Barbados has enjoyed the reputation for many years as a nation which was on the cutting edge of solar technology. The late Professor Oliver Headley of the University of the West Indies (UWI) was the pioneer who led the charge to position solar energy as a viable energy option. It appears that he gained more recognition for his work outside Barbados shores. Almost six years since his unfortunate demise, and his vision for the solar industry appears to have floundered. The sum representation of solar development in Barbados appears to be still anchored on the roll-out of solar water heaters. As far as we are aware there is no significant development anywhere in Barbados which is attempting to move the solar industry to the next level.
Recently we have seen the feeble attempt by former journalist Carl Moore to sully the work of Bajan bloggers, and in more recent days we have had CBC journalists getting in on the act. Thanks to a BU family member we invite you to view the short video which addresses some pertinent issues about blogging.
We hope Carl et al will have a look!
The BU household is pleased that some of our academics et al feel comfortable submitting articles on matters of interest to Barbadians. We encourage others to follow suit. The more ideas and perspectives which can be introduced to a public space for scrutiny, the end result of the process should be beneficial to Barbados and even beyond. The following paper was authored by Dr. George Reid, a former Director of Finance in Barbados. His experience earned during the turbulent period of the 70s oil crisis may provide a fertile resource for the young academics like Dr. Justin Robinson, Dr. Andrew Downes, Dr. Don Marshall et al. What Barbados needs is to be able to leverage the comparative advantage derived from our much touted educational system, now more than ever.
David
If the title of my presentation seems to strike a familiar chord, it may be through my allusion to 1066 and All That: A Memorable History of England, comprising all the parts you can remember, including 103 Good Things, 5 Bad Kings and 2 Genuine Dates, a tongue-in-cheek reworking of the history of England. That book was written by W. C. Sellar and R. J. Yeatman. It was illustrated by John Reynolds, appearing first, serially in Punch magazine, and was published in book form by Methuen & Co. Ltd. in 1930.
The book is a parody of the Whiggish style of history teaching in English schools at the time, in particular of England’s “Island Story”, and purported to contain “all the history you can remember”, and, in fifty two chapters, covers the history of England from Roman times through 1066 “and all that”, up to the end of World War I. In short 1066 and all that is based on the idea that history is what you can remember and is full of examples of half remembered facts. [Let me at this point acknowledge my debt to Wikipedia from which I have copied the references to 1066 and all that].
Some of you may wonder why I chose a title for my address that suggests that I am going to approach the events of 1991 and beyond as a somewhat satirical history of a particular period in the life of the Democratic Labour Party. No, I do not have a death wish! However, those of you who went to school (isn’t that all of us?) and studied the classics, may have read Horace’s Satires andmayagree that sometimes, events are better understood, if viewed ironically, and spoken of satirically. Indeed, members and supporters of our great party should be neither surprised nor dismayed when the behaviour of some of our leaders is recorded disparagingly, and high-profile individuals are lampooned! After all, adversarial politics is the meat and gravy of life in our insular ministate, and participants in the political process should quickly learn to give twits their twat. I have no doubt that anyone who bothers to record the half-remembered facts of the history of 1991 and all that, will present an account rather different from mine. But that is life! In any event 1066 and all that was a best seller (no pun intended) so why should the story of “Little England” be told in a different way?
Kellman must now be buoyed over Minister of Tourism, Richard Sealy’s statement that Government will be examining the economic feasibility of having cruise ships berth in either Speightstown or St Lucy, and an airport in St Lucy in an effort to broaden tourism beyond the West and South Coasts.
The quote was taken from the editorial which appeared in the Nation newspaper today (10 May 2008). In previous months, Denis Kellman the MP for St. Lucy has generated some mirth by his repeated call for the former government to site an airport in St. Lucy. He has consistently posited the argument that a strategy should be pursued to develop St. Lucy which would relieve pressure on the traditional areas like St. Michael/Bridgetown/Warrens. Additionally it would see the development of St. Lucy which like St. John has been able to escape the eye of developers during the last government.
The writer of the editorial avoided critiquing the position taken by Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy, and instead sought refuge in the comfortable and bland position of ‘rehash mode’. We don’t agree or disagree with the position which has been attributed to Minister Sealy. We don’t know if he is serious or has adopted the approach which was made popular by former Prime Minister Owen Arthur of ‘flying a kite’ and then based on feedback from the public will resort to taking the popular decision. What we know is that a responsible newspaper should be more probing especially when using the editorial page. We recommend to the Executive Editor of the Nation Roxanne Gibbs to have a read of Bajan Reporter’s excellent blog to get an idea about what is required to properly articulate a balanced position.
Bush tea we take your point but there is a process which Barbadians will have to undergo to achieve the philosophical change which you are suggesting. Could we say that the same triggers or mental gymnastics required for Barbadians to shift to greening is the precursor to changing how we are currently managing things?
David - BU
With the cost of oil ballooning to US $122 per barrel in May 2008, it has become apparent to just about everyone that we have a global crisis on our hands. Cheap oil is the foundation on which everything that we hold dear stands; from the water we drink; the food we eat; the way we travel, communicate; etc to the very materials - especially PVC’s and plastics that we use. Most of us only seem to have recognized this crisis now that the actual problem of high prices, scarcity, and even food riots and open chaos in some countries has hit us in the face.
Even more confusing, to my mind, has been the exercise of agreeing on how we need to respond to the crisis.
The significance of the important address given by Minister Esther Byer-Suckoo at the National Ecumenical Church Service for children - Nation News 5-8-08 to the young people of Barbados, should not be allowed to fade into oblivion and not given the attention which such an address deserves. With an insight worthy of a Minister holding such an important position, Minister Byer-Suckoo was able to highlight issues which have contributed to a performance far below what we are capable of in Barbados.
If we are to change elements of moral decay, that are insidiously seeping through the fabric of our country, we must start with young people…I salute her in this regard. In order for this objective to succeed, it is necessary to show role models from our society, who have been successful, through hard work, and honest endeavour.
How many of you watch reality TV? We don’t! We coundn’t avoid hearing the buzz around the popular ABC Show The Bachelor. One of the more interesting episodes was filmed in Barbados recently. We understand that Barbadians will be able to eyeball the finished product next week. As we understand it the show is about a young handsome bachelor who is wooed by a number of beautiful single women. At the end of it all some lucky girl gets to marry the Bachelor. In the process many of the girls will go all the way, hint, hint, do what it takes to command the bachelor’s attention and eventually his love.
Barbados Underground have written voluminously about ‘Bees’ of the political variety, but how many of us have taken time to give serious thought to the honey bee? It seems that with progress we have had to sacrifice making the finer observations which nature has to offer mankind. Last week Rudolph Gibson who is our local beekeeper extraordinaire expressed concern about the welfare of his bees which came under threat from the Graeme Hall fire. We have not heard if his bees perished but his mention of bees evoked some wonderful memories of growing-up in the village. It seemed a prophetic occurrence when we received the curt note quoted below in a recent email.
As a boy in school, I learned how important ‘Bees’ are for fertilisation. I have noticed over the years fewer and fewer of them. Is it where I live, has any body else noticed their absence? This year I noticed my mango trees and plants in my garden full of blossoms but no sight of bees. Are we using too much insecticides, is there a disease which is killing them off, or has killed them? - Submitted by Concerned Citizen
The price of crude oil today is not made according to any traditional relation of supply to demand. It is controlled by an elaborate financial market system as well as by the four major Anglo-American oil companies. As much as 60% of today’s crude oil price is pure speculation driven by large trader banks and hedge funds. It has nothing to do with the convenient myths of Peak Oil. It has to do with control of oil and its price. How?
The skyrocketing price of oil on the world market has prompted many Barbadians to finally express an interest about how the price of oil is determined. The local media seems happy to encapsulate the complex pricing mechanism used in the oil business to increasing demand from India and China, and some other bland explanations which are not note worthy. Alternatively readers to BU must be familiar by now with the theory of Peak Oil and the role of the speculators.
Although there is no economist in the BU household here is our simple analysis of a highly complex matter.
We 100% agree with William Engdahl, the author of the article quoted above. The article is very long, but we will attempt to summarize the key points towards understanding the mystery behind how some very powerful people and corporations are ‘fixing’ the price of oil. The article confirms what some pundits have been trying to communicate to mainstream media, who continue to ignore the truth which cloaks this issue. The New York Stock Exchange (Nymex) based in New York and the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) located across the pond in London are two of the main players responsible for ‘manipulating’ the price of oil.
On January 18, 2008 the Barbados Media was charged in the Court of public opinion by BU (Plaintiff) and was found guilty by the Voices of the People in the Blogosphere. The battle by the PEOPLE against the Fourth Estate continues.
How can media practitioners in the twenty first century function in a world without an oversight body i.e. an association. Who said ‘united is strength’?
When David Ellis, Vic Fernandes, Albert Brandford, Ricky Sigh and a ‘very few’ others retire, who are the fresh young journalists waiting in the wings?
The Nation newspaper was a profitable entity, why was it sold?
The Advocate newspaper once attracted the title of venerable. Why shouldn’t the PEOPLE be allowed to access the archives of the Advocate to do research online?
A democracy cannot flourish if the Fourth Estate reneges on its role to society. Our media places heavy emphasis on reporting, some say regurgitating news from the international wires, but there is the advocacy role which is even more important.
Crop Over 2008 is rapidly approaching. The arrival of the new government has seen a flood of decisions which many feel have the potential to disrupt our major festival. We hope not! We have heard talk from the government that they will be outsourcing key parts of the festival this year. Word is that the Madd Boys, KB Clean et al will be taking over the potentially lucrative Cohobblopot. Can Peter Boyce confirm? We checked his blog BoyceVoice but did not see any mention of it. Maybe Ian Bourne over at Bajan Reporter, the hardworking Cultural Reporter in the Bajan Blogosphere can enlighten us. We know the Madd boys have shown themselves to be astute business men and we wish them well.
One question which keeps cropping up in the BU household, if Cohobblopot or some other part of the festival is to be outsourced, can someone tell us if there is a tendering process in place? So far we have seen or heard nothing in the media to indicate to John Public what is the process governing the outsource process. Maybe Ian Walcott a former Project Development Officer with the National Cultural Foundation can shed some light.
As food shortages wreak havoc among Haiti’s poor, people make and eat “dirt pies.
The question is asked by ordinary people every day, why is the United Nations(UN) organization often ignored by the world’s leading countries? Do you remember how the USA and other countries ignored the UN in the Iraqi affair? It is also known that many of the world’s leading countries owe huge sums to the UN in membership dues. In the blog below we highlighted the stupidity of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) which gave the Champion of the Earth Award to former Minister of the Environment despite the obvious mega-error in judgement about placing Greenland Landfill which she presided over in the former government.
This week the outgoing President of the United States George Bush requested his legislature to vote USD70 million dollars to be used to buy food for the poor countries around the world given rising prices. No doubt President Bush has done this to shore his sagging popularity, never the less the poor countries around the world welcome the act of generosity. We will not pour water on the kind gesture by speaking to the issue of how much of the aid makes it to those in need.
Early in the week - 29 April 2008 BU published the public announcement which listed the change in traffic flow in the Wildey, St. Michael area, referred to as the Wildey Triangle. Barbadians have been filling the airwaves and blogs with feedback on the effort by the government authorities, in collaboration with 3S Barbados SRL to relieve traffic congestion in the area. one major feedback which has come to the fore is the reality that the decision makers did not consult the businesses on the Wildey stretch.
The BU family member who submitted the sketch posted above appear to have taken the bold step to demolish the Texeco Gas Station. The other key change appears to have stop traffic turning right coming from the Upton road to go in the direction of Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation.
The BU family is encouraged to provide feedback on the suggestion!
2008 Champions of the Earth. From left to right: Mrs. Melinda Kimble, Mr. Achim Steiner , His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco , His Excellency Abul Qader Ba-Jammal,Senator Liz Thompson ,Dr. Balgis Osman-Elasha ,Dr. Atiq Rahman
Recently Barbadians were made aware that former Minister of the environment was the recipient of a global prestigious award. For those of you interested to find out how former Minister Thompson became eligible for the Champion of the Earth Award, here is the criteria:
A renaissance in environmental policy does not come in a vacuum. It emerges as a result of collective efforts of governments, civil society organizations and private business. It needs the long-term commitment and vision of men and women. It needs people who are and continue to be Champions of the Earth.
Champions of the Earth is an international environment award established in 2004. It is presented each year by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to seven outstanding environmental leaders.
The award given to the former Minister of the Environment has raised several questions, or should we say concerns? Barbadians should be feeling pride at a daughter of the soil winning such an award, instead there is a hollow feel to the occasion. The big question mark in our minds is whether Barbados qualifies to receive ANY award if the criteria is linked to environmental considerations. The BU household believes that the perception of Barbadians of Thompson being an advocate for the environment is totally at odds with the UNEP conferring the Champion of the Earth Award to the Senator.
Here are some of the concerns which informs our position on this matter:
Update: Our source has just reported the following which we have listed in bullet form for your easy understanding. If there are Barbadians at large who are privy to where the illegal African immigrants are hiding-out please do your civic duty and call the authorities.
The Ambassador of Ghana who is based in Cuba has arranged a flight which is scheduled to arrive in Barbados tomorrow 02 May 2008. This arrangement was made in collaboration with the Barbados and Ghana governments
The operative who arranged the flight from the Ghana to the Caribbean was in the custody of the Ghanaian authorities and negotiations took place to arrange for that operative to fund the return flight. It has been confirmed that jobs were being advertised via posters in Ghana with a pay rate of USD10.00 per hour
A second flight which was scheduled to arrive in Barbados with other Ghanaians seeking job opportunities was cancelled after the stink of the scam started to come to light.
The Pan African Commission in Barbados caught wind of the details of the coming of the Ghanaian Airlines two days before its arrival back in February 2008 and seized the moment to involve government to espouse the virtue of increasing tourism traffic from the Mother Country, Africa.
Of note should be that when government intervened and rolled-out the red carpet treatment the local representative who collaborated with the Ghanaian operative was a no-show when the Ghanaian Airways flight touched down at Grantley Adams International Airport, this explains why Mr. Knight the local operative was seconded.
Of the 50 Ghanaians who travelled on to Trinidad and Tobago two are in prison and the others are at large. This current state of affairs explains why the media in Trinidad has been cooped to disseminate the information about the planned return flight on Friday.
There is the fringe element in Barbados who continue to be dissatisfied with the operandus of how news is disseminated. The reality appears to be the willingness of our population to be fed sanitized news by the Rhelm of the Fourth Estate, a stinging indictment on our democracy. In case we have forgotten, a democracy is only a democracy when ordinary citizens participate. Barbadians can be consoled to the fact that the control of the Fourth Estate is a global reality and one which John Citizen has been on the shitty end for sometime now.
As one who makes the trek from deep in St. Philip to UWI five days a week, the government’s decision to reverse the policy of subsidizing the price of petroleum products is going to hit me hard in the pocket. However, with oil prices stuck above US$90 per barrel for the last six months and projected to remain there for the foreseeable, fiscal responsibility would almost certainly have required that the government review its policy on subsidizing petroleum products
If the price of oil is likely to remain in the $90 plus range for the foreseeable future ( as most experts suggest), then in my view, households, firms, the government and other organizations need to be weaned from subsidized prices and aggressively embrace energy efficiency. In the meantime, targeted subsidies should be designed for the more vulnerable groups in society.
Energy efficiency has now become a key competitive variable among countries, and there is a veritable arms race among countries for first mover advantages in development and adoption of alternative energy technologies. The range of alternatives being explored is wide and varied from wind, solar and bio-fuels to wave and thermal energy sources. I am no scientist so I have no sense as to which of these if any will succeed as viable alternatives to oil, but it is clear that the imperative to improve energy efficiency must now rise to the top of the agenda for our society.
The previous administration launched a “green budget” in 2007. The various initiatives must now be aggressively marketed and beefed up if necessary. How many households, firms and other organizations have had an energy audit? Are they aware there is a tax break for this? Is the tax break large enough? Have we been training an adequate number of energy auditors?
This was the site of Miss Barrows shop in St Elizabeth Village, St. Joseph. After they retired it stayed as a ‘Supermarket’ until a year or so ago. Its been for sale since then. now its been sold, the building knocked down, and apparently ‘villas’ are to be built, right in the middle of a very small ‘local’ village. Is this the start of East Coast Development?
Submitted by BU family member-Sundowner
This weekend Prime Minister David Thompson committed his government to rolling out legislation which will prohibit commercial development on the Eastern coastline of Barbados. BU have highlighted the destruction of the West Coast coastline which has been instigated by our West Coast correspondent. We support the Prime Minister and applaud him for responding to the voices of the PEOPLE. However in light of the above report our antenna has immediately come out to question what kind of development will replace Miss Barrow’s supermarket.
Please feedback, and the sooner the better!
All Barbadians must be vigilant. We cannot allow the East Coast of Barbados to go the way of the West Coast. We hope that the planned development at the Miss Barrow location can be satisfactorily explained.
These snails are prolific. Theoretically one pair can become 8 to 10 billion individuals in their 5 to 7 year life span. Let these 8 billion continue for another half a generation and you could have a population of 16 quadrillion. Scary. Not only can they bury themselves when the climate isn’t right for them, they can do so for up to 6 months, and they can repair their shells from the inside. The GAS is likely the finest example on this planet of a species that can survive and multiply. Can we eradicate them? I doubt it however it has been shown that during the initial period of infestation the population increases dramatically and then begins to fall reaching a level of coexistence. How much time this takes I don’t know. I believe in Sri Lanka it was 50 years before it stabilized in most of the country.
Yes we have to use bait but as judiciously as possible. This poison, metaldehyde, does kill snails and slugs rather efficiently. The problem is that it is the leading cause of deaths among pets and it, the agonizing convulsions, is not a nice way to die. Furthermore other animals and birds in our habitat will ingest this poison and die. Last but not least metaldehyde will attract and kill all snails and slugs, not just the pest. These creatures are extremely useful to our planet as they break down rotting vegetation into soil. It has been postulated that mankind would not live long in a world devoid of snails.
Our brave forefathers sowed the seed
From which our pride is sprung,
A pride that makes no wanton boast
Of what it has withstood
That binds our hearts from coast to coast -
The pride of nationhood.
Barbadians will celebrate National Heroes tomorrow. We understand what the former government intended by holding up the ten individuals for Barbadians to know of their contributions and hopefully appreciate and emulate for generations to come. We may question some of the people selected to be heroes or more accurately those not selected. All in all we do understand the concept of identifying successful people from the past to inspire those in the present and BU fully support it. Barbados has been able to chart its path in the world with good result over the years. By every measure possible most agree that in the post-independence era we have planned and managed our resources in a way which has forced admiration by many around the globe.
We looked at the pictures of our National Heroes and wondered what we should write about on the eve of such an important anniversary. The images of Grantley Adams and Errol Barrow who are given much credit for laying the foundation to the success which Barbados has enjoyed post-independence triggered a pensive disposition in the BU household, it dawned on us that they would not want us to use National Heroes Day to dwell only on the past.
A key ingredient to the success formula used by Barbados over the last 40 years has been the importance of education to enfranchise our people. We feel sure that those National Heroes who are all dead with the exception of Sir Garry Sobers would want Barbadians to leverage the advantage of being a highly educated society to search for solutions to the current economic crisis.
Voice of Barbados (92.9FM) will assemble a panel tomorrow - 27 April 2008 to discuss the government’s first 100 days in office. Looks like true to his promise David Ellis intends to hold the feet of the David Thompson government to the fire. The show should start at its usual time 11AM. We are not sure who the actors will be but it should prove to be an interesting program given the prevailing economic climate along side the promise by the government while in opposition to reduce the cost of living.
Click on the image to listen in at 11AM on the 27 April 2008.
While visiting the offices of the Barbados Tourism Authority recently, I collected a copy of what I assume is the latest list of all registered accommodation on Barbados. The brochure is entitled Rates - Hotels, Guest Houses and Apartments - Winter 2007 -2008 December 16th 2007-2008 To April 15th 2008 and Summer 2008 April 16th, 2008 to December 15th, 2008.
According to the listings to have 64 hotels with a total of 5,147 rooms, 19 Guest Houses with a total of 123 rooms and 64 Apartments with a total of 1,090 rooms! The average size our hotels is 80 rooms and Apartments is 13 rooms. If you exclude our six largest hotels (Almond Beach Village, Almond Beach Club, the Hilton, the Crane, Accra and Turtle Beach) which account for 1,541 rooms that takes the average size down to 62 rooms.
It is no secret that the BU household all look forward to the weekly musing of Lowdown ‘Dick’ Hoad. We admire this man who is able to merge intellect, common sense and humility. Qualities which many from our mushrooming middle class who feel that by earning $150,000 per annum, and they can afford to build a million dollar house, they have a right to walk on water and have their noses fixed permanently at 90° from horizontal. It matters little to our well educated middle class that the ownership of their houses will remain the property of the bank well into their senior years. Forgive the digression but we do get a little pissed at some people who feel that material trappings should be the criterion for measuring success and contribution to our society.
Earlier this week we highlighted the story of Barbadian Farmers Need To Get Their Act Together, & SOON!, a St. Lucy farmer who for two years running has had to resort to the media to get his produce offloaded. BU summarized his predicament as a matter of poor management. The farmer by his utterances in the media propagated the view that the government needs to do more to help farmers distribute their produce or words to that measure. Surprisingly the blog attracted some critical feedback, we got the distinct impression that we stepped on some corns! In retrospect maybe we were a little harsh with the farmer who is doing what he does best, that is grow food. His commitment to performing this critical vocation at a time in history when our snooty nose middle class has been educated that jobs which require pen pushing and cellphone toting are the more honourable professions to pursue.
We can’t begin to imagine how our little girl keeps rolling out the hits. It’s amazing to see the little girl moving to womanhood. You go girl! Watch her latest video ‘ Take A Bow’.
We are living in difficult times. One of my more-.perceptive friends recently described our Island as a “motorized ghetto”, where the smell of diesel and gasoline fumes, and the ever-present vehicular pollution add a peculiar resonance to the ambience of this Rock that we call home. We have become so smug in our belief that Barbados is on a continuing upward path of so-called development, that we seem to have forgotten that we live on a very small island with a fragile ecosystem. Our current political leaders, in the belief that repetition is reputation have been trumpetting claims to such achievements, as an unprecedented eight years of uninterrupted economic growth, the lowest level of open unemployment on record, and the highest level of net foreign reserves ever accumulated, thereby encouraging us to forget that our Island faces an uncertain future.
Excerpt from Dr.George Reid’s: WHAT KIND OF DEVELOPMENT? A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION IN BARBADOS
The issue of the rising cost of living will no doubt remain firmly at the top of the national agenda in the coming weeks and months ahead. The pundits seem to agree that the current configuration of our economy places a skewed reliance on imports which lends itself to imported inflation. When this unfortunate reality is studied against the recent report issued by the National Productivity Council of zero growth in national productivity in the last two years, the affinity by Barbadians to behaviours which engage in high consumption expenditure, and the relatively high debt burden which Barbados has to manage, we absolutely don’t envy Prime Minister David Thompson.
Let us not forget that Prime Minister David Thompson came to government on a campaign promise to reduce the cost of living. How quickly the reality of managing a small open economy in a volatile global market can loom.
The BU family maybe wondering why have we posted pictures of this Barbados West Coast property? Some people have a tough time wrapping their minds around the power of money and the kind of influence it can have on a situation. To those Barbadians who have never been able to get close to the kind of properties being built on our West Coast, please have a look courtesy the Barbados Underground. Click this link to get details.
Last month BU highlighted the story of the action which the Spanish government is taking to protect its coastline, The Costa Del Sol. It was reported that the Spanish government has taken the surprising decision to confiscate and demolish luxury homes built within 550 yards of the beach. Unlike Barbados where many of the properties built on our coastline have been approved by the Town Planning department, the properties in Spain were adjudged to have been constructed illegally.
What Barbadians should observe by the action of the Spanish government is the fearless decision making they are prepared to take to protect their coastline. There is a growing number of concerned Barbadians who have become alarmed at the disappearance of many of the windows to the sea to our West coast, and to a lesser extent the South coast of Barbados. Thank God our East Coast appears up to now to have escaped the destruction! The lack of will shown by the last government to protect the ‘character’ of our little, tropical, exotic island paradise must be viewed as a violation of the trust of Barbadians,both current and future.
This is a serious problem that has been going on for such a long time and no-one seems to be taking it very seriously. Barbados has now got infested with these snails and except for the concern of a few, they go by unnoticed. The Government issues snail pellets but these,
have to be bought
can only be obtained from the Agricultural Station in Graeme Hall. What a long haul with all the traffic these days. This has been the situation now for what 4 or 5 years. And to what effect - the island is still infested.
What about being able to buy these pellets (if we must buy them) from any Garden Centre or possibly Hardware Shop. At least then they would be more accessible to the general public. And possibly then we might have more people fighting the battle. I have a relative that lives in Bamboo Ridge and their garden becomes infested if the pellets are not put down at regular intervals. Just next door there is a property that is so overgrown that the snails just slide back in there to hide as he/she does absolutely nothing. It’s been like this for years and it makes me wonder if the Health Inspector ever walks around this Bamboo Ridge/ John’s Plain/ Dairy Meadow area. Obviously not. Do we take any matters seriously on this island ? Or only when the snails invade the gardens of the High Up does anything really change. Soon we’ll have no crops but who cares, as just about everything is imported these days.
This is an issue which we have refused to blog because the authorities all know the answer to the problems, frankly we are tired of the hypocrisy. Yes BU family, you will be hearing that word coming up with more frequency in the coming days. The members of the public all know the answers. It is the most unregulated industry in Barbados. There is ‘corruption’ which has occurred through the years, which has continued through Democratic Labour Party (DLP) and Barbados Labour Party (BLP) governments. The disorder which is prevalent in this sector fits nicely with the kind of society which Barbados has become - a minibus culture. The irony if we visit Grenada, St. Lucia and many of the smaller islands and this industry takes on a more orderly behaviour.
In Barbados the Indians have received a significant number of permits in recent years and that is all we will comment on that for now. We are asking the current Minister Of Works to make the following information public:
How many PSV permits were issued in the last 2 years of the BLP government?
List the names of the owners of those permits (not the company names but the beneficial owners)
Who has opposed the implementation of the demerit points in the Ministry?
Why has the Ministry not ordered a study to inform new decisions which is obvious for the industry to become more efficient.
We ask for a forensic audit to be done at the Ministry of Transport to determine the means test used to issue permits. In other words how many permit owners paid cash for their permits. In Barbados we have a tendency to push our heads in the sand as we look for irrefutable ‘proof’. We all know the truth about this matter but will we tell?
