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Just beyond your imagination?

Submitted by Paula Sealy In his column in the 14 April 2017 edition of the Daily Nation column, Clyde Mascoll begins paragraph 6 as follows: “The tax policy of the Government is a perfect example of arbitrariness.” The fiscal policy decision to raise VAT from 15% to 17.5% has been maintained despite the BLP 2018…

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Submitted by Paula Sealy

In his column in the 14 April 2017 edition of the Daily Nation column, Clyde Mascoll begins paragraph 6 as follows: “The tax policy of the Government is a perfect example of arbitrariness.”

The fiscal policy decision to raise VAT from 15% to 17.5% has been maintained despite the BLP 2018 manifesto ‘pledge’ on page to return VAT to 15% within 18 months. The 25% withholding tax on Registered Retirement Saving Plans (RRSP) has been retained and Mascoll has also been retained in a prominent role as an economic advisor in the Mottley administration.

See Related: VAT Online Transactions

Now Barbadians feel the weight of the fuel tax at the pump, the Garbage and Sewage Contribution (GSC) whether or not their homes are connected to the sewage system, the Amazon tax and the online tax on foreign currency transactions. Is there any difference between being assaulted by thugs in red or thugs in blue?

Assault is assault even if you are colour blind.

69 responses to “Just beyond your imagination?”

  1. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Ask Patsy.

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2023/03/31/bajan-ai-assistant-under-development/

  2. Mercy Avatar
    Mercy

    “It’s certainly comes as no surprise, but expected…and reinforces the point that wannabes should NEVER be anywhere the seats of any kind of power, not even to oversee wild animals…”

    Slaves were treated like animals
    bred like animals
    and like dogs were taught to obey masters
    justification was they were ‘inferior and animal-like’

  3. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    @Hants
    Bajan Patsy?
    Here’s my suggestion “Sousy” she knows evathing

  4. Yolande Grant - African Online Publishing Copyright (c) 2023. All Rights Reserved. Avatar
    Yolande Grant – African Online Publishing Copyright (c) 2023. All Rights Reserved.

    Hants..ah see they up in Canada BEGGING dasporans to invest in the island…same people they mistreated for OVER half century and acted like their remittances that keeps money circulating on the island means nothing…now dog returns to their vomitus…same people they treated as they though they dont belong even going so far, some lightheaded birdbrains, as to say they should not be able to vote or have any say just because they send remittances.

    one person told them straight up, dont buy any useless RoB/Junk bonds..

    ..ah take it the reparations scam hit a roadblock….3 o’clock.

  5. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    According to Eliezer Yudkowsky…
    “….If we go ahead on this, everyone will die, including children who did not choose this and did not do anything wrong.”
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    – If it ain’t AI
    – it will be some super virus
    – the shiite covid19 ‘vaccine’ they made BBs take..
    – killer robots,
    – nuclear war
    – economic collapse and famine
    – global warming and climate collapse
    .. just everyday brassbowlery.
    ….or all of the above.

    Which is why it was written…
    “except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

  6. Yolande Grant - African Online Publishing Copyright (c) 2023. All Rights Reserved. Avatar
    Yolande Grant – African Online Publishing Copyright (c) 2023. All Rights Reserved.

    Yep Bushman…ya got quite the terminator-type selection..

  7. Yolande Grant - African Online Publishing Copyright (c) 2023. A Rights Reserved. Avatar
    Yolande Grant – African Online Publishing Copyright (c) 2023. A Rights Reserved.

    But….those who have ZERO morals, ethics or integrity, and their limited intellect hateful followers and supporters, made in their toxic image, are not complaining ….yet….they are obviously in waiting mode, still waiting to see what crumbs they can pick up from the dangerous operations of thieves and liars.

    …..although there is a shift….so weee dont see how dependants, borrowers and begmeisters are going to profit from their evil people targeted crimes, going forward…there is likely to be no crumbs at all for white world dummies….dem gine starve…and certainly wont be able to support the lifestyles of pretense to which they have become overly dependent to push more fraud..

    The 100-year-old criminal enterprise is now floundering, they just dont know it yet….gine down mode…guh down, guh down.

    What a house of cards..now tumbling….what a high level self-exposure of pretenders….the wannabes.

    They never learned how to just be themselves…a social deficit…always overreaching to be somebody else.

  8. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2187825731641

  9. David Avatar
    David

    Steupse

  10. David Avatar
    David

    $4M WITHDRAWN

    Credit union sues social media commentator over Facebook post
    By Maria Bradshaw
    mariabradshaw@nationnnews.com

    The Barbados Public Workers Credit Union Ltd (BPWCCUL) has admitted in court documents that millions of dollars were withdrawn by members earlier this year following a public rant about the credit union by social commentator, Patrick King.
    In a defamation lawsuit filed against King in February, the BPWCCUL and its subsidiary, Capita Financial Services Inc., claim collectively that monies totalling $4 191 421 representing financial investments were withdrawn by clients.
    The BPWCCUL is the largest credit union in Barbados with a membership of 108 427 and assets of $1.7 billion.
    In the lawsuit, the credit union and Capita charge that King made certain defamatory statements about them on his Facebook page on January 5 and January 10, respectively, as well as a circulated voice note on WhatsApp.
    The credit union charged: “Between the publication of the defamatory words (January 5) and January 13, 2023, 17 members indicated that, as a result of the defamatory words, they wished to either withdraw or reduce their investment in the first claimant (BPWCCUL).
    “When counting only the withdrawals of those members who expressly confirmed that the reason for their withdrawal was to reduce their exposure in light of the defamatory words, as at January 13, 2023, One million, six hundred and thirty thousand, five hundred and twenty four
    dollars and 16 cents ($1 636 524.16) was withdrawn by members of the first claimant as a result of the defamatory words.
    “These withdrawals occurred within the space of seven days,” the claimant stated adding: “It is verily believed that further, substantial withdrawals are likely to continue to occur as a result of the defamatory words.”
    In respect of CAPITA, the lawsuit further noted that between the publication of the defamatory words, (January 13) and January 26, 2023: “Two million, five hundred and fifty four thousand, eight hundred and ninety seven dollars and 54 cents ($2 554 897.64) was withdrawn from members of the second claimant who indicated some level of fear of volatility as the reason for their withdrawal.”
    Group Chief Executive Officer, Glyne Harrison,
    in a sworn affidavit, expressed the belief: “That there have been further withdrawals by members as a result of the defamatory words, although they may not have specified the defamatory words as the reason for their doing so,” adding: “I verily believe that further, substantial withdrawals are likely to continue to occur as a result of the defamatory words.”
    Pointing out that the BPWCCCUL and Capita “are both solvent, financially sound and stable,” the financial institutions charged that the words had done serious harm to their reputation.”
    They are seeking damages including aggravated damages for defamation and/or malicious falsehood; an injunction to restrain
    King from further publishing or causing to be published the same or any similar defamatory matter concerning the claimants and an order compelling him to permanently delete and remove the postings.
    King regularly posts matters of a social nature on his social media pages.
    Earlier this year the BPWCCUL and CAPITA found themselves under public scrutiny when it was reported that Capita was fined $18 500 by the Central Bank for failing to submit its audited financial statements on time.
    The Sunday Sun tried to contact Harrison on this matter but up to press time there was no response.

    Source: Nation

  11. David Avatar
    David

    Whither the economy, society
    By Anthony Wood

    The debates on the 2023-2024 Estimates and the Budget have given citizens little optimism about the future of the Barbadian economy and society.
    The exercises provided no clear path to growth in the economy and insufficient strategies to deal effectively with problems plaguing the society like high food prices and high cost of living generally, worrying levels of dispossession and poverty, lack of employment opportunities especially for the youth, and dysfunctional families and communities. Also, the constraints to the functioning of the economy were not articulated in the Budget.
    However, one point emerging clearly from the debates is the Government’s intention to continue its policy of excessive borrowing even with the second Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme, which has a stabilisation focus. Indeed, the present international economic environment of uncertainty and inflation demands moderation in government spending with the BERT programme.
    The Estimates for 2023-2024 yielded a deficit of $844 million. When combined with the new expenditure commitments from the Budget, negotiated wages settlement for public officers, increase in the value threshold for payment of land tax to $300 000 and unspecified project loans, the borrowing requirement of the Government for the next financial year will easily exceed $1 billion.
    This level of borrowing will exacerbate the current high-debt situation, which, if allowed to continue without a marked improvement in macroeconomic performance, will undoubtedly place constraints on the country’s prospects for social and economic development.
    There needs to be a reset in the management of the social and economic affairs of Barbados. A few key objectives should be pursued. First, the export earning capacity of the country needs to be improved in order to generate higher
    levels of foreign exchange on a sustained basis and reduce the country’s dependence on foreign borrowing. As a small open economy, the country needs to boost its national capacity to import (that is, its ability to import using current export earnings).
    Cause for serious concern
    The value of exports declined from $535 million in 2013 to $502 million in 2022. Conversely, the value of imports increased from $3.5 billion in 2013 to $4.3 billion in 2022. Thus, the trade deficit increased from $2.965 billion in 2013 to $3.798 billion in 2022. This situation should be a cause for serious concern among the policymakers.
    While the second programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) affords certain benefits like access to reasonably priced finance and loans from other multilateral financial institutions, the social cost of the arrangement with the IMF should not be overlooked.
    Inescapable austerity measures in the second BERT programme, including retrenchment of some workers in the state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and reforming the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and public sector pension arrangements, will have undesirable social implications.
    Thus, there must be a deliberate effort to move the economy out of its stabilisation mode and bring closure to the country’s relationship with the IMF after the second BERT programme. We must once again demonstrate our ability to manage our economic affairs without the direct influence of institutions like the IMF.
    Second, in examining the state of society, the fact that Barbados has slipped in the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index and Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index should be concerning to the policymakers and citizens.
    The slippage in the Human Development Index ranking indicates that urgent action is required to
    improve income levels and social conditions of the more vulnerable families in the country. The worsening in the Corruption Perception Index indicates that attention should be paid to strengthen the governance structures at the national level.
    Third, in the pursuit of growth in the financiallyconstrained environment and the imperative to address the impaired social conditions, there should be a deliberate economic enfranchisement policy. This necessity needs to move beyond the realm of rhetoric, and concrete policy action is required to involve more small and medium-sized businesses in meaningful, financially rewarding contracts with the Government.
    Fourth, a re-examination of the role (and worth) of institutions such as trade unions, churches, community groups, non-governmental organisations, and families is required in order to reposition them to make meaningful contributions in the next phase of the country’s development. These institutions were once strong pillars of national development but for varying reasons have lost their influence in the process of nation building. It is vitally important that this trend is reversed, and there is a collective effort to ensure that these institutions become spheres of positive influence once again.
    While we expect the Government to provide effective leadership to drive social and economic progress, the task requires the commitment and participation of the wider Barbadian society. We are reminded that economic development is basically a national enterprise, and it starts in the hearts and souls of those who aspire to greater mastery of their own destiny.
    Anthony Wood is a former minister of agriculture in a previous Barbados Labour Party administration, as well as former chairman of the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation. The above article was submitted as a letter to the Editor.


    Source: Nation

  12. David Avatar
    David

    Whither the economy, society
    By Anthony Wood

    The debates on the 2023-2024 Estimates and the Budget have given citizens little optimism about the future of the Barbadian economy and society.
    The exercises provided no clear path to growth in the economy and insufficient strategies to deal effectively with problems plaguing the society like high food prices and high cost of living generally, worrying levels of dispossession and poverty, lack of employment opportunities especially for the youth, and dysfunctional families and communities. Also, the constraints to the functioning of the economy were not articulated in the Budget.
    However, one point emerging clearly from the debates is the Government’s intention to continue its policy of excessive borrowing even with the second Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme, which has a stabilisation focus. Indeed, the present international economic environment of uncertainty and inflation demands moderation in government spending with the BERT programme.
    The Estimates for 2023-2024 yielded a deficit of $844 million. When combined with the new expenditure commitments from the Budget, negotiated wages settlement for public officers, increase in the value threshold for payment of land tax to $300 000 and unspecified project loans, the borrowing requirement of the Government for the next financial year will easily exceed $1 billion.
    This level of borrowing will exacerbate the current high-debt situation, which, if allowed to continue without a marked improvement in macroeconomic performance, will undoubtedly place constraints on the country’s prospects for social and economic development.
    There needs to be a reset in the management of the social and economic affairs of Barbados. A few key objectives should be pursued. First, the export earning capacity of the country needs to be improved in order to generate higher
    levels of foreign exchange on a sustained basis and reduce the country’s dependence on foreign borrowing. As a small open economy, the country needs to boost its national capacity to import (that is, its ability to import using current export earnings).
    Cause for serious concern
    The value of exports declined from $535 million in 2013 to $502 million in 2022. Conversely, the value of imports increased from $3.5 billion in 2013 to $4.3 billion in 2022. Thus, the trade deficit increased from $2.965 billion in 2013 to $3.798 billion in 2022. This situation should be a cause for serious concern among the policymakers.
    While the second programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) affords certain benefits like access to reasonably priced finance and loans from other multilateral financial institutions, the social cost of the arrangement with the IMF should not be overlooked.
    Inescapable austerity measures in the second BERT programme, including retrenchment of some workers in the state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and reforming the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and public sector pension arrangements, will have undesirable social implications.
    Thus, there must be a deliberate effort to move the economy out of its stabilisation mode and bring closure to the country’s relationship with the IMF after the second BERT programme. We must once again demonstrate our ability to manage our economic affairs without the direct influence of institutions like the IMF.
    Second, in examining the state of society, the fact that Barbados has slipped in the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index and Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index should be concerning to the policymakers and citizens.
    The slippage in the Human Development Index ranking indicates that urgent action is required to
    improve income levels and social conditions of the more vulnerable families in the country. The worsening in the Corruption Perception Index indicates that attention should be paid to strengthen the governance structures at the national level.
    Third, in the pursuit of growth in the financiallyconstrained environment and the imperative to address the impaired social conditions, there should be a deliberate economic enfranchisement policy. This necessity needs to move beyond the realm of rhetoric, and concrete policy action is required to involve more small and medium-sized businesses in meaningful, financially rewarding contracts with the Government.
    Fourth, a re-examination of the role (and worth) of institutions such as trade unions, churches, community groups, non-governmental organisations, and families is required in order to reposition them to make meaningful contributions in the next phase of the country’s development. These institutions were once strong pillars of national development but for varying reasons have lost their influence in the process of nation building. It is vitally important that this trend is reversed, and there is a collective effort to ensure that these institutions become spheres of positive influence once again.
    While we expect the Government to provide effective leadership to drive social and economic progress, the task requires the commitment and participation of the wider Barbadian society. We are reminded that economic development is basically a national enterprise, and it starts in the hearts and souls of those who aspire to greater mastery of their own destiny.
    Anthony Wood is a former minister of agriculture in a previous Barbados Labour Party administration, as well as former chairman of the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation. The above article was submitted as a letter to the Editor.


    Source: Nation

  13. David Avatar
    David

    The cost of living
    Ironically, one of the calmest statements one can make about the world is that it is always in crisis. There is always some war somewhere; some hurricane, typhoon or earthquake perennially perishing people; or some dastardly deed wryly wrecking havoc upon dreams, land and prosperity.
    To paraphrase Marx’s prose on Europe in application to the world; there is always a spectre haunting the Earth: The spectre of change from which comes growth, decline, safety and harm.
    These are the things we battle every day. They are the things that haunt us in the night; and they are the things that, when thought ‘gone’, greet us in the bright of the future like a thief in the night.
    Hope, however, comes like joy in the morning when minds meet in the eternal battle against the real but unseen forces among us which, with nary a word, seek to decapitate us before we even start. Herein, therefore, we continue our conversation on building our country’s fiscal constitution from strength to greater strength by discussing the spectre in one of its most formidable forms: The cost of living.
    The cost of living is heavily impacted by the course of national development and the resulting qualityof-life which, in real terms, is never aggregate and always singular; being felt at the level of the individual person, business and household. Qualityof- life, in turn, is heavily correlated to long-term policy stability which, in the Barbadian context, has always been good. This stability, ironically, is an issue for us in terms of reducing the cost-of-living in general and reducing its decelerating effect on growth in particular. Unlike most other countries, including highly developed ones, our Government, through successive iterations, has never taken the bait of short-term crises to lower the quality-of-life by devaluing the dollar or raising interest rates.
    These actions, if taken, would near-automatically reduce the cost of living by dampening individual purchasing power. This “dampening” is, of course, a euphemism for making people poorer relative to what they can purchase from the world.
    When the Government says that the Barbadian dollar is “2 to 1”; it is saying to Barbadians that, “Once you can give me 2 Barbadian dollars; I will use my 1 US dollar to buy what you want”. Things, of course, get tricky when Barbadians have “nuff” Barbadian dollars and the Government has too few US dollars. The Government must then find ways to “cover” the shortfall. This shortfall being, in real terms, either the manifestation of a country’s lack of fiscal discipline, its lack of productive capacity or both.
    With global capitalism leaning on the demand side due to the propensity to consume; it becomes quite difficult for governments managing pegged and globally insignificant currencies to satisfy foreign purchases. In short: the pegged currency, while providing stability for development, can hinder countries looking to develop “past” the global middle. The governments of those countries may, therefore, look to relieve foreign reserve pressure by slowing foreign consumption.
    Middle income trap
    This may be through devaluing the dollar officially or devaluing the dollar unofficially through various taxes and “tolls” on outward spending.
    History, however, shows us that slowing economic growth, whether it be by devaluation or some other means, often leads to countries being stuck in the middle income trap.
    Consumption is like water and taxes like rock.
    The former will always find the crack and the latter will always give way. The solution, of course, is very simple: if outflows exceed inflows and reducing outflows only delays meeting the
    hurdle; take on the hurdle without delay by jumping over it to new levels of growth. This, of course, is easier said than done. It will take an “all-of-country” approach and it will also require citizens, businesses and their governments to adjust to a new progressive normal.
    What does this mean in material terms and how do we get there? For citizens, it means consistently working to maximum efficiency. That is how revenue is gained for businesses to grow.
    For small businesses it means ruthlessly pursuing profit by satisfying market needs. That is how new economic growth, in aggregate, is stabilised. For larger businesses and our conglomerates it means marrying the profit motive with corporate social responsibility beyond mere gestures. Your efforts here will secure us a stable environment in which success is safe, celebrated and succoured. For the Government, it means employing the same skill of creating comprehensive social safety-nets in re-engineering our national economic framework away from ‘partial market participation’ towards ‘full market participation’ in order to satisfy our country’s aggregate demand for growth.
    Dr William M. A. Chandler is a published political economist, legal scholar and business consultant.


    Source: Nation

  14. Yolande Grant - African Online Publishing Copyright (c) 2023. All Rights Reserved. Avatar
    Yolande Grant – African Online Publishing Copyright (c) 2023. All Rights Reserved.

    Dont know how the untethered could so effectively reduce themselves to the insignificant and irrelevant despite MANY years of warnings…

  15. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Jesus – 3 articles and I could not get past the first paragraph of each.
    My one paragraph summary.
    (Item 1) I thought King was wrong and I still do.
    (Item 2) Will put that one aslde for when I need to sleep. Note to blogmaster — you could make a killing pushing this as an alternative to Ambien.
    (Item 33) A next blogger gave a summary of the last post some time in the past. The summary still holds.

    I give up. I iz and idjut, so of course I may be wrong on all 3 counts.

  16. Yolande Grant - African Online Publishing Copyright (c) 2023. All Rights Reserved. Avatar
    Yolande Grant – African Online Publishing Copyright (c) 2023. All Rights Reserved.

    The technology is very, very good….and 100 times as dangerous…and like everything else where money, wealth, estates and opportunities are found by thieves and liars, subject to misuse, abuse and exploitation..

    “Police believe AI voice cloning used to scam seniors
    4 days agoNewsDuration2:08
    Police in Newfoundland say they believe scammers used voice-cloning technology to trick seniors into believing their actual grandchildren were calling them for help, leaving them swindled out of thousands of dollars.”

  17. Yolande Grant - African Online Publishing Copyright (c) 2023. All Rights Reserved. Avatar
    Yolande Grant – African Online Publishing Copyright (c) 2023. All Rights Reserved.

    “I thought King was wrong and I still do.”

    People dont listen, you warned them not to entice a run on the banks, it will lead to restrictions, just assert your right to withdraw the maximum amount….and dont entertain any questions on why you need it…since they refuse to connect the astronomical RISE in prices with needing MUCH MORE MONEY TO SURVIVE…trying to short change customers….

    But when people got seesawing agendas ….that’s the end result…

    When people were warned 6 years ago to start removing their money…same folks were mute…not a word, now they are palavering all over the place when it’s too turbulent to do so….they missed the opportunity…

  18. Yolande Grant - African Online Publishing Copyright (c) 2023. All Rights Reserved. Avatar
    Yolande Grant – African Online Publishing Copyright (c) 2023. All Rights Reserved.

    In my opinion a distinct possibility, due to exceedingly long periods of lockdowns, disruptions to employment etc…that became too protracted. With legal fights over allowing people to remain employed, firings, resignations, etc…a possible recipe for the below..what were they thinking.

    “According to the analyst, the pandemic-related economic decline aggravated the underlying vulnerabilities in the country’s financial system, leaving many financial institutions in precarious positions.”

  19. David Avatar
    David

    @Artax

    The Liat squabble

    I QUOTE FROM an article that I wrote way back when.
    “In Antigua, early on mornings there are at least eight aircraft ready to face the day.
    ‘Passengers travelling to Guyana via Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent and Trinidad and Tobago please assemble at gate number . . .’
    ‘Passengers travelling to St Kitts, Nevis, St Maarten, Anguilla please assemble at gate number . . .’ There are continuous boarding announcements from as early as 5 a.m. and the day for LIAT has begun. Not only in Antigua, similar activity is witnessed in Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and perhaps other destinations.
    LIAT’s daily take off numbering well over 70 flights are on their way.
    I do not believe that such activity is rivalled anywhere else in the world.”
    I first travelled on LIAT 69 years ago. Let me say now that were it not for LIAT I would not have been able to carry out my work in all the territories of the Caribbean – from the smallest to the biggest, from the poorest to the richest. Many Barbadians can say the same thing.
    There was a fight for the last back seat from Antigua to Barbados on Friday evenings.
    For a year I made the connection every Friday from Nevis by the skin of my teeth. Having to take so many flights did not leave me broke because the cost was reasonable.
    That was 43 years ago. Why can it not happen now?
    I suspect that the various territories serviced by LIAT saw an opportunity to impose fees for various services where LIAT touched their territory, and the existing structure collapsed. If LIAT is to be restructured then it must return to the old structure.
    LIAT is a peculiar airline. The runs are very short but the mechanics of making these runs are the same as airlines whose runs may be seven hours – landing, idling, berthing, discharging and picking up passengers, idling, taking off, overruns
    and repairs. What we have done is that each territory saw a way to charge for most of these activities and the charge is reflected in the fare.
    This has been done by those territories that supported the structure of LIAT as well as by those that did not support the structure, but enjoyed the benefits. I wonder how the nonsupporters are faring now with the high fares. You must blame your politicians.
    Space
    It seemed that many territories that were serviced by LIAT were prepared to charge for the use of their space but not prepared for the cost of running the airline.
    Their people would benefit from travel and transportation of goods, even from benefits of inter-island travel.
    Of course one of the significant costs of the airline was the cost of the staff. It can be said that LIAT had some of the best pilots in the world. The safety record attests to that record.
    Those pilots could fly among trees without touching the branches; could weave among the goats on the runway without killing them and could take off on a short runway with a rolling start. It is sad to see the squabbling after such dedication, but the recent move of Barbados has given some alleviation to the Barbadian pilots.
    Don’t mention the flight attendants.
    For inter-island connections we now have to pay exorbitant fees and depend on extra-territory airlines for help. Imagine flying to Florida from Barbados in order to get to Jamaica or Antigua.
    Regional leaders get together so often but it would seem they are blind to obvious needs.
    When next there is a séance, lock the doors so no one can leave until there is a decision on how the cost of running the airline would be financed – each territory touched contributing according to the times serviced.
    There must be a way to split the cost of running LIAT including upkeep of planes, upkeep of pilots and upkeep of flight attendants. Maybe each territory will bear responsibility for
    supply and staffing of ground staff. A board of directors should be chosen from each territory ensuring that on a revolving basis each territory serviced gets a chance to be represented. A shareholders’ committee should be set up to manage the day-to-day running of the airline and territories should not be able to issue contracts to competing companies that want to intrude on the territories with cheaper fares initially. That should be a CARICOM sine qua non.
    The transport of people and goods at a reasonable price is so essential that such drastic measures are necessary that a hodgepodge arrangement to allow spurious entities to start up with cheap fares going nowhere makes no sense. Caribbean people are tired of slipshod arrangements.
    What were the arrangements that allowed LIAT to operate as in the first paragraph of this article?
    Harry Russell is a banker. Email quijote70@gmail.com


    Source: Nation

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