Government Ministers can corrupt a national economy by giving no-bid (or no-tendering) contracts in exchange for bribes. The participating businesses are normally the least competent in the country, who can only survive by paying bribes to shield them from fair competition. Their incompetence is normally revealed in the substandard goods and services they provide. The substandard goods normally require excessive
Read more
I may have finally understood the concept of independence in Barbados. It is of a country which gained political independence from Great Britain in 1966 but somehow the teetered yoke of dependence remains firmly affixed to the necks of its people. I hope the sociologists and political scientists from the UWI will weigh in on this one. We have had
Read more
A recent contribution in the Senate by Senator Rawdon Adams continues to resonate with the blogmaster – Senator Rawdon Adams Sobering Intervention in the Debt Restructure Debate. What was responsible for the Barbados brand? A brand that was the envy of the Caribbean and wider afield? A key element that contributed to brand Barbados was the respect locals and those afar
Read more
I suppose that as a keen student of the law relating to employment and especially that of its termination, I ought to have focused today’s column on the ongoing retrenchment in the public sector, its accordance with fairness and its likely economic and social consequences for the nation. However, that discussion will have to await a future column; today I
Read more
As if it were not enough to file a declaration of financial affairs and, in the case of members of parliament, a statement of registrable interests, every specified person in public life other than a member or staff member of the Commission is also mandated by Clause 45 (1) to report to the Commission the receipt (offer?) of a gift
Read more
“Eternal Vigilance is the price of democracy” Thomas Jefferson In recent days the blogmaster has been reflecting on the fact professionals in Barbados that have accrued questionable track records do not seem to suffer reputational and career damage. What triggered the reflection? Thousands of innocent Barbadians whose only ‘crime’ was that they trusted successive governments to properly manage the affairs
Read more
Of course the proof of the pudding will ultimately lie in the eating, but the Integrity in Public Life is not short on provisions designed to ensure the reduction of opportunities for specified persons in public life to profit from corruption. In addition to mandating the declaration of particulars by these individuals that we treated at length in the last
Read more