

Contained in the delayed 2024 Auditor General report on page 56/103 (3.37) the retired AG Leigh Trotman felt compelled to remind ignorant Barbadians that the National Insurance Fund continues to be in breach of its fiduciary duty, betraying public trust and engage in ‘wufless’ financial mismanagement.
The National Insurance Fund has been established to allow for eligible
2024 Auditor General Report
Barbadians to benefit from programmes designed to provide monetary
benefits to seniors and others who meet the qualifying criteria. The audit
of the accounts of the National Insurance Fund are some nine (9) years
in arrears (2015 to 2023). The Department had requested sometime to
bring the financial statements up to date so that they could be audited
and have recently submitted draft statements up to 2023 and the Office
has resume auditing these accounts.
Unfortunately with Walter Blackman having shuffled off this mortal coil there is no prominent, knowledgeable person in society it seems with the cojones to continue the lead the fight to hold the government accountable. In 2018 the blogmaster had an exchange with Dr. Justin Robinson who expressed his frustration at the slow process, although he was hopeful the NIS financial controller at the time would have been able to move the matter forward. We are in 2025 and no cigar.
At a time when the traditional media and usual social media ‘influencers’ have taken the lead of the masters to choke the media space with St. James North by election chatter, one thing is sure – the important issues will not go away. Even Vybz Kartel in one of his songs ‘Life Sweet’ reminds us about the importance of choosing the right path to enjoy sustain success.
The same fianncial indiscipline that is endemic at the National Insurance Board (what is in a name) is reflected in wider society. Have we been able to arrest the Zr culture after 50 years of trying? Daily we witness PSVs blocking traffic as the drivers, oblivious to the chaos caused by them. We witness ordinary citizens playing g Russian roulette with lifes by driving through amber and red stop lights, flitting along the carriage ways (not highways). In fact owners of Suzuki, Swift cars have developed a reputation to rival Zr drivers.
Why is the blogmaster unimpressed with the upcoming by election chatter and the political games that will play out between now and May 21, 2025? It is because nothing will change. It is the same brown stuff by another colour. Too many of our people have become cynical and apathetic at ‘life’. We are unable to appreciate that if we become too cynical and apathetic in a system that is defined by WE the people holding elected officials accountable, ‘BAD’ things will happen. The blogmaster will remind of a few:
- Corruptions grows
- Bad governance is normalised
- A fragile democracy weakens
- There is social decay
- Economic decline sets in
- The wrong people are elevated to leadership
To borrow from elsewhere: when citizens stop caring, the system stops serving who it was designed to serve.
The End.
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