There is an understandable focus on escalating crime and violence in Barbados. A blind man on a trotting horse can see the lawlessness that is ‘feeding’ violent crime in the country. It is obvious civil society has no immediate workable solutions. Increasing the number of judges, assigning different cabinet ministers, marching up and down the streets like the Grand Old Duke of York, negotiating gang truce et cetera are predictably failing. The crime situation has become endemic, like a cancer that has taken hold in a part of the body and metastasising at an alarming rate. We will have to chop off the offending limb or die..
While the country is absorbed with conventional crime there is also the worrying trend of state crime that has also taken root. One glaring example has been the lack of compliance by successive governments to complete audited financial statements of a majority state owned entities (SOEs). To add to the alarming state of affairs has been the late submission of the 2023 Auditor General’s Report which had been one of the few beacons of excellence in government’s oversight process..
It is Wednesday March 26, 2025. The Annual Auditor General Report for 2023, still has not appeared. A “leak” occurred recently on a Special Report from that office.
On December 1, 2023; the former NIS transitioned to the NISSS. For publicly traded companies on the BSE, the production of an Annual Report within 3 months of year end, and an AGM shortly thereafter is standard. We still have not seen anything from the NISSS. (The end of Feb’25 was three months)
On August 23, 2023; the PM told the Nation several reports for the NIS, I believe 2010-2016, had been completed. The citizen owners of the NIS still haven’t seen one of those Reports.
There have been mumblings about the old Paradise Beach site. Recall, the Auditor General advised this administration of the GoB, they could not write off $124M associated with CBL, for there was an asset, the lands at Paradise, which was received as collateral for the loan guarantees provided. The matter of the land, we were told was “before the Courts”. What is the status?
I note Minister Duguid was able to make a Ministerial Statement about the various Holetown projects. Given the massive cost attributed to CBL, and the size and location of the lands at Paradise, this TOWERS above the lands in Holetown and Jemmotts lane combined. Surely a similar statement is required for Paradise? It is now 10 YEARS since CBL received those lands.
In the private sector large and especially best in class organizations allocate significant budget to establish a framework for reporting and compliance. This is considered important to ensure regulatory demands are complied with in a timely manner to avoid sanctions. In is not uncommon for a CEO to be fired for receiving an adverse or qulaified opinions on the financial statement or being sanction for failing to meet regulatory deadlines. Such is the importance given to these matters by well managed companies.
There is a governance framework established to hold governments accountable as well, however, due to its labyrinth nature and complex bureaucracy taxpayers continue to be the biggest losers. How are intelligent people unable to ignore a fact that-
The thigh bone’s connected to the hip bone
The hip bone’s connected to the backbone
The backbone’s connected to the neck boneSource: Musixmatch
How do we hold government accountable before election day? Will this government be bold enough to insert the power of recall in the NEW Barbados Constitution? Do WE care that it is included? Do we understand that unless ALL actors in civil society are held to the same standards, it will inevitable lead to corruption, injustice, inequality and erosion of public trust?
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