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Something wrong

Apathy

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Submitted by Kammie Holder

Poor phone service and the whole country is silent- not a whimper from any politician.

On Monday a friend went to visit her sick husband in hospital only to be told he died the morning.

The QEH say they called but did not get through to anyone. All of us can attest to hearing persons saying they have tried calling others without success. What will it take for politicians to really care?

On another note, who are the merchants the GOB allows to import potatoes with dirt on them which is against good phytosanitary protocols and best suited for hog food.

In the absence of Freedom Of Information Act and the silence of a selfish docile Bajan culture, we will all be taken advantage of.

My confidence in party politics in Barbados is completely shaken and the only hope is for Bajans to go back to voting independents as was done in the 60s.

Political parties are owned and controlled by those who fund political campaigns.

We scoffed are remaining stupid under the union jack but in ignorance just to be contented to selfishly survive at the expense of others and an orderly society!

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74 responses to “Something wrong”

  1. Vaccines, ambulances and fire engines Avatar
    Vaccines, ambulances and fire engines

    Rate This

    ” An ambulance was summoned but none was available at that time, police say ”

    Dare I comment.
    Is it too much to expect an ambulance when one is needed? Given our experience with the fire service, an ambulance could have turned up with just a driver? I am serious.

    I cannot accept reading of system after system failing the good people of Barbados. I don’t believe in excuses or explanations.

    I am not a fAn of privatization, but if the government cannot get anything to work, then give someone else a chance.

    Soon, I’ll be a cheer leader for MM. I will not hold his failure to procure vaccines against him.

  2. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Donning my spectacles. Let me see…..

    There are (or were) private ambulance services on the island. There is no prohibition against such. I seem to recall a Bajan of humble origins had one. Don’t know if it still functions.

    But….I seem to recall a plea from our government ambulance service some time ago for people to stop using the ambulance service as a taxi service to the hospital. Numerous unnecessary calls, just like the numerous unnecessary visits to the emergency service at the hospital for minor complaints. Pleas to desist also fall on deaf ears I would bet, knowing my people.

    So….why was there no ambulance available? I would need that answer.

    What worries me more is that the young man needed an ambulance in the first place. However, I will await the autopsy report. Yet my thoughts will always be informed by the fact that an officer threatened to beat my innocent, fifteen year old son “to a pulp” for squirming in his sudden grasp after a schoolboy melée in which my son was required to defend himself from rock throwers. My son was the only one who did not run at the sight of the police. ( He muddah chile.)

    And the station sargeant, the same one who had released him after questioning him without my knowledge, tried to bullshit me and defend his officer, at least until he found out that I use bullshit to make my garden grow.

    “Yuh lucky he din pull he gun!”

    Well, fancy that!

    So why did a superior officer step in and take over if the junior officer was acting reasonably?

    Still, I will await the autopsy report.

    What experience with the fire service? Are you in possession of the report?

    Blinkers on and assuming the worst, as usual.

  3. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    “Blinkers on and assuming the worst, as usual.”

    Donna

    I agree with you.

    The unavailability of an ambulance (without knowing the reason why), means “system after system failing the good people of Barbados” and “government can’t get anything to work.”

    Utter nonsense.

    And, they’re still pushing the narrative that an empty fire truck went to the Wellington Street fire.

  4. The OG Avatar
    The OG

    2/2
    ‘namely, the financial information, for a large number of the audits, was not made available to the Auditors ”

    It is reassuring to note that one thing Barbados will not lack are replacements for the post of Auditor General. Despite encountering the same problem year after year this office continues to make a genuine effort to complete its assigned tasks. And we have some here who seem determine to ‘ignore the available records’ and still generate a report.

    I do not wait on those reports. I like to see results. I demand results. There is no pussyfooting or beating about the bush. Folks here are often saying the same thing that I am saying, but they say the glass is half full. They want to take the ugly little pig, put it in a dress and send it out on the stage. No pigs, no lipstick, no pretty dresses, just facts.

    (1.1)So….why was there no ambulance available? I would need that answer.
    ***I too want an answer, but I will also condemn the situation and add that the situation should not be tolerated. I will speak up and not wait for the answer that may never come. “A ship is safe in harbor, but that is not what ships are built for”.

    (1.2) There are (or were) private ambulance services on the island.
    **** I expect the police/prisonofficers/firemen to be able to call for an ambulance and get one. If this is not the case, then let’s stop pretending and seek a solution. More private ambulances??

    (1.3) But give me some credit, I did not mention the elephant in the China shop which is why did the “young man needed an ambulance in the first place”.

    (2) @3:22 a.m. At that time in the morning, it is obvious that you are not at your best.

    Have a great day everyone.
    ———————————–The End—————————————–
    Have a great day Barbados. May your ambulances be prompt, your fire engines have water and your Savvy issue be resolved.

  5. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Yes, that is your way, the only way, apparently. Suffice it to say that there was indeed an ambulance available for my mother, after a traffic accident. Arrived promptly, professional and courteous service rendered. Even the policeman knew his place when I told him he would have to meet me at the hospital for my statement. Then I disappeared into the ambulance.

    There was also a prompt ambulance available for me after a workplace incident. Again, professional and courteous service. We even shared a few laughs on the way as they reminded me that a few bumps in the road shouldn’t beat a “brave” woman who declined a stretcher. Prompt, great service in the emergency room. Again, more laughter with the young orderlies, who described me as “something else”. Young, concerned doctors,
    swift moving, efficient nurses. Two issues during my hospital stay and after the surgery but nothing major or life-threatening. And I met a young student nurse who could heal you with her manner alone.

    I have had three stays at the QEH – one for a severely ruptured cornea that could easily have caused blindness but was saved. The doctor swore my attitude had something to do with it. Another for a SHATTERED elbow that regained most of its flexibility way beyond what was anticipated. And the final stay was for the birth of my child, totally without drugs and handled expertly and uneventfully by QEH staff.

    There is always room for improvement, and there will always be others whose experience, for whatever reason, is not good.

    However, I mentioned the comments about my attitude for a reason.

    I am here to tell you that our medical services do fail at times, but mostly they succeed in Barbados. Whether you care to believe it or not.

  6. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Oh, I forgot! My house has been in the firing line of a pyromaniac or two over the last several years. The fire trucks always arrived on time and with water.

  7. The OG Avatar
    The OG

    You know that I like you …

    Somehow you always seem to be on a parallel track where fire engines turn up fully prepared, the buses are on time and ambulances are available.

  8. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Not the buses. The mini buses. The minibuses are always on time.

  9. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    https://nationnews.com/2024/06/10/direct-flights-from-africa-in-works/

  10. Enuff Avatar
    Enuff

    I bet yuh these same folks would want you to believe that in the US, Canada and UK where they live, ambulances are always available when requested. Just like they behaved as though QEH was the first hospital to suffer a cyber attack. 🤡

  11. The OG Avatar
    The OG

    @Hants
    You are a wicked man. You know that I am silly and yet you throw me some raw meat to gnaw on. Well here I go …

    Do you remember the Cayman Airways debacle?
    Are we about to see version 2 of that fiasco played out?
    Do you think these flights to Africa will work.
    Will wait an see.

  12. The OG Avatar
    The OG

    @not enuff
    Amused that our baseline is the worst that happen elsewhere.

  13. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    @ The OG,

    I did not get past the file photo of the pulchritudinous Mrs. Williams. lol

  14. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Dr Trevor Shepherd’s letter in the Nation today explains EXACTLY what is wrong…

    What a masterpiece of an article….

    It is refreshing to know that SOMEONE has eyes to see….

    What a curse

  15. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    I too thought of the Cayman Islands fiasco. I would love a direct flight to Africa, but is there a viable market at present? I do think that Caribbean people may wish to travel to Africa. I don’t think we will be enough to fill the aircraft on a regular basis though.

    And why exactly would a plane load of Africans be anxious to visit Barbados on a regular basis, I do not know.

    I could be wrong. But I was not wrong about the Cayman Islands.

  16. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    See now, my position is the same as it always has been – crying wolf proves dangerous when the wolf actually arrives.

    I have told you about my experience living in Barbados. It is a real experience. It is not a parallel track. It is what mostly happens.

    It was recently reported that firemen had battled over three hundred fires up until that point in the dry season when the incidents you dwell on occurred. Yet you focus on two incidents and behave as though mine is the outlier. No, it is THE NORM!

    And so it is with our ambulance service.

    We cannot afford to have a hundred ambulances sitting around unused. There is a standard ratio of population to ambulance that guides governments I would think. I would want to know how we measure up before I jump on a case.

    I have never been one to run with rumour or to jump on a bandwagon without real reason. I may only be a woman 🤣🤣🤣 but I believe in a thinking, rather than an emotional response.

    I’ll give you an example from your precious USA.

    Every damn “left-leaning” media outlet, even the Youtube commentators’ channels, is reporting that Donald Trump told his rally attendees, “I don’t care about you. I only want your vote.” This was after he scheduled an open air rally in the blazing afternoon sun of Arizona to accommodate a fancy event later that evening with the rich crowd. Scores of people collapsed from the heat and were taken to the hospital.

    Now, common sense told me that Donald Trump, bumbling idiot though he may be, is still not stupid enough to tell his voters, blasted idiots though THEY may be, that he didn’t care about them. After all, the main reason they vote for him is that, “He cares about us!”

    Telling them flat out that he didn’t care about them would deprogramme even a cultist. And of course, they must at least be alive in order to cast their vote for him. He probably learnt a lesson after he killed so many of them during covid.

    Logic told me that these leftists were mischaracterising his words.

    There was only one explanation – he was repeating what these same outlets had said the day before.

    And when I looked and listened to the clip, it was OBVIOUSLY so!

    I say to you what I have repeatedly said to the “Great Waru” 😂 –

    Credibility is more important than anything when you want to be believed.

    There is enough about Trump AND Barbados to criticise without making stuff up, exaggerating or treating rumour as hard fact.

    So….one should indeed ask the question – why was there no ambulance?

    And, why were eleven houses damaged?

    But….one should give a little time for the answers….and then press harder and harder if ignored.

    Unless this is all just a game, that is.

  17. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    good news story.

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2024/06/11/construction-courses-to-double-intake-principal-says/

  18. The OG Avatar
    The OG

    Article 1/2 – From BT
    Radical change would clear court logjam – Abrahams
    Minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams has suggested that radical changes are necessary to eliminate the immense backlog of cases choking the judicial system.
    As he spoke in support of the Criminal Procedure(Amendment) Bill, which seeks to allow individuals accused of crimes to be tried by a single judge rather than a jury, Abrahams told the House of Assembly that running full criminal trials would never result in a meaningful drop in the backlog. He suggested that considerable modifications to court procedures and alternatives would be required.
    “We are never going to remove the backlog unless we undertake radical change,” the home affairs minister told the House. “We cannot remove the backlog by running through full trials on all criminal offences. It will never happen. More people are getting charged than trials are being [held]. I don’t have the figures, but I am guessing at least 15 people get charged a day… how many trials do we do a day in Barbados? 4 [or] 3. The sheer mathematics of it says that every single day we are falling further and further behind.
    “We are not going to remove or reduce the backlog unless we take a radical change.”
    He went on to say that the logjam had grown to the point that some judges felt compelled to dismiss cases that had been sitting in court for extended periods.
    Abrahams said: “I have seen in some courts now, judges saying look, this trial has been on too long, there is no real victim in it, the length of time this person has been charged awaiting trial makes it unfair to try them, and some of the cases are [dismissed]. It had to happen. You are going to have to look at some trials as well where there is no ‘victim’…instead of adjourning in perpetuity, knowing that you cannot secure a conviction against an accused man, sometimes the prosecution is going to have to be bold enough to say we wish to withdraw this.
    “Unless we do that, we are going to keep putting matters into rotation that have no possibility of resolution.”
    He stressed that the Bill went through an extensive consultation process, and has seen wide support from the legal fraternity.
    “We asked everybody who had a part to play in the judicial system. Everybody, all players,” he said. “The general feeling was: ‘We hear you, it is a change in philosophy we are with you, but we would agree to the model that allows the accused person to choose.’ The criminal Bar said clearly: ‘We are not agreeing to anything that takes away any of the rights of an accused person.’ If we were to impose legislation that sought to make certain criminal offences mandatory, [and] triable by a judge, then that would derogate the rights of the accused person.
    “What we have done now is say let’s provide options. Let’s introduce, get it moving, get it working, and then we can see where it goes and what needs to be done after.”
    (SB)

  19. The OG Avatar
    The OG

    Article 2/2 from BTNEW DATE
    LATER DATE FOR MP TO ANSWER TO RAPE CHARGE
    By Jenique Belgrave
    The trial of rape-accused Member of Parliament Neil Gabriel Rowe has been delayed another three months and transferred to another court.
    While the case of the former deputy speaker of the House was set to begin in the No. 5 Supreme Court on Tuesday before Justice Pamela Beckles, Principal State Counsel Olivia Davis announced that the court was already engaged in other cases and could not proceed with Rowe’s at that time.
    The court also heard that King’s Counsel Michael Lashley, who represents the St Michael North West MP, is already currently engaged in several other trials.
    The trial has been transferred to Supreme Court No. 2 and is to be presided over by Justice Randall Worrell on September 24.
    Rowe has pleaded not having intercourse with a woman without her consent, knowing that she did not consent or was reckless as to whether she consented, on September 18, 2022.

  20. The OG Avatar
    The OG

    (It was not my intention to comment, but keep your eyes on three things in 3/2 (1) the speed at which this trial moves through the court (2) the possibility that this man will feel the full weight of Bajan law and (3) when all is said and done, if jail is imposed, then this court of case $100.00 case will probably cost the Barbados taxpayer thousand of dollars.
    (There was also an article in BT where Wilfred Abrahams commented on the length of time it took to dispose of cases. and one where a recent rape case has shifted to a slower walk through our court system. I do not have any solutions or suggestions, but we have to find a different way)

    I strongly recommend BarbadosToday (BT) for your reading pleasure.

    Article 3/2 from BT
    Alleged ham thief remanded
    Pleading not guilty to a theft charge, Edwin Leon Clarke was remanded to Dodds Prison for trial after appearing in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court.
    The 59-year-old of Richmond Gap, St Michael is accused of stealing a ham valued at $96.99 belonging to The People’s Market.
    Court Prosecutor Sargeant Randolph Boyce objected to bail, citing Clarke’s 46 previous convictions all of a similar nature, while pointing out that the accused’s man last prior was on March 22 before the same court.
    Telling the court that if granted bail, the risk was high that the accused would re-offend and be back soon, Boyce insisted that it was necessary to protect the business community as his actions affected their profits and ability to keep staff employed.
    Magistrate Angela Knight remanded him into custody until July 8.

    Final 4/2 from BT
    Decades-old case dismissed
    In what she described as an abuse of process, a judge in the No. 4 Supreme Court threw out a 13-year-old indecent assault case against Jerry Ricardo Whittaker.
    Whittaker of Arthur Seat, St Thomas, was accused of the indecent assault of a girl on February 8, 2008.
    When he appeared in court, Whittaker said that his attorney had been Keith Simmons KC.
    Reading his deposition, Justice Laurie-Anne Smith- Bovell said that he had indicated his desire to plead guilty to the offence. But Whittaker denied this, saying he never made such a statement to the court or signed any document to that effect.
    The judge pointed out that there was no facility to deal with someone who wanted to plead guilty years ago, and said that there was no excuse for the delay in this trial getting to the High Court. Calling it “an abuse of process”, she dismissed the case.
    Principal State Counsel Paul Prescod appeared for the State.

  21. David Avatar
    David

    The only way to get reduce the case load significantly is to implement the stillborn suggestion of retired CJ Gibson, dismissed cases locked in the court system based on certain criteria.

  22. David Avatar
    David

    The Rowe matter will not be heard for a bit.

  23. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    why dem skinnin dey teet ?

    https://nationnews.com/2024/06/12/poverty-study-starts-next-month/

  24. David Avatar
    David

    Something to make us pause. The US Supreme Court has lifted the ban on gun bump stocks accessory.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6pp5xl13wlo

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