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Minister Kirk Humphrey trying to Wrestle the PSV Monster to the Ground

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An article was published in today’s Sunday Sun (11 October 2025) with the title AOPT threatens Ombudsman action which makes for sober reflection. In summary, the article articulated that the Alliance of Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) is threatening to report the Transport Authority to the Ombudsman, claiming unfair board representation, unlawful permit suspensions and communication failures. President Roy Raphael alleges that AOPT’s board term was shortened, while a rival association received longer representation. He accuses Transport Authority director Ruth Holder of suspending permits without hearings or disciplinary committee recommendations, harming operators whose insurers may cancel coverage.

Transport Minister Kirk Humphrey has rejected the claims, saying representation rotates between the two PSV associations and AOPT will return after the board’s term. He says he has met Raphael and explained his absence from an AOPT awards ceremony. Humphrey defended direct meetings with Transport Augmentation Programme operators, noting they requested them and selected representatives. He urged AOPT to confront indiscipline among PSV drivers. Raphael says unresolved concerns will be taken to the Prime Minister, Ombudsman and regional transport bodies for international support.

To state the obvious, Barbados Underground (BU) is all in on ensuring the principle of natural justice is applied to making decisions. If AOPT believes its members, Public Service Vehicles (PSV), are being hard done, by all means represent. What should pique the curiosity is – the PSVs for many years have been mainly responsible for much of the chaos on our roads with successive governments unable to effectively address. Although the Transport Authority was established in 2007 to pointedly lead the fight, like the majority of government agencies, it has been a toothless tiger. However, in recent times it has been flexing its authority, or so we thought, to address PSV violations. In response the sector has also flexed by restricting its services to the public.

We have created a PSV monster that appears to be ungovernable. In the matter reported, BU is fully supportive of Minister Kirk Humphrey’s effort to address some of the lawlessness that continues to be perpetrated by the PSV sector. The time has long passed for government – who created the mess – to fix it. There is too much at stake for us to continually ignore the devastation that an unruly and chaotic PSV sector has had on our tiny society, especially on our young, impressionable minds.

For the first time, let the PSV sector feel the pressure of government push back. Minister Kirk Humphrey should adopt the battle cry made popular locally by a former colleague now President of Barbados – NO Retreat, NO Surrender. It is time to wrestle this PSV master to the ground once and for all. The hopes and dreams of a small country depend on it.

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26 responses to “Minister Kirk Humphrey trying to Wrestle the PSV Monster to the Ground”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    Agree the issue should be addressed but it cannot be confused with the bad behaviour your agency and others have been unable to fix. We have to clean up the sector post haste!

    PSV workers: Dirty water a health risk

    Some PSV operators at the Constitution River Terminal (CRT) in The City are fed up, saying they are being forced to work in the midst of a mosquitoinfested “swamp” due to a drainage issue the Government has ignored for years.

    A massive pool of dirty, stagnant water has settled along the outskirts of the terminal’s perimeter fence. On Thursday, frustrated transport workers spoke out, warning that the water was a major health hazard that is also crippling local commerce. Several stalls at the neighbouring Nursery Drive shop facility in the vicinity have already been forced to close.

    When it rains, the problem spreads, literally, they said. The floodwaters creep all the way to the terminal entrance, trapping a guard hut and local vendors in the muck.

    Director of the Transport Authority Ruth Holder said her hands were tied as she attributed the flooding to the natural ebb and flow of the nearby river.

    “This is an issue for the Transport Authority and we would have dealt with this on numerous occasions. It is a drainage issue,” Holder said. “The sun can shine all day. As the river levels rise and fall, as they fluctuate, the water will come in.”

    Holder confirmed the matter has been repeatedly raised with the relevant authorities, stating, “This is a drainage issue. This is not the Transport Authority.”

    However, for the drivers navigating the terminal daily, the official responses offer little comfort.

    Ishmael Khan, a driver and owner, said the vermin

    was taking over. “This is a swamp. This is unhealthy for us and it is unhealthy for the passengers,” he said, highlighting the mosquitoes, worms, and rats populating the pool.

    Anderson King, 60, who has been driving since 2011, called the persistent flooding a “disgrace” and pleaded for the terminal to be redeveloped. He described the impossible situation drivers face when trying to navigate the flooded walkways without splashing pedestrians with filthy water.

    “We’ve got to drive slow for people on the walkway coming up. So, when we’re driving slow now, people look at us in that kind of way like, if we splash, they’re going to do this and curse us,” King said.

    “We’re accustomed to this kind of thing. But we can’t just come out and splash people with that dirty water. It is always there and we are humans too.”

    (MB)

  2. Minister Kirk Humphrey trying to Wrestle the PSV Monster to the Ground – Carribwyre

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  3. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    BU is fully supportive of Minister Kirk Humphrey’s effort to address some of the lawlessness that continues to be perpetrated by the PSV sector.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    The problem here is that one needs to remove the beam from one’s own eye, BEFORE working on the speck in another’s eyes.

    One gets the impression that ANY type of locally led enterprise is seen as a threat by our successive governments, and are deliberately disadvantaged to the point of bankruptcy. Instead of BUILDING up the talents in the society, politicians destroy all competition that appears to out-shine them.

    The list is endless.

    Private Transport was developing smoothly under Elite, Rocklyn etc …until politicians, JEALOUS of the power and influence of people like Ms Rock in St Andrew, put an end to that!
    Same shiite with Bynoe’s recycling business, Husbands businesses, Julie N, – EVEN Hoad’s goat business…and more recently with the Sugar divestment shiite and co-ops, which is YET to be explained.

    Left to our government, the PSV sector will become 100% Indian or foreign owned, where politicians can then maintain political influence via licensing, routing etc – while Blacks continue to scrunt.
    …like has been the case with BS&T, BNB, BARTEL, EMERA, Cave Shepherd …and practically every thing else of value bout here…

    Perhaps Mr Raphael is our last hope standing up for ordinary Bajan brass … cause the Union defected a few elections ago….

    When Humphrey can get around to resolving THAT particular dilemma, he will find it MUCH easier to deal with the ‘specks’ that afflict the ZR sector.

    What a place!

  4. David Avatar
    David

    @Bush Tea

    Your last comment rough.

  5. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    When will the blind seeeeee?

    All those you continue to believe that there are any redeemable features to end-stage capitalism, under any guise, exhibit symptoms of a well-propagandized mental state.

    Let’s tell a story about Manchester Football Club (MFC) it’s meteorite rise since 2015 cerca, the advance of corruption in high places that has become the defining feature of capitalism, its illegal winning of the Premiere League fooball tournament several times and other trophies, the English Football Association, the UEFA, the influence of money from an Abu Dhabi princeling Mansour, the 115 charges levied by a independent committee of lawyers set up by the Premiere League which found MFC guilty of 114 charges for breaches of rules over ten (10) years.

    Those breaches essentially envolved the club’s proven involved in a conspiracy of banks, the use of sponsors to book illegal contributions from Sheik Mansour as revenue to finance illegal payments to parties, transfer agents of players and others, to obtain the top players and therefore being able to be one of the most successful teams in the UK for ten years, in Europe and the world.

    This is a massive cultural problem which clearly demonstrates that something deeper is happening in the world which cannot just be about about the behaviours of minibus operators in a small island in the Caribbean.

    Mansour is a well- connected money man in England. Indeed, Abu Dhabi itself was set up by the British as empire ended. Mansour has significant investments in England and the British prime minister has already spoken to this matter.

    Even if the system chooses to overlook the crimes of Mansour and others in this vast conspiracy this will not go away. For other clubs are now asking that the titles won by MFC be stripped, that the club be banned, that it should be stripped of a high number of points over coming years, that their rivals to paid significant compensation packages, that all the MFC officials involved over ten years by banned for life, that currently players brought in should be forced sold. And on and on.

    And on and on!

  6. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    @ David

    There has always been a drainage problem where the Constitution River Terminal was built from far back as the late 1970s when Transport Board’s River Terminal existed.

    Bearing that in mind, it was complete madness to construct another terminal on that site.

    Despite the problems with flooding, PSV operators plying the Bush Hall route DO NOT enter the terminal, preferring instead to pick up passengers at Queen’s Park gate.
    Also, many of the ZRs plying the Silver Hill/Gall Hill, Silver Sands, and Fairy Valley routes don’t go into the terminal as well, and can be found parked at the junction of John Beckles Drive and River Road waiting for passengers, or in Fairchild Street from as early as 4:00pm, more often than not preventing the free flow of omnibuses entering and exiting the Fairchild Street bus terminal.

    Even if all the problems at the River Terminal they described were addressed, the PSV operators would find some silly excuse not to obey the law.

    Ironically, many of the PSVs are owned by Indians.

    Additionally, there’s a video circulating on social media in which an over-loaded minibus is seen with passengers in the doorway. It ‘harrows me with fear and wonder’ how adults would endanger their lives in that manner.

    Unfortunately, however, some idiot would come from under whatever rock to support such nonsense whenever it is highlighted, while suggesting we don’t know the meaning of people trying to get home.

  7. David Avatar
    David

    @Artax

    Nothing to add to your comment. Some issues we have can be fixed local, had nothing to do with capitalism. The objective while we occupy the planet is to carve out the best way of living given whatever challenges present once man made constructs are at play.

    @Artax

    Back in the days of Elite and Rocklyn did we have these kinds of issues? We can old buses, many stopped’ running’ at 8PM and so on. We have individuals managing today with MBAs, PhDs and others flowery qualifications.

    What happened?

  8. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Whoever decided to build that constitution river terminal MUST have intended to frustrate the ZR operators, as well as the public – who use that service…
    Either that, or they were complete idiots.
    You only need to visit the mess briefly to see the folly…. in 2026?

    Anyone interested in ADVANCING the status of customers and investors in that sector would have seen the VALUE in designing and building a HIGH QUALITY terminal for Bajans.

    The ZR operators are to blame, in that they continue to sit back like parasites and await the goodwill of politicians – instead of getting together and CHARTING their own way forward.

    Government then colludes with their political contributing allies to disadvantage ordinary people while enriching the USUAL suspects.

    What a place!

  9. David Avatar
    David

    @Artax and Bush Tea

    The other problem with that terminal is the high risk to approach it across the River or even from St. Michael’s Row at night!

  10. John A Avatar
    John A

    It says it all when the said body could not decide if they should fully strike or not. So some did and others did not. If dem can’t even agree on that what “come together” wunna talking bout? It is a brek fuh yuslef business in all forms and fashion.

  11. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ John A
    Sometimes you could mek Bushie “sin ‘e soul” …and cuss you like Pacha yuh know…!!!

    Why would you expect a bunch of ZR hustlers to ‘come together ‘fully’ to strike …
    When our cream-of-the-crop politicians cannot come together on ANY shiite…?

    When our churches cannot come together, even on what the bible says…

    When we cannot even get Kamla to support a Guyanese candidate?

    When you yourself did not go and vote AGAINST the lotta shiite bout here…?

    Boss, if Raphael only got 40% of the ZR people to strike, then he BETTER than the damn politicians – who only got 30% of Bajans to vote… and they had the whole Treasury plus the political contributions at their disposal.

    Hands off Bushie’ ZR buddies….
    LOL

  12. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    @ David

    Back in the days of the private bus concessionaires, omnibus owners were licensed by the Director of Highways and Transport to operate on specific routes across the island.
    The cost of operations was borne by the individual operator. In other words, they held managerial and financial responsibility for the service they provided.

    The Leeward Bus Company, for example, which was located on the site where The Lonestar Restaurant, The Garden in St. James, is now situated, was responsible for servicing the northern parishes, and Progressive Motor Omnibus Co. Ltd. serviced the Bridgetown to Golf Club and Rendezvous in Christ Church.

    Perhaps you may recall there was a distance-based ‘stage bus fare’ system in place, whereby passengers paid bus fare according to distance travelled.

    Unfortunately, by the mid-1950s, many of those private operators began to experience significant financial and operational difficulties maintaining their omnibus fleets.
    As such, in an effort to safeguard public transportation, the then Government of Barbados passed an Act of Parliament on August 24, 1955, to officially established the government-owned Transport Board.

    On May 02, 1976, then PM Errol Barrow announced the introduction of a 25¢ standardised bus fare by month end to replace ‘stage fares,’ as well as plans to nationalise the two remaining private bus concessionaires, Elite Bus Company and Rocklyn Motor Omnibus Co. Ltd., when their concessions expired in June 1977.

    Ironically, there was a by-election for the City of Bridgetown constituency on May 12, 1976, which was won by the BLP’s Billie Miller (1,872 votes) over the DLP’s Lisle Carmichael (1318 votes).
    The general elections were subsequently held on September 02, 1976. One could reasonably assume that replacing the stage fare system with a 25¢ ‘flat rate,’ proved to be a very expensive ‘election gimmick.’

    In 1978, government took over the operation of routes that were previously serviced by Elite and Rocklyn, while acquiring their buses in the process.

    TB is now charged with servicing ALL routes, which were progressively extended over the years and the ‘last bus’ time was rescheduled to 12:00 midnight and subsequently 12:05 am.

    Operations management identifies the three primary sources of inefficiency (system inhibitors) as waste, variability, and inflexibility. Corruption, poor management, wastage of operational and financial resources, high maintenance costs, inflexibility in terms of TB’s inability to easily adjust to changing conditions or new information, unreliable schedules, and more so POLITICS and CRONYISM, have contributed significantly to its inefficiency.

    In July 2017, we had former Transport Minister, Michael Lashley, defending government’s decision to hire a consultant from Trinidad, David Bartholomew, and paying him a rate of $22,000 per month to supervise the repair and maintenance of defective buses and improve fleet operations.

    According to the 2019 Special Audit Report of TB, as at October 12, 2018, the Board had a fleet of 271 buses, 190 of which were out of service. This meant only 81 were operational.
    Approximately four (4) months later in February 2019, that number was reduced to fifty (50) buses.
    With a substantially reduced bus availability, TB obviously had to rationalise its scheduled services by either reducing the frequency of service to various routes, combining two (2) or more routes, or eliminating certain routes.

    That information clearly indicated Bartholomew failed to achieve the objectives he was ‘handsomely paid’ to oversee.

    Bus fare was fixed at $1.50 in 1991 and was increased to $2.00, twenty (20) years later, on January 01, 2011 and subsequently to $3.50 in March 2019.
    During that time, there were increases in maintenance costs, salaries & wages and operational overheads.

    The reality is government cannot provide a bus service without the requisite number of buses to reliably and efficiently service all routes or with fares set at $3.50.
    Government must either borrow or raise taxes to continue financing TB, or allow market forces determine bus fares.

    Since I’ve mentioned bus fare, whereas government subsidises bus fares and TB, the PSV operators are forced to subsidise public transportation ‘out of their pockets.’

  13. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    @ David

    The same problems with flooding and the “high risk to approach it across the River or even from St. Michael’s Row at night,” EXISTED in the OLD river terminal.

    But, some brilliant individual seemed to believe building a NEW river terminal a FEW YARDS AWAY from the old one, would’ve suddenly made those problems disappear.

    In MY opinion, rather than construct a new market on the site where the old Fairchild Street market, government should’ve built a PSV terminal there instead.

    The ‘Freedom Park,’ a waste of taxpayers’ money in my opinion, and a ‘home’ for vagrants and homeless people, could’ve been the site for a multi-purpose marketplace.

  14. David Avatar
    David

    Thanks for that comprehensive answer @Artax. The only point not mentioned was the failure of UCAL and why?

  15. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    “The only point not mentioned was the failure of UCAL and why?”
    ~~~~~~~~~
    Same reasons as with all the other fowl ups and blunders…
    Our politicians CANNOT get one shiite to work – even when give ALL of the available hands on deck. They have an ‘anti-midas’ touch.

    Cronyism and corruption tops Bushie’s list of whys…
    But after hearing Kerrie on Brass Tacks Sunday, one also has to factor in the prevalence of shiite-talking incompetents in ’senior’ place.

    What a place!

  16. David Avatar
    David

    The BWU was up front and centre with the establishment and management of UCAL?

  17. David Avatar
    David

    We need more actors in the Cabinet – or close – with track records of running successful businesses. It appears there is a gap.

    Enough of the political rhetoric!!!

  18. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    The BWU was up front and centre with the establishment and management of UCAL?
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~
    They played THAT game like albino-centric pros…
    …and now they are ‘up front’ in the mafia-styled political system…

    Add two and two …and tell Bushie what comes up…

    Boss…
    The COMMON denominators in it all, are greed and ‘powa’…

    Where these NEED to be Love and SERVICE….

    What a state!

  19. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    @ David

    I don’t believe it’s fair to ‘say’ UCAL failed, especially without taking the totality of the circumstances into consideration.

    I’ll mention a few.

    The previous DLP administration not only owed UCAL millions of dollars, but they also outsourced repairs and maintenance services to other establishments, such as Trans Tech Inc., many of which charged higher fees than UCAL for providing similar services.

    For example, UCAL had to ‘re-repair’ buses and transmissions that were previously repaired by Trans Tech.

    I remember lack of funds created a situation where employees were not paid for two (2) or more months, and forced t rely on savings or borrowing money to finance their upkeep and payment of bills.

    Employees staged protest action in March, October and December 2014, primarily over the non-payment and delay of wages and salaries.
    Union representatives and employees highlighted that company faced severe cash flow problems, mainly linked to Transport Board failing to settle its outstanding commitments in a timely manner, which disrupted UCAL’s ability to pay its staff every Wednesday as was scheduled.

    On Wednesday, September 24, 2014, workers pledged ‘to down tools’ in protest at the company not receiving monies to pay outstanding salaries and wages.

    The government responded by paying some of the outstanding amounts and instructing the BRA to enforce the collection of VAT payable, which was deducted.

    TB does not stock bus parts and its Quality Assurance Department is a complete waste of time.

    However, to be fair, the current BLP administration has outsourced the maintenance and repairs of government vehicles to UCAL, operating from the mechanical workshop at MTW in the Pine.

  20. David Avatar
    David

    @Artax

    It is unfortunate an entity (UCAL) setup to empower workers, of which our leading trade union is a part, can be allowed to fail so badly. It does not shed a positive light in government and the BWU.

  21. dreamstarworld Avatar
    dreamstarworld

    LET ME QUOTE THE HOLY SCRIPTURES FOR THOSE WHO ARE #Igrunt OF THEM – FOR THE MOST HIGH GOD SAYS: “I AM GOING TO LAUGH AT YOUR CALAMITIES & MOCK WHEN YOUR FEAR COMES” – CITED IN PROVERBS, CHAPTER 1, VERSE 26 – FOR THIS IS WHAT **WISDOM** UTTERS

    For donkeys years, I have been going backward & forward; round & round the same ‘ole mountain – wondering when the “PROMISED LAND” will come into view..

    I will not be one of those of the “ORIGINAL POSSE” that intend to “DIE” in the wilderness & not see the land flowing with milk & honey!!!

    THIS CURRENT SYSTEM HAS BEEN WEIGHED IN THE BALANCES & IT IS READY FOR DIVINE DESTRUCTION

    A new day has to come & it “MUST” begin with those of us who are prepared!!!

    The reason our nation is trapped in a “VORTEX” was created long ago, and nothing has changed – the costumes are different but the “ACTORS” are the “SAME WHYTE* DEVILS” with invisible chains in their hands!!!

    Permit me to explain my position as succinctly as I possibly can…

    Let us begin

    The sociology of the plantocracy system, which is the historical ruling class of WHYTE* plantation owners, laid the structural, psychological, and institutional foundations that still dictate how many post-colonial, predominantly Black-led governments operate today…

    (George Beckford & Lloyd Best et al) argue that formal “INDEPENDENCE” did not dismantle the deeper, underlying mechanics of the plantation society. Instead, modern “democracies” in regions like the Caribbean and parts of post-colonial Africa often mimic the authoritarian, stratified, and extractive models of their past…

    The plantation was not a school of democracy; it was an authoritarian, panoptic economic unit designed entirely for total social control, surveillance, and surplus extraction…

    When Black GOVs* assumed control during independence, they did not restructure the state; they inherited the existing colonial machinery. The police force, legal systems, and central executive bodies were originally built to suppress the populace and protect property…

    The plantocracy operated on a rigid, racialised caste system that associated proximity to “WHYTENESS” or “ALBINO”-European culture with power, civil competence, and authority…

    Sociologists note that post-colonial political spheres are heavily influenced by a persistent “WHYTE BIAS”. The Black and mixed-race middle classes who took power often adopted the elite mannerisms, legal rigidities, and class snobbery of the old plantocracy, separating themselves from the rural peasantry and urban working class…

    In a plantocracy, the planter-class-governor or attorney possessed absolute control over resources, land allocation, and survival…

    This absolute, paternalistic structure evolved directly into modern political clientelism (the “politics of patronage”). In many so-called democracies, citizens do not look to the state for systemic rights, but rather to the political party or local leader for direct favors, handouts, jobs, or building permits…

    Modern Black GOVs* frequently remain trapped in this exact layout. Instead of diversifying or building sovereign economic systems, administrations remain subservient to foreign direct investment, tourism conglomerates, and multilateral lenders like the IMF…

    The political class often acts as the domestic manager for international capital. Just as the historic plantocracy relied on international trade and absentee landlords, modern local elites secure their wealth by facilitating the extraction of local minerals, tourism revenues, or cash crops, leaving the masses on the margin…

    Ultimately, the sociology of the plantocracy created a “facade democracy”.

    While the faces at the apex of the pyramid changed from “WHYTE” to Black, the underlying structural realities – authoritarian control, severe economic inequality, and social stratification – stubbornly persist, keeping true democratic emancipation out of reach…

    I raise this issue because in countries like Barbados, with a predominantly Black GOV* since 1966, the masses are blindsided by the effects of the plantation class of “WHYTE” Bajans who still wield considerable control over every facet of life, down to even issues of transport!!!

    While Barbados achieved independence in 1966 and transitioned to a Republic in 2021, political franchise (the black-led GOV*) did not automatically equal economic franchise…

    The country’s history as a highly managed, densely populated “SETTLER” colony meant the “WHYTE” minority never fled – they stayed, adapted, and successfully converted their physical plantation land into monopolistic corporate power…

    Historically, as sugar declined, the old plantocracy shifted its capital into the commercial sector. In Barbados, this resulted in the formation of massive, “FAMILY-HELD” conglomerates (traditionally referred to historically as the “BIG SIX” or corporate empires like Goddard Enterprises and Barbados Shipping & Trading)…

    These WHYTE*-Bajan-owned or elite-managed entities gained suffocating dominance over import/export logistics, automotive dealerships, insurance, shipping, and wholesale food distribution.
    Even though the GOV* is Black, the state depends on these corporate “VAMPIRES” to keep the country running, supply goods, and provide private-sector jobs…

    The importation of vehicles, buses, tyres, and mechanical parts is overwhelmingly controlled by elite-owned commercial houses. When the Public Transport Board faces crises or moves toward privatisation and divestment, it is these private corporate actors who hold the capital to step in, supply the fleets, or control the supply chain…

    The issue of “ZRs” and public policy is a “NOTHING BURGER” because, while the visible operators of public transport (like the ZR vans or private minibuses) are predominantly Black working-class individuals, they are bound by an economic ecosystem they do not control. They must purchase vehicles, fuel, and insurance from the same corporate elite, which means any shifts in corporate pricing directly dictate whether a working-class Bajan can afford to commute to work…

    LET US NOT FORGET THAT THERE IS A CLASS OF HOUSE NIGGAS* IN BARBADOS WHOSE JOB IT IS TO CURRY FAVOUR WITH THE “PLANTATION WHYTE BOYZ” TO KEEP PROSPECTIVE BLACK MILLIONAIRES IN CHECK OR BANKRUPT THEM AT ANY COST

    The sociology of Barbados relies on a powerful national narrative of “RACIAL HARMONY” and social stability with is nothing more than a “MYTHOLOGY”! Because the country enjoys a high standard of education, low political violence, and functional public infrastructure, a myth of a “post-racial, harmonious society” is heavily promoted to the detriment of the masses…

    I AM YET TO MEET A WHYTE MAN I CAN GET ALONG WITH EVEN THOUGH MY SO-CALLED SON-IN-LAW IS WHYTE* & I THINK HE NEEDS A CUT-ARSE*

    This notion creates a pacifying effect. The masses see Black prime ministers, Black police chiefs, and Black judges, which creates the illusion of total Black empowerment. Meanwhile, the quiet, structural, back-room economic control wielded by “WHYTE” Bajans over the cost of living, retail prices, and land ownership remains largely unaddressed. The political class acts as a diplomatic shield, absorbing public anger over rising costs, while the corporate elite continues to “EXTRACT” profits without public accountability…

    Ultimately, Barbados is a prime example of the divergence between political administration and economic ownership. The Black GOV* manages the state, but the descendants of the plantocracy still own the infrastructure of daily survival…

    It is alarming how many Black-owned businesses have dissolved since Independence, with no models of true Black, successful entrepreneurship, making it nigh impossible for 90+% of the populace to feel as if they have a stake in the country of their slave ancestors!!!

    The phenomenon I am describing – the systemic collapse or containment of Black-owned businesses post-independence – is one of the most painful contradictions of modern Barbados and the wider Caribbean. It creates what sociologists call “STRUCTURAL ALIENATION”, where 90+% of the population looks at the economy and realises they are merely consumers and labourers, rather than owners, on the very soil fertilised by the blood, sweat and tears of their ancestors…

    The near-total absence of large-scale, multi-generational Black conglomerates to rival the old plantocracy’s corporate successors is not an accident of the free market. It is the result of deliberate historical, financial, and sociological barriers designed to keep Black entrepreneurship from scaling…

    When the historic plantocracy shifted its wealth from sugarcane into commercial retail and shipping, they also consolidated control over the local banking sector…

    Historically, and well into the independence era, Black entrepreneurs faced immense hurdles securing venture capital or commercial loans. Traditional banks (often historically tied to elite commercial interests or foreign multinationals) routinely require collateral, like prime real estate, that Black families, locked out of land ownership for generations, simply do not possess…

    A “WHYTE”-Bajan entrepreneur backed by family networks can secure millions on a handshake or a signature, while a Black entrepreneur with a viable business plan is subjected to hyper-scrutiny, exorbitant interest rates, or flat-out rejection. This forces Black businesses to remain small, informal, and highly vulnerable to economic shocks…

    When Black-owned businesses do manage to break through and begin to scale, they inevitably run into the monopolistic wall of the established elite…

    Because the elite control the import hubs, shipping lines, and wholesale distribution networks, they can easily squeeze a rising Black competitor. If a Black-owned retail store tries to compete, the elite-owned wholesale distributor can inflate the cost of goods to that store or delay shipments, rendering the Black business uncompetitive on price…

    If a Black business becomes too successful, the corporate conglomerates use their immense liquidity to either buy them out (absorbing the competition) or aggressively underwrite losses in a price war until the Black competitor goes bankrupt…

    CUE NEVILLE ROWE’s JULIE’N ET AL

    When a population is trapped in a system of structural alienation, where the real centres of economic power are completely out of reach and protected by the state, the IMF, and historical privilege, the resulting rage, helplessness, and stress do not disappear…

    Instead of exploding “UPWARD” against the unreachable structures, that violence turns inward, imploding upon the community itself…

    AND WONDER WHY BLACK VIOLENCE IS WHERE IT’S AT

    As the Martinican psychiatrist and philosopher Frantz Fanon famously observed in “The Wretched of the Earth”, the colonised person, unable to “STRIKE” the true oppressor, initially expends their pent-up aggression against their own brother. In places like Barbados and the wider Caribbean, this psychological and structural trap manifests in very specific ways…

    Living in an economy where you are structurally barred from true ownership breeds a chronic, ambient stress. When the cost of living rises due to corporate monopolies, and the IMF demands austerity that cuts social safety nets, daily survival becomes a battle…

    This economic anxiety strips away human dignity…

    When people are starved of legitimate avenues for self-actualisation, economic mobility, and systemic respect, minor interpersonal friction escalates rapidly. A dispute over a boundary, a minor traffic incident, or a neighbourhood misunderstanding becomes a flashpoint for years of accumulated, systemic rage…

    Again, where there is no “VISION”, people perish & that is not just Scriptural theology; that is everyday life in 2026!

    Visionary leaders will emphasise young people by shaping their future with programs that enable them to grow and prosper – breaking the “CYCLE” of dilapidation & distrust!

    If money were spent on a “GENERATION” of young people back in the 1980s, those kids today would be “SCIENTISTS”, DEVELOPERS*, ENTREPRENEURS* & a raft of socio-economic giants that would be in a position to challenge the orthodoxy!

    The ultimate tragedy of post-colonial governance is the absolute abdication of generational vision…

    When you look at the 1980s, Caribbean GOVs* were entirely consumed by the immediate shocks of the debt crisis, structural adjustments, and the onset of the neoliberal era…

    Instead of investing heavily in the human capital of that generation to build future software engineers, biotech scientists, and industrial developers, GOVs* spent decades managing deficits, building more hotels for foreign multinationals, and treating education as an assembly line for civil servants, hotel workers, and retail clerks…

    The state created a workforce designed to serve the existing plantation economy, rather than a generation equipped to “DESTROY” and “REBUILD” it…

    NOW IT’S PROBABLY TOO LATE – ONLY DIVINE JUDGMENT SOLVES THIS

    However, if any Caribbean GOVs* in 2026 want to execute a true, multi-generational rescue mission to stem this moral and economic subsidence, it will require a complete departure from standard political short-termism (the 5-year election cycle)…

    A truly visionary state strategy would have to treat youth development not as a social welfare program, but as a national security infrastructure project…

    To deliberately cultivate such a generation of socio-economic “GIANTS” capable of breaking the traditional orthodoxy, a “STATE-LED” blueprint would require several decisive shifts, and I believe it is nigh impossible for the current MOTTLEY-CREW GOV* of Barbados, and those in other respective Caribbean nations, who are trapped between agoraphobia and atychiphobia to provide any “VISIONARY” mechanism whereby the next generation can assault and “DESTROY” the “COLONIAL WALLS” of extraction that keeps the sons of slaves & wage-earners exactly where they are – in 2026!!!!

    It’s a “DAMNING INDICTMENT” but no one is coming to save you – you’re on your own!

    #HeavenHelpUsAll

    On that deleterious note

    I GOTTA RUN*

  22. David Avatar
    David

    @TB

    In your missive, the following is worthy of a highlight:

    “A truly visionary state strategy would have to treat youth development not as a social welfare program, but as a national security infrastructure project…”

  23. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    This Terence rant is the single most comprehensive and accurate summary of the Brassbados status quo that can possibly be penned.

    It accuracy and timeliness alone have to be indicative of its prophetic value… and God’s reliable consistency of warning brass bowls before their final judgement is legendary…

    Bushie clings to the slim possibility of a Jonah / Nineveh ending….
    What a time!

  24. David Avatar
    David

    Humphrey: Time to build better

    BARBADOS MUST STOP BUILDING the way it did decades ago, says Minister of Transport and Works Kirk Humphrey, as he called on the construction sector to rethink its approach for today’s realities.

    Delivering the feature address at the opening ceremony of the Technical & Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Council’s Barbados Annual Construction and Design Conference on Tuesday night at Wyndham Grand Barbados Sam Lord’s Castle in St Philip, Humphrey, who is also Senior Minister coordinating Infrastructure, said the sector still operates much as it did generations ago, despite living in a time of unprecedented advancement in construction.

    “What used to be an asset inevitably becomes a liability if you refuse to change,” he declared.

    Nowhere was that clearer, he pointed out, than on the nation’s roads.

    Humphrey said some recently-paved roads already had potholes, stressing that infrastructure must be built for the climate, with proper drainage. “I have a view that the roads in Barbados should last longer.”

    He wants to see roads built for the weight of today’s traffic, noting that the heavy electric buses now operating “cost twice as much as the buses of yesterday”.

    Humphrey said a point will come when limits on what vehicles can carry must be set and enforced. “The vehicles that are building the roads are also destroying the roads.”

    Technology, he noted, can help. The minister explained that other countries now gather data from their roads, while Barbados is developing a national infrastructure asset register and digital mapping to show exactly what lies beneath its surfaces. He said that information will also help planners coordinate roadworks with utilities, as many water mains were more than 100 years old.

    Humphrey made it clear that the State cannot finance this transformation alone, and will need private partners, including public service vehicle workers, whom he wants to see move beyond being operators. “We want workers to be owners.”

    With a construction boom expected, he said Barbadians must also be trained for the jobs of the future, urging young people to

    take advantage of the free training on offer.

    That message was echoed by Minister of Technological and Vocational Training Sandra Husbands, who said the country was at a pivotal moment, with major investments in tourism, housing, public infrastructure and climate resilience reshaping the landscape.

    She said this year’s conference theme, Integrating Technology Into Quality Construction 2.0, must move beyond talk. She pointed to tools such as artificial intelligence, drones and digital twins, but stressed that people remain the key. “Technology alone cannot build Barbados. People must build it.”

    Husbands also urged local researchers and architects to develop designs suited to Barbados’ climate, as imported modern designs could trap heat in homes.

    She said training institutions must prepare people for new technologies and also retrain those already in the sector, warning that workers trained under old methods risk being left behind.

    Husbands added that the TVET Council has been tasked with expanding a recognition programme that allows thousands of experienced but uncertified construction workers to have their skills formally assessed and certified.

    (DDS)

    Source: Nation

  25. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Steupsss!

    Instead of clueless ministers talking shiite at ceremonies and declaring ‘solutions’ to problems that they do not understand, we should be listening to those who ACTUALLY understand the issues, and who therefore have a better grasp of useful SOLUTIONS.

    What weight of what vehicles what?!
    This issue is already accounted for in the multi-axil / multi-wheel requirements for heavy duty vehicles, such that the actual pressure applied to the road surfaces by such units can be comparable to that of an ordinary vehicle.

    In any case, everyone knows that even roads that are traversed ONLY by small cars and bicycles are full of big-donkeyed pot holes…
    The DAMN ROADS ARE BUILT shabbily – and seem to be DELIBERATELY designed to fail …and thus require expensive REWORK by the contractors who profit handsomely every few years …from redoing the SAME work…
    …And of course by the politicians – who get to brag about ‘fixing de pot holes’… and of course enjoy generous ‘campaign contributions’ from the grateful contractors.

    The only REAL patsies are the BB public…

    The SIMPLE solution is to institute international quality standards – that are enforced by qualified professionals, and that hold the contractors financially responsible for the long-term quality performance of their projects.

    Damn problem solved just so…!!!
    But then we would need some new avenues for campaign financing…

    What a place!

  26. Terence M Blackett Avatar
    Terence M Blackett

    WOE, WOE, WOE TO COLONIZERS & THEIR NEFARIOUS OFFSPRING – YOUR DAY OF DOOM IS AT HAND

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