est. 2007

Barbados Underground

Bringing News and Opinions to the People

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What are we doing?

We have to introduce innovation; technology to maximize agricultural production in small spaces.

Another island wide blackout continues to feed national debate concerning the quality of service being provided by OUR Canadian owned Barbados Light & Power Company. It seems ironic that as you drive around Barbados one cannot help noticing large swaths of land being used to create solar farms, as well as the many roof tops covered with photovoltaic panels. Despite what appears to be a country consumed with harnessing an alternative source of energy, a 7 hour+ outage last week was the result.

BL&P 10MW Solar Farm

The blogmaster has to assume there is science being used to determine the location of these solar farms quickly dotting the island landscape of Barbados. It should not be lost on the planners that integral to island appeal is the natural landscape. Reducing acreage of sugarcane threatens the aesthetically pleasing view with the current trend of planting photovoltaic panels. Again great irony for a country consumed with pandering to tourism, the main sector in the economy.

Important to developing alternative energy sources is balancing the need to contribute to our food security. The blogmaster accepts that because of a high cost base and lack of scale, it is impossible for us to be a significant player in food production. That said, there is nothing wrong if small islands adopt approaches to reduce reliance on food supply from overseas. Surely the recent COVID 19 pandemic that to this day continue to disrupt the global supply chain taught us a lesson?

We have to introduce innovation; technology to maximize agricultural production in small spaces. This would help to nurture a new way of thinking in our population that a people committed to trying to feed itself is better than opening the ‘floodgates’. Awakening this obvious mindset in our people would have knock on effects one would hope to being a more productive society.

For example:-

55 responses to “What are we doing?”

  1. John Avatar
    John

    My grandfather used to tell me about what happened with sugar prices c. 1921 when they went through the floor. He was about 30, with maybe 5 years experience as a factory manager selling the sugar he made, relatively young.

    It was rough but be made some good deals for his suppliers and learnt the ropes in a bad market.

    In 1939 he put together his family’s savings, mobilised his 7 children the youngest being 13 and gambled given his life experience, he was 48 then so had been around the block.

    He had “trained” is children pitting one group against the other in competition to make and save $$ in various undertakings like keeping kitchen garden, rabbits, pigeons and fowls!!

    He had 1/2 an acre which he had purchased in 1928 that was the extent of his assets and he had a job as a factory manager at $80 a month.

    He bought his first plantation mortgaging it to the hilt.

    Sugar prices were at an all time low so he got a better deal on the plantation than if he had got in the market when prices were high. But he must have known something.

    WWII started and sugar prices rose.

    By 1948 he had paid off his mortgage and increased his family’s acreage to 700 acres.

    By 1958 he and his family had 1,133 acres and guaranteed employment. All mortgages had been paid off.

    It may have been luck that he moved when he did but he nailed it for his family.

  2. John Avatar
    John

    William,

    What is the difference between the monied class and the political class?

    Is Biden a member of the monied class or the political class?

    He is a multimillionaire so he must be a member of the monied class. For sure he is a member of the political class.

    To explain this I would suggest there are two types of members of the monied class.

    One type has money, the other type can make money.

    Biden is a parasite and can’t make money.

    Parasites depend on the transfer of wealth from which they take a cut.

    They have to destroy whereas the other type of member of the monied class loves to build.

    So, Biden sells out his country and takes a cut.

    Same thing here, the political class here has sold out its country and taken a cut.

    They are now the monied class but they can’t build anything!!

  3. John Avatar
    John

    The political class tricks peeps like you into believing that the monied class is white and the political class is black!!

    Meanwhile, all the significant assets and businesses are foreign owned.

    It is left to clearer thinkers to point out the dichotomy in the monied class … and the fact that the abilities of the old monied class have been thrown out and not inculcated into many Barbadians.

    There is now a third class, the outside class which controls both the political class and the monied class.

  4. William Avatar
    William

    @ John O
    Quite frankly: those who control the money/wealth and those whom we elect to manage the political affairs of the country.
    I was discussing such groups and their actions within the context of what happened to the agriculture sector.
    Quite frankly # 2:
    I have no interest in being baited into any discussion on race at this time. Everybody knows the historical power structure of our country.
    History can be sanitized but such sanitization cannot remove historical facts.
    I have said my piece on this topic , at least for the time being.

  5. John Avatar
    John

    The monied class you seek to portray as being monolithic is not and the political class no longer goes out to bat for the country but has become the monied class, or part of it to the detriment of the country.

    I used Biden to show the same principle operating here is identifiable and operates elsewhere, regardless of colour.

    People are flawed, especially when it comes to money and politics and what people think they know today is not always true.

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