Is The Barbados Light & Power Being Transparent About The Spate Of Recent Blackouts?

Submitted by Kill A Watt

Where to begin, oh yeah the latest blackout or was it the one before that. I’ve lost count, what is clear is the usual tired excuse from the Barbados Light and Power “Our protection system did not work and we will endeavour that it will not happen again” until later this year. What the company will not tell the PEOPLE of Barbados is the number of engineers working at the company at an average salary of $8,000.00 monthly for the new ones, I will save the salaries of the senior blood suckers for another submission, let’s see, the above salary by 10 is $80,000.00 monthly by say 12 months works to $960,000.00. Now tell me why the hell am I paying one million annually for a sorry lie.

I am no engineer and I can tell you the lie for free. The problem is simple, the generation aspect has developed and left the distribution side lacking, there were some upgrades but the engineers on both generation and distribution spend their days starting companies and employing contractors to bid over inflated amounts for contracts that don’t go to tender. Hence why they will attempt to fleece you through the people defender the FTC what a joke!!!!!

What Is Your Agenda Mr. Peter Wickham?

Peter Wickham

Political Scientist and the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Talk Show Host Peter Wickham continues to display emotional outbursts directed at UWI lecturer Dr. Kean Gibson. We find it strange that Peter Wickham a political scientist who earns his daily bread by performing scientific analysis would depart from his training when dealing with the matter of racism in Guyana and the real possibility that these learned behaviours can be imported into Barbados given the significant number of Guyanese on the island, legal and illegal.

Dr.Gibson’s response to Wickham in yesterday’s Nation newspaper shows that she is very capable of defending her work and reputation. We have to disagree with Dr. Gibson when she opines that there are not enough Indo-Guyanese in Barbados to destabilize Barbados. The exact number of Guyanese resident in Barbados has been a mystery which has straddled two administrations. The closest we have gotten to a figure from an official source was when former Minister Maxine McClean who had responsibility for immigration matters exclaimed that the government’s best estimate is placed at twenty five thousand. The uncertainty in the number exposes our flawed immigration framework which has been a legacy of the former government.

An In-depth And Riveting Analysis Of The Public Service Vehicle Sector (PSV) In Barbados

Submitted as a comment by BU family member Inkwell in response to BU Blog It Is Business As Usual In The PSV Sector Prime Minister

Hon John Boyce, Minister of Public Works

The Public Service Vehicle sector has for some time been the source of much concern to Government and the society in general. It has been accused with justification of uncivil, illegal and offensive behaviour and the “minibus culture” has been deemed to have a corrupting and disruptive effect on the nation’s youth. Many have called on the operators to correct this behaviour and all right thinking citizens agree that change in the sector is required. This article looks at the background to the issue and puts forward some of what I think, from many conversations with owners and operators of these vehicles, are the underlying reasons for the present situation and proposes some solutions.

Public transportation in Barbados is provided by the Government owned Barbados Transport Board and privately owned Public Service Vehicles (PSV’s). The Route Taxi (ZR) pays road taxes of $4,500 annually for vehicles licensed to carry 14 passengers. The Minibus (B) pays $7,200 annually for vehicles licensed to carry 34 passengers. The Transport Board bus (BM) pays $800 for vehicles licensed to carry 34 passengers and $2,500 for buses licensed to carry 65 passengers.

Hino Rainbow coaches operated by some private owners, have a seating capacity of 31 and standing capacity of about 20, for a total of 51. Under the existing permit structure, the number of passengers allowed on these vehicles is 34 and the Police routinely report the operators for “overloading” if more are on board and remove the excess. The Ministry of Transport has been requested to amend the permits of owners of these vehicles to recognize the larger capacity, but has not seen fit to do so, much to the frustration of these owners.

You Are Fired

There is something very strange which has started to unfold in Barbados and around the Caribbean in recent weeks. Many of our leading and PROFITABLE companies have been sending home workers. The reasons being given vary from the rising cost of raw materials and services to the need to restructure to face the challenges which the current global economic recession is expected to levy on our small and open economies. The fact that Barbados according to local analysts has not yet had to face the brunt of the global recession makes the retrenchment decisions of some of our PROFITABLE companies distasteful.

Trinidad based One Caribbean Media (OCM) hurriedly dismissed 20+ workers from the Nation Group of Companies in Barbados days after declaring a profitable 2008 which EXCEEDED 2007. Sagicor insurance company which is one of the DOW companies of the Caribbean ditched 40+ with a promise of more to follow. Again Sagicor is a company with a healthy profit trend over the years.

Barbados Tourism Officials On The Job In Canada

Submitted by Glenroy Rice of Access Barbados

Richard Sealy, Minister of Tourism

[Montreal Quebec, 5 April 2009] In an effort to stimulate the growth and continuous development of the Barbados Tourism Product from Canada, The Barbados Tourism Authority led by the Honorable Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy swooped down on Montreal on the fourth leg of a five city cross Canada marketing road tour last Thursday 2 April 2009. The Minister was accompanied by High Commissioner for Barbados to Canada His Excellency Evelyn Greaves, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism Mr. Andrew Cox and Cristobel Reece councillor in the Office of the High Commission in Ottawa. Heading up the Canadian team was Ms. Cheryl Carter Senior Business Development officer for Canada.

In his address to travel partners and travel agents at the Mount Stephen Club, Minister Sealy told the Montreal audience that Barbados Tourism has gone beyond an industry and a business. It is now a part of Barbadians way of life. This he said is evident in the fact that the Oistins Fish Fry is now spreading to other areas in the community evoking a broader partnership in local experiences. This is a travel product that include; the participation of visitors to Barbados and provide enriching experiences that are highly valued. It is an opportunity to feel something different and do something different in a unique community environment.

It Is Business As Usual In The PSV Sector Prime Minister

Picture shows green car exiting from Villa Road, Brittons Hill to make the left turn on Collymore Rock. The PSV (ZR244) is positioned in the centre lane which is designated to turn right ONLY. The picture shows the ZR about to make a left turn which according to BU family member (thanks!) who submitted the picture resulted in the green car with the right of way having to brake to avoid an accident.

Recently in the news Minister of Education Ronald Jones lamented that despite the government of Barbados spending eleven million dollars to provide free bus rides on the public transportation service for our school children; many of them continue to travel on private transportation system (PSVs). While there is the economic benefit to be derived by parents there is also the benefit of removing our young children from the influence of the ZR-minibus culture referred by the experts as a public good. The Minister’s comment was provoked when a young student was recently accidently injured while travelling on a PSV. The folly of the incident was the fact that the student’s mother admitted to knowing that her daughter travels frequently to school on the PSVs. This is a working class mother mind you!

Prime Minister David Thompson like many of his predecessors have chosen to use punitive tax measures resulting in increased government revenue but equally or more importantly message the PSV sector to toe the line. It is over 30 years since the birth of the PSV sector and we can safely say under successive governments the sector has deteriorated from year to year. The ZR-minibus culture has now firmly taken root. The Prime Minister in his last press conference had indicated that he assessing the PSV sector very closely to discern if there has been a positive response in their behaviour. Based on our observation BU votes a flat NO!

Barbados Makes It To The Organisation For Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) White List

Coming out of the  G20 summit in London this week Barbados would have derived great satisfaction when the OECD published late last night (02 April 2009) its revised Tax Haven List. The List is divided into four categories:

Speak English, Please!

Hartley Henry - DLP Political Strategist

Granted! I have always favoured English over Arithmetic. I had to sit through Charlie Ishmael’s teachings of equations, logarithms and the like, but never got the hang of it, because I literally could not relate such to everyday life.

Indeed, thanks to the career I have chosen, I have had little need for use of half that which I learnt in Mathematics at St. George Secondary 30 years ago. Actually, the only time I appreciate the burden of such a limitation is when Valencia, my 11-year-old daughter, turns to me for help with her homework. Thankfully, on such occasions I proudly remind her that her mom is an accountant by training and academic qualification, and is better suited to assist in unravelling such Mathematical mysteries.

My seeming cop-out from things arithmetical could therefore explain my low tolerance for listening to persons fixated with communicating all issues arithmetically. I thought I was alone in this English-biased cocoon, but following the recent Estimates Debate in both houses of Parliament, I realised that a significant proportion of Barbadians share my view.

On A Point Of Order Chairman Ralph Taylor

Ralph Taylor

Ralph W. Taylor, MBA, CHA, MCHIMA, JP Chairman and Managing Director of Almond Resorts Inc and Chairman of the Barbados Tourism Authority has become a very influential player in the local and regional tourism sector. Many admire and respect Taylor for his achievement as a leader in a sector known over the years to be controlled by foreigners. Taylor is still seen as the key driver of the Almond Resorts Inc all-inclusive model. Under his management Almond Resorts has demonstrated enterprise by spreading its wings to St. Lucia and it is regarded as a successful operations.

Against the above BU was alarmed when we had a quick look at the Almond Resorts Inc Financial Highlights Year Ended September 2008 published in the local newspaper (Nation p.14) today. Unfortunately we have not been able to find an online link to the financials but to support this blog we have scanned the financial results in three parts which are posted below.

We encourage members of the BU family who are so inclined to provide some critical feedback on the Almond financials. From a layman’s perspective we wish to ask Mr. Ralph Taylor the following questions: