed out that customs officers were part of the larger security system at the port.
      “It sends certain signals, and it coincides with references being made to customs officers whenever there is a penetration
      of guns through the ports of entry. Innuendos are being cast at customs officers as the culprits responsible for the penetration of arms in this country and that is of concern.
      There are several agencies who are part of the security at the port – the police are part of security at the port [and] you also have officers that go out in the vessels.”
      “So I am saying that there is a collective infrastructure and we find it extremely strange that these innuendos are being cast at customs officers who are part of a total system.
      We want the finger-pointing at customs officers to stop and we will defend them just like any other public officers. We firmly believe that once you have the necessary evidence, the codes are sufficient to deal with acts of indiscipline,” he said.


      Source: Nation


    • The significance of monuments
      This article was submitted by Ralph Jemmott, a retired educator and social commentator.

      The quest for a monument to replace the Lord Nelson statue in Heroes Square is well and truly on. This has led me to reflect on statues and historical monuments generally, on Barbadian statues more particularly and on a possible replacement in the spot vacated by Horatio Lord Nelson.
      Nelson was not a Barbadian hero, he was a British Naval hero who may have belonged in a Trafalgar Square, but hardly in our designated Heroes Square in Bridgetown. He is, however, part of our colonial history. Barbados did not begin in 1966. The Nelson monument should not be dumped in the Careenage, as has been suggested. Another suggestion was that it be sold. If it is to be put up for auction, we are selling off so much these days, I am sure that it might find a fitting place in Nelson’s Dockyard in Antigua.
      Artistic quality
      Monuments and statues – more specifically – have an artistic aesthetic quality and, of course, a highly historical significance. This may well depend on one’s particular artistic sensibility and one’s knowledge and awareness of history. Many persons take statues for granted and in some cases they appear to be primarily a depository for the birds.
      Washington DC has a number of impressive monuments celebrating its many presidents and other features of the American past. There are monuments to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, but none more stunning than the Lincoln Memorial. One of the most exciting moments on my first of two visits to Washington was seeing the Lincoln Memorial. It was pictured in one of the history text from which I taught and I always wondered what it looked like up
      close. I did not disappoint. It was grand as fits the man who almost universally is considered the greatest of the United States’ many Presidents. It dwarfs the Washington and Jefferson memorials that are nearby. The Vietnam War Memorial is another impressive monument with the names of the fallen inscribed, including that of the son of the family friend with whom I resided on my first visit to New York. On the wall of the living room was a large photo of him in US army uniform. At a very young age, he was killed in action in Vietnam. Another American monument that I have also wished I could see is Mount Rushmore with the faces of the presidents. England has its fair share of impressive statues, including the Duke of Wellington Monument, the Queen Victorian monument just in front of Buckingham Palace and the statue of Lord Nelson in Trafalgar Square. The latter is on a tall column and its contours are not as easily appreciated as our own in Barbados. It’s a bit late now but one would dearly like to see the statue of Hamlet, holding Yorrick’s skull at Stratford on Avon. Alas, poor Yorrick. I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest.”
      Barbados has a few iconic statues. These included the Emancipation “Bussa” statue in Haggatt Hall, the Grantley Adams statue in front of the Ministerial Headquarters on Bay Street, the statue of Sir Frank Walcott at the NIS building on Colloden Road, the Sir Garfield Sobers monument at Kensington Oval and the Errol Barrow statue in Independence Square in Bridgetown. There are also a number of busts, including the Three W’s monument at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill and that of Clement Osborne Payne at the Freedom Park in Bridgetown. I have always found the Adams statue on Bay Street small and understated and not altogether befitting perhaps the greatest of our National Heroes. By far the most imposing statue is that of Mr Barrow. I am very partial to bronze. It is artistically and conceptually a most imposing monument worthy of our ‘Father of Independence.’
      Use Prescod instead
      I write this article in part to make the case put by Sir Henry Fraser and others that the Nelson statue be replaced by a statue of Samuel Jackman Prescod. A number of factors would support this contention. Firstly, he was the first non-white person to sit in the Barbados House of Assembly. His statue located close to the Barbados Parliament would be appropriate.
      Secondly, he was of mixed race, son of a black slave woman and a white father, an amalgam of the two peoples who have formed Barbados and derived from that union. Thirdly he cannot be tied to either of the two dominant political parties, BLP or DLP. Apart from Grantley Adams, he struggled most to advance the cause of democracy in Barbados. Finally, his descendants are still alive and living in Barbados.
      The notion of a depiction of a Barbadian family as suggested as one of the options before us is rather too abstract. Such a monument might best be placed in Queen’s Park which could be renamed Heroes Park.
      I have always found the Adams statue on Bay Street small and understated and not altogether befitting perhaps the greatest of our National Heroes.

      Source: Nation


    • DOTTIN DOTTIN LOOKS AT GUN CRIME CRIME Retired Commissioner of Police gives insight into root of the the problem

      The following article was submitted by retired Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin, who is also an advisor to the Attorney General.

      Gun- enabled crime is a significant public safety issue in our country.
      The pattern over several years has been to have spikes of uncertain duration and intensity followed by a lull. A desirable goal is to have a more permanent and enduring solution rather than temporary respites.
      There is ongoing debate/discussion/public comment on causes, fixes and possible resolution of the problem. This demonstrates evidence of a healthy democracy and is to be encouraged.
      However, though well-meaning, many comments are based on imperfect information and understanding of the many attendant variables bearing on this problem. In this short contribution, I offer a few insights into some of the factors that drive gun crime, who are involved, the source market (main) for the importation of illicit guns and some possible policy and operational responses/interventions in outline.
      My first point relates to the location of the majority of the gun crime events. It flows from observations from proponents of the environmental criminology school. They argue that crime events are not uniformly distributed geographically across communities.
      But rather they cluster in specific areas, communities and streets, the so-called hotspots of crime. This applies to gun crime as well.
      Further, that because crime involves an interplay between people and places, crime suppression efforts should not only focus on people but also on places where crime occurs.
      It is this thinking which informed a recent spatial mapping of gun-enabled murders which occurred during the period 2009- 2020. The intention was to identify the areas/communities which were consistently affected by gun violence, the so-called hotspots.
      Once identified, an analysis of the social and environmental character of the communities would follow. This would aid in the implementation of evidence-based interventions.
      It involved a count of 196 murders. Murders were chosen because this data is more reliable than other firearm discharges and of course it represents the most serious kind of crime. The mapping exercise was followed up by an actual visit to one of the communities affected by chronic crime. This facilitated interaction with some residents and an opportunity to observe relevant characteristics of the community.
      This exercise revealed that the majority of the gun-enabled murders occurred in urban areas of Bridgetown/St Michael.
      Some areas of southern Barbados are also affected.
      These communities suffer significant socioeconomic disadvantage.
      Most are densely populated and show evidence of overcrowding. The physical layout reflects this reality.
      Housing is in the main extremely modest. Some areas present a state of physical deterioration and there is evidence of illegal dumping at some locations. From the interaction with residents and the analysis by community practitioners, there is also a distinct deficit in collective efficacy. Communities with high levels of collective efficacy are characterised by a high level of trust and the ability to exercise informal control over the behaviour of people in the community. Such communities are said to have lower rates of crime.
      Concentrations of murders
      The heat map (above) shows the concentrations of gun murders in urban Bridgetown /St Michael and also some areas in the south of the island, some of the latter features communities served with Governmentprovided social housing. It was decided to use a heatmap here to show the concentrations rather than a display of the actual point locations so as not to create a visual that would subject residents of these/the affected communities to negative comments and stigmitisation.
      A follow-up exercise mapped gun murders during the period 2021- August 2022. It reveals a broadly similar spatial distribution as for the two-decade period 2009-2020. Gun-enabled murders appear clustered in the same hotspots. The map is shown below.
      A possible conclusion is that these communities are affected by criminogenic conditions that function as incubators for crime and offending.
      One of these criminogenic conditions is the location and activities of crime groups aka blocks or gangs.
      They have a negative effect in the communities where they are based as well
      as on surrounding communities.
      Using recent data, for example, gun murders for 2021-2022, all but one of the victims are male and the majority of them are in 20-35 age group. There also appears to be a relationship between victims and the shooters/persons who caused their death.
      Most of the violence appears to result from feuding between rival groups over matters that law-abiding and rational-thinking persons would regard as trivial but which are part of the ideology and modus of such groups. The data shows that most of the perpetrators and victims are underachievers without life skills. Our society has not empowered them, or so they may argue.
      The gun gives them the power they lack to function successfully in our society. Of course, many of them are blinded/seduced by the excesses (display of wealth) of instant consumption and crime bosses who exploit them. Others by the gun culture and still others in hedonistic behaviour.
      Articulating a gun violence reduction strategy Conceptually, this involves restricting the supply of illicit guns and reducing the demand in the country for them. To use a market analogy, illicit importation/trafficking of guns represents the supply side. Criminal intent, gun-enabled activities, as well as a gun culture, represent the demand side.
      Disrupting supply is a suppression strategy that seeks to restrict illicit importation or other measures to seize/interdict guns before they are used in crime or before they get into the possession of criminals. Demand reduction involves interventions intended to prevent, control or deter criminals from seeking to acquire and use guns.
      From the supply side, consideration of the source market(s) for illicit importation of guns into Barbados is important. The data shows that the United States of America (USA) is the primary market. The various legal arrangements in the individual states of the USA, (on a continuum from liberal to very liberal) and the culture of gun ownership is a defining factor.
      In those states requiring it, to legally purchase a gun a person must pass an FBI-mandated criminal background check and any other applicable local laws. To circumvent this, a criminal or other may arrange with a person who is qualified to make the purchase on his behalf. This is a straw purchase and is the main method for illicit guns imported into Barbados.
      Significant problem
      It is a significant problem as well for our neighbours in the subregion and also the wider CARICOM area. Many officials in the security sector recognise the enormity of the problem but do not openly air the issue, perhaps because of diplomatic sensitivities. The persons involved in illicit importation of guns into Barbados misuse/exploit the weaknesses in those normal arrangements that facilitate legitimate commerce, the lifeblood of the country.
      It is a constant and ongoing battle to detect and defeat the stratagems of importers of illicit guns. The ports of entry require constant and sustained surveillance as well as efficient procedures to block illicit importation.
      The cooperation of courier companies and freight companies is also of great importance. Non-cooperation should inevitably lead to mandatory measures to ensure compliance.
      Of course, all of this comes with a significant financial cost to Government. It is an issue raised recently by Trinidad and Tobago’s Comptroller of Customs, as she complained of non-functioning scanners at ports and lack of staff.
      There is ongoing debate among wealthy countries as to how much they should spend on defence arrangements. The consensus figure appears to be two per cent of gross domestic product. I do not have accurate data, but I feel sure that the Government of Barbados is required to spend more than that on preparing the enforcement agencies and acquiring the necessary equipment to harden the country’s borders to prevent illicit importation of items that are threats to our public safety.
      In the prevailing harsh economic environment, priorities have to be identified. In a perfect world, such resources that are being channelled into protection of public safety would be allocated to the social spending that is so necessary to maintain stability in the country.
      An added problem is the corrupting influence of this activity on staff and officials who operate the systems. This requires the cooperation of all who have a duty to ensure that our systems are efficient.
      The activities of aforementioned crime groups have an undeniable influence/ cause and effect on gun-enabled violence. The gun is used in their activities, including hard crime, turf conflicts, feuding and reprisals against rivals. It follows that statesuppression activities against these groups are warranted. These would comprise overt forceful measures as well as other operations as deemed appropriate. Targeted intervention strategies in the at-risk communities aforementioned are also of the utmost importance. These should be tailored
      to deal with the demographic that is amenable to this type of intervention. It is unlikely to succeed with the bulk of young men of the age group mentioned above (25-32 years), who are well set on criminal careers.
      Police community-based officers have spoken of the poor response to their efforts to entice this demographic to take advantage of opportunities to acquire skills through Government provided training opportunities. Would persistent efforts work?
      It seems to mirror the situation painstakingly described by the late Professor Selwyn Ryan, with young males from the depressed communities in East Port of Spain, Trinidad, who are said to be responsible for the carnage in that area.
      Here, in our country, there is a need for urgent and sustained interventions for community empowerment in the at-risk communities and also to remedy the deficit of collective efficacy. Failure to address these issues risks a continuing cycle of violence as well as jeopardy to the proposed development projects for Bridgetown.
      The solution requires the use of an appropriate menu of interventions, some to be pursued immediately and others over the medium and long term. Already we have seen a stiffening of the law, allocation of more resources to the criminal justice system and the rebuilding of some of the agencies that have been affected by governance missteps. The Barbados Police Service and its partner agencies are currently intensifying efforts to restore order in public spaces. They deserve our full support.

      Source: Nation


    • Killing colonialism

      It dread, it dread, it lick up we head. Colonialism ain dead.

      Bajan riddim poet Aja

      Look up this piece by Aja on YouTube to hear why colonialism is not dead. In order to kill it we must understand it in its many forms. At the recent Pan-American Health Organisation’s (PAHO) 120th anniversary celebrations, Prime Minister Mia Mottley took note of the pharmaceutical industry’s marketing of anti-obesity drugs. Mottley remarked that in the Caribbean we have our own tradition of combating obesity, which we have moved away from. She then shifted focus to the importance of the recently announced partnership between Barbados and Rwanda to develop our own pharmaceutical industry.
      “Big Pharma”, as the PM referred to the giants of the pharmaceutical industry, can be considered a colonial force. The centre of colonial power and push has shifted somewhat from states to corporations and agencies. Today’s big pharmaceutical, tech and media companies have a reach and level of influence that the old empires of Britain, Spain and France only wish they had. They are extensions of an already deeply entrenched colonial tradition. Initiatives to create alternatives and free ourselves from dependence are anti-colonial necessities.
      However, we cannot just create our own version of Western structures.
      We have to innovate structures which are uniquely designed for us by us. In another section of the press, Dr Damian Cohall, director of the PhD pharmacology programme and senior lecturer in pharmacology at UWI, Cave Hill Campus, welcomed the planned Barbadian-Rwandan initiative. He, however, expressed the hope that we would expand our thinking into the development of herbs and preventative medicine instead of relying exclusively on curative drugs. Like Prime Minister Mottley, Dr Cohall noted our ancestral traditions as a source of inspiration for moving forward.
      Colonialism still alive
      However, in order to achieve the kinds of transformative initiatives envisioned by Prime Minister Mottley and Dr Cohall, we will have to address the fact that colonialism is not only alive in the structures of international governance and business. It is also alive within us. Dr Cohall noted the resistance of the local medical fraternity to herbal medicines. A home-grown pharmaceutical industry must resist the temptation to follow in the vein of Big Pharma to produce products which may be financially lucrative but ultimately detrimental to the long-term health and flourishing of individuals and society. This is why a sensitivity to and awareness of the various guises of contemporary colonialism is necessary. It is too easy to fall into the trap of reinforcing colonial structures.
      A glaring example of the need for this sensitivity and vigilance is the recent situation with the IDB survey that was allowed to be injected into local schools. Despite reports that the Ministry of Education had requested that certain questions be removed, the fact that this survey and the way it was implemented was ever considered appropriate in the first place is alarming. A group of parents, led by human rights and gender activist Felicia Dujon, is proceeding with legal action to ensure that such an event is not repeated. They are also seeking to ensure that parental rights will be enshrined in the new Constitution.
      The infringement of parental rights is an old colonial tactic. There are countless incidents of children who were taken from their parents by colonial authorities, such as the church, to be indoctrinated with the ideologies, culture and values of the colonisers. These children were often physically, emotionally and sexually abused. A group of local citizens has been very vocal at the constitutional reform town hall meetings. They are concerned about the trend of something called Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSA), which they believed is linked to the IDB survey. They consider CSA a form of foreign indoctrination and an infringement on parental rights.
      Colonialism has affected and still affects our physical, mental and cultural health in many ways. It is not over or dead. Overcoming it is not something to be taken lightly or for granted. Too often we are oblivious to its workings because it often works from within us.
      Abdul Rahman of the Nation of Islam, speaking on a radio panel about CSA, made the point that the governments of former colonies were under immense pressure to submit to the dictates of foreign powers, and that efforts to draw awareness to CSA were not anti-government but to support government. Indeed, anti-colonial efforts will require national effort.
      The link between our history of colonialism and the prevalence of non-communicable diseases is likewise well established. At the PAHO event, Prime Minister Mottley acknowledged that this battle to transform the health of the nation cannot be won by Government alone.
      Killing colonialism requires us all to be aware and vigilant.

      Adrian Green is a communications specialist. Email adriangreen14@gmail.com.


    • Checks and balances

      Last week’s conversation on the meaning of government ended with a short introduction to the primary, secondary and tertiary competences each governing institution necessarily carries as a “check” for “balance” against the other. Today, we deepen that discussion by tracing our steps from those functions to their underlying ‘reasons for being’.
      Firstly, one must understand that the Constitution is a cultural instrument utilising the power of law to order our lives. Particularly, law focuses on constraining the power social actors gain through the broad dimensions of politics and commerce.
      ‘Law is vital’
      If left uncontrolled, ‘power’ may devolve into abuse at the mildest and pure barbarism at the most extreme.
      Thus, the law becomes vital to our lives since it is the prime instrument of legitimising increases, neutralities and decreases in the use of public policy as it interferes with our lives.
      Similarly is created an instrument of supreme law to bind all laws, called the Constitution, through which the people may prevent the Government from inflicting harm upon them as it tries to manage public affairs.
      To the extent, therefore, that our lives can be summarised as a cultural and spiritual journey of earthly political, economic and legal dimensions; scholars will often categorise the human being as the political animal, the homo economicus and homo juridicus.
      It is from these dimensions, as they separate and converge, that we get other social constructs such as the family and the company which are both political and economic institutions impacting the increase, maintenance and decrease of forms of power such as status and wealth.
      The law comes into play as the institution making
      “life” possible since we all agree to adhere to it in theory and we are subject to the penalty of law in practice. Therefore, we have before us, in the Constitution, an institution which appears to be “high-level” alone but is actually also grounded in bread and butter issues.
      Consequently, James Madison – one of the United States of America’s Founding Fathers and its fourth President – advocated for “check and balances” which he termed “auxiliary precautions”. In Federalist 51, he says: “A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions”. This experience is the historical reality that “people power” alone is often insufficient in thwarting Government power.
      Government, after all, is a curious animal. Its birth carries the mission of constraining our tendency towards barbarism by the rules of civilisation but, in so doing, those who become “rulers” assume a “governmentality” as Foucault calls it. Every social ill becomes something for the Government to fix instead of the People themselves in their capacity as civil society.
      Thus, comes the aphorism that, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”. The Constitution, takes this warning to heart. Consequently, the Constitution, Section 64 (2), constrains government power via internal auxiliary precautions declaring that, “The Cabinet shall be the principal instrument of policy and shall be charged with the general direction and control of the Government of Barbados and shall be collectively responsible therefore to Parliament”.
      Here, the Constitution works without prejudice to any ruler of the day. It only focuses on safeguarding our public entitlements. These entitlements include our human rights, constitutional rights, other civil liberties and the legitimate expectation that the Government will adhere to its obligations to us.
      Several checks create a multi-layered balance
      here to safeguard our private lives from Government’s propensity to misuse legal power.
      For example, Cabinet’s policy-making authority is subject to Parliament’s law-making authority.
      Thus, the power of public policy is constrained by the power of legislation where the ideas of the Cabinet’s few must be filtered by the ideas of Parliament’s ‘great number’.
      Additionally, the Prime Minister’s power is checked by Cabinet being vested with authority over policy instead of the Prime Minister outright.
      This ensures that we have a Chairman of Ministers instead of a Monarch as in the olden days. Again: ‘collective responsibility’ forces individual Cabinet members to “vote” their conscience; either to endorse or denounce policy.
      At the heart of it all, as we close, is a serious psychology underlying the political, economic and legal dimensions of human life in all its forms. The law, of which the Constitution is a part, acts as a signal for confidence and this confidence, in turn, provides the stability necessary for us to go beyond subsistence to thrive in our daily lives.

      Dr William M. A. Chandler is a published political economist, legal scholar and business consultant.
      Email wma@auxomni.com.


  6. @African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022.

    You can remember when I posted The Guardian link concerning the continuous shadow on the island of the loathed and feared Drax’s family.

    It took a white British journalist – Amelia Gentleman – to highlight that nothing has changed on the prototype slave model island.

    As a result of her brilliant inquisitive journalistic mind we are seeing some developments concerning the Drax’s family unbroken hegemony on the island since their arrival some 400 years ago.

    The Barbados media needs to up their game, in the same manner that certain characters on BU need to up theirs.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/26/barbados-tory-mp-pay-reparations-family-slave-richard-drax-caribbean-sugar-plantation

    Reply ↓

  7. There are a slew of issues which are intellectualised in media on a Sunday.
    Such as legacy of Anglo-American structures past and present, future goals as a nation. Tibetan Dream Yoga deals with the manifestation of recurring nightmares, holding the essence of it’s feelings inside the refuge of the body in various chakras and eliminating them out of the body and mind with various movements to make a clear space inside. Cycles of negativity are replaced with cycles of positivity. Lucid dreaming is a state of mind within a dream where you say “this is just a dream” I can leave it or control it however I want.

    Medley: Tune in / Night Nurse / Cool Down the Pace / Front Door

    Gregory Isaacs

    Reply ↓

  8. “It took a white British journalist – Amelia Gentleman – to highlight that nothing has changed on the prototype slave model island.”

    I was just about to post that Satan’s disciples are once again going after their co-conspirator, collaborator masters whose slave plantation they all took the descendant’s of the enslaved tax dollars to shamelessly subsidize within the last 100 years and i have no doubts, they still are, with Drax being one, but gotta keep up that pretense and facade for appearances sake until it crashes down and buries all of them. The fraud is no longer hidden. They are fooling no one but themselves and their mental midgets.

    The experiment that is Slave Society Barbados is a total success, the inventors’ descents must be very proud. The social engineer from the 70s must be estactic at their handiwork.

    Don’t hold your breath about local media, though one is trying from the human interest angle, which is a start. BU has too many stumbling blogs to participate either way.

    The politicians who speak incessantly about “white shadows” only when they have a falling out with their political masters and need to be silenced with a bribe, and use it as a weapon to get themselves high paying positions but refuse to elaborate and tell the people the whole truth about these euro criminals and what they still do on the slave island are no better, since they turn mute once they receive a new position with title. I would trust not one of them.

    The world has moved on to action and totally reject the game playing of bottomfeeding opportunists, and they are definitely not invited, they wont be intelletually capable of fathoming any of it anyway in this new era, hence they must be permanently excluded. They can’t even get to first base re ancestral spirituality, due to successfully disabling themselves for over 9 decades. All we can do is watch.

    Thanks for the link.

    Reply ↓

  9. Btw…all those title holders, the accomplished clueless writing articles of hollow words…blah, laughing stock, can’t even come close to deciphering the realities at play, as creatures and products of social engineering. For me, it’s a total waste of energy to read them these days, once you are exposed to what is and not the imposed fantasies in their tilted minds. They are to be kept at a great distance from this and future generations of Afrikans everywhere.

    Afrika is waking up at a rapidly crucial pace, while these birthed deep within the belly of the beast in the west are still fast asleep. I would leave them be, they are a hindrance, not of any help.

    Reply ↓

  10. @David, the piece by the former Commissioner paints (for me) a very depressing perspective: this man was in a position to ‘force’ some of the corrective measures he so ‘expertly’ describes, yet here we are with his ‘consultative, highfalutin’ analysis signifying nothing!

    I was most depressed to read that “crime involves an interplay between people and places, crime suppression efforts should not only focus on people but also on places where crime occurs” coming AFTER the more significant “the source market […] for the importation of illicit guns”!

    We are an ISLAND and his own analysis identifies “that the Government of Barbados is required to spend more than [2% of GDP] on preparing the enforcement agencies and acquiring the necessary equipment to harden the country’s borders to prevent illicit importation of items that are threats to our public safety.”

    He specifically mentioned our neighbor TnT and highlighted problems there with the “non-functioning scanners at ports and lack of staff” and “the corrupting influence of this activity on staff and officials who operate the systems. This requires the cooperation of all who have a duty to ensure that our systems are efficient”

    That was an obvious soccer style head-fake to shift away from his ‘own goal’ of OUR similar local problems!

    In sum, one can surely appreciate the former chief of police’s depth of knowledge … I am, however, deeply depressed to see his knowledge expressed so ineffectually like a chapter of theory in a Masters thesis RATHER than a chapter of hard-earned RESULTS.

    He knows, like all of us now too, of those ‘”so-called hotspots” of “areas/communities which were consistently affected by gun violence”. His teams so clearly identified them when they “mapped gun murders during the period 2021- August 2022 [to reveal that] a broadly similar spatial distribution […] for the two-decade period 2009-2020 [showed that] Gun-enabled murders appear clustered in the same hotspots” … Yet the problems persist to this day. Go figure!

    It is DEEPLY depressing to accept that this expert criminologist despite an understanding that prevention “…involves restricting the supply of illicit guns and reducing the demand in the country” still warrants his major focus on “state suppression activities against these groups […] of young men of the age group mentioned above (25-32 years), who are well set on criminal careers.”

    His piece is a very depressingly, troubling read. All the pretty, consultative talk now … but where was or is the decisive border control and efforts to restrict the gun importation.

    If you were (and are) in a position to enforce PREVENTION and ACT DECISIVELY and HAVE NOT, then such talk is pure mambo-jumbo!

    I gone.

    Reply ↓

    • @Dee Words

      The weeds have been sprouting for some time, we don’t need former Commissioners Dottin’s piece to know what is the deal. It will take courage from our internationally renowned PM to make the unpopular decisions in the national interest.


    • Dribbles
      When you move away from your favored lukewarm approach, and wax hot as with this analysis, shiite man!!
      Bushie is forced to be humbled by your frankness.

      Well said!


  11. Light is able to clear darkness
    Dream is telling the story about the entirety of your life
    There are a lot things you know
    about spirituality
    about deep yogic experiences
    about the dimension of the spirits
    about the dimension of the enlightened beings
    about the other world of the spirits
    the ancestors
    the powers of the spirits of the natures
    or even what is going to be tomorrow in the future
    we don’t know everything
    but we can know
    through the dream
    the dream becomes a bridge
    to know what is unknown to us
    through our conditions
    conditions of our body
    conditions of time
    conditions of space
    conditions of our mind
    but we can know
    through the dream

    Reply ↓

  12. William…i noticed you are quiet. I really dont know what else to say, just want to know why they would big up cousin Charles in RoB’s fake republic pomp and crap, complete with some order of freedom or the other and now looking to sue all these generational characters, whose direct orders, policies and destructive socio-economic plots and plans againt the descents, they all willingly, religiously and voluntarily imposed on the Afrikan population for the last 4 generations under threat of terror and tyranny if there was resistance and refusal to conform. We grew up under that culture of wickedness, felt its brunt, still do. Many paid a very heavy price, now we are witnessing the disciples making an about face.

    And am curious as to why they are not threatening to sue that total genius Hiel HitSchwab too after all, had not for that impressive feat, much of the damage now in play would not now exist..but what do i know, am not in that elitist clique of chosen membership bosie.

    Reply ↓

  13. Dont know what they been drinking and smoking lately, but as willing facilitators and enablers of these generational crimes against Afrikan humanity….should they not also be co-defendants and held liable/accountable, for prolonging and maintaining the same enslavement, bondage, EXPLOITATION and oppression environment..right into 2022.

    wuh if i were the co-accused i would have a library of all the policies they signed on to, with signatures HIGHLIGHTEDnin yellow, implemented and used to destroy their own people in the last HUNDRED YEARS…….up to and including the most very recent ones…but that’s just me and how i think personally, so ya gotta forgive muh…am a pack rat when it comes to documents, and throw out nothing.

    Reply ↓

  16. “The Barbados media needs to up their game, in the same manner that certain characters on BU need to up theirs.”
    Barbados media and Buers are glorified cut-and-paste merchants with no original creative thinking just derivative thoughts and links to media bragging that they are all knowing and have cliques of like minded gaseous farts yourself included

    Reply ↓

  18. Wuhloss….William, TLSN, it’s now all coming to a head, the 3,000 year old fraud religions are being rewritten, wonder wha the backward and stupidly hypocritical bible thumpers are saying, some are already crying. Let’s hope they dont drown us in their hypocrite tears. Imagine trying to avoid drowning from rising sea levels but drown in the tears of fake christians. Am not amused by any measure. Goddamn frauds deserve what they get.

    “”It’s heresy!’ Worshippers left ‘in tears as Cambridge dean claims jesus may have been TRANSGENDER after row over christ’s would having a “vaginal appearance.”

    Too much vagina on the brain, maybe, bunch of liars and thieves. Ah take itnnone of the fraud christians were paying attention when Pope White Dress said it’s time for new commandants, just before he grabbed the money and ran with it….and the fraudulent religious masquarade continues.

    Note that BUs bewildered still believe all this is about gay rights….soft in the head….would not trust my life in any of their damaged hands. pas moi.

    Reply ↓

  19. CORRECTION…murdahhhhh!!!!

    “It’s heresy!’ Worshippers left ‘in tears as Cambridge dean claims jesus may have been TRANSGENDER after row over christ’s wound having a “vaginal appearance.”

    A 3,000 year old religious fraud finally coming to an end, in our lifetime, hell of a time to be alive.

    Wunna owe Pacha all kinds of apologies.

    Reply ↓

    • Going forward all eyes must be kept on the generational religious frauds who sold their souls and now cant get them back, am just admiring the brilliant way it was done. Am equally sure they got something extra special in store for these blights besides the transgender jesus with the wound shaped like a vagina..lol.

      Koolaid anyone…lol

      If my children could born after me and tell me it’s all a lie, fraud, and yet the special fake christians still could not see and refused to listen.


  22. I don’t even know what to tell the bewildered and bewitched anymore. They are definitely on their own.

    All those wasted years, gone.

    Reply ↓

  23. @Hants
    Would you care to share what prompted that statement.
    Your prior post was about gas prices and I am trying to make the connection.

    Reply ↓

  25. CORRECTION:

    Ah take it none of the fraud christians were paying attention when Pope White Dress said it’s time for new commandments….that was right up until he got some bad news and the first instinct became grab the money and run like shite….and i bet you no one except those who were paying attention, realized what went down.

    Keep on being the consistently clueless and see how it works when things take a really nasty turn. Saw your PM claiming hardship is likely to last up to 2 decades, can’t even bother to pretend anymore, but noticed she did not bother to tell the voters why. Yall will have to guess. Notice they still have no answers but remain in a fixed GO NOWHERE position for the majority population, and keep the same nasty system in play.

    Reply ↓

  26. William….wuhloss, heat in the place now the Mottley dudes death is allegedly tied to vaccine intake, in the supreme court no less.

    I guess everyone can now sue the government for vaccine injuries and death connected to the distribution and bullying to get what is now seen around the world as a death jab for some people and a lifetime of injuries for others…murdahhh, lawd..what a turn of events.

    Reply ↓

  27. Is War U an Agent Provocateur Saboteur
    Mirth / Maya Hawke
    Twisting around on a blue leather booth
    My ears still popping from travel and use
    I pick at my oatmeal and plump up my lips
    He gives his hand a suggestion, a wish
    It’s not you, it’s New York I miss

    I’ve got a problem I think he could fix
    He seems to undo all my usual tricks
    But the marks on his belly, the lines I trace
    Shadow his softness and romantic grace
    It’s not you, it’s New York I face

    I dreamt of him on a JetBlue flight
    Nursing me into a feverish night
    Lay on my back, whispering his name
    Letting him unravel a decade of blame
    It’s not you, it’s New York I claim

    Well, in a thunder breath, I coughed up my heart
    My life in my hands, a good place to start
    Little creature born of joy and mirth
    Loving without the help of anything
    Little creature born of joy and mirth
    Loving without the help of anything
    On Earth
    It’s not you, it’s New York that works

    Reply ↓

  33. There is absolutely nothing stopping these chickens from coming home to roost, the world’s population is determined, each and everyone of these liars, frauds, bullies and minions will pay for their part in the depop. scam. Payment is due at worldwide level.

    “🔥Died Suddenly Goes Mega Viral🔥

    Documentary Tops 10 Million+ Views, Sparks Congressional Hearing

    Our purpose on this show is demanding the truth and demanding justice, for all the people whose lives were destroyed to make Big Pharma rich, or to depopulate the globe, or simply for no reason at all.

    We want a second Nuremberg tribunal.

    We want the people responsible for this calamity identified and put on the docket.

    Right now, we are demanding officeholders, judges, and prosecutors brave enough to pursue these charges, for the sake of all the murdered people of this country and the whole world.”

    Reply ↓

  37. Hope that all ah wunna planned for the worse…
    Cause…
    Seems that the COVID19 chickens are coming home to roost…

    Atherley calling for the facts about the vaccines…

    Bushie tried to give wunna the ‘facts’ about those shiite injections from the very start, but wunna CHOSE to listen to the radical Covid experts instead.

    LOL
    Now, not a boy has anything to say…. radical or judicial…

    “Under NO circumstances’ will the most honorable doctor be commenting on the matter… (Nation News)

    Can YOU tell us anything Boss…?

    Reply ↓

  38. A blessed and happy Independence Day to my home island of Barbados.
    May the Good Lord give us the honesty to acknowledge the many problems we are facing and the strength and courage to address them.

    My constant thought “Go Barbados”.

    John Maxwell: “Power really is a test of character. In the hands of a person of integrity, it is of tremendous benefit; in the hands of a tyrant, it causes terrible destruction.”

    Gus Lee: “Here’s a truth: principled leaders solve moral problems. They have the courage to act rightly. They consistently demonstrate principled conduct under pressure.”

    Have a Blessed day.

    Reply ↓

  39. “@ Waru,
    It would appear that Jamaica is partnering up with Barbados to seek reparations from the dastardly Drak’s family..”

    Ah take it that nedder ah dem ever heard of bankrupcy protection but dah is dem problem, and wid de barrifle of lawyers they both got too, wuh i only did a course, and know they are in a dream state. I busy these days bosie, can’t get between the slaves and their masters just ask our ancestors for the last 20, but very likely many more generations.I planned ahead, i will let Bushman handle it from here.

    Glad enuff i int no part of some fraudulent shite elite and then got all this splaining to do, with evabody laughing and am so busy could only hit and run, due to planning ahead, but am very sure the show will be Oscar worthy, if nothing else.

    I will wait for plaudits, credits and awards….if no one minds.

    Reply ↓

  40. Vaccinated here. Me and my whole family. Extended family far and wide. No health issues whatsoever!

    Congressional hearings with Rand Paul and Jim Jordan etc.?????? These people have credibility now?

    Steupse! Wunnuh too love a conspiracy theory!

    Wuh happen tuh de one about covid being Chinese developed biological weapon? Does that go away now that it’s biting Xi in the ass?

    Bush Tea can sit here and make up his facts, but Donna knows that there has always been an element of risk of adverse effects in medicine.

    And some people will suffer them.

    Reply ↓

    • Our history of violence
      Some people are still asking: “How de yutes get so? Why dey suh angry?”
      For those who may be new to this space, let me give a summary recap of the issue. Centuries of unaddressed, intergenerational trauma meets the contemporary neglect of a society which sees itself in almost exclusively economic terms.
      Barbados, the entire Caribbean, the whole of the Americas were born in violence. Invading Europeans committed genocide on the people they found here. In the Caribbean alone, less than 50 years after the European arrival, an estimated three to four million indigenous population was reduced to a few thousand. They initially wanted them alive to work as slaves. When that did not work out because the original inhabitants started to die out from the hardship, a priest by the name of Bartholomew de las Casas had an idea. He did not like seeing the people they called Amerindians suffer. Bartholomew therefore suggested bringing over Africans against their will.
      While these Africans proved more durable, they also posed a challenge because of their tendency to rebel.
      The cruelty which began against the Amerindians shifted focus to the newly arrived Africans and was intensified to keep them in check. Around five million Africans were kidnapped and brought to the Caribbean. The ones who arrived were the survivors.
      Around two million are estimated to have died on the ships. Here began a few hundred years of the hate crimes called slavery and colonisation.
      Hundreds of years of torture, murder, rape and other forms of abuse ensued.
      There was an economic motive for these atrocities. Slavery and colonisation were driven by capitalism. Literally on the backs and by the blood, sweat and tears of these Africans were Barbados and the nations around it established and developed. The West
      Indies was built by utilising free labour. The major cost was to the humanity of all involved.
      A culture developed that was based entirely on inhumanity. However, the wealth that was created allowed the enslavers to masquerade as civilised beings. But the violence necessary to keep the Africans from rebellion made beastliness the core of the Caribbean.
      Eventually physical violence gave way to psychological violence.
      Religion and education were the tools of psychological violence. By getting Africans to forsake and forget their own ways and traditions and then educating them to believe that it was African backwardness that was the cause of their woes, and that salvation lay in following the European way, the will to fight for freedom was diminished.
      Overt physical violence was no longer as necessary as when feet were in chains but minds were free. If the need for physical violence against enslaved Africans did arise, there were many Africans who saw themselves and others like them as created in the image and likeness of the devil, who were willing to do the job. Inflicting violence on Africans like themselves was a sign of loyalty to European Gods, kings and queens.
      So, the culture of the Caribbean was crafted. Parents passed the culture of violence onto their children. They would quote the Bible and attempt to beat the devil out of their offspring.
      This was how the masters who looked like the pictures of Jesus taught them. This was slave love. A good parent would beat you now so the police would not have to beat you later.
      You learned to behave and to teach your children to behave by violence.
      With violence shoved deep down your throats and suppressed, there was peace, on the surface. Fear of hell and the authorities kept the volcano of Caribbean society dormant.
      Fast-forward to today. It is no longer acceptable
      for authorities to use open, wanton physical violence to control others. Without the backing of the whip, it is harder for authorities like the church to convince people to follow its word. Without the overt terror of authority, the only thing holding the society together became the dangling carrot of economic enfranchisement.
      The promise of eternally accumulating capital captured the minds of Africans where the promise of life everlasting could not. However, in the last few decades especially, that promise has seemed empty. The wealth gap has been growing and the social ladder has been getting greasier.
      This nation that has come up from slavery has not yet come out of it mentally. It still thinks of its people and society in almost exclusively economic terms. It still sees the backs, blood, sweat and tears of its people as a resource to be exploited.
      The return on investment in children is not easily measured. Addressing intergenerational trauma is seen as an unnecessary expense. The whip is no longer an option. The anger that violence, religion and the promise of reward used to suppress now has no cover.
      So, what is the solution? Well, the first step towards a solution is appreciating the nature of the problem. We haven’t gotten there yet if we are still asking how the ‘yutes’ get so.
      Adrian Green is a communications specialist.
      Email adriangreen14@gmail.com.

      Source: Nation


    • REPARATIONS CLAIM

      Recommendation made that British MP turn over Drax Hall property he inherited
      By Colville Mounsey colvillemounsey@nationnews.com

      Government is considering officially advancing a first of a kind claim against a family to pay reparations for their ancestors’ role in the slave system.
      The National Task Force on Reparations has officially lodged a report to Cabinet advising the next steps, which could include legal action, should no agreement be reached with wealthy conservative British Member of Parliament (MP) Sir Richard Drax, who inherited the plantation.
      Deputy chairperson of the National Task Force, Ambassador David Comissiong, told the Sunday Sun that also among the recommendations for compensation is for the 17th century Drax Hall Great House in St George, to be turned over to Government to be used as a museum for slavery. He also suggested that the 617-acre property should be used for development of housing for the people of St George and working-class Barbadians.
      Meanwhile, head of the Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration, David Denny, disclosed that he will be travelling to the United Kingdom next year to be part of a protest action related to this issue. He said the reparations sought should go towards the building of schools, roads, health centres and other community projects within St George.
      Making it clear that the final decision rested with Cabinet, Comissiong explained that should the move receive the stamp of approval from the Mia Amor Mottley administration, it would mark the first time a CARICOM country has officially demanded reparations from a family. This extends the scope of claims beyond companies, European countries, banks and universities that profited from the slave trade.
      “We feel that the facts are so clear that the
      Drax family is an appropriate target for reparations claim. The task force put together a Cabinet paper that has been referred to the Cabinet of Barbados. It would be up to Cabinet to make a decision on how they propose to go forward with the matter. The approach of CARICOM in reparation matters is to first indicate to the party that we are claiming reparations and why. We would then invite the party to meet with us to discuss and come to an agreement on how they can begin to repair the damage that was dealt, and the same approach will be taken with Sir Richard Drax,” said Comissiong.
      The ambassador said there is no need for the negotiations to be contentious, and expressing the hope that Sir Richard, with a net worth of over £150 million, would accede to his “moral duty”.
      “I believe that some discussions have already been undertaken. The chairman of the National Task Force, MP Trevor Prescod, has already had some discussions with Mr Drax but right now the matter is with the Cabinet of Barbados. We just have to wait and see what decision they come up with . . . . For Barbados to be able to identify a concrete target, to be able to identify the Drax Hall plantation, makes the reparations campaign very concrete in the sense that it is something that we can almost touch,” he said.
      Comissiong explained that there was no mistaking the historical record as it relates to the major involvement of the Drax family ancestry in the slave system in Barbados and the tremendous profits that they amassed.
      “We felt that the Drax family was a special case because this family . . . was actually the pioneer of slaverybased system in Barbados. This family has operated plantations in Barbados continuously without break for over 100 years.”
      According to a report in the Daily Mail in 2020, Drax, the South Dorset MP whose ancestors operated the plantation from 1640 to 1836, said: “I am keenly aware of the slave trade in the West Indies, and the role my very distant ancestor played in it is deeply,
      deeply regrettable. But no one can be held responsible today for what happened many hundreds of years ago. This is a part of the nation’s history, from which we must all learn.”

      Source: Nation


  41. https://barbadostoday.bb/2022/11/30/cjs-call/

    Same old talk over and over, again and again.

    William….how many more decades will taxpayers hear this until it”s actually done. Like wunna in for another 100 year long haul yuh and they are preparing you. Am sure this is the same dude claimed he was doing exactly that just one year ago.

    Reply ↓

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