Submitted by Grenville Phillips II, president of Solutions Barbados

Dear Barbadian Voters:

First, let me state the obvious. The chances of a third-party candidate getting elected in Barbados at this time, is somewhere between extremely unlikely and non-existent. We are fully aware of this. Yet, we persist.

After each election, we receive the same three types of responses. They are: (i) encouragement from those who support our message, (ii) disappointment from supporters of the established parties, and (iii) ridicule from the media and political consultants, and those whom they influence.

WHY KEEP GOING?

Have you ever asked yourselves why? What would cause persons with over 20 years of professional experience, and who are at the peak of their careers, to risk it all with an impossible mission? Why do we expose our personal and professional reputations to the scrutiny of a General Election campaign? What can we possibly hope to gain through this stubborn persistence?

Do you really want to know the answers to those questions? I have yet to hear any person ask them during the seven years of Solutions Barbados’ existence. I have given the answer several times, but unless people are curious enough to ask the ‘why’ question, they are less inclined to be receptive to our answer.

DO YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW?

Each time we throw ourselves against this impenetrable wall during an Election campaign, we leave a bit of ourselves there. Is it worth it? No. It is not worth the disappointment in the eyes of our families, friends, clients, or employers. It is not worth the public ridicule, the baseless accusations of political operatives, or the derision of the media and social commentators.

So, if it is not worth it, then why continue to do it? If you genuinely want to know, then with all of the sincerity in my heart, l write, ‘thank you’. I cannot speak for the other so-called third parties. I can only speak for Solutions Barbados. We do it because we must. Perhaps a parable may help me explain that response better.

THE PARABLE OF THE TERMITES AND PAINTER.

There was once a termite infested house that sheltered several families. Every five years, the families elected a painter to maintain the house. But the painter only did what he knew, which was to paint over the rotten timbers.

One day, a Structural Engineer visited the house, and warned the families that the timbers were severely and extensively rotten. He then provided a solution of replacing rotten timbers, and strengthening the building to prevent its collapse, and offered to do so free of cost.

On hearing this warning, the painter quickly painted the rotten timbers with another coat of paint, and then declared the structure to be sound. The occupants unquestioningly trusted the painter, and never believed the Engineer’s warnings – until the building collapsed shortly thereafter.

THE PARABLE EXPLAINED.

The timber structure is the economy of Barbados – which shelters us all. The termites are inflated no-bid contracts that are given to political donors. The damage is the high debt created by borrowing to pay for these inflated contracts. We are taxed much more than we should, to repay debts we should never have been in, to pay for inflated costs we should never have been charged.

The building’s occupants are Barbadian voters. The painters are successive BLP and the DLP administrations, who allowed their donors to corrupt our national economy, so that it is no longer sustainable. The Structural Engineer is Solutions Barbados, who keeps warning Barbadians about the foreseen collapse of the economy.

THE FORESEEN COLLAPSE.

Based on the amount of damage political donors have done to our national economy, it can no longer take a major financial shock. However, major shocks are expected this year. The IMF are insisting that the rot in the economy must cease, but with the just concluded General Election, the political donors will insist on their right to feed.

A worse shock is that by removing God’s providential care in the new Charter of Barbados, we are, for the first time since our Independence, unprotected from major hurricanes. We are all terribly exposed.

AN OBLIGATION TO WARN.

Tragically, it is also foreseen that you will only believe us once you experience the unbearable austerity – that could have been avoided by addressing the corruption. The Government’s many public relations departments, that persuaded you that the economy was sound, will likely claim that the collapse was an Act of God. The foreseen collapse is due to corruption by political donors.

You have a right to be warned, and we have a moral obligation to warn you. Solutions Barbados mainly runs highly qualified and experienced persons for two reasons. The first is they are credible voices whom you know that you will ignore at your peril. The second is that they are capable of properly managing the economy if elected.

Grenville Phillips II is the President of Solutions Barbados. He can be reached at NextParty246@gmail.com

Regardless of what we are pursuing in this life, we all need encouragement to keep going.  If no one is encouraging you, then be encouraged by someone who reached the mountain top and was able to put life in perspective.  The following is my paraphrase of Simon Peter’s final letter (2 Peter) written shortly before he was executed for speaking the truth.

My dear fellow Trainees:

Our Employer has graciously given us everything that we need to complete our training, and He has promised us that all the training exercises are achievable once we start with the right attitude.  If you are committed to becoming productive employees, then please read the employee manual so that you may understand the Employer’s standards of work and behaviour.  With this knowledge you can then begin practising the exercises.  You may find them challenging at first, but please do not become discouraged.  They will eventually become easier if you persist with them.

Once you have become proficient in the exercises, then please encourage your work colleagues and teach them everything that you have learnt.  Your own training will be complete when you have unselfishly helped to train enough of your colleagues.

Please try to encourage those who find the exercises challenging, especially if they seem discouraged.  If they give up, they may never develop the confidence that comes with completing an exercise, and will probably develop a fear of failure or a crippling belief that such exercises are unachievable.

I have completed my training and will shortly be leaving this department.  However, before I go, allow me to give you some important advice. I hope that after I am gone, you will reread this letter to remind and encourage you during your own period of training.

Firstly. Please understand that the Company is not a myth or a cunningly devised fable. I personally know the Chief Executive Officer, and I heard when the Employer confirmed his appointment. The Employer Himself actually dictated the employee manual for your benefit.

Secondly. Please be aware that some members of your class may not appreciate the purposes of the training exercises, or they will think that the exercises are too challenging, irrelevant, or unachievable.  They will then try to promote their own low standards of productivity.  Unfortunately, this will only ensure that they and those who they mislead are unprepared for the work of the Company, and they will find themselves unemployable after their time of training has expired.

If those promoting low standards are able to influence most of the class in unproductive behaviour, then the Employer may have to take drastic measures.  He has had to do this at least three times in the past.

The first time was when a vice-president and some associates attempted to take-over the Company and they were fired.  The second was when the entire student body rejected the training and the Employer had to wash down the facility.  The third was when a class engaged in abominable behaviour and the Employer had to sanitise the classroom.  However, if you remain faithful to your training, despite the unproductive influences around you, then you will be retained.

Those who try to frustrate your training are ignorant, presumptuous and self-willed.  Most of them only attend the training classes to impress and seduce those of the opposite sex with smooth words. They continually try to entice others away from their training and promise them a fun time, while they are actually addicted to corrupting behaviour that prevents them from attaining any reasonable level of productivity.

Both the enticer and the enticed will become unemployable, just like those who refuse to start training and instead, waste all of their precious time on the playground.  If a person starts training and then becomes addicted to corrupt practises, then it is better if they had not commenced training at all.

Thirdly. Please remember that the Employer’s expansion project will commence. However, He is waiting patiently, and He will suffer delays and be inconvenienced for as long as practically possible for you. You see, He has no desire that those who are not training properly, or those who are not training at all should be destined for unemployment. He is desperately hoping that those on the playground, and those playing the fool in the classroom will commence and complete their training respectively.

Since the expansion project will start, please prepare yourself for the wonderful responsibilities that you will receive upon completion of your training, and do not be distracted by those who have no interest in your future.  Above all, grow in the favour and knowledge of our Chief Executive Officer, Jesus Christ.

Good-bye.

Grenville Phillips II is a Chartered Structural Engineer and President of Solutions Barbados.  He can be reached at NextParty246@gmail.com

All national economies are affected, either for good or bad, by politicians.  Our parliamentarians get to decide whether the national economy will be fair or corrupted.

The Government collects taxes, and then spends a significant amount of our taxes to purchase products for our benefit.  These products include cars, hospital equipment, cleaning services, spare parts, and consultants’ services, and are purchased with Government contracts.

A fair national economy is one where all citizens can have an equal opportunity to participate.  This means that Government contracts for these products are open to all Barbadian companies, and the winner is selected by a fair competitive tender.  The national economy becomes corrupted when Government Ministers arrange for contracts to be given to persons who fund their political campaigns.

Since our independence, there has always been a component of Barbados’ economy called the ‘political economy’, which is reserved exclusively for persons who fund political campaigns, and expect Government contracts in return.  Both political administrations have maintained this corrupt political economy for their joint benefit.

Once this corrupt political economy remains relatively small, then its impact on the national economy is negligible.  Those who choose not to participate in the corrupt political economy believe that they can do nothing to stop it.  It is generally understood that anyone who speaks about it will not be long for this world.

Countries do not tend to get into unsustainable debts by meeting the basic needs of their citizens.  Instead, they tend to get into such debts due to the greed of their elected politicians, who grow the corrupt political economy to the point where it structurally damages the national economy.

Barbados passed that tipping point decades ago.  The likely time was identified in Moody’s 13 Oct 2009 downgrade report as 20 years ago.  A section from that first downgrade report under the then new DLP administration follows [emphasis mine].

“Barbados’ KEY DEBT INDICATORS have been on a deteriorating path OVER THE PAST DECADE [1999-2009], and are now at levels that compare poorly with other countries in the same rating category,” said Moody’s Vice President – Senior Analyst Alessandra Alecci. “While the global crisis has clearly exacerbated this trend, the worsening of debt indicators OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME suggests that STRUCTURAL ISSUES are at play. … These include a steady increase in expenditures, INCLUDING OFF-BUDGET, as revenues have remained at roughly the same level in terms of GDP.”

To my knowledge, back in 1999, DLP Leader Clyde Mascoll was the only person in Barbados warning us of the potentially corrupting “off-budget” no-bid contracts being awarded by the BLP administration, and the resulting unsustainable debt.  After he defected to the BLP, magically those became “good debts” and the corrupt political economy became mythical.

When it was the DLP’s inevitable turn to form the Government (since there were only two players in the game), they continued this practise to such an extreme level, that it seemed that the corrupt political economy was all that remained.  It is now the BLP’s turn and it is left to be seen whether they will maintain the political economy at the DLP’s extreme level, or eliminate it.

When a Government decides who wins in Barbados’ economy, it automatically decides who loses.  By repeatedly choosing the worst companies as winners, and the best as losers, that Government can irreparably damage the national economy.

Businesses that decide to participate in the corrupt political economy do not need to provide good-quality products, because they are shielded from competition.  Therefore, the public must pay additional taxes for the increasingly poor-quality public services that use these products.  Frustrated public workers at the lower end, who are forced to use these sub-standard products, can be wrongfully accused of being inefficient and wasteful.

Since public workers seem to be forbidden from defending themselves publicly, they gain little public sympathy.  Therefore, it becomes easier to justify replacing them with new political supporters at the start of each new political administration.

For three years, Solutions Barbados offered to improve the economy by lowering taxes and abolishing the corrupt political economy.  The details were published for critical public review.  In response, the BLP claimed that Solutions Barbados was not the only political party that planned to effectively address corruption, and promised to meaningfully address it also.

With the support of an inexcusably irresponsible news media, who actively suppressed Solutions Barbados’ consistent message and all of its 28 candidates, the voters rejected the DLP and elected the BLP to fix the mess.  It still needs fixing, and the BLP has been allowed an unprecedented unhindered opportunity to do what they promised, namely, to punish corrupt politicians and end the corrupting practise of no-bid contracts.  The people can judge their progress for themselves.

If the corrupt political economy is not abolished, then expect Solutions Barbados to once more offer over 20 candidates to the people as a competent alternative.  The voters can then finally decide what type of Barbados they want for themselves and their children.

Grenville Phillips II is a Chartered Structural Engineer and President of Solutions Barbados.  He can be reached at NextParty246@gmail.com