Est.2007

Barbados Underground

Bringing News and Opinions to the People

As far as our Comment Policy goes we have none. However in light of the several comments and emails we have received, we thought we should clarify a few things for the BU family.

1. We love comments on BU – we believe that the BU blog + BU comments = Knowledge Sharing. Keep comments coming; it does not matter if you can spell or not. In cases where we need to apply minor edits to improve coherence we will, and we will leave a note in the affected comment to make our action transparent.

2. We delete spam – Regrettably, we have both automated and manual spammers on the Internet which can be a nuisance. There is a WordPress spammer which buckets 99%; the odd ones that slip through the BU household will delete, eventually. There is the odd occasion where a valid comment maybe spammed. In the few cases this occur, members of the BU household will retrieve from the spammer. BE Patient!

3. Relevant links in comments are actively encouraged – Links in a comment can help in the information sharing process. Remember that too many links may cause your comment to be moderated. We will retrieve it eventually, BE PATIENT! Note however that third party links posted do NOT reflect the opinions of BU.

 4. We allow signatures in comments – We are aware that this is a privilege which is abused but we have decided to allow signatures. This allows other bloggers to grow. We encourage the Bajan bloggers especially to use this feature. The bigger the bajan blogosphere the more effective we can become.

 5. The volume of comments which the BU household has to read, we may sometimes miss a few. Also, we are often asked many questions by commenters. We will try our best to respond but because of the volume of comments we may at times be unable to respond promptly.

 6. If a BU family member believes that an important comment may be lost, he or she is encouraged to post it under Submissions or email the Blogmaster which can be found at the top of the page.

 7. Write what you know or have just cause to believe, is the truth; (b) avoid malice; and (c) retract and apologise when and if it is discovered that the information is wrong.

Some of you maybe saying that we have a liberal comments policy compared to other blogs. We remind the BU family et al that Barbados Underground (BU) was set-up last year (2007) when there was concern the VOICE of the PEOPLE was seriously under threat. We will allow robust debate but at the end of the day the BU household reserves the right to delete any comment. Please note comments posted do not always reflect the views of BU!

We ask a favour of some, do not judge BU by the comments of a few.

109 responses to “Comment Policy”

  1. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @Hal Austin March 15, 2021 5:21 AM “People want to know the policy.”

    People?

    The only person asking is you. You are NOT people. You are ONE PERSON.

    Singular: person

    Plural: People

    If you want to ask David a question about policy go ahead and say Hal Austin is asking.

    Do NOT say people, when only ONE PERSON is asking.

    You are NOT royalty. You have no right to use the royal plural.

    Stupssseee!!!

    Have a great day.

  2. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    Hal have you seen the Charlie Hebdo of elizabeth2 with her knee of Meaghan’s neck?

    What do you think about it?

    Discuss

  3. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    “Hal have you seen the Charlie Hebdo of elizabeth2 with her knee of Meaghan’s neck?”

    I made a comment that along the lines of George came out of the front ‘entrance’ and Archie came out of the back and my comment was deleted, which is no big deal except it was the last word on the subject before it shut down. As a completist I believe I should have had the first and last word. If my language was deemed too fruity it was reaction against John’s action.

  4. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    BU Gauntlet: Exploring the Limits of Free Expression
    South African Vibes
    Don’t Go Lose It Baby Vs Stretch Mix

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztx65GwUMto

  5. Karen Foncette Avatar
    Karen Foncette

    Barbados are following others with no proof. There are countries with no COVID19 and its because of mandory mask not vaccines. Most of the people that work in their hotels are unvaccinated and refuse to get vaccinated. People with religious & medical reasons for not taking the vaccine shouldn’t visit Barbados. Because they prolong their quarantine. It is hard enough that they cannot take the vaccine and then they arepunished.

  6. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Number 1 “People want to know the policy, not the arrogance of the chairman. One cannot obey a rule if one does not know what the rule is.”

    Number 2 “You may have the last word.”

    The absence of Number 1 commenting reminds me of the slogan

    ‘No FT no comment’ in the slogan hall of fame
    LONDON Town

  7. The Underground Avatar
    The Underground

    Rules and Laws are arbitrary and subjective
    meaning
    1. based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system.
    2. (of power or a ruling body) unrestrained and autocratic in the use of authority.
    3. (of a constant or other quantity) of unspecified value.

    birds of a feather will always flock together in any weather whatever
    so one will be forced to go underground on the underground
    if you are ready to endure the underground
    as one snob can poison another one’s mind
    to make someone believe unpleasant things about another person that are not true

  8. comments policy Avatar
    comments policy

    New BU Policy Notification
    Never offend the Blogmaster

  9. Robert MacLellan Avatar
    Robert MacLellan

    Is the Cruise Industry Eating the Caribbean’s Lunch?

    I read with interest a recent article by Alexander Gumbs, decrying potential increases in cruise ship taxes in the Caribbean. As CEO of the Port St Maarten Group, Mr Gumbs has a vested interest in Caribbean cruise tourism. To be fair, I have a different vested interest through many years involvement in resort development consultancy across the Caribbean.

    Mr Gumbs argued that “cruise tourism is sometimes assessed too narrowly through the lens of taxation rather than its broader economic contribution to destinations and tourism authorities should instead pay closer attention to how cruise passengers actually spend money during their visits.”

    With three years’ experience as a hotel officer on board cruise ships and, later, as Hotel Services V P for four explorer cruise ships, I believe that I have a well-founded viewpoint in evaluating how passenger spend, operating costs and taxation applies to the cruise industry in the Caribbean, compared to the stay-over visitor tourism of island hotels, condo rentals, timeshare and marinas.

    Today’s giant cruise ships have large scale leisure facilities on board including multiple restaurants, bars and shops, as well as casinos and water parks, which all now present a direct disincentive to spending time – and money – in Caribbean ports. Ships now ban bringing duty free liquor on board in calling ports – on “security” grounds. Ships have their own jewelry and electronics shops on board. St Maarten is still one of the more successful cruise calling ports for retail outlets but, even there, the size of the duty-free retail sector in Philipsburg has shrunk considerably in recent years, thanks to direct competition from onboard shops.

    Ships’ commissions for shore excursions have risen over the last few decades from 10% to 50%. That inevitably drives shore excursion prices significantly higher, as local companies struggle to operate vehicles and boats on a viable basis. The end result today is that fewer passengers actually go on excursions and more passengers never go ashore at all in many Caribbean ports. On that basis, trying to compare “spend per hour” from the reduced percentage of cruise ship passengers going ashore against the spend of longer term stay-over tourists on the islands is fanciful. The average spend per cruise ship passenger, quoted in the recent article at $165 (over $30 per hour ashore), also seems dubious.

    Average cruise ship ticket prices have declined in real terms over recent decades, attracting more budget-oriented passengers. After having to haggle with cruise ship passengers over the fare, most taxi drivers in the Caribbean will tell you – from their personal observation – that the average purchase per person ashore is more like “two beers and a tee shirt”. How does that start to even compare with the average stay-over guest’s vast spend on island accommodation, restaurants, bars, car rental and day trips?

    A March 2025 World Bank report, argues that the region’s reliance on high-volume cruise tourism is unsustainable, yielding the world’s lowest revenue per cruise visitor at $37–$139 per visit compared to over $1,600 for stay-over visitors.

    That brings us to the question of comparables in operating costs and taxation. Cruise ships inevitably benefit from much lower operating costs, due to their tax structures in off-shore jurisdictions and from their ultra-low direct wage costs for most of their third world sourced crew. However, island based companies in the hospitality sector pay high local taxes and employ local staff – at the very least – on a legal minimum wage basis. Those local payrolls, including income tax and national insurance contributions, have a beneficial multiplier effect across island economies on a much higher ratio than direct cruise ship revenue.

    In the Caribbean cruise ships currently pay very low port taxes on a per passenger basis, contrary to the much higher taxes levied in Alaska, New England, Canada and the Mediterranean. It appears that the Caribbean genuinely needs to catch up or remain being unfairly exploited in this respect.

    In the meantime, the stay-over visitor contributes to local taxation via very high taxes for airport arrivals / departures and on local air tickets themselves. Incidentally, these high airline related taxes have decimated the Caribbean’s intraregional air travel, while local airlines have only marginal viability. Hotel occupancy taxes and sales / value added taxes represent further stay-over visitor contributions, as well as customs import duty on the multiple items which those visitors consume on island.

    The imbalance in operating costs, taxation and profitability seems clear between the cruise industry and the Caribbean based hospitality sector. However, there is an even greater and longer-term insidious impact on the region. The Caribbean currently has the highest density of cruise ship operations in the world, particularly, in the Caribbean’s winter high season.

    It is my contention that this high-volume presence acts in many ways as damaging unfair competition to the region’s onshore accommodation providers. This is particularly impactful when winter high season occupancy and room rates are critical for the financial success of Caribbean resorts – but most cruise ships reposition to other high season destinations elsewhere in the summer. Furthermore, this level of competition from the cruise sector represents a significant economic challenge to the viable development of new resorts in many islands, which already struggle with high construction costs, high energy costs and high shipping costs.

    I really encourage governments in the region, as well as the Caribbean Tourism Organization and the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association, to re-evaluate this imbalance and adjust their policies going forward.

    Robert MacLellan
    Managing Director,
    MacLellan & Associates
    http://www.maclellancaribbean.com

The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.

Trending