Banner promoting anonymous crime reporting with a phone and contact number 1 800 TIPS (8477), featuring the Crime Stoppers logo and a QR code for submitting tips.

← Back

Your message to the BLOGMASTER was sent

The Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados Dr. Kevin Greenidge in response to a question from the press about the cost of the BIMpay project, shared that it is not taxpayers business.

Obviously the cost of a public project is a sensitive issue at this time given Barbados’ economic state. However, it does not change the fact that the Central Bank of Barbados is a public entity and the cost of BIMpay, a national payment system should not be a national secret. And to be blatantly dismissive of the routine inquiry about the project cost is symptomatic of how our governments- including heads of parastatal agencies, regard the public’s right to know. Is it any wonder governments up to now have refused to enact and operationalise a Freedom of Information Act?

Too besides, the suggestion that Barbadians should, “read our financial reports and you’ll see it embedded in there”, does not make sense because a balance sheet reflects a consolidated position of revenue and expense items. It is unlikely accurate costs related to BIMpay will be found on the Central Bank’s balance sheet when it is published.

Any administration that wants to nurture public trust should have no issue sharing the cost of a project partly funded by a parastatal agency. The Central Bank of Barbados earns its income from assets generated from government business, TAXPAYERS BUSINESS.

The Governor should watch his tone!


Discover more from Barbados Underground

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

41 responses to “Cost of BIMpay is not the public’s business”


  1. The Governor should watch his tone!
    ~~~~~~~~~
    Steupsss…
    Watch what tone what!!!

    Greenidge is right to treat us with the utter contempt that brass bowls DESERVE.
    Like his boss, he is insulted that mere BB sheeple would be brazen Enuff to question their spending of OUR money.

    The only difference is that, whereas his boss would have told us some lie about providing the report ‘at a later date’ – like after it was ‘approved by cabinet’ (ie never), he actually thinks that he has the right to be directly dismissive…

    The sad truth is that this is how wolves have ALWAYS treated sheep,
    …and it will never change until the shiite sheep become bushmen…
    …or until these jokers realize that they are really just shiite sheep
    – temporarily in wolves clothes…

    What a place!!


  2. Have you considered that the public might have paid for it in the stead of private interests?

    All of these transactions will have costs. Small unit costs admittedly. However, with millions of these every month all of a sudden an extended millionaire class is created. Financialization!

    These apparently simple exclusions should never be read as merely bureaucratic mistakes, subject to freedom of information, but as constructs for thief resultant from the deployment of public resources.

    Is it still not time to have as the point of departure that this regime is a criminal enterprise?


  3. Public trust? What is that? Does anybody cares about such, anywhere?

    And even if some were miraculously found, how then are we to think about the longer history of constant betrayals of trust in public life?

    The GoCB has already said that this project was initiated merely on a suggestion of the dictator. This is an equation of fear of and deferrence to a maximum leader.

    And like the proverbial supplicant, and weee stress ‘cant’, he saw it as an instruction, “knowing the PM’ as he said.

    This seems to have merely set up circumstances for deniability in a two-step dance. The slow of mind must wait for the next shoe to drop.

    This writer much prefers an indictment before the crime is committed.


  4. The cost doesn’t matter to me but he could have said ” it cost 166 million and I will provide details later”. buh doan mine me. I does just read BU because I have nothing better to do. lol

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2026/06/15/bimpay-moves-nearly-8m-in-first-weekend-despite-early-issues/


  5. Not the public Business!

    Boss man who you think paid for it but us? Any and everything cent that is spent in this island of public funds is MY dam business. Wunna like you forgetting its the taxpayers money that paid for it. Every state employee also is paid by the tax payer so don’t forget that either.

    So much for transparency and accountability. I guess after three 30 to 0 wins that went out the window too. Well well look at what I live to hear! Next the chairman of the NISSS will say don’t worry about audited financilas that ain’t wunna business. Tell me where does this new level of transparency extend to?


  6. @John A

    Do you agree BIMpay is a good thing for the country, having a ‘sovereign’ payments system?


  7. LOL @ David
    “a good thing for the country…”

    Skippa,
    Housing Every Last Person (HELP),
    HOPE,
    STEE(A)L housing
    Carifesta
    WE Gatherin ….
    Eddykashun reform… etc
    ALL these were ‘good things for the country…’

    Watch it Boss…
    There is a VERY thin line between optimism and gullibility.

    Fool Bushie once – shame on you
    Fool Bushie twice – shame on the bushman
    Shame Bushie thrice – Not for shiite skippa….!!


  8. @Bush Tea

    In defense of the Governor, he can only manage what he has responsibility for. Others responsible for Housing and the other muckups you mentioned should follow the Governor’s lead?


  9. It is unfortunate the matter of BIMpay implementation has now been overtaken by the misspeak from Governor Greenidge.


  10. @David

    Truth is I am not sure what Bimpay is doing for us that was not being done before. That then brings me to the next obvious question. What is the cost of Bimpay to set up? Secondly what will be the monthly running cost of Bimpay compared to the old cost of providing the same services before?

    We all know why Bimpay was set up and that is to track the movement of money from persons, so as to see who is making how much and for what. I have no problem with that either, as ALL should pay their share. Sadly the drug men deal in cash so dem aint in the Bimpay net. Who knows maybe eventually this will be linked to BRA in some form or fashion. My opinion on Bimpay I will hold for now though. I need to see how stable the platform is over the next six months before I will have an opinion one way or the other.

    I can’t say I am impressed though with the “mind wunna business” approach the Governor has shown. I can not say that it has spawned a feeling of warm inclusion in the bowels of my soul. Lol

  11. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    I pulled up my stumps a while back, have seen little to suggest it was a mistake. Then again I have options.


  12. LOL @ NO
    Boss, you didn’t pull up stumps, you just playing on a different wicket, with a different bounce.
    Admittedly, ours is a special kind of brass, but you better don’t get too comfortable up there yuh hear?!!

    We real BB ‘foolishly foolishy’…
    But up there where you are now batting … is overdue for some serious karmic corrective action…

    Looka, the pace up there may get so hot
    that your best option may be to come back…

    Bushie warned Hants and the Dribbler already…
    LOL ha ha ha
    Murduh!!


  13. @ David
    You gotta forgive Bushie.
    The bushman is a confirmed pessimist –
    especially when it comes to Greeks bearing gifts…

    Like albino-centrics offering vaccines to ‘safeguard’ the health of a black bushman…

    Or politicians going to great expense and lengths – to ensure that our payments are as smooth and seamless as possible…

    Imagine…
    …incompetents who – although granted as many hands as are possible, CANNOT MAKE ONE SHIITE WORK…
    – Not Health
    – Not Education
    – Not BWA
    – Not transport
    – Not Renewable energy
    – Not crime management or the court system
    – Not Education
    – Not constitution reform
    – Not solid or liquid waste management
    – Not even fixing pot holes

    BUT WHO CAN MIRACULOUSLY GET BIMPAY COORDINATED WITH ALL BANKS AND INDIVIDUALS FOR OUR “comfort and convenience”.

    Steupsss!
    Wunna ain’t pissing in stinking Bushie’s pocket fuh shiite!!!

    LOL
    Ha ha


  14. @Bush Tea

    Barbados should be happy to be benefiting from Governor Greenidge world class experience acquired from his stint at the IMF.

  15. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    Bushie
    Hot? Days away from the summer solstice and it was 11°C this morning at 6. The East coast is wusser. Only good weather news is the tomato and lettuce growing like never before with the rain.
    The pitches aren’t that different. The asshole to our south is making a fortune. And soon they won’t get a report either, which hasn’t been doctored to please his Lordship. We aren’t far behind. In a typically BB move, our PM created a “wealth fund” with all borrowed money. No wonder he had such kind words for MAM.
    Maybe he could bring back Trudeau, kinda like the return of big Sinck.


  16. Barbados should be happy to be benefiting from Governor Greenidge world class experience acquired from his stint at the IMF.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Yea!
    Both he and Stinkliar represent such ‘gifts’… don’t they?

    Clearly you are not as intimately familiar with the book “Helen of Troy” as is the Bushman.

    If you were, you would be aware of the consequences of ignoring the Trojan priest Laocoön, who (like the bushman) warned the brass bowl Trojans to burn the shiite gift handed them by the Greeks…

    But no… the BBs all signed up and got their tokens…

    The rest is history.
    Murduh!!
    LOL


  17. @Bush Tea

    These are Barbadian patriots you are talking about, why would they wish Barbados harm?


  18. Should Donville Inniss be reminded that he was a member of the Freundel Stuart cabinet that was labelled the government of silence? Where can the people turn? They are ll card carrying members of the political directorate.

    Public has a right to know

    by MARIA BRADSHAW

    mariabradshaw@nationnews.com

    GOVERNOR OF THE Central Bank Dr The Most Honourable Kevin Greenidge is facing mounting public criticism over his refusal to disclose how much the BiMPay digital payment app cost to develop.

    Cybersecurity specialist Niel Harper and former Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Member of Parliament Donville Inniss led the pushback yesterday, accusing the Governor of arrogance and disputing his claim that the Central Bank does not use public funds.

    Writing on LinkedIn, Harper, who is based in Germany, said the suggestion that the public had no right to know the cost amounted to “arrogance at its highest”.

    “The Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados refused to answer questions about the costs associated with BiMPay. His claim was that the [Central Bank] is selffinanced and doesn’t use public monies.

    This is misleading by all accounts. He also basically stated the public didn’t need to know the costs if they are not paying for it. This is arrogance at its highest,” he stated.

    Owned by Barbadians

    Harper argued that under the Central Bank Act, the Bank’s capital is “entirely for the account of the Government of Barbados, meaning it is ultimately owned by the people of Barbados . . . . ‘Not using taxpayer money’ does not mean ‘not using public money’,” he wrote.

    He noted that after the reserve requirements are met, Central Bank profits are transferred to the Consolidated Fund – the Government’s main treasury account – meaning every dollar spent on BiMPay is a dollar that would otherwise eventually flow back to Government and, by extension, benefit taxpayers.

    “When the Bank’s assets fall below its liabilities and capital, the Government is legally required to inject securities to restore the balance sheet, hence taxpayer money is the [Central Bank’s] safety net,” Harper stated.

    He added that as a statutory body created by Parliament, the Central Bank’s spending is accountable to the public, and that the International Monetary Fund and international best practice for central banks strongly emphasise transparency and public accountability, not just financial independence.

    “The [Central Bank] does not have freedom from public accountability for its expenditure decisions.”

    In a separate blog post analysing the benefits of such apps from a Caribbean perspective, Harper said public trust in digital technologies would be central to BiMPay’s success, and that the Bank had not yet made a convincing case to citizens.

    “The Central Bank hasn’t built a strong enough case for people to trust this platform and use it as a daily fixture in their lives. They haven’t comprehensively addressed the concerns of citizens around privacy, security, fraud prevention and resilience with regard to BiMPay.

    Add to that the recent history of several Government departments being hacked, mistrust is expected.

    Most important, they have not answered the burning question from the average man or woman on the street: How does this solution make my life better?”

    Asked, from his expertise, what the cost of developing such an app might be, Harper declined to speculate.

    “There are lots of variables to consider, and I don’t want to commit to any figures with insufficient knowledge,” he said.

    Inniss, a former DLP Cabinet minister, also took the Governor to task, calling his conduct “arrogant” and unbecoming of the office. He charged that Greenidge had become too comfortable in the role and was being dismissive of legitimate questions.

    “This response to a question as to what it costs is a mass of arrogance.

    It’s not becoming the office of the Governor of the Central Bank.

    And maybe Kevin has become so comfortable in the office that he feels he can be dismissive to those who ask honest and simple questions.”

    Answerable

    Inniss reminded the Governor that he is answerable to the people of Barbados, not to the occupants of the Tom Adams Financial Centre, and that the question from the reporter had deserved a straight answer rather than a flippant dismissal.

    “You are answerable to the Minister of Finance, and the Cabinet of Barbados, and by extension to the public of Barbados. So the question asked by the reporter was a good question, and one that is deserving of an answer, to give a figure, not to be flippant and dismissive . . . .

    Come on Kevin, who do you think you are? You don’t work for yourself,” Inniss stressed.

    He warned that the Governor’s stance risked drawing unnecessary scrutiny to the Bank and its spending, citing what he described as a tremendous increase in expenditure at the Central Bank alongside a reduction in profit over time.

    “Don’t tell us about reading the fine print that is embedded in financial reports. The average Barbadian who is out there struggling to make ends meet has no time to delve into the financial details of a Central Bank report. They have simple, honest questions that are deserving of an answer. So my advice to you, young man, come down off your high horse a little bit. Face reality and remember that you don’t work for yourself.”

    Inniss also raised questions about the cost of the app’s launch event, which was described as a “pyjama party”.

    Despite the sharp criticism, he praised the app itself, calling it a step in the right direction and commending the Central Bank for rolling it out.

    “I am a supporter of BiMPay. I think it’s a step in the right direction.

    I commend the Central Bank for rolling it out. It’s not perfect, it will have its hiccups, but this does not detract from the fact that the Governor needs to show [a] better [response].”

    Several Barbadians also called in to Starcom Network’s radio programme Down To Brass Tacks yesterday to express disappointment in the Governor’s handling of the situation.

    Source: Nation


  19. Patriotic? Maybe if one follows the meaningless dictionary definition.

    But where were these socalled patriots when the rights of MPs to sit on whichever side they will were being subsumed into a party paramountcy, headed by a dictator?

    Weee warn you. That this current chapter will end with blood on the floor of parliament. For genuine patriotism is ceded in blood.

    A society with a dominate culture of “going along to get along” knows no patriotism, beyond the tinsel.


  20. This matter is not dissimilar to the reluctance of the Governor to share information that belongs to the public. It is not dissimilar to government disrespecting the public regarding the cost of CARIFESTA. They play us for idiots every time.


  21. Do not be absorbed by a sarcastic comment.


  22. “These are Barbadian patriots…”
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Judas was an ‘inner-circle’ disciple…

    If our government was transparent, law-abiding, ethical, and even ‘fairly’ competent,
    then BimPay would be a justifiable innovation…

    Alas…


  23. If a simple project that can help to improve how small businesses do business can become embroiled in a level of controversy because of a lack of trust between citizens and government then we are on a slow boat to nowhere. This is a soft issue government has no idea to address because they promise many things and never rh deliver on most of them.


  24. We have a prime minister and governor who are media hogs, despite a rising public concern about how Governor Greenidge handled the media, SILENCE.


  25. “If a simple project that can help to improve how small businesses do business…”
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Putting aside the government’s obvious mafia attitudes, …you need to be more concerned about our lack of awareness of reality, …and about how easily we can be distracted with shiite talk…

    If ‘improving small business’ was the objective, do you think that CAIPO would be as inefficient as it continues to be…?

    How has the fishing business been reformed since the recent storm disaster?
    How does bringing in cheap foreign labor for construction help local small business?
    Have you tried getting a license for ANY SHIITE bout here?
    -to operate a hired car?
    -a basic health / liquor / event license?
    -a vehicle registered?
    Steupsss…

    Then as soon as you figure out the tax system they bring a new, less friendly version.
    FIX THAT LOTTA JOBBY FIRST…

    How much koolaid does one need to drink before being convinced that collecting detailed, INDIVIDUAL data on the public is a good way to ‘assist’ small business..

    What it does is provide even more LEVERAGE for mafia bosses to impose their private will on any intended dissidents or complainers…

    What a joke!!


  26. @Bush Tea

    It is you who don’t get it.

    Big ticket items like BIMpay can be added to the conversation basket to give Barbados an international shine.

    New projects also facilitate the spending of money to share to friends, family and supporting actors.


  27. @ David

    Listened to a bit of Brasstacks and the people not happy about being treated like outsiders by the Governor and the PM too for that matter, as could make the figures public is she wished.

    This is a serious precident being set here which can lead no where positive, especially in the light of the fact you want the same people you have offended to now come and support YOUR product.


  28. @John A

    You don’t have to listen to Brasstacks to deduce if people are happy. The moderator does seem to be a bit of an apologist.


  29. Governor instructed to apologize and eat some humble pie. Hopefully he grows from the experience.

    https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19326JiKFD/


  30. So based on this PR gimmick, designed to save face after he was so BRAZENLY following the lead set by government,
    …can we now expect the long promised HOPE report?

    Will a PROFESSIONAL Auditor General be appointed?
    Will the CARIFESTA spending binge be explained?
    Will the BAMC spending splurge be made public?
    Will Duguid account for the STEEL houses costs?
    … or will Sutherland just apologize like Greenidge?

    This is a government of REACTIVE PR gimmicks, …but we are living in a SERIOUS time (as Trump is in the process of finding out) and Mother KARMA is working 24/7 to make ALL wrong things right…

    As a result, there is going to be a LOTTA SHIITE spilled in the coming days, weeks and months… so come out things…!!

    What a GLORIOUS time!
    The birth pains that signal a NEW righteousness are everywhere…
    Redemption is near…

  31. Disgusting Lies & Propaganda TV Avatar
    Disgusting Lies & Propaganda TV

    Sigh, I can understand Dr Greenidge’s angst. It is almost taboo for people to ask questions about costs in certain forum even if you don’t have a problem divulging it.
    The governor could have given a more savvy response though. A simple “i will get back to you with the exact costs” or “the cost will be revealed in another forum” would have sufficed. It would be a delaying action and a less antagonistic response.


  32. @DL@P

    Your comment is contradictory. If he should have given a better a response this is the point. Whether it is considered taboo is irrelevant.


  33. @ David

    To be fair the concerns of the public have proven genuine. You have payrolls not being met, credit card and ATM services being disrupted and a host of other issues from this Bimpay. It has actually had the opposite effect of what was intended, with many carrying cash again and not depending on digital services. Others have returned to paying workers by cheque instead as well. Then you have state workers not being able to create new direct payments to recognised businesses and on it goes.This platform clearly has issues regardless of what some want us to believe.


  34. What are we entitled to know?

    LAST WEEK, I argued that Barbados is quietly becoming a data state. The promise of this transformation is straightforward. Better information should lead to better decisions, better services and more effective governance. Yet, the theme of that column was: who gets to see whom?

    The events of the past few days suggest that the question was timelier than I realised.

    At a press conference last week Monday, Central Bank Governor, Dr The Most Honourable Kevin Greenidge, again declined to disclose the cost of developing BiMPay. Asked directly how much had been spent creating and launching the national instant payment platform, his response was unequivocal: “I ain’t putting no figure on this.”

    Since then, the Governor has apologised for his remarks. The apology is welcome. Public officials are human and public debate is healthier when individuals are willing to acknowledge when their words have fallen short of the standards expected of their office. The larger questions raised by the episode, however, remain unresolved.

    The immediate issue at hand is not whether BiMPay is worthwhile – early figures suggest substantial public interest, with about 20 000 transactions worth almost $8 million processed during the first two days of operation. The issue is whether public institutions should be able to ask citizens for trust while withholding information that would allow citizens to evaluate whether that trust is warranted, a familiar tension in modern governance.

    So, the Governor’s original defence deserves closer examination. He stated that the information is “embedded” within the Central Bank’s annual reports and can therefore be found by those willing to look for it.

    The 2024 and 2025 reports contain sections on digital transformation, information technology modernisation, payments modernisation and real-time payments infrastructure. What neither provides is the $6.7 million which the Governor revealed after the public outcry. The reports fully capture the meaning of the word “embedded”.

    Regardless, information buried within broad expenditure categories is not equivalent to answering a direct question about a specific project. A citizen seeking the cost of BiMPay should not be expected to reverse-engineer years of financial statements, estimate allocations across multiple budget lines and infer expenditure from accounting notes.

    “Embedded” within the dismissive rhetoric: “Are you going to pay for it? No. So why do you want to know it for?” is a deeper question about the nature of accountability itself. What level of transparency do public institutions owe citizens? Is accountability satisfied because information exists somewhere in a report, or does accountability require clear answers to reasonable public questions?

    More fundamentally, the Governor’s response appeared to suggest that citizens need not concern themselves with the cost because they are not directly paying for it. Yet the Central Bank is not a private institution spending private resources. Its assets, profits and expenditures are ultimately part of the public realm.

    If someone asks the cost of a highway, a hospital or an airport expansion, they do not expect to be directed to years of procurement records, financial statements and budget documents. They expect a straightforward answer. The purpose of transparency is not merely to disclose information. It is to make information usable.

    The episode also sits uneasily with the philosophy underlying Mission Barbados: citizen participation, collective problem-solving and national mobilisation. Citizens are more likely to support ambitious public initiatives when they understand not only the benefits being promised, but also the resources being committed and the trade-offs being made.

    Ironically, the refusal to divulge the cost became more consequential than the figure itself. Had the cost been disclosed, public debate would likely have shifted, especially as it came in under budget, a unicorn for projects of this scale. By declining to provide the number, the discussion instead became about what was being withheld and why, transforming a question about expenditure into a question about trust.

    The controversy surrounding BiMPay will eventually fade. Another issue will replace it. Another senior public official will face questions. Another citizen or journalist will seek information that someone in authority would prefer not to provide. The question is whether each episode will have to be fought individually.

    A society cannot build transparency one press conference at a time. Nor can accountability depend on the mood, temperament or goodwill of individual officeholders. Rights that depend on discretion are not rights at all.

    Barbados is investing heavily in systems that allow public institutions to know more about citizens than ever before. Yet, the institutional mechanisms that allow citizens to know more about public institutions remain underdeveloped.

    That asymmetry – not the cost of BiMPay – is the real story.

    Professor Troy Lorde is an economist and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus. Email troy.lorde@cavehill.uwi.edu

    Source: Nation

  35. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    “Yet, the institutional mechanisms that allow citizens to know more about public institutions remain underdeveloped.”
    Since ‘underdeveloped’ is a relative term, the equal concern, is previously developed mechanisms, are being both ignored and removed.
    It is now 10 years, since a former GoB administration opted to divert monies it was collecting from its employees for NIS contributions, away from the NIS and into its own account. The correct mechanism was not followed, and subsequently the taxpayer had not a clue what was occuring. In simple English, the laws and rules were broken. Today, the NISSS has $400M+ in series J Bonds as repayment for the funds diverted. Their performance is embedded in Annual Reports which have not been issued publicly as required by law.
    So while ‘underdeveloped’ is a nice term, the GoB has broken the law on so many existing mechanisms which allow citizens to know what is occuring within public institutions, one is starting from -10, trying to get back to what was ground zero.
    And it is clear from their established pattern, they have no interest in ‘getting back’, rather the unknown is which established mechanism will they undo next?
    Today, the island is more underdeveloped in mechanisms allowing citizens to know what is occuring in public institutions than it was in 1975.


  36. @ NO
    For a full 20 marks, can you describe in a short sentence, the kind of ‘educated population’ that would allow itself to be treated with such scant respect – WRT the opaque spending and splurging – of their TAX dollars.
    …while at the same time, being spied on, taxed, levied and bullied, into complete submission by THEIR OWN ELECTED MAFIA bosses…

    Hint…
    “Eddykated brass bowl idjuts” is already taken and patented…

    What blindness!


  37. @ Bush Tea

    Is it that simple? There is a level of comfort that comes with being a member of a middle class that in the majority depends on a salary.

The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.

Trending

Discover more from Barbados Underground

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading