On October 3rd, 2021, Arthur Collymore addressed the below comment to me [Heather Cole].Arthur Collymore
If Phoenix crowdfunding is what Arthur Collymore is referring to, it was perfectly legal as we were in the processing of forming a non-profit. One person benefits in a Ponzi scheme. Our operation would have been a modern version of the Barbadian Meeting Turn, therefore benefiting everyone.
A Barbadian website builder named Alvin Herbert developed a website for us. It was a fraught with delays from the start. He did not deliver the finished site on time and what he delivered was a shell and it did not complete our requirements. When we complained, he removed the site from the Internet.
The police in Barbados were contacted. A Police Sergeant tried unsuccessfully to mediate the situation, but Alvin Herbert changed the terms and wanted us to pay him additional funds to complete the work. I refused and I contacted the Minister responsible for entrepreneurship who referred the matter to the Public Counsel. A complaint was filed however to date, the Tribunal has not met.
Loosing over $2000.00 and the website devastated the group’s morale and that is what caused the group to fall apart. We have not been able to get another website built as yet. If any scamming was done it was by Alvin Herbert.
I even sent a copy of the draft proposal for Phoenix Crowdfunding to the Minister (Kerri Symmonds), asking if it could become operational in Barbados. He said it was not his Ministry, but he could pass it on to the Ministry of Finance. I have not received any response from that Ministry to date.
My question for Arthur Collymore is why something to help the poor and unemployed is looked upon as a scam and why a plan to rob the Treasury of Barbados by Mark Maloney is not a scam?
On a more positive note, if anyone out here has a reasonable solution for this website, contact me. I am submitting the draft proposal for all to see. There is nothing sinister contained therein.
Submitted by Heather Cole – Founder of Phoenix Crowdfunding International
You may recall that a few years ago I had the idea to start a national meeting turn for Barbados. Needless to say it did not materialize then, but; it was not because of the lack of trying. I came to Barbados and had several meetings with one of the Credit Unions, the others never responded. In the end it was pushed under the carpet. No one wanted to change the status quo.
At that time I presented my proposal to the Financial Service Commission and the outcome was that they would not monitor such an establishment so that was approval enough to start the national meeting turn but it could not start without a financial institution to hold the funds.
Fast forward to today and I have a community of about 258 persons in the US and we have now started an automated platform on which we intend to grow physically. Our growth now is not only limited to automation but to legal status. We are currently in the process of becoming an International Nonprofit. This status will open many opportunities for us. Not only will we be a legal entity in the US but we will be able to operate internationally as well.
This is where Barbados and by extension the rest of the world comes in. We can now offer our nonprofit service to Barbadians. As a crowdfunding community our mission is twofold.
To focus on the creation of family businesses but individual efforts are also welcomed.
We will also be using contributions from the platform to invest as a community both in Barbados and the US. This can be in real estate, a restaurant, a store, in agriculture or as importing merchants.
We also intend to be a source of generational wealth.
The bottom line is that the sky will be the limit if we become an entity in which the general public has confidence. The focus in the US is to assist black and brown communities. In Barbados the plan is to have the crowdfunding platform serve the middle and working class.
We will be having a launch for the new entity Phoenix Crowdfunding International on April 15th, 2021. The launch will be held via zoom and I will share the link. All are invited to attend to, hear how the system will work and have their queries answered and sign up.
There is not much that the average Barbadian can do alone but we can do great things together; the most important of which is to pursue economic empowerment. There is no time like the present to change our destiny.
Heather Cole is asking for the public’s support to ensure the success of a food security project at the Todds Plantation.
Dear Prospective Investors and Members,
Although the conception of the People’s Agricultural and Business Co-op was done prior to COVID-19, we did not anticipate that our fears would have been realized months later when this global pandemic began to wreak havoc on the economy. COVID-19 has exposed the harsh reality that insufficient food is being grown on the island that Barbadians call home.
It has been said that Barbadians do not work together for economic gain. With this in mind, The People’s Agricultural and Business Co-operative Ltd. is seeking to become an agent of change in Barbados. It is providing an opportunity for ordinary Barbadians to economically come together through the formation of this co-op to grow food, produce by- products, engage in marine farming, grow agri- produce and engage in several other business activities…
“Babylon system is a vampire sucking the blood of the suffers.”
Bob Marley
A drought causes cracks in the soil exposing what is beneath the surface of the earth. It seems that a 9-year drought in Barbados has exposed every problem that laid dormant in its society. Barbados has a crime problem that if not arrested will make life miserable on its 166 square miles, affecting not only the lives of the persons who live there but also inflicting reputational damage on the tourist industry.
Gun related crime has become a fundamental threat to the rule of law, the conduct of good governance and an imposition on society. The combination of these three elements suggests that gun violence is now normalized in the public domain. If left unchallenged, it is implicit that little Barbados will reach the ranks of Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica with their rampant gun related crimes.
Over time both political parties have failed to take the necessary action to reduce gun violence. Their actions were never enough and have fallen short of addressing the source of the problem. However, society on a whole must be willing to go the extra step to eradicate this fraction of crime from the island.
It is not good enough to only have reactionary measures. For decades, we have thrown our own under the bus with excessive punishments when in essence the triggers were really pulled by some persons who live in grand houses far away from the turmoil that they created.
To date gun related crimes that end in murder have reached epic proportions and the entire island is having discussions about this topic. I have listened to the Acting Commissioner of Police, The Attorney General, Members of the Opposition and read statements by the leaders of two of the newly formed Political Parties on this matter. One thing that stands out in my mind is that this storm has created the perfect example of over-analysis of gun related crime in Barbados.
In their analysis, most solutions were to address a symptom of the problem. Very few persons even stopped to consider the real problem. When they did, some did not provide a solution.
We all know that some words can frame a narrative, while some can twist it completely out of context, causing us to lose the true focus of the problem. We also know that personalized narratives are specific and that the interpretation of generalized narratives varies according to who is reading it.
I listened carefully to the narrative of the Acting Commissioner of Police. It was specific but I realized from his statement that there is no holistic approach to solving gun related crime in Barbados. The Acting Commissioner’s focus is clearly on one aspect of the problem as he is now seeking to have dialog with other law enforcement agencies on the matter. It leads one to the conclusion that to date he has been satisfied to fight a battle while a raging war is going on.
In his narrative, the Attorney General was too generalized and not coherent. It was almost as though he was complicit to the crime of importing guns. He blamed the presence of the sea as an enabler to the crime. Then he spoke of addressing the problem of importing guns after the fact. I did not see the rationale for making a customs officers take a lie detector test after he had let the contraband into the island. The concept must be prevention. He did not mention any linkages of the economic deprivation and the growth of poverty as impacting or increasing gun related crime.
In my opinion, the root cause of the problem is the importation of guns. My solution is therefore simple, removing the importers of drugs, the persons who turn a blind eye to the importation or accept bribes, and removing from society the persons who sell the youth a false sense of attainment and recognition.
My solutions to this crisis comprise, an investment in body cameras that all customs officers must wear on duty. All items entering the island through the ports of entry and the post office must be scanned.
In these days of advanced technology, it cannot be too difficult to develop an application to track the movement of vessels in the sea that are possibly bringing in guns and drugs. The coast guard and its patrols need to be enhanced. The police must be empowered to go after people in high places who are known gun and drug importers. We as a people must not elect politicians who are rumored or known to engage in corruption. We must press them to ensure that the laws are implemented.
And what about our youth who are the targets of the importers? It is no revelation that Barbados has failed its youth. It is the end result of breeding discontent and hopelessness for decades. Every time one passes and sees young men liming on the block it is an acknowledgement of a failed education system that only awards academic excellence and throws crumbs or nothing at all to the other abilities.
The most vulnerable are now reaping what we have allowed to be sown. If we are all content to leave things just as they are and only make a public outcry when another person is murdered, we must change our Coat of Arms, removing the word “pride”, because there will be nothing left to be proud of 10 years from now.
As Elombe Mottley recently related to me, we must open community based avenues by which our youth can become recognized and feel a sense of accomplishment through sports, the arts and social activities. We can no longer choose to ignore the drug dealers and gun peddlers who are filling up their heads with a false sense of pride which makes them choose violence and reckless indifference.
In the final analysis, until we acknowledge the real problem, and implement meaningful solutions to deal with the problems as well as the consequences of the problems, we will be fighting a battle but will never win the war.
Having received no response from Mr. Hoad re his column of June 24th 2016, I must bring this matter to your direct attention, seeking a response to the email that was also sent to you. For ease of reference, Mr. Hoad’s article inferred that the actions of Mr. Mark Maloney of breaking the law were comparable to that of Rosa Parks who took a stance for her civil rights. Since that email, I was informed by others that this was not the first instance that Mr. Hoad had written racially sensitive information. This was also done in an article belittling Trayvon Martin’s death.
This is not an attempt to vilify the Nation Newspaper. For all I know those sentences or their meaning went unnoticed by the person who edited the article, making it an error for the newspaper to have published them. The non- response has therefore been deafening.
Your newspaper plays a pivotal role in shaping the minds of the people in our society. My desire is that the present and future generations will finally be free of the curses of slavery and that they will think positively of themselves. Black lives matter is as relevant in Barbados as it is in the USA. How can our people truly become free if our struggles and race are made fun of in Friday satirical banter? Those not so subtle reference will help keep our minds in chains.
I hope that you will respond to my concerns but more so that as a black person, I will not again have to suffer the indignity of reading a similar article.
“Babylon system is a vampire sucking the blood of the suffers.”
