How many times have we heard references made to Barbados being a country punching above its weight? Through the years the comment made but former United Nations Secretary General Koffi Anan has been striped of its obvious meaning by political opportunists.
The challenges for a 21 by 14 small developing island with an open economy in a competitive global space will always be many. While it is true Barbados lost its leadership anchor in recent years by our high standards there is hope, as a people we must never surrender to despair.
The list was determined by four main metrics: money, media, impact and spheres of influence. For political leaders, we weighed gross domestic products and populations; for corporate leaders, revenues and employee counts; and media mentions and reach of all. The result is a collection of women who are fighting the status quo.
FORBES
The blogmaster has attended several social events in recent weeks and observed up close the unbridled well spirited Bajan. We have a core of well meaning Barbadians who are waiting for astute leadership from all spheres of society to rekindle that indomitable spirit which provoked Koffi Anan’s comment.
In the respected international Forbes publication for 2022 TWO Barbadians are listed in the Top 100 Most Powerful Women. The international pop star, business woman and National Hero Robyn ‘Rihanna’ Fenty at #73 and Prime Minister Mia Mottley at #98. Some will disagree with the criteria used to determine the selections, however, it does not change the fact a global opinion shaper selected TWO Barbadian women to be on the prominent list.
The blogmaster is hopeful our small country and population- although limited in natural resources however rich in human resource talent- will never stop believing that the world is our oyster. If there is any doubt be inspired by home grown talent National Hero Rihanna and Prime Minister Mia Mottley.
At the end of the day all people around the world are individuals the same and different and the nation nationality wave your flag thing is a red herring
Not entirely true. There is such a thing as culture developed among people who live together in a confined space. People do influence each other. Mindsets are shared. Attitudes are shared. Thoughts and behaviours are contagious.
A society could not function if this were not so.
I AM I AM I AM
blessed alive human
world culture world citizen
shiva buddha christ like
There is a road block blockage in the Bu replying function conjunction junction and responses can’t penetrate
Finally, a positive contribution that highlights the beauty and peacefulness of our beloved island.
We owe all this and much more to our Supreme Leader. Thank you, Mia Mottley, for guiding Barbados safely through these dark times like a flame-haired angel!
Would love to read the actual article.
@TheOGazerts on December 11, 2022 at 8:25 AM
“If there is any doubt be inspired by home grown talent National Hero Rihanna and Prime Minister Mia Mottley.”
This sentence is enough for me to cheer. Truth, nothing but truth.
Forbes list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women Top Ten
2022
🇩🇪 1. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
🇫🇷 2. Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank
🇺🇸 3. Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States
🇺🇸 4. Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors
🇺🇸 5. Abigail Johnson, President-CEO of Fidelity Investments
🇺🇸 6. Melinda Gates, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
🇮🇹 7. Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy
🇺🇸 8. Karen Lynch, CEO of CVS Health
🇺🇸 9. Julie Sweet, CEO of Accenture
🇺🇸 10. Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup
Puck the world stage.
Eradicate poverty and homelessness in BARBADOS.
oops. Bajans are christians and the bible say poverty will always be with us.
opps again. Homelessness can be caused by tropical storms and hurricanes.
buh doan mine me. I just spent an hour shovelling snow and I envy wunna who in Barbados. lol
Hants must be live out west…No snow for the last two to three weeks….Light snow last night.
@Tron
Sorry that I asked.
The senten ce also cause me to cheer.
“If there is any doubt be inspired by home grown talent National Hero Rihanna and Prime Minister Mia Mottley.”
Go Mia! Go Rihanna!
Hants, you got snow? My lawn is still green. I am still harvesting mustard and tatsoi from my home garden and the parsley is beautiful. Keep it down there, please. They say we are due sometime today. uh, uh, I see snow flurries. Well, good thing I decided to give the neighbor who was always blowing my snow some money this year. He told me I did not have to, that he would continue to do it, but the did not return the $300 cheque, which is 50% of what the cheapest removal company quoted.
Give Hants a break, I live in the GTA and there is snow on the ground, not enough for an hour’s shovelling, however if you have a few girlfriends’ driveways to take care of that is where the time goes….
@ Alvin Cummins,
You look outside ?
@ Sargeant,
No girlfriends but was distracted by a female neighbour.
I believe in you And me
We about to get this money
You way to humble to brag
Manifest manifest that
Mani mani manifest that shit
No one can see all the things you can see
And you know you’ve got to fill your destiny
And no one can tell you that’s not meant to be
You’re gonna make it
Oh you’re gonna make it
Make it oh you’re gonna make it
Make Make Make it
How bad do you want it
This bad
How bad
This bad
I’m willing to bet that our Supreme Leader, by virtue of her omnipotence, could even make it snow in Barbados! For her, no path is too far, no mountain too high, no effort too great.
Tron, faithful servant of impartiality and patriotism
Poor bim dont need any snow at this time. The world is warming.
I’m a big deal, Google me
No time to chill, Google me
Everything real, Google me
Google me, Google me, Google me
I’m a big deal, Google me
No time to chill, Google me
Everything real, Google me
Google me, Google me, Google me
One, two, three
I’m a big deal, Google me
Keep it real, I been true to me
BTMI restructuring could be fallout from the summer disaster that saw us get outflanked by St. Lucia. St. Lucia exceeded summer 2019 numbers but somehow we are still way below 2019.
https://tourismanalytics.com/barbados.html
The statistics quoted in link, if accurate, show our tourism product is in serious trouble. A to date comparison between stopover visitors for 2019 and 2022 show a lackluster recovery.
I heard CO Williams once say Chastanet was the best tourism minister in the Caribbean and if Barbados did not watch out St. Lucia would overtake us.
And who can forget the ridiculous statements made by Richard Sealy about St. Lucia (and covered here on BU)
https://barbadosunderground.net/2013/07/08/politicians-nitpicking-and-stupidity/
With the UK heading for a long recession and the Hyatt going nowhere, that Sandals Beaches would have been a decent buffer but the PM gambled (I’m being nice to call it gambling) and we lost.
So now instead of Adam Stewart promoting Barbados with a new Sandals we have to settle for James Edghill and the Indigo “brand”.
Firing Cummins and bringing in Gooding Edghill will fix nothing, restructuring BTMI nada, but maybe more postcards all over Barbados might work
Do Not Give Strength To Babylon
One comment on the displayed statistics
When the denominator (baseline) is zero one does not usually calculate a percentage change as is done here
CALLS
22/21/%change -good?
61/0/100 -no
57/0/100 -no
60/0/100 -no
25/7/257 -yes
0/0/0 -I dislike this but can live wit it as there is no change.
Perhaps they have adopted the convention that if the denominator is zero then they will set the change to 100. This fact should be stated as a footnote and flagged in some way
100*
* the denominator(baseline) is zero.
Reductio ad absurdum
Here is what the convention does
1 /0 /100%
100 /0 /100%
1000000 /0 /100%
100000000000000000 /0 /100%
meaningless
Would suggest using “ne” with the meaning “not estimable” or “_’ and footnoting “cannot be calculated
1 /0 /ne OR
1 /0 /-
@David
couldn’t read the table on Compact prices. Tried enlarging but that made it unreadable. Do you have a link? Couldn’t find it under press releases at the Ministry site.
@NO
No link we could find. Is this better?
https://barbadosunderground.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/basketofgoods-1024×674.png
Much. Thanks. The need to shop around is fairly clear?
@NO
There was a so much savings that can be done with our model.
What is % change in B/DLP election results
2022
BLP 30
DLP 0
2018
BLP 30
DLP 0
2013
DLP 16
BLP 14
I give up. Can someone explain?
“All-rounders Asabi Callender, Trishan Holder and Naijanni Cumberbatch are set to create local sporting history by becoming the first Barbadian female cricketers to compete for the West Indies at an International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
The inaugural tournament bowls off next month in South Africa and Callender at age 21 is already buzzing having represented the West Indies this year in four tours.”
When is 21 under 19?
Eligibility for ICC U19 Events
4.1 A Player will be eligible to represent a National Cricket Federation in an ICC U19 CWC if he/she is aged under 19 (i.e. he/she is younger than 19 years of age) on the 31 August immediately preceding the date on which the first match in the relevant U19 CWC is due to take place. For the avoidance of doubt, this means the Player’s age at midnight (in the country of birth) at the changeover from the 31st of August to the 1st of September immediately preceding the event.
When will they figure out somebody is too old?
I give up
You should never ask a woman their age
It is the Over 18 cup and woman can lie about their age it is Okay
JAMAICA VS THE 2 X 3 ISLAND ANY RECENT SIMILARITIES?
Prime Minister Calls for Extended Repayment for SDGs – Starcom Network
https://starcomnetwork.net/blog/2022/12/13/prime-minister-calls-for-extended-repayment-for-sdgs/
I keep wondering what the definition of “sustainability” is? And what are the benchmark levels at which it can become ‘possible’.
@NO
Sustainability has a relative meaning in the same way Resilience is tossed about. Gaps are identified based on historical occurrences and the technocrats go to work by producing action plans to suggest reoccurrence.
LOL
Anyways, the path is clear? More available money, at lower rates, with extended terms, preferably concluded with a phrase related to climate change.
Instead of bowing and scraping to every lucky woman dragged into international prominence by the Global Feminist Revolution, I wish our pathetic Bajan men would venerate the three MALE Nobel prize winners this region has produced, two of them from tiny St. Lucia. Arthur Lewis, V.S. Naipaul and Derek Walcott.
He got mad, so I got drinks
No, I’m not walking around in circles worried about what he thinks
Out with my friend, drinking a drink
Alexa knows the bartender so all the drinks are free
He got mad, so I got drinks
Yeah, some shit went down, so now I’m up for anything
Out with my friend, drinking a drink
I don’t know what the problem is, I don’t think it’s me
A sign of things to come for Barbados?
https://barbados.loopnews.com/content/wfp-understands-inflation-impact-donates-hampers-30000-bajans
Some strange tropes are emanating from the newbie Bu troll with the fake Afrikan persona
Ding!
time to trigger wack ass bloke make him choke
@John,
30,000 Bajans is 10% of the population.
By any measure, that is an alarming statistics
Sometimes horrific news is so cleverly presented that it slips through our guard unnoticed, And at times we keep items in neat little packages so that we can never fully understand what is happening.
Our version of Pandora’s box is the ills being released one ill every few weeks and not all at once.
That 30,000 is the equivalent of the canary in the coal mine. Some systems are not working.
Is a country that cannot feed itself or its poor ready for 70,000 new immigrants?
Will infusion of new immigrants and the usual ” we could not find any qualified Barbadians” put even more Barbadians on the poverty line?
Will this infusion increase job competition and lead to lower wages?
I do not believe that importing thousand of families is the solution for our aging and depleting workforce. Someone has to go back to the drawing board and fin a real solution.
Don’t blame the immigrants like the white trash do
Let the people talk shit like a spider weaving a web
and watch work for a while before you squish it dead
or just catch it and throw it out the window
if you have a no kill policy in your home
Don’t Hate for Me
Dizzy Fae Lyrics
Realization, oh the temptation
I enjoy the way you chew
Pull up shawty and we′ll seat for two
You beam with excitement
Well I’ll keep my composure
Your experience can′t scare me
Roll up shawty I don’t care what they assume
I can be patient as I do what I do
And you should be patient in a room full of tunes
Realization, oh the temptation
I enjoy the way you chew
Pull up shawty and we′ll seat for two
You beam with excitement
Well I’ll keep my composure
Your experience can′t scare me
Roll up shawty I don’t care what they assume
I can be patient as I do what I do
And you should be patient in a room full of tunes
You’re grown as hell, I don′t really care what you do
If you fuck with me then you should think twice ′bout what you prov
Don’t wait for me, don′t wait for me
Don’t get comfy, don′t hate
Don’t hate for me, don′t wait
Don’t wait for me, don’t hate
Don′t wait for me, don′t wait for me
Don’t get comfy, don′t hate
Don’t hate for me, don′t wait
Don’t wait for me, don′t hate
I can be patient as I do what I do
And you should be patient in a room full of tunes
You’re grown as hell, I don’t really care what you do
If you fuck with me then you should think twice ′bout what you prove
I must′ve mistaken
‘Cause now I am laced in
You can′t keep me by a tie
Titles bore me, let’s explore the untold
We don′t need ’em in our business
And I′ll let that sink in
Stop once you get to thinkin’
I don’t want to hurt a cat like you
Farming the land is the only sector of the economy that will generate significant employment.
Wages may not be high but there is an additional benefit of being able to feed ourselves and feel good about our country.
The problem is that the land has become a commodity to be concretized ad turned into cash.
Thirty years ago, the powers that be decided golf was the answer.
I pointed out the fraud in that thinking back then and watched it come to pass.
I fought the good fight and continue to do so.
The same fraud exists in any land development whether for low income or high income housing.
It is worser for high income housing because irrigation is required to keep surroundings green and lush.
Most of our land is now in “holding companies” waiting for some cash to “develop” it. It grows bush.
Unbelievable how badly things have turned out for Barbados.
Chelston Braithwaite asserts in the Senate that in his opinion water scarcity in Barbados is a myth and he knows that because we get floods!!
Does the Sahara get floods?
How many days of drought do we get per year?
Discuss the “Senator’s” opinion for 1 mark!!
It is almost not worth discussing!!
@John
Would be interesting to hear your thoughts on our ‘water scarcity’.
I left home fully unaware that we were a water scarce country and at that time, there were standpipes at almost every corner.
Trying to reconcile the fact that with no real growth in the population and with standpipes turned off to reduce water wastage and yet we are now a water scarce country.
I would be the first to admit that your thoughts on matters such as this one, carries a lot of weight.
I was unawares of most of the sites that Elon Musk blocked
Facebook and Instagram, and upstart rivals Mastodon, Tribel, Nostr, Post
Hants on December 18, 2022 at 8:56 PM said:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The new reservoir at Castle Grant is across the road for the old one.
If BWA had problems keeping water levels up in the old one during drought and many were inconvenienced, do you think a new reservoir across the road is really going to make any difference?
TheOGazerts on December 18, 2022 at 8:26 PM said:
Rate This
@John
Would be interesting to hear your thoughts on our ‘water scarcity’.
I left home fully unaware that we were a water scarce country and at that time, there were standpipes at almost every corner.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The ratio, available water/population, determines if a country is water scarce.
We produce about 44 million gallons of water per day from our underground resources and our population is about 300,000.
Some of the 44 million goes to agriculture so we are in theory good for 100+ gallons per person per day.
Leakage reduces the amount of water per person further and if we were to bring in another 100K, particularly if they had to live in lush green surroundings, the amount of water per person would fall, perhaps drastically.
Sam Lords monstrosity is going to be a severe drain on our water resources. My experience with hotels in the 80’s tells me our guests consumed about double what we did back then.
From hiking I know a person does not really need more than a couple of gallons of potable per day to survive.
During slavery, there were no standpipes at any corner and no house had piped water.
Most plantations had tank(s) in the yard which were filled by catching rain water off the roofs during the wet season.
That’s probably where everyone on the plantation got their water.
I know of some examples of smaller tanks lined with copper in some plantation houses which provided solar heating. I was involved in a renovation 40 years ago and saw how it worked, remarkable.
Many houses were located close to the coast where water wells could be dug and water could easily be drawn from a few feet.
I have dug in the sand from when I was a boy and seen the water.
So, in theory, how can any Barbados be deemed water scarce?
Any house can catch rain water and in our case any house close to the sea can dig a well!!
But here’s the problem, health issues can and do arise.
Government ends up supplying water from whatever water resources are available and those are limited by rainfall and catchment size, both fixed.
If demand exceeds supply, then there is a water shortage and is an indicator of water scarcity.
Where I live gets water from the St. George Valley which holds 60% of the available water resources in Barbados.
There is always water, so far but I know the day is coming when it will be rationed.
I know developers of some of the desirable spots in the Heights and Terraces receive permission for development only if they release the GOB from the liability of having to supply water.
Take for example Fort George Heights.
It is supplied from Fort George Reservoir, but so too are all elevations down to 200 feet below. It stands to reason that the closer you build your house to the reservoir the more likely you are to go without water as the lower elevations “suck” it all away from you.
I live 100 feet below so I get all the water I want!!
But I have worked on water storage systems in the Fort George area without which persons in that will at times have no water.
Same principle is in operation up in St. Joseph.
The higher you build, the more chance you will go without “Company” water, and unless you catch the rain you are in potter.
Part of life.
If you look at it overall, there is a fixed amount of water from our underground resources but a variable population.
It doesn’t matter if Chelston Braithwaithe or I get all the water we want for the time being or if there are floods in Barbados.
All that matters is that fixed volume underground, housing development …. and population growth!!.
Why do we need housing development?
More gun violence.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/vaughan-condo-shooting-1.6690582
Another way of looking at water scarcity is to measure what percentage of the available water resource is used up.
In our case, our available yearly water resource was in 1995/6 completely allocated.
If we look at BWA extractions after that, they are constant as no more water is available for extraction.
The Black campaigner Ngozi Fulani who was in the UK news for being questioned by the Queens Consort about where she was from and replied Hackney which caused derision and more interrogation to cross examine her if she was from Africa or Caribbean which she replied both was in fact born in Kilburn to Barbadian immigrant parents.
Bajans still punching way above their weight and achieving remarkable results.