Barbados Underground (BU) congratulate the Barbados Association of Professional Engineers (BAPE) for sticking to their previous demands made to the government of Barbados and 3S Barbados SRL, the company contracted to build the flyovers, to provide them with the opportunity to clarify some technical questions concerning aspects of the flyover project. BAPE’s position gives lie to the accusation leveled by Richard Sealy MP at the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) meeting in Deacons Road on Sunday night, when he accused BAPE of being a timid organization “devoid of a spine” which is made-up of people who are scared for their jobs.
We have written exhaustively on the issue of Operation Free Flow, better known as the flyover project. We have read hundreds of comments posted to the several flyover topics we have posted on BU and also on BFP. Although many of the comments provide a true insight how ordinary Barbadians feel about the project, several of the comments continue to demonstrate a refusal to separate the issues. It is apparent to BU that several of our frequent commenters have misrepresented the issue of the flyovers by blurring the tender procurement process of the Barbados government and the benefits of this project in terms of relieving traffic congestion. We are fortunate to have sources who have provided information which is not in the public domain; however to protect our sources we are sometimes restricted as to what we can publish.
Many of the BU articles on this topic have focussed on the lack of a policy framework which has affected the flyover project. It is necessary if Barbadians want to sensibly debate the issue of this project project we must not let partisan political views to derail the debate. We recognize that there has been voluminous information which has been printed about the flyover project so we decided to list what we think are the pertinent points which Barbadians MUST seek to clarify from our government:
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The 3S Barbados SRL April 2006 Operation Free Flow drawings must be made public. We know from people who have seen the drawing that as early as 2006 the plan was to widen the ABC Highway to 4 lanes throughout, including the section of the ABC Highway South of Life of Barbados roundabout.
- Our investigation shows that the cost of the flyover project from mid-2006 was BDS140 million. We want to know what was the approval process that saw the cost of the project increased to BDS280 million (if we listen to Clyde Mascoll) or BDS360 million (if we listen to George Siddall of 3S Barbados SRL). In fact the government needs to tell Barbadians what was the tendering process for the whole damn flyover project!
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According to a recent Hillis-Carnes press release– the engineering firm contracted by 3S Barbados to do geo-technical research – they collected core sample from 100 test holes along the ABC Highway in 2006-2007. The cost of Operation Free Flow was made public in mid-2006 with a figure of BDS140 million being tossed about. Also was the cost to perform the geo-technical research by Hillis-Carnes included in the original figure of BDS140 million dollars?
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Why wasn’t the geo-technical work done before the project was mobilized given that the results could have seriously impacted on the design and scope the original project plan? Our sources have always confirmed that the jersey barriers and the makeover of the ‘Bermuda triangle’ was included in the 3S April 2006 drawings. The talk about an increase in the scope of works is therefore a LIE and Clyde Mascoll needs to explain this lie because it seems that he has been given the role of government’s spin doctor on the contentious projects!
There are several other issues that we can question but we believe that the four outlined above provide fodder for discussion concerning how the tender and procurement process was engaged by the Barbados government and the subsequent management of issues which followed.
Previous Stories
Clyde Mascoll Needs Only Three Minutes To Do Damage Control On 3S Barbados SRL
Operations Free Flow Should Be Stopped NOW Pending A Further Geo-technical Study Media Houses In Barbados In Collusion With Government To Suppress News, Press Freedom Under Threat ~ The Voices Of The People Must Be Heard
Gline Clarke And Rihanna Tell Their Supporters To “Shut Up And Drive”
OPERATION Free Flow, Barbados Road Network Infrastructure Improvement Project (Flyover Project) To Triple In Cost From USD60 Million To USD180 Million~Gline Clarke And The Government Of Barbados Owe Barbadians A Big Explanation
ABC Highway Cost Triples Or More
Barbados Underground 
I am no expert on the thinkings of MR OWING SEE THRU ARTHUR; then again I am not sure that he is himself.
However I think he may have missed the boat to have had a good result and that was the period leading into CWC but his greed and hunger for power to be the one on stage dictated that he wait until after CWC so that he could take the glory that was to be CWC, however that glory disappeared in the dark and fiasco that became CWC.
Since then it has been one scandal after the other for he and the blp, least we forget VECO involvement in bribery court cases in Alaska and Owing and Nicholls along with Bannister have awarded them the contract for building our prison, the DANOS 3 S outfit that is before the courts in the UK for FRAUD committed in Jamaica but yet he gets awarded the contract to build the flyovers and right off the cuff the price triples, now this is a man that has setup a scam company has an investment of $ 400,000.00 with five employees but manages a works contract for $ 360 million he and his five employees must be laughing all the way to the bank
Then we have the nonsense of the Paradise development where Pemberton is ok’ed to rape the landscape of Batts Rock and hire illegal Chinese workers with no questions asked of him.
Not a lot has gone well or has been favorable to Owing in the past few months, it would be my guess that he may prefer to let it run to the very end of its life before calling the election in the hope that he can squeeze the last drips out of the treasury and rape it that bit more and in the hope that people will forget about his corruption and dishonesty in office, May I add I think that this is a lot to ask anyone at this stage of the game.
Owing it is time to submit yourself to the scrutiny of the voters and see where they take you.
My guess is a reassignment of power 22 to DLP and 8 to the thieves the blp.
Let me hear your views???
RE the rape of GRENADA AND BARBADOS being carried out by FOUR SEASONS RESORT
Should anyone feel motivated enough to write any of the ones listed below to express your disgust please feel free to so the email addresses are provided free of charge use them.
President-Jim FitzGibbon president@fourseasons.com
Louise Chasin
louise.chasin@fourseasons.com
Angela Kretschmer president@smtp.vpn.fourseasons.com
darren@cinnamon88.com
mike@cinnamon88.com
robin@cinnamon88.com
Mabey & Johnson in Papua New Guinea
In 2004, the Serious Fraud Office in the UK was investigating allegations that British bridge manufacturer Mabey & Johnson paid bribes to win a lucrative contract to build 116 bridges in Papua New Guinea.
The SFO is accountable to the British Attorney-General and investigates and prosecutes serious and complex fraud cases.
The company stated that it does not pay bribes or any other form of unlawful inducement stating that it has a comprehensive anti-corruption policy with procedures which are vigorously enforced.
The Guardian said Mabey & Johnson stood to reap a STG 10 million (K61 million) profit from the PNG deal, which was snapped up in 2001 by the then Morauta government through a STG 31 million commercial loan provided by Deutsche Bank and guaranteed by the UK’s Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD).
Officials within British government circles have confirmed that Mabey & Johnson applying for cover in respect to phase 2 of the
program but ECGD is yet to decide on whether to provide cover for the next stage.
Report Bribery in International Trade
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It is a crime for companies from all the major trading countries to pay bribes overseas to foreign public officials.
Whilst surveys show that bribery is still commonplace, especially in sectors such as construction, defence and utilities, reports of bribery remain low.
To date there is only limited information available on where and how to report foreign bribery offences.
Reporting the crime to national enforcement authorities involves the following steps:
1. deciding where to report the offence: host or home country;
2. (if home) identifying the home country of the company or individual involved;
3. identifying the relevant authority to which to report the offence in the home country.
The attached report contains some of the relevant contact points and will be updated on an on-going basis.
If you know the home country of the company or individual embroiled in the bribery allegations, but can’t identify the relevant national authority then another option is to contact the commercial section of the home country embassy in the country in which the offence took place.
If you don’t know the home country of the company or the individual involved you could report the offence to the OECD Anti-corruption Division: anti-corruption.contact@oecd.org
In addition to reporting the bribe-payer, it is also possible to report the solicitation to BribeLine (https://www.bribeline.org), a reporting system established and managed by TRACE, which is a non-profit membership association of commercial intermediaries and multinational companies. The aim of BribeLine is to compile information on incidents of solicitation and to use the aggregate information to gain a better picture of solicitation around the world.
MABEY’S SIDE: Comes now an unsigned email from which I presume to be Mabey and Johnson, the British builder of allegedly overpriced temporary Bailey bridges in the countryside.
Some of these World War II-vintage steel spans reportedly valued so far at £429 million (P39 billion) have been called “bridges to nowhere” by critics because no roads connected to them at the time they were built in isolated places.
Interest in M&J and its bridges, as well as its contacts who pushed the projects directly with Malacanang, was whetted again after the UK-based Guardian reported that M&J was being investigated by the British government for its operations in the Philippines and Iraq.
In its email, M&J said we should not pay attention to the Guardian report because it quoted, among other sources, opposition Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, who it said was “politically biased, highly polluted and lacks credibility.”
That is a lame argument — to say that the accusations cannot be true because they were made by a member of the political opposition.
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TESTIMONIAL: To prove that the hundreds of bridges it has built did not lead “to nowhere,” M&J said it collected 63 testimonials from officials of localities where those Bailey spans were thrown.
It gave as sample a letter from Mayor Rodolfo dela Torre of Sibagat, Agusan del Sur, dated Sept. 7, 2005: “The municipality of Sibagat is very fortunate to have two permanent bridges under the Tulay ng Pangulo program. (They) are currently being used by people from various barangays. In fact, heavy equipment and other means of transportation can easily pass the bridge and transport agro-products to the main road, down to commercial centers. The bridges are built of permanent materials that cater to economic development.”
M&J said there was no space in its email “to quote all those testimonials but they are there for everyone to read.”
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PRICING: On the question of pricing, M&J said: “The claim of the Guardian that the British firm, Mabey & Johnson, had grossly overpriced the materials it supplied for the bridges, with loan guarantee from the British government, is utterly baseless. The Mabey bridge program had been evaluated by the British government and found to be the cheapest and most effective value for money.
“As for the bidding requirement, where there are no bidders the sole supplier is awarded the contract, in this case, Mabey & Johnson. While the Philippines has six other foreign suppliers, its awarding also considered the company performance. In fact, following bilateral protocol, the country providing the financing usually designates the contractor and the supplier. In this case, the British government, which financed the project, designated the supplier, Mabey & Johnson, after exhaustive due diligence.
“The Guardian’s claim that the Austrian firm, Waagner-Biro, and a UK consortium, Balfour-Cleveland, had quoted lower costs for the same materials is based on an inaccurate analysis. Waagner-Biro’s costs did not include decks and substructures, while Balfour-Cleveland’s estimates did not include the counterpart cost for the Philippine government and the 40-percent grant from the British government.
“Mabey & Johnson had incurred no costs overrun, while Balfour had incurred costs overrun amounting to P1.5 billion in 2005. In fact, Mabey had incurred ‘costs underrun’ of P1.2 billion, enabling it to build two more flyovers and 150 more bridges without an additional cost to the Philippine government.”
“The claim that Mabey & Johnson profited illegally and excessively from the bridge contracts is totally unfair and groundless. Mabey & Johnson is a 157-year-old private company. The family owning the firm has been able to manage its business in a responsible and efficient manner as to make them one of the richest and well respected families in the United Kingdom. There has never been any scandal attached to that firm. Otherwise the British government would not deal with it.”
Lets list them here-:
Owing Arthur Tired having stolen enough of our taxpayers money his bank account is well set for his retirement.
Mottley – Disenchanted and should be fired for here roles in the EDUTECH, PRISON,VISA REQUIREMENT ANS SECURITY FOR CWC, nothing to do with her moraless manner.
Cynthia Forde Disenchanted and drifting aimlessly
Liz Thompson Hired, Fired and rehired re posted Disenchanted
Rommel Marshall Fired and taken to court left to hang out and dry.
Gline Clarke Sick metally and physically
George Payne Fired getting drunk and standing on a table in a bar in London and declaring himself the next PM.
Trevor Prescod Disenchanted with nowhere to hide or go.
Ronald Toppin Disenchanted and do not care
Kerrie Simmons Confused not sure which way to go, may still be trying to find his wife. who knows?
Jerome Walcott should have been fired end of that story.
Noeless Lynch more of the above should be fired end of that story as well.
Hammy Lashley Disenchanted and put out to graze.
Joseph Edghill Disenchanted he to is grazing
Reginald Farley Disenchanted he has been side stepped for the role of PM since he troubled Lyn and Owing found out about his venture.
Rawle Eastmond Disenchanted after his speech of December who wants him after stating he does not know what he has done Owing Arthur has he gotten nothing done in 9 years of neglect.
Anthony Wood the sleeping idiot who has done nothing for years
Dale Marshall Drifting remember his claim to fame the tripling of cost on the prison and the fiasco of handling the Brittons hill scene he should become a reporter for CBC
Lynette Eastmond one installed by Arthur before the present wife but this one has used taxpayers money and equipment to build her office, dishonest as ever.
Joseph Atherley lets not remember the fiasco of the PARADISE and the Chinese workers for which the taxpayers are still awaiting a sensible statement.
CLYDE MASCOLL may well be the biggest idiot with a degree but yes a total lying dishonest liar with corruption written all over him in such a short stint in the BLP cabinet just guess how the longer styanding memembers have amassed.
Rudy Grant he rubs up to Noeless Lynch so much than he can hardly get the browness removed before it is put back in even larger volumes.
Tyrone Barker he to is like the above his head is stuck so far up that he cannot see the light of day.
Interesting story coming out of India about the frequency with which flyovers collapse because of non existent building codes and heavy rains:
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