Draft Barbados Population Policy Available for FEEDBACK

The Barbados government is in the process of initiating another bold policy that without a doubt will be contentious. The draft policy prepared by the Barbados Population Commission was recently posted to the Barbados Government Information Service website to garner feedback from the public during the month of March 2023.

What cannot be refuted is that Barbados is an ageing population, when this is coupled with a declining fertility rate – Houston, we have a problem. On the current trajectory the quality of the labour force; talent pool and revenue opportunity will be negatively impacted.

If there is a problem showing on the radar the controllers (policymakers) have a responsibility to work with stakeholders in civil society to solve. The Barbados Population Policy is meant to dispassionately analyze the current state of play to inform a policy to drive a sustainable society covering the period 2021-2040.

Barbadians at home or in the diaspora are vested in a relevant population policy. It is imperative therefore Barbadians take the opportunity to submit feedback on the draft documents available.

The blogmaster’s position, we need to be proactive and bold with decisions today to ensure a greater tomorrow for the next generation. It will call for astute decision making and planning to nurture the best country for our people notwithstanding our limited resources.

If our population is ageing drawdown on the social security pool gets worse if we do nothing. How do we infuse the labour pool with required talent to ensure competitiveness? There are social and changes to the environment in our ecosystem we also have to contend.

A tenet of the system of democracy we practice is that participation of the citizenry is integral to the process to determine the best outcome. See the documents posted by government to solicit feedback from the public.

118 thoughts on “Draft Barbados Population Policy Available for FEEDBACK


  1. I have no problem with selective immigration that bolsters our capacity to thrive.

    But I would rather not sell Barbados to the highest bidder.

    Our racial history requires sensitivity to a substantial change in our racial demographics.

    In fact, our current racial reality requires sensitivity to our racial demographics.

    Black people remain at the bottom of the business heap. No need to reinforce that position.


    • @Vincent

      Do we not see developed countries shaping policy to cherry-pick the skills required to execute national goals? How should developing countries manage in similar circumstances?


  2. I Am I Am
    I Am of the view that many multi-culti varieties is much better and more interesting than the Original Mono Reference cultures


  3. Donna

    Selective immigration from where? Caribbean territories?

    Read the comments on the West Indies test, ODI and T20 teams selected for the tours to Bangladesh and South Africa.

    The insularity of many of people commenting manifested itself in their comments. People from the different territories, especially Guyanese and Trinidadians, either criticized all the Bajan players and Desmond Haynes ……or expressed their dissatisfaction that there were too many Bajans on the team.

    Those comments actually reflect how the other islanders feel about Barbadians. Yet, we are willing to open our doors to welcome them to live here among us.

    David

    Is ‘government’ undertaking a clandestine approach to justify introducing its version of ‘citizen by investment’ or ‘real estate investment for citizenship’ programmes?


    • Is ‘government’ undertaking a clandestine approach to justify introducing its version of ‘citizen by investment’ or ‘real estate investment for citizenship’ programmes?
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      Hi Artax
      Not necessarily seeking to justify anything.

      Much more likely to be a knee-jerk, panic, intuition, impulse from the usual suspects when faced with complex challenges for which they have no answer.

      Have you not noticed the trend…?
      Look brave and talk pretty and hope that the brass bowls will accept the jobby.
      When there is pushback, you first try some insults, and then some political bashing – and when this fails, you capitulate and drop the stupid scheme…

      Clear case of drowning politicians clutching at straws…. again.


    • @Bush Tea

      Tell us, given our predicament, what is a relevant policy position? Some of us are thinking about our children and children’s future. This is what should give us purpose to life.


  4. How can it be possible to fix this problem without first understanding how we got here? The eugenacist role within the local culture and particularly that of the Barbados Family Planning Association, it’s foreign founders, Clyde Gollop and company?

    What interventions within the natural population growth rate occurred to position this country on such a self destructive path?

    How could socalled democracy itself, as expression, be separately understood, at a fundamental level and not merely a captive deployed for purely partisan political pretense?

    What are the relationships between national death, contributed to by population decline and neoliberalism, as an economic construct? Nroliberalism which has encouraged the country to, for decades now, hollow out the retirement architecture of Bajans.

    Are there any fundamental internal contradictions within the policíes of this administration which on the one hand, and following the dictation from Washington, promotes bulling, and on the other, complains that we have a developmental population deficit of 80,000?

    Has the time for seriousness not long come? Or should we expect business as per usual?

    And on and on.


  5. Vincent Codrington on March 1, 2023 at 9:15 AM said:
    Rate This

    Is it a remit of GoB to interfere with the size and composition of the population.? Why a need for a policy? Population is not a political issue. This is rather invasive.

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    The population in Israel has doubled.

    Among Jews it is over 3 children per woman and among Orthodox Jews it is more than double.

    The Palestinian birthrate has plummeted.

    It isn’t because of some Government policy!!!

    People have been left to their own devices!!

    Listen to the depopulation bomb around 50 minutes.

    It comes down to beliefs!!

    We have no belief in our country because our politicians have destroyed it.

    Now they playing they can fix it!!!


  6. Sex Education: Ghetto Style on March 1, 2023 at 10:35 AM said:
    Rate This

    Populations can be increased by f’king

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Not if abortions killing millions!!


  7. “Not if abortions killing millions”

    is that why you have not been blessed with the fruits of your seed, or are you a jaffa?


  8. To abort a child you have to be despondent and fearful of the future.

    Having children and a family requires courage and belief.


  9. How to define stupid….

    1 – Provide free, compulsory education to all your children.
    2 – Filter out the brightest and best for free tertiary education and professional development
    3 – Then encourage and support the emigration of these best and brightest to parasite countries so that they can send home pittances to sustain the low performers left behind
    4 – Now sell of all your valuable assets to foreigners (since the mediocre talent on island cannot manage them effectively)
    5 – Watch as the new foreign owners allocate all of the good paying jobs to their kith and kin from back home
    6 – Borrow from far and wide …to provide for the day to day needs of the hopeless, mendicant brass bowls left on the island
    7 – Finally, come up with the asinine ‘solution’ of bringing in more brass bowls to make up for the fact that even the hopeless, mendicant losers on island can see the FUTILITY of the whole exercise – and are therefore reluctant to bring children into this idiocy.

    So…
    STUPID is the apparent inability to see that what ACTUALLY needs to be changed, are the set of jackasses claiming to be national leaders of brassbados.


  10. JOHN KNOX SIR

    RE The population in Israel has doubled.

    PLEASE KINDLY NOTE THAT THIS IS BECAUSE THERE HAS BEEN A GREAT RETURN OF ISRAELIS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD AS PREDICTED IN DEUTERONOMY AND SEVERAL PASSAGES IN THE PROPHETIC SCRIPTURES..

    DEUTERONOMY WARNED ISRAEL BEFORE ENTRY TO CANAAN THAT BECAUSE OF THEIR DISOBEDIENCE THAT THERE WOULD LOSE CONTROL OF THE LAND, BUT BECAUSE OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS TO THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT THAT HE WOULD REPATRIATE THEM FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD

    ONLY 20% OF THOSE EXILED BY THE ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS RETURNED UNDER EZRA NEHEMIAH AND EZRA
    MANY OF THESE HAVE BEEN RETURNING IN RECENT TIMES

    AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM IN AD 70 BY TITUS, THE JEWS FLED, AND SINCE THEN THROUGH PERPETUAL PERSECUTIONS AS POINTED OUT IN PSALM 2 THEY HAVE BEEN DISPERSED TO EVERY CORNER OF THE GLOBE.

    AMIR TSARFARTI HAS REPORTED THAT IT IS ONLY QUITE RECENTLY THAT THERE ARE MORE JEWS IN ISRAEL THAN THERE ARE ELSEWHERE.

    CLEARLY THE NUMEROUS OT PROPHESIES ABOUT THE REGATHERING OF ISRAEL ARE BEING FULFILLED, IN THE SAME WAY THAT EZEKIEL’S CHAPTER 37 DRY BONE PROPHECY WAS FULFILLED IN 1948.

    NOW WE AWAIT THE FULFILLMENT OF JESUS’ STATEMENT IN THE OLIVET DISCOURSE OF MATTHEW 24 THAT ASSERTS THAT THE GENERATION THAT WITNESSED THE REFORMING OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL WOULD NOT ALL PASS BEFORE THE OCCURENCE OF THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH

    NOTE THAT THE REFORMATION OF THE NATION IN 1948 WAS A FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHESY ABOUT THE NATION THAT WOULD BE BORN IN A DAY.

    CHECK IT OUT

    GO ON U TUBEE AND ENJOY THE EXCELENT TEACJING OF TSARFARTI ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST

    IF YOU WANT TO READ ABOUT THIS DOCTRINE TRY TO GET A CHEAP USED COPY OF THE LATE DWIGHT PENTECOST’S SEMENAL WORK ENTITLED THINGS TO COME.

    BEST WISHES TO YOU SIR


  11. “How can it be possible to fix this problem without first.”

    Too many conniving tricks, underhanded gimmicks and dumminess to fix it..

    .they are not even capable of pulling up the past, walk through and see WHAT THEY DID WRONG and how destructive they all are, and will never want to take responsibility for their wicked 100 year old grevious actions against the majority…but KARMA and RETRIBUTION are both in the house..


  12. “So…
    STUPID is the apparent inability to see that what ACTUALLY needs to be changed, are the set of jackasses claiming to be national leaders of brassbados.”

    Ya forgot…restrict African descents from the beaches….all greenlighted by yuh WICKED puppet minion government.

    There is a new video floating around to that effect.


  13. The my body my choice movement, the gender equality agenda, no fault divorce and family courts hostile to men contribute to both declining marriage and fertility rates.


  14. The influx of migrants to settle in Barbados will further impoverish Barbados black population. Barbados consists of a population of brass bowls that has been consistently discriminated against and undermined by BLACK governments.

    The “brass bowls” have allowed and will continue to accept whatever crazy policies their government implements.

    Black Barbadians will always struggle to achieve generational wealth due to the propensity of their lawyer class governments to defraud their clients. Black Barbadians, particularly those from the UK diaspora, are viewed as a free ATM by Barbados carnivorous lawyers.

    Not so long ago a crazy number of 80,000 was thrown out. This number has been upgraded to 185,000 by 2050. These numbers defy believe. This government will say and do anything to receive loans.

    I would say to the brass bowls, hold on to your land and your birth rights. They should vote with their feet and work in a country where they can die in the knowledge that whatever inheritance they pass on will be received by their chosen inheritors. The Barbados government is unable to guarantee the simple law of inheritance as it’s inherently corrupt. I don’t like the term “shithole”. However, Barbados is a shithole for a vast number of its black population.

    The knowledge we have of South America, when it decided to whiten its population should be a lesson to us all.


    • @TLSN

      Tell us what we should do to fund an ageing society? We know the problems. Do we need the policy being circulated for comment?


  15. Agree GP

    Israel’s birth rate is well over the 2.1 per person that is required to replace and grow the population on its own.

    Israelis returning to their homeland in preparation is also a major factor.

    Maybe the reason for the growth in birth rate is their confidence and belief in their future.

    The orthodox Jews have very high birth rates … according to the clip!!

    Keep well.


  16. TLSN on March 1, 2023 at 12:19 PM said:
    Rate This

    The influx of migrants to settle in Barbados will further impoverish Barbados black population.

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Barbados can only attract people who will further demean it.


  17. David
    Tell us what we should do to fund an ageing society?
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Surely you jest!
    A society becomes an ‘ageing’ (sic) society when the natural inclination of child-bearing adults to bring offspring into the society wanes.

    This occurs…
    -When there is clearly NO HOPE for a better future
    -When it is obvious that the society is reverting to the old plantation era
    -When they cannot even achieve what their parents did
    -When they cannot even sustain themselves…far less vulnerable children

    What we should do, then becomes OBVIOUS…
    – The society is CLEARLY on the wrong track
    – The current leaders and the SYSTEM are obviously failed
    – The whole National direction is in need of MAJOR reform

    Obviously we need to RADICALLY CHANGE what we have been doing for the last 40 years….

    …but do we have the national vision and competence to adjust…?
    Bushie suggests not…. so guess what we SHOULD expect about our collective donkeys and the grass…


    • @Bush Tea

      Not following you.

      FYI re:sic- In Canada and the U.S., the preferred spelling is aging. British usage favours the variant ageing, which is also accepted in Canada.


  18. Ms Mockley wanted 80,000 at one time, now she wants 185,000.

    The most we have to offer is our proximity to the US.

    So she better watch how she rolling up with China.


    • The numbers, 80k and now 185k, are so large relative to the current population, my first inclination with this crew, is it somehow relates to accessing new funding pools.
      Or, like the Reliance and Sustainability Trust, somebody sees a way to creating new funding for settling ‘some’ of the millions of displaced persons.
      This administration is keenly aware of broad area of gender discrimination issues.


  19. The change from 70,000 to 185,000 was completely surprising and I expected to see a mathematical justification/derivation of the 185,000 that are needed to Barbados. So far, I have seen none.

    The population of Barbados appears to vary depending on the message that one wishes to spread. Here we wish to emphasize our low birth rate and so instead of the 302,000 that I had seen previously we are told that our population is 282,000.

    If you were to look at voting numbers for past election then the number of eligible voters is approximately 80% of the total population (I am being generous). Eighty percent of 282,000 is 225,000. With 70% (157,500) of the eligible population voting voter and with the ignorant and continuing B vs D divide we have wrested the country from those born in Barbados. We have introduced a new super voting majority. Please keep in mind that there is an immediate need to have workers who will contribute `to the economy.

    Currently, our elections are often decided by a difference of a few hundred votes in each constituency. The infusion of such a large number of potential voters will make being B or D irrelevant as these migrants will eventually form their own party.

    This will happen well before 2050; first they will align themselves with those who brought them in and when they have a sufficient number, they will form their own party. If you are now comfortable with your second- and third-class status, then tell your children to get ready for fourth.

    These politicians are being power hungry and stupid.


    • It has been established many times the Electoral List needs to be cleaned up, dead people and others living overseas.

      There has been no enumeration in Barbados for many years, what we have are good estimates of population size.


    • From reading the policy it seems the projected population is based on an optimum workforce size to support an ageing population.


  20. When twooo idiots, John Knox, and Georgie the asshole, combine a level of profound ignorance must ensue.

    What is this Zionist regime as a geographical entity?

    Is it the 1948 areas as brutally captured by their terrorists gangs?

    Is it the 1967 lands as captured by war by this settler-colonial project?

    Is it the Ginod conurbation – from the river to the sea. The river being the Euphrates River, and the sea, meaning the Meditaranian Sea?

    Is it an Apartheid entity as dubbed by Tutu?

    Is it a fascist regime, as it is itself providing irrefutable evidence of?

    Well, like it’s fascist masters and financial curators in America and Europe, it may well be built in their satanic image.

    Is it toooooo much to expect that those who purport to be intelligent would, once in a decade, provide a sentient narrative?

    And yes, a lot of socalled jews, lured by cheap stolen Palestinian lands, Arab lands and more than 4,000,000,000 USD annually from America make their way to this Zionist state.

    But even casual observers are aware that many of these also find their way back to America, Russia, Europe, Argentina and elsewhere.

    However the zionist colonial entity severally definds itself in a position which it has NEVER been able to overcome. Netanyahu, himself, has long called the demograhic weapon of the Palestinians the entity’s greatest threat.

    Regardless of the genocidal nature of these jewish invaders and the deprivations inflicted on the Palestinians, birth rates amongst the Palestinians exceed those of these fascists. Total population as well.

    So worrying is this demographic bomb and given all the other external and internal threats the zionists face, the regime in Tel Aviv now sees war as its only possible means of survival.

    Internally, we’ve had the virtual calaspse of a broad range of opposition political forces and the rise of the most far right, fascist forces, in this recently elected Netanyahu regime.

    The heightened subjugation of the Palestinians under the criminal Netanyahu regime sees, as we speak, daily, widespread clashes between the fascist, police state, zionist forces and Palestinian youth throughout the territories. A state of war. Another Intifadah. But assholes like the two called out have no mind for this which can be proven.

    When a settler-colonial regime in Western Asia finds itself in the proverbial Thusidedes trap, and must seek war as a means of it’s very existence. And it’s masters in the West face this same connundrum, common sense should help us to connect the dots.

    Lastly, it has long been of some concern of ours that bible-reading assholes and White supremacists like the two mentioned above could freely come here and make all kinds of unprovable claims about Armageddon, and the like, without a thread of evidence to support such shiiite.

    However, when all the global political forces are studying the emerging conditions for a nuclear holocaust and this writer supports the application of hypersonic nuclear weapons upon the sources of all evil in our world, regardless of consequences, the slave master finds that inappropriate. Nevertheless, we hereby double down on the only outcome able be deliver the Great Mother from Her affliction.

    Lastly, in the coming years, not decades, jewish settlers shall be again seeking the refuge from Palestine that they sought from Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. What a tale about how the persecuted they themselves become the fascists they once abhorred.


  21. Our leaders followed the Americans (the IMF and World Bank) and promoted a consumer driven economy. It generates billions in VAT but it also creates selfish individualism.
    Educated women who should be focused on marriage and children are instead focused on self, so career advancement, that new SUV, weaves and eyelashes, travel, dining out (and getting fatter), and letting Crichlow mutilate their bodies.


  22. A short story
    Where is the elephant? I asked.
    “In the room”. someone replied.
    Why can’t they see it? I asked.
    “They see it. Their strategy is to avoid being trampled and be out of the room when the elephant moves.” was the reply
    “But when it moves, it will trample us all”
    “No! Not all! Just those left in the room.”
    “But where will they go?”
    “Wherever their money can take them away from here”
    “But what about us? What will we do”
    “Make yourself smaller and avoid the elephant’s butt and hooves”
    “Thank you.”


  23. TheO,

    This ain’t going to fly! They can try but they will not be around to implement it.

    185,000 in 27 years is a crazy ass number percentagewise. Barbados would no longer be Barbados. No way any change management specialist would recommend such rapid change! There would be social CHAOS!

    Maybe it has been thrown out as in a negotiation to ease us into accepting a lower number.

    Or maybe they are just trying to scare us.

    Artax,

    Barbadians complained about the number of Trinidadians under Lara.

    But when we were winning, nobody cared. We were all “West Indians”.

    David,

    Plenty we can do without importing people who see us as lesser beings to be exploited.

    I agree, for the most part, with Bush Tea’s assessment of how we got here. I DO NOT agree with Redguard AT ALL!

    I also don’t see that “bulling” needs any promotion. If one is a “buller”, one will “bull”. If one is not a “buller”, one will not “bull”.

    Acknowledging and accepting what is, cannot be described as “promoting”.

    John is correct that Barbados cannot attract people in that number who are capable of doing or who would wish to do anything to fix our problems.

    This is a pie in the sky that will not materialise even when we on BU die by and by.


    • @Donna

      Interesting intervention.

      If the whole country is anticipated to be up in arms why would Mia Mottley forced this policy through?

      Unfortunately we find away to distill all issues politically. Dr. Ronnie if this flies here is your opening, or do you agree?

      It doesn’t matter anyway, Barbados will have to languish in ducksguts for a while.


  24. Dub,

    Diversity is fine. Except that most every other “race” sees us as lesser beings to be exploited and would treat us as such.

    Context, context, context!


  25. “t generates billions in VAT but it also creates selfish individualism.”

    And also attrscted the VAT thieves, how much was stole, over 1 billion and no one held accountable but written off…

    “But assholes like the two called out have no mind for this which can be proven.”

    Dont know why they dont stop spreading lies and propaganda..

    Was doing some personal research recently and would you know it, the IRISH were heavily involved in the Slave Trade out of Africa, the evidence is undeniable/irrefutable, dem cahn hide anywhere. So when the other liars jump out talking about they were irish slaves, which is so not true, they were time stamped indentured servants… tell them…ya were enslaved by ya own irish slave traders….none of us have perfect ancestors.


  26. Educated women chose to be educated for many reasons. One of those reasons was to be independent of SOME men who were mekkin’ dum shite.

    I know of few women who would rather not be married to a loving, dependable, respectful man.

    I know of few women who don’t want children.

    They do exist, but not in the numbers Redguard suggests.

    Circumstances often whittle the number down to one or two.

    It is amazing how some still believe that they have the right to instruct women on what should be their focus, without addressing the context created in part by the attitudes and actions of men!

    On what should the men be focusing? How have they done to date? Do they bear no responsibility whatsoever?


    • Here in the face of statistics you claim using only your limited anecdotal “evidence” that only a few women don’t want children.
      But what the document does not go into is the fertility rate for educated professional women (your independent women). We can all guess it is even lower than the average and we can all guess why. My guess is selfish individualism but you reason men.
      For someone who claims to be independent you sure depend on men a lot to explain every malady you and your feminists face.


  27. “Except that most every other “race” sees us as lesser beings to be exploited and would treat us as such”

    that is a false narrative that has to be exterminated
    some people like how black people flex
    music has been the teacher to break down barriers


  28. Bush Tea on March 1, 2023 at 1:13 PM said:

    -When there is clearly NO HOPE for a better future
    -When it is obvious that the society is reverting to the old plantation era

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Birth rates in Barbados were in excess of 4.5 in the plantation era prior to 1960.

    Ergo, people had hope.

    Not so now.

    The fall occurred after Independence.

    Our leaders managed to destroy that hope we once had!!

    https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN?locations=BB

    Alot to do with free space where people used to be able to go and commune with God.


    • Birth rates in Barbados were in excess of 4.5 in the plantation era prior to 1960.

      Ergo, people had hope.
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      Ergo, people were being bred like animals…
      Steupsss!!


  29. @ David
    What MPH What!!??

    Singapore is no useful reference point for Brassbados.
    This is a country where, having decided to adopt the albino centric ways, they have gone about the process logically, strategically and collectively.
    All thanks to VISIONARY LEADERSHIP.

    Examples;;
    They adopted EFFECTIVE and HONEST leadership – and kept Lee in place for as long as possible, in order to MAXIMIZE the impact and success of his vision.
    Even when he introduced unpopular disciplinary national rules, the country went with him.
    Even when pressured by the West to adopt their idiot policies (like abolishing the death penalty and executing Drug dealers) they had the BALLS to stick to their guns.

    Of course, they did not suffer the curse of 400 years of chattel slavery, which would have decimated the cream of ANY civilization, and at the very best, left bare REMNANTS of leadership and self esteem – (or empty brass bowls as the bushman is wont to say…)

    In our case, we did it all wrong…
    We too adopted the albino-centric doctrines – but then we kowtowed to the demons to accept their faggot ways, their high tolerance for murderers, white collar crime, and bribery. We sold all our valuable assets like ‘Parros’, and now pride ourselves in borrowing to feed ourselves…. our children are without hope…
    Now the boys all going to school with their hair like rats’ nests and acting more feminine than their women teachers….
    No wonder the damn population is shrinking, both the boys and the damn girls looking for male partners….

    No comparison at all…
    We have not even been able to recognize how we are demeaning ourselves, and how far we have gone BACKWARDS , even in comparison to the days of Barrow and the two Adams…..

    Chalk and cheese….


  30. Bush Tea on March 1, 2023 at 7:01 PM said:
    Rate This

    @ David
    What MPH What!!??

    Singapore is no useful reference point for Brassbados.

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Nobody seems to understand that Singapore’s growth was only possible because of geography and common sense.

    Under the Straits of Jahore connecting Malaysia to Singapore a large diameter pipe was run to give access to the huge water resources in the rivers of the Malaysian Peninsula.

    Malaysia treated the FRESH water, used what it needed and sold the rest back to Malaysia!!

    By the time Malaysia realised it was getting a raw deal it was locked into a decades long treaty with its neighbour.

    Singapore then was able to develop way beyond what seemed possible and its high end economy has generated the resources to improve rainfall catchment, recycle water in sewage and more recently, desalinate sea water.

    Lee Kuan Yew realised Singapore’s sovereignty relied on its access to water and planned accordingly.


    • The point made about Singapore in the video is a simple one, M for meritocracy, P for being pragmatic and H for honesty. These are the pillars that country used to transform the country. Doesn’t it make sense for Barbados at this juncture to be equally pragmatic and borrow from their success?


    • Call to weigh population options
      THE BARBADOS POPULATION POLICY has far reaching implications for Barbados’ social and economic development.
      This was the theme of a media orientation discussion of the executive summary of the draft Barbados Population Policy headed by chair of the Barbados Population Commission Roberta Clarke, who was accompanied by some of the commissioners with wide experiences during a Zoom meeting on Tuesday.
      Commissioner P. Antonio “Boo” Rudder described the policy as one which “needs to be looked at very carefully because for example if we are looking at numbers. . . I saw within the last week that Machel Montano in Trinidad had a fete where he had 25 000 people. There is a lot of talk in Barbados about monetising culture but it is extremely difficult for us because of our low and decreasing population for people in the entertainment industry to earn a decent living. So when we are looking at these things [decreasing population] we need to look at all the parameters because it is an extremely complex situation”.
      “Within the short term the only thing that I see that we can objectively do is to employ the concept of managed migration. That presents other problems. So I am saying that across the board everyone has got to be very careful in how they analyse this situation so that we can have clear guidance in terms of how we proceed with the type of solutions which we may select,” Rudder added.
      The public can access the draft on the Barbados Government Information Service website up until March 31 and comments sent to
      populationpolicy@barbados.gov.bb.
      Clarke said the commission was “diligent in our analysis taking the best guidance from the demographic projections and then analysing some of the impacts. In relation to managing migration we are saying the first responsibility is to take care of those who are here now, but that may require us to bring in people to help take care of those who are here now”.
      She said those who were coming to Barbados would “fill unmet needs not take away jobs”.
      The draft policy offers a detailed cover in its summary’s opening statement which says that Barbados has one of the lowest population growth rates in CARICOM.
      “The total population has grown by just 24 per cent in the last 60 years. Since 1960, birth and fertility rates have consistently fallen and fertility rates have dipped below replacement since 1980. Off-setting this decline has been only a modest rise in immigration levels alongside a decline in outward migration of Barbadians. This combination of factors, unless specific policies are advanced, will result in a declining population.”
      It said if fertility rates were maintained at 2.1, in 2020 the population would have been 360 000 and by 2050 would grow to an estimated 400 000.
      It was noted that an aging population, without any intervention, would result in decreases in the workforce, increases in the care responsibility of a minority for the majority of the population; declines in government revenues as the taxbase contracts and a likely decline in economic, social
      and cultural dynamism.
      “Over the next 30 years, the dependency ratio will grow to nearly two dependents per person of working age, placing strains on families and social care and security systems. Care of the elderly is expected to nearly double in its demand of financing from just under 20 per cent of total health expenditure to nearly 40 per cent. The social and economic costs of an ageing society with a preponderance of retired persons are broad, complex and conditional on responses.”
      Reported in the draft which outlines three interrelated policy goals: demographic [which] proposes an increased population of working age people to ensure economic and social vibrancy; human security for all present and future generations; management of interactions between people and the environment to secure the ecological balance now and for future generations. (JS)


      Source: Nation


  31. Nobody seems to realise that Singapore also has the busiest port in the world!!

    We probably used to hold that title in the days of sail.

    No one seems to realise sugar output prior to the 1900’s was tiny because the milling capacity was capped.

    It was trade which allowed Barbados to punch well above its weight!!


  32. Perhaps the abstract extrapolations models and forecasts of how many people will be required need to challenged as nothing is set in stone.
    If X amount are needed, then a piecemeal approach could be adopted so that social effects are monitored and infrastructure developments are in place to accommodate all.


    • This is a final warning to those who continue to disrespect the blog. The blogmaster will delete comments where the intention is to detract from the substantive issue. No need to reply.


  33. *Answer:

    Did Barrow not talk about this Singapore model since the 1960s, wuh i could remember hearing bout it as a child…before 10 years old…still hearing about it over 50 YEARS LATER…still not implemented…Singapore has SINCE MOVED ON….and wunna still dere talking and NOT doing…but want evabody to fall in line like sheep for another 50 years of the same charade…

    do yall even understand WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING on the island and globally…? No need to answer….i know you dont…that is what defines you….

    Pacha tries, but i wont waste that energy…got better things to tackle.


  34. @ David
    Doesn’t it make sense for Barbados at this juncture to be equally pragmatic and borrow from their success?
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    It does make sense.
    However we also need to be pragmatic in our assessment of the situation.

    1- Meritocracy is a bridge too far for us.
    Our whole mentality has been to promote family, friends and bribe-payers.
    No one gives a hoot about competence.
    Case in point:
    With all the shiite filling the news every day, commentary has remained almost exclusively on what the BLP says and occasionally what the DLP says…
    No one bothers to consider what the PROVEN EXPERTS (those who have acquired a long history of being proven to be right- not those on Brass Tacks with just shiite degrees)
    Even BU is somewhat guilty of this… though to a lesser extent than most.

    2 – Pragmatism?
    Boss, we just allowed another White Bajan to sell a key National asset to an English firm after DECADES of exploiting local labour and resources (including questionable Government grants) to build a multimillion dollar Empire.
    This after practically EVERY other productive asset has been GIFTED to foreign PIRATES by clueless ‘leaders’ who are UNABLE to resist petty bribes.

    3- Honesty?
    Ha Ha Ha
    Murduh!!!
    OH Shirtttt!!! . ..bout Hay!!?
    Boss…
    – Leroy Parris walking bout FREE as a BIRD!
    – NOT A SINGLE Lawyer can dare to have their Client Account audited and published
    – Not a BOY dares to examine what happened at Four Seasons and Clear Water…
    …and the Radical Vaccines – How did that exemplify ‘honesty’?

    Don’t mek foolish sport with Bushie Mr Blogmaster.
    In Singapore, at LEAST 200 of those F%$#^rs would have been executed, and our NATIONAL treasury would have been in the BLACK – just like Singapore’s ….

    Chalk and Cheese Boss!!!


    • @Bush Tea

      There is a reality, there is a retiring class of businessmen who feel no obligation to sell to locals or local consortium. Maybe this is why we need to bring in new blood. Unfortunately as Donna opined it means a New Barbados.


    • There is a reality, there is a retiring class of businessmen who feel no obligation to sell to locals or local consortium. Maybe this is why we need to bring in new blood.
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      Boss…You REALLY need to confer more with the original David….

      Like Walter Blackman, you seem now resigned to the inevitable brassbowlery that Bushie has preached now for a decade.

      What happened to your much vaunted optimism bozie?

      These local white people leveraged their ill-gotten wealth from the plantation era, and then managed to bribe, cajole, and browbeat our ‘Judas-like’ politicians to hand them the keys to our treasury – with tax relief, VAT forgiveness (Stealing of VAT payments by citizens), non-payment of NIS dues, and by secret loop-sided contracts – designed to GUARANTEE them business success – ALL on the backs of taxpayers.

      Now that they are too old and too rich to enjoy the largess handed to them, they are choosing to sell out to foreigners who have no interests in us – beyond our value as easy profit targets.

      ..and this is your response? …’it is a reality’? …no outrage?

      Well well!!

      You will find out that the ’New blood’ that is coming are even worse than the old plantocracy elite – but more refined and more mercenary.


    • Wait Bushie. On the one hand, the whites could only run distribution companies (you have a good term for the practice) and now one of these distribution firms, which operates in 30+ countries, became a “key National asset”?
      Not stinking Northern, no investment, so I could not get accused of exploiting a soul. I’ll let my fellow Canucks and Trini’s do that.

  35. Yolande Grant - African Online Publishment Copyright (c) 2023. All Rights Reserved.. on said:

    “Even BU is somewhat guilty of this… though to a lesser extent than most.”

    My point exactly…you have well informed minds like Pacha’s…who does phenomenal research with much to contribute, lots to offer, am sure if given the chance and not attacked and abused, William and others, not me, cant stand wunna shite and have no interest, but others can be equally useful with what’s approaching….but no, still reading the same regurgitated shite as a solution, sans anything progressive from over 50 YEARS AGO….and we are in 2023..

    “In Singapore, at LEAST 200 of those F%$#^rs would have been executed, and our NATIONAL treasury would have been in the BLACK – just like Singapore’s ….

    Chalk and Cheese Boss!!!”

    FORTHWITH…that is what we should be calling for they and their bribemasters PUBLIC executions, instead of digging up gonowhere mouthings of the LONG DEAD from over half century ago….when exposure is inevitable…each and everytime, the same MO…cover up….

    Bushman…they dont even listen to you, as a BU elder…but got talk for me….and can never remember when they are running that decades old scam…my memory still works….and i doan do coverups.


  36. More importantly, your puppet minion governments are not in control, never have been, of anything other than facilitating oppression, exploitation, thefts, the dishing out of racis, apartheid and disenfranchisement of the majority…that’s why they join in, ..that’s the only roles they are allowed and relish….their power is only OVER YOU and ALL that’s NEGATIVE including capture..it will ALWAYS BE THAT WAY…something ya LYING deceitful politicians will never tell you.

    Did Barrow not tell you that you one day you will find out you dont own the island, well you dont, never did….at least to his credit he gave ya a headsup…so all the anti-other islanders idiots who believe that regional migration will take something from them, wuh dey cahn tek wuh yuh NEVER OWNED…

    if ya want to find out how and why, the dynamics and mechanics…do ya own research cause you NEVER listen to the people who do…and then put themselves in harms way to tell you….those are the ones you abuse and attack….now ya on ya own and stressed out…you put yourselves in that position, you had years of warnings and time to do otherwise. That’s why people like myself will now watch and never get involved any further. Can’t anymore anyway.

    Pacha..ya see am done, outside of the basics..

    On another note:

    “CDC quietly confirms at least 118 children and young adults have “died suddenly” in the US since the rollout of the covid vaccines”

    these people know they screwed up and have to pay out…hope the copycat minions in Barbados know they have to as well, and still get prosecuted down the line…….cause their clown doctors who are also looking at prosecution and even worse..were still pushing this death crime on children publicly as recently as January…


  37. “The trade-to-GDP ratio is an indicator of the relative importance of international trade in the economy of a country. It is calculated by dividing the aggregate value of imports and exports over a period by the gross domestic product for the same period. Although called a ratio, it is usually expressed as a percentage.”

    Singapore has a trade-to-GDP ratio of 320%, among the highest in the world.

    Barbados, like Singapore, was once a trading hub through which most trade from Europe to North America passed.

    It was never about sugar in the 17th/18th/19th centuries in the days of sail, it was all about trade. Milling capacity was capped by wind power limiting the output of sugar to miniscule amounts.

    Our nitwit historians got it wrong and in so doing have totally twisted up the thinking capacity of most Bajans. Understanding the economics of trade and the principle of conservation of energy was simply beyond the one trick ponies they are.

    Our politicians jumped on the bandwagon and their lack of understanding doomed Barbados.


    • The issue s not where Singapore is today, it is about the tenets of their success. What drive the transformation.


  38. Hope yall keeping up with the news about this….CBC or CMS or whoever they are these days….nationnews has an article..

    Doan even call my name…the 100 year old fraud ya wicked politicians perpetrated have finally caught up…keep belching out Singapore…did not happen in over half century, not about to happen ever.

    “Can you see? All the govérnments are being forced to do this. Never in history has so many countries had to conform to an agenda like this.”


  39. Yolande Grant – African Online Publishing Copyright (c) 2023. All Rights Reserved. on March 2, 2023 at 6:55 AM said:
    Rate This

    *Answer:

    Did Barrow not talk about this Singapore model since the 1960s, …

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    He never saw the pipe across the straits of Johore and assumed Singapore was doing it on its own.

    Even if he had xray specs or sonar to look underwater, his background was in law and he could never understand the technical aspects of what might have seen.

    You just have to watch the treatment of the limited water resources of Barbados to understand he and successive “leaders” did not have a clue and were no more than thieves.

    They promoted the building of houses which consumed most of the available water and got their cut without promoting the building of an economy which would sustain a country.

    Any housing development will have its associated politicians, the price in the early 60’s was $35,000 a pop, payable to the cashier of the DLP.

    The separation of talkers from reality has brought about the downfall of many.

    There comes a time when they have to do and whatever they attempt will be unsuccessful without some vision and understanding of how things work in the real world and not some contrived environment they prefer to concoct.

    Meritocracy, pragmatism and honesty are all swept under the carpet and ignored, hence the result we see in Barbados.

    Better see if there is any cheap oil to drill but even if there is, they will screw this up as well.


  40. Similarly, they dont understand how oil flows…

    “He never saw the pipe across the straits of Johore and assumed Singapore was doing it on its own.

    “Even if he had xray specs or sonar to look underwater, his background was in law and he could never understand the technical aspects of what might have seen.”

    Hindsight is always 20/20…they were never going to put technical experts in charge of the island, only whom they trained and can fulky control…the clueless to any masterful development…the paper degreed prideful and boastful…empty vessels..dont you see it’s still ongoing…without end….they will ALWAYS screw up everything…it’s their fate..


  41. I saw the best reason we need 185,000 new Bajans. I am wondering if I dream this stuff up or if I lost sanity for a few minutes. I am searching for the story because I want to provide you with the actual statement before I give it my spin. I can remember a number 2,500 or 25,000. The story is so sweet, I have to bowl before I get my hands on the ball. What a thing.

    Here is the reason
    “With our aging population, the number of people attending fetes are down. We need more people so that those holding fetes can make money”

    That will be a hell of a fete. I reckon we should be able to get at least 70,000 in attendance. Even if I’m 100, I want to be there.


  42. Please do not confuse this moniker with TheOGazerts.
    The similarity and juxtaposition of the letters do not make us friends or relatives.
    I do no now that fellow.

    Have a great Day Barbados


  43. Would it be an exaggeration to claim that Barbados has been led by a cartel of crooks since 1966. To be told that the country requires an increase in its population of between 80- 185,000 for the country’s self preservation, by 2035, is a scandal of the highest order; and should be greeted as a slap in the face to all black Barbadians.

    Do not let these crooks who have been “mis-governing” you since since 1966 get away with this. The buck stops with our leaders who have failed their people on a catastrophic scale.

    In London, close to London Bridge we have a museum called the London Dungeon. It highlights how torture was administered in medieval times. One can hear the terrible noises of someone been placed on a machine designed to stretch their limbs beyond their natural limits until they popped!. These contraptions are still in working order, but considered surplus to today’s requirements within the UK. Perhaps they could be exported to the Barbadian masses. I’m certain they would be able to find a need for them.

    Perhaps Mia will explain to her people how Barbados has found itself in the position that it needs to augment its population with tens of thousands of non-black foreigners. What role has she played in this disaster?


    • @TLSN

      How do you know if the influx will be non Black if it does occur? Let us not engage in scaremongering.


  44. William…something is about to pop…as usual, they managed to piss off sumbody….when they have for years thought i was the problem…although assured many times, i was not, still isn’t….they will now see and learn that people are not as stupid as they believe.

    They will see, i can sit, say nothing, and the momentum will hold….indefinitely.

    John…things dont look good…..unless the REAL powers that be send in their technical experts..i dont see why they wouldnt as it’s in their best interest to do so.

    .but these airheads cannot be relied on…they are failures….relying on crooked minorities who only look out for self…a go nowhere approach…that’s why the island looks so dilapidated, no matter how many millions in patchwork they throw at it…


  45. TLSN..it’s harsh…but at this time, the island can only sink lower and lower with these types of mindsets…something has to be done…they were useful to those who own them, for a time…but that was then….

    …it looks even worse for the majority who blindly rely on and believe in them…..


  46. Yolande Grant – African Online Publishing Copyright (c) 2023. All Rights Reserved. on March 2, 2023 at 10:04 AM said:
    Rate This

    William…something is about to pop …..

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    You may be right!!

    https://imgur.com/fxMkOKU


  47. Barbadians chat about becoming a Singapore when they should chat about becoming a better Barbados. Some initiatives to be more like Singapore can be achieved and taken in small steps. Rastas show how people should reason, the African roots is the route to success.


    • The reference to Singapore is how can we borrow from their success, in other words, a pragmatic approach. Comprehension please!


    • The problem is will Singapore’s success be Barbados success. Singapore is Singapore and Barbados is Barbados. Social objectives and cultures are different.Our solutions must speak to our needs and well-being.


    • @Vincent

      Of course not, the comparison to repeat is how do we borrow from policy measures there and elsewhere. In this case the idea that our governance system can be improved by holding prominent public officials accountable, expecting honesty to be a priority in transactions and meritocracy. Can’t we agree that these three characteristics should be given priority?


  48. Questions Questions
    No Answers
    We just bury the dead when they die
    So instead of making huge plans with huge steps
    Better to think how to structure your 24 hours
    and put a little bit of what you want to develop there
    inside that day
    because instead of huge steps
    what we are using as a method
    is continuity


  49. https://nielharper.com/blog/

    John…elections was only last year as someone brought to my attention, but everyone is on the campaign trail…and in election mode, holding meetings, they said the rush is because of a court case that has been adjourned 5 times showing that the government is illegitimate and which they can very well lose….that is why another election is being rushed through after 1 year…

    Hope that is not the reason we are distracted with the Singapore BS…everyone knows and is sharing information.

    Educate yourselves on the Neil Harper blog..am too busy to be bothered, gotta get back to my projects so can only drop in and out.


  50. Vincent Codrington
    on March 2, 2023 at 10:42 AM said:
    Rate This

    The problem is will Singapore’s success be Barbados success. Singapore is Singapore and Barbados is Barbados. Social objectives and cultures are different.Our solutions must speak to our needs and well-being.

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Agree.

    But given that Singapore and Barbados started their independence in about the same position and at about the same time, Singapore’s success highlights Barbados’ failure.

    Clearly, we had as someone said above, a cartel of crooks running the show.


  51. Isn’t it an insult to Barbadians for the same faces who led the country down the slippery slope to be reappearing once again to take back up the baton of leadership?

    The cartel has no shame whatsoever.


  52. Cant figure what’s happening with the BU lineup but it appears i put this the wrong place.

    “The failings of the EBC with regards to data minimisation, lack of data security, and transfers to inadequate jurisdictions opens them up to legal liability, possibly even a class action lawsuit, in the event that individual(s) experience significant harm or violations of their rights due to the EBC’s negligent actions.”

    One BU clown already believes he can use the EBCs incompetence to come after me, and think he is untouchable because of anonymity, but when am ready, the soft in the head will see..ah know yall idle and have very little to do outside making yaselves public nuisances…but there is a cure for you…in your ignorance, you wont stop until someone makes a prime example of you.


  53. I do not depend on men to explain anything in which they have no part. I state facts. You, on the other hand, ALWAYS come to BU BLAMING EVERYTHING ON WOMEN! This is a ridiculous position when discussing issues that OBVIOUSLY have to do with relationships between women and men.

    It takes TWO to tango!

    You mention some study, probably foreign, without bringing the details. And we all know that the devil is in the details.

    Your study may reveal the fact that educated women are focused on careers. Did your study answer the question of WHY?

    Obviously, there would be various reasons, because women are different. (Just in case you didn’t know.)

    Some women want the stimulation and satisfaction of utilising their abilities to their full extent. Some women want to maximise their earning potential and enjoy the material side of life. Some women just wish to be independent of the whims of men. Some believe they have something of value to contribute to society. Some wish to provide for any children that they may have and SOME WATCHED THEIR MOTHERS GET THEIR TAILS LICK IN BY MEN and determined that this wouldn’t happen to them.

    But YOU, you never even consider that at all!

    My anecdotal evidence is based on KNOWING many
    of the educated women in Barbados. This is a small society. And by KNOWING, I mean interacting with them on a deeper level than most men seem capable of doing. Women, in certain circumstances, can bare their souls! WOMEN talk about things other than cars and sports.

    I say to you that though many educated women may limit the number of children they have AND delay having them in order to pursue a career, they have not fundamentally changed in their desire for marriage and children. Their standards for what constitutes marriage material are higher.

    They demand more from their men and many refuse to settle.

    So… there is a part for men to play in increasing our birth rates. To suggest otherwise would be absurd… truly ignorant.


    • All I just read is me me me me. You proved my point. Selfish individualism.
      You really are misguided and fooled by this economy the capitalists created. The capitalists wanted women out of the house and working because it meant more spending. Initially it was manufacturing jobs and they were surprised how well it worked so they went further and created useless jobs and pseudo careers for women (re Marketing, Advertising, Customer service, HR, administration) and then sold you the lie that life is about happiness and feeling good and marriage is only about love. Throw in the easing of access to credit and the lowering of interest rates and we have our current situation, living my best life (really should be lie).
      But continue beating those independent drums, I know where it ends, just go look at South Korea and Japan where they have crisis of lonely childless women and a birth rate below 1.0. Men know how to be alone it is nothing new but never in human history have women been alone in old age, never.


  54. Donna on March 2, 2023 at 12:06 PM said:
    Rate This

    It takes TWO to tango!

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Not if one of the two is above a certain age.

    Simple fact of life.

    A woman has a certain appointed time to reproduce and the more that is put off the lower the birth rate will sink and men will have to turn to surrogacy if they want to reproduce.

    In which case it may take 3 or 4 to tango.


  55. Some are strong proponents of diversification but there are two sides to this coin

    Which side do you prefer:
    Given that all individuals are unique –
    A diversification that make more of them and less of you, or
    a diversification that makes more of you and less of them.

    My dear friend (554 😎), I know where you stand.


  56. John ….have you seen it yet, they thought they could SNEAK IN another election after just one year, trying to get away from the case before it starts and a decision is reached, hence adjournment after adjournment….5 in all so far and the case cant start…. cause according to the experts, they are very likely to lose at the CCJ level…

    But ya see how many other cases in their interest they managed to push through…

    Sleight of hand, slick tricks, think they can spring another surprise election on the people…what Singapore what..that one is getting uglier each time it’s used as a trojan horse…..they really do need a new script…

    Let’s see them try to bamboozle the people this time and lose, or wait for the case to actually start and finish..


  57. Bushman….the only solution to save the island seems to be to import a majority white population that wild negros will be too afraid to disrespect like they do the Afrikan population, but, then that will be the end of black leadership..in just a matter of years.

    ..especially if ya get that same number they are seeking from Ukraine…the way that war is going those people will need to get out eventually if there is no end in sight…. Europe is already balking at taking care of them or taking in anymore. US is taking in plenty.

    Maybe Pacha can expound on that..

    Population of Ukraine…44.62 million.

    .they will definitely then get the population numbers they seek…..want to see them saying no to that…..everything is now so fluid, anything is possible.

    ……small politicians…dey dog then dead..dem useless anyways…not a fella will miss them…just bear in mind, dependent beggars and borrowers have no power and even less say.


  58. Yolande Grant – African Online Publishing Copyright (c) 2023. All Rights Reserved. on March 2, 2023 at 5:15 PM said:
    Rate This

    Bushman….the only solution to save the island seems to be to import a majority white population that wild negros will be too afraid to disrespect like they do the Afrikan population, but, then that will be the end of black leadership..in just a matter of years.

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    The island isn’t going anywhere!!

    The question is, Save the island for whom?

    With a birthrate under 2.1, local Bajans will eventually die out.

    The island will then be up for grabs!!

    I suspect the grabbing been done already!!

    Another option is to import some women under 30 and leave it to the Bajan men to repopulate the island.

    Only thing is we will have to compete with China which is in the market for nuff nuff women.


  59. I am sure Bajan men of all ages in Canada and elsewhere would flock back to Barbados and offer their services if they got to know of the island’s dire problems.


  60. One of the Benefits of Slavery and Immigration is it has distributed or brought Black people all around the world which nice up the dance musically speaking. Rasta brethren are better than white boys and girls.


  61. Hosea 8:7
    King James Version
    7 For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk; the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Here’s what will probably happen with Barbados.

    “Strangers shall swallow it up”.

    We made bad choices after independence.

    We and the “cartel of crooks” sowed the wind.

    We did not have to follow the post independence “cartel of crooks” blindly.

    But we did.


  62. “They” tried to ban this freedom speech against the most fundamental principle and right of freedom of speech
    Therefore the BU posse will have to read and memorise this text for homework
    You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God.

    https://speakola.com/political/marcus-garvey-look-for-me-in-the-whirlwind-1924


  63. “Only thing is we will have to compete with China which is in the market for nuff nuff women.”

    So now we are a commodity…

    “The question is, Save the island for whom?”

    Do you really need to ask….these false title holders dont have what it takes to pull the island or people out of what they created for them…the trickle down effect from removing (tiefing) billions of dollars from circulation in the economy over a 40 YEAR period has started…the people not able to afford burying their dead is a tell…and they should NEVER bring innocent children into the social mess that they visited on Barbados when they had options to do much better but chose the path of corruption for self gain…instead.

    And if there is anyone else out there, they have always been there, but everyone knew and kept their mouths tightly shut…culpable.

    I like where they are at in this moment…no court case processed..lose the election…court case processed…LOSE THE CASE…rock and hard place.
    .
    Kiki…from i found out what they did to both Marcus Garvey, in 1920 and Clement Payne in 1937, Kwame Ture and others in the 1970a right in Barbados.. to keep this horrifying system of self loathing alive and in place to trap their people…they have all been placed on my permanent shitlist..

    Let Karma and Retribution stalk them forever i say..


  64. “But continue beating those independent drums, I know where it ends”

    Different Drum / The Stone Poneys
    You and I travel to the beat of a different drum
    Oh, can’t you tell by the way I run
    Every time you make eyes at me? Whoa
    You cry and moan and say it will work out
    But honey child I’ve got my doubts
    You can’t see the forest for the trees

    So, don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I knock it
    It’s just that I am not in the market
    For a boy who wants to love only me
    Yes, and I ain’t sayin’ you ain’t pretty
    All I’m saying’s I’m not ready for any person
    Place or thing to try and pull the reins in on me, so

    Goodbye, I’ll be leavin’
    I see no sense in this cryin’ and grievin’
    We’ll both live a lot longer if you live without me


  65. Lol, I knew this topic would bring forth intellectually bankrupt and xenophobic posters. Instead of reading the entire draft proposal and making constructive recommendations most on here choose to regurgitate tired rhetoric from online neo-Nazis.


  66. You can not make up this stuff! Barbados is now looking to import foreign bees in order to grow its apiculture industry.

    “Foreign bees needed to grow local apiculture industry
    Barbados may have to explore the option of importing bees if it wants to expand the apiculture industry.
    Senior Agricultural Officer Bret Taylor, speaking during the Estimates debates in the Lower House on Friday, said because local bees are aggressive, there may be a need to “bring in foreign bees”.
    “We may need to bring in queens that are not as aggressive and that are high producers here into Barbados, and that would be a factor as to how we go about it [increasing the bee population],” he said.
    Another key to expanding the industry, he said, is getting more people involved.
    According to Taylor, Barbados currently has approximately 738 hives being managed by 81 active beekeepers.
    “Only a few of those 81 beekeepers actually do it full time. There is one beekeeper who probably has about 200 hives himself, so the rest of the hives are spread across the 80 or so beekeepers that we have in the island,” he pointed out.
    Taylor said that while the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has trained approximately 366 persons over the past four years in beekeeping, the majority of them are not putting what they learned to use.
    He said 45 of those trainees were provided with complete beekeeping kits, but only 14 are active.
    “So there has been a slow uptake in apiculture. There have been challenges to persons who have done it. During that time we had Hurricane Elsa, we had the ash fall, we had even periods of drought, and then last year we had periods where we had lots of rain. Some of these factors affect the rearing of bees and production of honey,” Taylor explained.
    Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Indar Weir agreed with Taylor that Barbados need “to source bees in order for us to get to the scale that we need to get to”.
    Meanwhile, Chief Agricultural Officer Keeley Holder said that while Barbados is now developing the industry, other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries have been working to grow their apiculture sector.
    She said Guyana’s honey is now on supermarket shelves in Barbados while Grenada has won gold at the World Honey Show in the past.
    Holder said the Ministry has been working with the Apiculture Association of Barbados which has already identified forages for bees.
    “But to really start to push forward the apiculture industry, we need to be able to classify which of those are better for pollen, which are better for nectar, because then that informs the farmers who are getting into beekeeping, those who have land, which types of forages to plant, so that they can then increase the amount of forage that is available for the bees.
    “Additionally, as Mr Taylor indicated, there has been some indication that the bees that we have here are not the European bee so that has implications as well. The European honey bee would tend to have a hive of 50 000 to 60 000 bees. Bees that are more Africanized would tend to be about 10 000 to 12 000 in a hive,” she said.
    The Chief Agricultural Officer said last weekend the Ministry engaged members of the Apiculture Association of Barbados in discussions regarding beekeeping management and other challenges affecting the sector.”
    (AH) (Barbados Today)


  67. Who says that I am misguided? Some old fart with his brain in 1823? Whose needs matter in this society? Only those of men?

    I suggest that you are the one who is misguided, one-sided and in my case, totally derided!

    Who cares if capitalists wanted women working if women wanted to work? Are you suggesting that women do not know their own minds?

    Even my grandmother questioned why she was not sent to secondary school when her brother was sent to Combermere. My grandmother would have 104 years old, had she lived. NOBODY taught her that! It was just what she WANTED!

    And here was the answer given,
    “Your brother is going to get married and have a maid. You are going to get married and BE a maid.”

    Have you ever been confined to a house all day, cooking, cleaning, washing, ironing? It is not at all stimulating for many women and can be lonely too.

    There are solutions to the problem without confining women to what brings them little or no satisfaction! You just do not wish to consider them.

    Women deserve to self-actualise! No old fart has the right to tell them otherwise while he goes off to self-actualise!

    Be off do!


  68. The solution to the population problem, according to some old fart, is for women to retreat from the positions afforded to them by virtue of their education and allow all positions of power to be occupied by men….AGAIN!

    And what do you think would happen then?

    Well…men would promptly return us to a time when women had no damn say in any damn thing.

    Barefoot and pregnant, waiting hand and foot on some igrunt man that claims everything is his because he is bringing in the money. And say one word in dissent and yuh would get yuh ass bust.

    And don’t bother calling the police because they would say it is a private matter between a man and his wife!

    We’ve been there and done that! Perish the thought!


    • Managed migration policy’ answer to population decline

      By Tony Best Barbados needs a carefully planned and managed migration strategy which pays attention to the needs and rights of women, while serving as a road map to continued upward economic and social mobility for everyone.
      The recommendation is coming from George Griffith, a population and family planning specialist who is also a social development advocate and consultant. He said this was critical as the country seeks to implement a policy aimed at reversing the decline in its population.
      He told the Sunday Sun that as the fertility rate remains at two children per woman, a figure below replacement level, Barbados should consider embracing a “managed migration policy” which keeps the doors open to families, and offers access to abortions, ready availability to high-quality and affordable antenatal and gynaecological services, effective health and education programmes delivered in a clientfriendly atmosphere, upgraded diversified birthing facilities, expanded day care and nursery school facilities, as well as providing special tax allowances to parents.
      Specifically, it should seek to attract highly-skilled, carefully-chosen and highly-motivated foreign individuals who can provide the country with the human resources it needs to propel development.
      “Reversing the falling population growth rate is not insurmountable,” insisted Griffith, a former Barbados consul general in New York. “The approach requires a high level of knowledge, skills and experience which are readily available to any government or society which is genuinely serious about committing to this delicate task. Women in Barbados, with their education, quality of life and opportunities, are not generally in the mood to have more than two children in the family. So what’s required is a comprehensive and compelling range of incentives that deal with bread-and-butter issues like education and health care for everyone.”
      Abortion services
      The package he proposes will include ready access to abortion services.
      “Long gone are the days when women were seen as passive bystanders in the reproductive process and were forced to endure pregnancies
      and child birth not because they wanted to, but because it was either considered good for the viability of the plantation or someone’s sexual gratification,” added Griffith, a retired former chief executive officer of the Barbados Family Planning Association.
      His comments come at a time when the Barbados Population Commission, headed by Roberta Clarke, recently unveiled its draft population policy that is accessible on the Barbados Government Information Service’s
      website.
      Among Griffith’s recommendations were:
      • Women must be able to decide how many children they want and when.
      • Education and access to services were inexplicably linked when it came to setting population goals, and articulating individual rights and privileges, especially for women.
      • Managed migration was one of the best answers to Barbados’ population questions, “given the (current) circumstances”.
      • Employment, housing and education for children, plus effective health services, must underpin the population strategy.
      • Barbados must be very selective about the people to whom it opens the immigration door.
      • The country wants people with skills, not drifters and others who are unable to contribute to its development.
      • The policy will be aimed at people with the “right attitudes” to work and resettlement.
      • Settlements must include rural and urban areas.
      Interestingly, as the Population Commission’s chairperson sees it, the first responsibility must be to people already in the country.
      “In relation to managing migration, we are saying that the first responsibility is to take care of those who are already here now, but that may require us to bring in people to help take care of those who are here now,” Clarke was quoted as saying. She was careful to insist that those who were entering Barbados would fill “unmet
      needs, not take away jobs”.
      With one of the lowest population growth rates in CARICOM but the highest United Nations human development ranking in the Caribbean, Barbados is viewed as a desirable place in which to live and raise children. Indeed, it is sometimes called the “Singapore of the Caribbean”, meaning that its pattern of economic and social development came closest to the successes of the Commonwealth member state in Asia.
      According to the draft population strategy, Barbados’ total population expanded by 24 per cent in the past 60 years. Since 1960 its birth and fertility rates fell below replacement levels. Offsetting that decline was a modest rise in immigration levels alongside a decline in outward migration of Barbadians.
      If Barbados’ fertility rate had remained steady at 2.1 children per woman in 2020, the population would have reached 360 000 and be on course to grow to an estimated 400 000 by 2050, according to experts.
      “It is clear that Barbadians don’t measure their country’s success by looking at how its Caribbean neighbours have done, but by what is taking place in the developed world,” Griffith said.

      Source: Nation


  69. Population Commission holds second town hall

    The draft Barbados Population Policy is aimed at combatting the declining population rate and the aging workforce through managed migration and the extension of the categories of persons able to apply for citizenship.
    The National Population Commission held its second town hall meeting at the Princess Margaret School, Six Roads, St Philip on Wednesday to consult the public on the strategies to be implemented and to address any lingering concerns.
    Chair of the National Population Commission (NPC), Roberta Clarke, said the policy would address several topical issues including social protection, gender equality and the care economy through child benefit subsidies, high-quality and accessible child care, affordable fertility treatments and support and benefits for caregivers.
    Some of the main findings from the data also suggested that the number of youth in the labour force had declined by almost 50 per cent. She added at present the rate of youth not in employment, education or training was approximately 18 per cent.
    Support to peers
    She said provisions would be made to encourage young people to provide more support to their peers who were either unemployed or not in training or
    educational institutions.
    “We are also talking about what we should do for Barbadians and non-nationals who are already here now so that they have a better chance of attaining their personal development goals. . . so we also made some recommendations about how you can support young people to get them into training, to get them back into education, to get them contributing to their communities,” she said.
    Clarke said the policy also called for educational reform in an effort to develop life skills like critical thinking and emotional intelligence.
    Measures would also be implemented to retain and repatriate Barbadians and to entice skilled persons to move into the country and reverse brain drain.
    Member of the NPC, Janelle Scantlebury-Mounsey, agreed that managed migration was another critical step to mitigating the issues of a declining population, adding that it was important to identify the gaps in the labour market and target those persons with the capacity to fill them.
    Areas needed
    “We would have had in our stakeholder consultations, members from the Ministry of Labour and through their research they would have identified the areas
    that they had seen that we need in Barbados persons coming in to fill those gaps,” she explained.
    Commissioner of the National Population Commission, Dr Yolanda Alleyne also addressed the issue of population redistribution.
    Alleyne said there would be a need for a revision of housing and urban centres to account for the placement of major development facilities in residential areas and the management of issues such as waste and water scarcity.
    Barbadians will also have until March 31 to submit their comments online. ( JK)

    Source: Nation


    • Nation Editorial
      Well managed immigration policy needed
      Immigration, once ranked alongside tourism, sugar, foreign investment and offshore financial services as key pillars of Barbados’ economic growth, seems poised to return to the top tier of national priorities.
      But much will depend on if Government’s current thrust of reaching out aggressively to the Bajan diaspora succeeds. If implemented effectively and support is gained from nationals at home and abroad, it can make a substantial and positive difference to national development.
      In the decades following World War II and after Barbados’ independence in the 1960s, our immigration goal was straightforward: exporting unskilled but ambitious Barbadian labour to several of the world’s major metropolitan centres of Britain, United States and Canada.
      Designed to ease the island’s dense population rate and to accelerate the pace of remittances to families back home, the approach worked, enabling Bajans to emigrate so they could acquire highly honed skills, secure a sound education, buy real estate and other assets. That was until immigration regulations of their newly adopted countries changed radically.
      Today’s new immigration policy goal is different.
      It seeks to attract many Barbadians who had left earlier to return home and put their mountain of education, experience and human resources to their birthplace’s benefit. It also seeks to help them make sound financial investments “in the rock”.
      In addition, for those who have little interest in leaving their adopted lands, they can take advantage of opportunities by putting some of their disposable income into Barbados investments at “home”. Government bonds are a good example.
      An important factor is Barbados’ declining population, a problem identified by the country’s Population Commission headed by Roberta Clarke.
      As the commission and Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley explained recently, the population growth rate had fallen below the replacement level, a fact of life which, if not reversed, could hurt the country’s labour market needs and the needs of the National Insurance Scheme.
      However, Government isn’t thinking simply of luring people back home. It wants some overseas Barbadians with little interest in
      relocating to their birthplace to invest in Barbados bonds or by opening foreign exchange accounts that add resources to its foreign reserves.
      The bonds’ appeal can be traced to their competitive rates of return when compared with those of bank saving accounts interest rates in North America. They allow for easy access to people’s money.
      The emerging policy being articulated by the Prime Minister and the country’s diplomatic corps considers the diaspora as an important and valuable reservoir of human and financial resources that are urgently needed to help advance growth in the republic.
      Clearly, what Barbados needs is a well designed and managed immigration policy that taps into the diaspora while at the same time opening the immigration door even more to those interested in living in the world’s newest republic or contributing to its development We await the proposed new immigration bill which will no doubt be properly scrutinised by the public.


      Source: Nation


  70. There are three active post on BU which appear to be separate items, but they are really several ends of a twisted ball of twine that make up what we know as Barbados.

    The above article mentions the diaspora returning/investing in Barbados; the second article mentions Dale Marshall (Version2*) to “examine the criminal justice system” and the third article is the BAR Association Refutation of Version2’s claim that they are no lawyers’ complaints on Judicial delays.

    *Why Version2? Every new law or guidance propose by the AG has to be amended

    The three posts above will allow me to make a point that I have been trying to make for some time.

    The young diaspora,
    I have never discussed Barbados with my son, but from an early age he saw Barbados and Trinidad as just places for vacationing. I cannot tell you what is his current opinion , but I doubt that he sees Barbados as a viable alternative to his current domicile.

    Of course, there will be youngsters who would prefer to return to Barbados, but I suspect that most young men/women who have achieved a high standard of living/success elsewhere would not jump at the opportunity of return and live in Barbados. Don’t confuse a welcome stamper with young people of Bajan heritage.

    I suspect that young dark-skinned Bajans from the Diaspora would not be fully welcomed/respected in Barbados. Those of us without contacts or connections will not be encouraging our children to return and live there unless we are certain that they can exist independently (not dependent on cronyism, friends or some politicians).

    The old diaspora
    We read daily of folks from the diaspora being robbed by various citizens and lawyers in Barbados. To work hard and then return home and be robbed is not a pleasant future. I have already stated that folks from the diaspora are seen as prey by some segments of the society.

    We hear the talk of the Version2 and we see the words of the BAR Association, but when we look at decades of inaction/deception/excuses/lies we are fully aware that we are targeted. Their words have never matched their actions.

    Most folks in the diaspora will keep their pennies outside of Barbados, unless they are convinced that they will be protected from some segments of the society.

    The itemization of these issues shows that locals have fail to grasp the complexity of the ball of twine. Whilst they will pick at an end here and there, some of us are contented to sit on the sidelines, to watch and to comment

    Cute sounding phrases and initiatives always followed by inaction makes us wary of our ‘brothers and sisters’.


  71. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me.

    Not a B thing or a D thing. It’s we thing.

    It is sheer folly to believe that you can run the same con game over and over, as at some stage some victims will realize what is happening and refuse to continue to participate in the game.

    What is distressing is when the fraudsters believe that they can sweeten the notes and pull off the con game once again. Those who refuse to listen or participate will be seen as less than patriotic. Keep the phrase “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.” to the front of your mind and do not let others bully you or let insinuations of a lack of patriotism blind you to the wickedness that is being perpetrated. Keep this in mind as you see the sweet talk, new initiatives and fancy footwork.


  72. My last post for today. This post was generate by the comment “Who cares what the US thinks?”

    Barbados
    Some of us only remember this part of the phrase “My country, right or wrong”. But the whole phrase is “My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right.” It should be goal of every Barbadian to set it right and keep it right.

    We hide behind a set of meaningless phrases. We claim the we punch above our weight even when we see that others in our weight class are now punching just as hard as we do or even harder than we do.

    When a wrong is observed and cannot be denied we go to great efforts to point out the same wrong is also happening elsewhere. Do we believe that two wrongs makes it right?

    We would willingly accept praise from the US, but if a US report contains the slightest trace of a negative comment about Barbados, we will point out how bad and how wrong the US often is.

    We have good laws and processes, but we often do not enforce these laws.

    We have a two- or three- tier system of justice. The worst tier being the justice give to those who are poor, sick or victimized by the legal powers that be.

    We announce new processes/initiatives to fix old problems, but what we are doing is polishing up an old problem and making it a new one. We do not fix anything. We are well practiced at kicking the can down the road; it is something that we are good at.

    We automatically elevate our leaders to genius level. The product of their efforts may not be at that the level, but no dares says “the queen/king has no clothes”.

    It is simply amazing that we continue to exist in the face of so many issues. Surely, there must come a day of reckoning.

    Our motto: “Never put off till tomorrow what may be done day after tomorrow just as well.”
    ― Mark Twain
    ———————————————-xxx——————
    Have a great day Barbados.

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