His navel string may not be buried anywhere on this island, but Taan Abed’s love for the people of Barbados is very deep.

After moving to Barbados more than 30 years ago from Damascus, Syria, there was no moving back to the East. Instead, Abed has made his plan to move forward here in the West Indies.

In fact, he has taken up the mantle to become the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) candidate for Christ Church West to run against Barbados Labour Party (BLP) general secretary William Duguid.

The reason to him is clear: “Barbados needs a change for the better.”

“I choose the DLP because of my relationship with Errol Barrow and what he taught me about the DLP and its wants for every Barbadian, so I am here to give my 100 per cent.

“I met him when I was 23 and he was in his [50s ] – 55 or 56. I was a Syrian military officer when I came to Barbados and he came to the airport and picked me up.

“The minute I talked to him we were friends. Then I met him again and I fixed his car. He also knew my uncle very well, where I was also working at the time and we talked [about] those times too.

“We got to know each other very well and he started to visit me. A relationship grew between us and we became very close friends. He taught me the DLP way,” Abed reminisced.

If the decision to be a DLP candidate was clear, then seeking the Christ Church West seat was even more obvious for the mechanical engineer.

“I chose Christ Church West because I am here living in it. I have lived here for 32 years; my wife lived there for over 49 years. In that time, I have seen no representative for the poor people, and the conditions are getting worse.

“The area is diverse – there are very rich and very poor people. But the poor people are suffering and being neglected in housing areas like St Matthias. The roads there are horrible, the health care is awful.

“When you see conditions of people suffering and you are close to them and you speak to them one by one, you see their major concerns. Cost of living is No. 1, and health care is a great concern for the people in Christ Church West. I have to do something about it. I have to help the people and I can.”

Dubbed the “the action man”, a very passionate Abed pledged to be the best representative, promising proper representation across all social, ethnic, religious and political boundaries.

“My priorities are to give the basic human needs of education and religion. I am a firm believer in God and Jesus and I want to bring religion back to our lives. I want it back in the school system.

“The only solution to control crime in this country is through religion and education,” Abed stressed.

So after serving his duty in the Syrian military airforce, where afterwards, in 1995, he migrated to Kuwait, he found his solace in Barbados with a visit to his family.

“Here is where I met my beautiful wife and I have been married for more than 28 years to a beautiful Barbadian woman. And when I married my wife, I married Barbados. I have three children, a daughter and two sons, all of them born and bred right here in Barbados.

“So I want to give back to this country for what it has given me.”

Prime Minister Arthur once said that he must sell land to pay our bill (debts), even though it is now one of the famous things he has said publicly and then denied saying. He further stated that it is the citizens of Barbados that have pushed the price up by selling our land to foreign investors.

If you were a foreign investor would spend millions to buy land in Barbados, conduct a feasibility or environmental impact study for a major development like condos, town-houses or a water park unless you first had at least a verbal agreement from our government that you could develop that land for the purpose intended ??? We think not !!!!!

Would could you talk to about getting that verbal permission ?? The Chief Town Planner. But he or she could not operate without submitted architectural drawings and the relevant studies conducted. What about the Minister of Housing ?? Very Unlikely !!!

What about the MINISTER RESPONSIBLE FOR TOWN PLANNING ???? Why of course!! after all this Minister sets policy for the land use in the island and when the rich foreign investors start threatening to take their projects to other islands there is a need to act swiftly.

Mr. Investor, we can now see why you buy our land and almost immediately after it is bought you are able to swiftly start your multi – million dollar projects, causing the value of nearby land to climb steeply out of the reach of our citizens.

Yes we sold our land to you Mr. Investor but you were aided in your decision to purchase our lands by the MINISTER RESPONSIBLE FOR TOWN PLANNING AND HIS LAND USE POLICY OR LACK THEREOF.

WHO IS THIS MINISTER ?? RIGHT HON. OWEN S ARTHUR. FOUND GUILTY !!!

He’s at it again.

“I must also thank the Democratic Labour Party for it because by their absence from Parliament in the last few weeks, we were able to do six weeks’ work in two days.”

This was “a wonderful achievement” which underscored “what could happen … when the Labour Party is allowed to dominate Parliament”, Arthur said.

Nation Newspaper, December 27.
=========================

I was just about to post that extract but Observing beat me to it.

It is important to note that Owen is not repentant in his stance to undemocratically see that there is a one party state in Barbados, and that the BLP dominates parliament.

My question is does this man have a malfunctioning brain? Does he realize what he is saying or is he deliberately committing political suicide.

It is of course written some where in classical literature that WHOM THE GOD’S WILL DESTROY THEY FIRST MAKE MAD .

Meanwhile as the former minister of Housing and Lands what measures has he taken to remove the barrier across the road at COLONY CLUB??

ZERO ZERO ZERO

Thats the former minister for you plenty hot air once again and no action.

The BLP suppoter , De Bumble Bee….is not allowing her BLP colleagues to go the way of PAKISTAN.

She is asking some tough questions.

Check her comments below & on the BLP blog.

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DE BUMBLE BEE // December 27, 2007 at 2:08 pm

q // December 27, 2007 at 8:17 am

As for the bumble bee I have been following your comments and whilst you may be a DIE HARD BEE as you say, you are certainly not a BLP supporter.

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DE BUMBLE BEE WRITES :

That is it…..Q you believe that we BLP supporters should RASCALISE politics !

If our leader , OWEN said something wrong….let us get him to APOLOGISE !

And if you insist he ain’t say nothing WRONG…..then why the words NO LONGER appear in the speech on BLP TV ?

” No DLP gov’t ever again ” line ?

Follow the speech below :

http://blp.org.bb/blptv/speeches

I hope you following the EVENTS in PAKISTAN ?

The president SUSPENDED the CONSTITUTION recently !

Today supporters of the PRESIDENT assasinated Benazir Bhutto the OPPOSITION leader !

In Barbados we BLP party & party leader tried to SUSPEND the CONSTITUTION !

On the 16th DECEMBER 2007 our party LEADER , OWEN ARTHUR , told the country that he is DETERMINED & MOTIVATED ” to keep the DEMS out of office FOREVER ” !

If we BLP people do not REPENT !

Come the 15th of Jan 2008 Bajans gine mek we pay for……..SUCH STUPID COMMENTS !

Please tell me what is this man on ???
Rum or just an EGO trip with his use of power someone better grab him by his shirt tails and keep him on the ground.

It reeks with ARROGANCE here again, but that is what we have seen with 15 administrations, gross contempt and arrogance seeps in.

“I must also thank the Democratic Labour Party for it because by their absence from Parliament in the last few weeks, we were able to do six weeks’ work in two days.”

This was “a wonderful achievement” which underscored “what could happen … when the Labour Party is allowed to dominate Parliament”, Arthur said.

Nation Newspaper, December 27.

LEADER of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) David Thompson has called for three live televised debates among the party leaders, ahead of the January 15 General Election.

“By announcing a date for the General Election just before Christmas and thereby limiting the campaign to 12 days, (Prime Minister) Owen Arthur has clearly shown he wants to avoid full debate of the issues,” Thompson said in a statement yesterday.

According to Thompson, the Prime Minister’s cutting down of the campaign time would avoid the Barbados Labour Party’s (BLP) record over the past 13 years “being subjected to unwelcome scrutiny”.

He added: “It smacks of arrogance and is a most anti-democratic move because full and open debate is the lifeblood of democracy.”

In proposing the three televised debates, Thompson said they could be held under the broad themes of Economic Policy, Social Policy and Governance.

He said three of the country’s most senior and respected journalists should be invited to pose questions to the leaders during the debates.

“Limiting debate of the issues to the political platform puts Barbadians at a serious disadvantage, especially considering the BLP’s tendency to use public meetings more as avenues for distracting entertainment than serious debate,” Thompson contended.

He added: “The Democratic Labour Party intends to stick to the issues because we believe it is important that Barbadians are fully informed about the choices they have, ahead of January 15.

“More than ever before, this election is about the type of society we want in the future, not so much for ourselves, but more for our children and grandchildren,” he concluded.

In 2003, there was one debate between the political leaders.

In an exclusive interview with the SUNDAY SUN during the DLP’s Christmas concert in Heroes Square, The City, on Friday night, he responded to Dame Billie Miller’s comment that there was not any one non-national group where the numbers were large enough to make a difference in the next general election.

“I find it alarming that the Government would make those kinds of statements, even against the backdrop of there being outstanding a case relative to the registration of non-national voters.

“Therefore, until I am satisfied that there have not been persons who are registered as voters in Barbados who are not entitled to vote, I would have to be extremely concerned about that.

“I am (also) concerned about the statement by Prime Minister Owen Arthur that the Democratic Labour Party should never hold office in this country again, because, taken together, they are a significant threat to democracy in this country.”

Thompson said Dame Billie was “out of touch” with what was happening in Barbados because there was a dominant group whose votes were very relevant to the outcome of the elections, and in marginal constituencies their involvement was something to watch very carefully.

The MP for St John also responded to Deputy Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s announcement on Thursday that the unemployment rate had slipped to 7.1 per cent of the labour force (for July to September) from 9.8 per cent in the same quarter last year.

“I believe that [Mia] Mottley needs to speak to the Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance Clyde Mascoll, who certainly, when he was a member of the Democratic Labour Party – and I believe professionally – has indicated that the unemployment statistics are inaccurate in the manner in which they are measured,” he said.

Thompson reasoned that the statistics did not capture large numbers of persons who were unemployed in this country but who were otherwise categorised.

“I am very reluctant, based on the advice given to me by Mascoll many years ago and given to us and the country when he was Leader of the Opposition, to accept those statistics by Mascoll’s analysis,” he said.

If this is what we have for leadership, forget it, we could bring GEARBOX back from his grave and he would command more respect from the people than Arthur does and better yet GEARBOX would be seen as a poor honest man much to his credit, so unlike this one call OWING ARTHUR.

I am eternally grateful that we have a leader in waiting to bring some order to this Nation, come the evening of the 15th of JANUARY. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH MR DAVID THOMPSON for being a loyal servant to the people of this island for nearly 30 years of your life that is a major sacrifice to have made for us the citizens.

Listening to OWEN Arthur in the extract below :

Follow the speech below :

http://blp.org.bb/blptv/speeches

The following points must HIGHLIGHTED :

** The 1990’s were characterised by a GLOBAL RECESSION !

** The IRAQ war was a contributing factor !

** Many countries around the world including the Caribbean were affected by this recession !

** In Trinidad & Tobago there were job cuts & the COLA allowance…….check out Black Stalin song !

** In Antigua there were job losses & salary cuts !

** In Dominica there were retrenchment of Civil Servants & salary cuts !

** In Britain & USA there were salary cuts & job losses !

This is the REAL point……..was ERSKINE SANDIFORD & the DLP responsible for what occured in all those COUNTRIES above ?

REGARDLESS…….of who was in office in Barbados during the EARLY 1990’s the results were going to be the same.

So why do we have Owen Arthur and the BLP making it sound that only Barbados was affected by this GLOBAL RECESSION ?

Please let your vote count on 15th of January 2008 and save my dear country.

My old man always used to say to me that you really always should believe what a drunk mans says to you, because it is when he is drunk he is at his most unguarded and honest in what he says and he means.

It was reported that Arthur was drunk when he made his now well documented I did not say that speech about never wanting to see the DLP hold office ever again and his hateful comment about our father of Independence and our NATIONAL HERO ERROL WALTON BARROW to have said what he did about a NATIONAL HERO OF THIS ISLAND is grossly disrespectful to our NATIONAL HERO and to Barbadians in general.

His comments made while drunk as I started by saying maybe those made from the heart and should be seen as such that given the chance he may well do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to alter this election result including voter fraud, let us not forget the stack of ID cards that lurked around with Mark Smart’s campaign !!!

If they would do it for MARK SMART why would they not do likewise for this election?

These are serious times ahead let no one fool you, voter with you heart and not with your pocket and life will get so much better.

Think about the stage that we are a in this country now, not a single project in 7 years has come in ON BUDGET OR COME IN ON TIME, add to that $ 750 MILLION in COST OVERRUNS on everything that this lot is involved with, do we need more of the same?

Not for me it is time for a change, and it is coming on the 15th of JANUARY 2008 , Thank God for the opportunity to make a difference!!!!!!

Such Stupid Comments , Jay , Open Eyes and other BLP commentators on this site , you see how you all doing further damage to the reputation of the BLP ?

Do you all notice that the DEMS trailing the BEES 35% to 30 % and SOME of we BLP supporters talking ‘ bout the DEMS divided !

WE ain’t fooling Barbadians with that nonsense in 2007….yuh HEAR ?

I am asking BLP supporters again….. Why does our leader , Owen Arthur’s , nomination speech no longer appear on the BLP web site or BLP TV with the ” No DLP gov’t ever again ” line ?

Follow the speech below :

http://blp.org.bb/blptv/speeches

Do we BLP people understand what it means with a SWING growing from 5.5 % in October 2007 ( WICKHAM POLL ) to 7.9 % in December 2007 ( UWI / BELLE poll ) and the electorate complaining about how we have dealt with the :

COST OF LIVING ?

HARDWOOD ?

VECO & THE DODDS PRISON ?

750 MILLION IN COST OVERRUNS ?

ABC HIGH WAY ?

KENSINGTON OVAL ?

We BLP PEOPLE fuh REAL ?????

To all my fellow BLP bloggers on this site.

Why does our leader , Owen Arthur’s , nomination speech no longer appear on the BLP web site or BLP TV ?

I watched that speech live on the 16th of December 2007.

On the morning after, 17th December 2007, I watched it again with 2 of my neighbours.

I will admit that there were areas of the speech that Owen start to frighten me !

I could not believe my ears when he spoke about the Late Errol Barrow in the way he did.

This is the same Errol Barrow that OWEN was praising in Independence Square in January 2007.

Then the talk about no ” DLP gov’t in office again ” shook me up.

I love my BLP & my PM , but like a lot of BARBADIANS we love OUR country real bad.

If the BLP hierachy believe Owen was out of line , then ASK him to apologise .

Tony Blair APOLOGISED during his time !

George Bush APOLOGISED during his time !

John Howard APOLOGISED during his time !

Erskine Sandiford APOLOGISED during his time !

That is the HALLMARK of LEADERSHIP for me & thousands more BARBADIANS !

Put back up the speech on BLP TV and APOLOGISE…….or ELSE

Kiss the 15th of JANUARY 2008……GOOD BYE .

Posted on December 24, 2007 at 2:40 pm
58Jerome Hinds Says:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
DE BUMBLE BEE // December 24, 2007 at 4:20 pm

You see what I mean one hour , five minutes and eighteen seconds ( 1:05:18 ) of Owen speech, but the part with ” Never another DLP government in office ” is missing.

Does our BLP supporters realise that the DLP has the original tape ?

Such Stupid Comments …….wake up and do not do any further damage.

A lot of BLP people were in the room at Alexandra from what I have been told.

Follow the speech below :

http://blp.org.bb/blptv/speeches

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Anonymous // December 24, 2007 at 5:16 pm

DE BUMBLE BEE ,

I do not know you but I must congratulate for you bravery , openness & honesty.

Thanks for the wake up call you provided in the link above about Owen’s speech.

I know he said it because my mother – an untiring BLP supporter – came home that evening from Alexander School Hall voicing her disgust about that statement.

I have just listened to the link you provided and the crowd there was very lukewarm from their responses – my mother agreed as well .

No wonder Owen called the election 4 days after .

But why is the BLP hiding what Owen Arthur said about the DLP on that ” never return to office ” issue.

Rickey Sighn wants to know as well.

The BLP & Owen has shown poor LEADERSHIP on this one.

Are we voting for a one party state on the 15 january 2008 ?

Where the BLP commentators on this one ?

Speak up & speak out !

Barbadians are watching and listening .

In 1999 just before the GENERAL ELECTION…..Liz Thompson announced that GREENLAND would be opened in JANUARY 1999 !

That date passed……GREENLAND remain closed !

Just a few weeks ago Liz Thompson announced that GREENLAND would receive it’s first BAG of Garbage on 2 JANUARY 2008 !

Now that date is at hand…..we are being told that GREENLAND would be ready by DECEMBER 2008 !

And how can GREENLAND be within BUDGET…..when there was so much RETROFITTING & DELAYS ??????

TIME………is…..MONEY !

In this case……$$$$$$$ MILLIONS of tax payer $$$$$$ !

And these BLP PARIAHS talking about…..LEADERSHIP ???

There is no LEADERSHIP……if INTEGRITY & ACCOUNTABILTY are absent !!!!!

Barbados…..in TROUBLE !