The Barbados Labour Party’s Failure To Learn From Mistakes Made In The Last General Election

Submitted by Yardbroom

Leader of the Opposition Mia Mottley

When a “great” political party with many years of distinguished service to the citizens of Barbados; seems uncertain how to re-connect with the electorate, can an ordinary citizen make a comment? yes! I say.  Elections are not won by preaching to the party faithful, they will always shout “talk yer talk” to a chorus of clapping and stamping of feet at conference.

However, elections are won by appealing to and convincing the uncommitted, the middle ground, the undecided and the dissatisfied.

As a party and I repeat for emphasis a “great political party” is reduced to a blogger on Barbados Underground – with alleged access to those in high places in the Party – who seems to be  “as mad as a box of frogs” jumping up with various heads, spewing “constant” bile, insulting those whose votes the party will depend for outright victory, it is time for a reassessment of tactics.

Of Things Not Bajan!

Hartley Henry - DLP Political Strategist

Phew! That was a close one! For the first time in more than four years of writing newspaper columns I monitored my email entries on the hour. I was almost certain I would have been lynched by the men of this country. But, surprisingly, even they were in agreement with 90 per cent of the criticisms levelled against them in last week’s column.

So encouraged am I by the willingness of our people to address and deal with real issues, that I shall poke my nose a bit further today and address a major peeve. This time it’s against our womenfolk.

Okay, perhaps you are wondering ‘whatever became of the real Hartley Henry’. Why isn’t he dealing with topical and some may say political issues? The truth is this is the time of year when this writer begins to wind down and look towards the summer. Also, and perhaps even more profound on this occasion, is that I am more than a bit nervous about these Common Entrance Examination Results.

I travelled this road six years ago with my son, but somehow, I am sharing the anxiety pains and pangs of my daughter. Indeed, I think I will scream if I don’t hear something by this weekend.

To be honest, I don’t even know what I want to hear. I am not caught up on school status, and everyone knows how much I oppose elitism. But, the constant calls to my home and enquiries on the street are placing me on the brink of an anxiety attack. Truth is I can’t believe my daughter has gotten there already. Therefore, in the meantime and between time, I shall just jive around with a few matters, outside of politics, that intrigue me.

Maintaining Currency Stability In A Small Open Economy

If it is one thing the macro-economists agree on is that currencies will depreciate, there is nothing a government through its agents the Central Banks can do about it. Countries respond to the challenge of managing the volatility of depreciating currencies in mainly two ways, a free floating exchange rate e.g. the USA and the dollar, and secondly share a common currency e.g. the EC and the Euro or the OECS and the EC dollar. A similar option to sharing currencies is to adopt a major currency e.g. Barbados adopting the US dollar. The Barbados dollar has been pegged to the US dollar since 1975.

Key things to watch for with a pegged currency: the fortune of the country will rise and fall based on the performance of the country to which its currency is pegged and the country will have to manage and dedicate its monetary policy policy to supporting the exchange rate.

In a nutshell the Barbados dollar peg is primarily a tool to assist planners in both the private and public sectors of a small, open but narrow economy avoid the costs and speculative forces of exchange rate fluctuations. By hinging the Barbados dollar to a credible currency like the US dollar expectations of inflation are kept in check and fears of depreciation minimised.  These, in turn, are key factors for achieving sensible wage negotiation outcomes and uninterrupted flows of capital investment among the key considerations.

Sounds simple. But much depends on what external currencies drive import and export prices (i.e. who one’s main trading partners are); and what money domestic public debt is denominated in. By matching up the weightiest of these factors to the composition of the peg the aim is to eliminate – or mitigate so far as is possible – external currency impacts on the domestic economy. The peg has usefully served these goals since 1975.

Barbados Tourism Executives Bungle Negotiations With Airlines

Submitted by Looking Glass

Richard Sealy, Minister of Tourism

An article receiving lots of exposure in US and Canadian travel publications quotes John Lynch as saying any destination which is focused on growing its business must ensure there is adequate airlift to satisfy the needs of travellers. John, a veteran of the Caribbean Hospitality and Tourism industry is Chairman and Director of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) and was addressing delegates to the 48^th annual meeting of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) at the time these comments were made. This statement, not far removed from the truth, comes at a time when many Caribbean destinations are experiencing a major fall off in visitor arrivals and difficulties with airlift.

Jamaica on the other hand, continues to buck the trend and is actually enjoying increasing numbers with stay over visitors. It is also in the invidious position of having an abundance of airlift available for the summer season. According to the article, Jamaica has a whopping 1.2 million airline seats at its disposal for summer 2009. From the U.S., JetBlue, Air Jamaica, Funjet and Apple Vacations along with other American carriers will be offering increased flights to Jamaica. Canadian carriers WestJet and Transat are also involved in Jamaica’s aggressive promotion drive to sell the destination. WestJet will deliver 4 flights weekly and Transat has boosted its schedule to include additional flights from Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. Combine airlift with an aggressive ad campaign aimed at boosting arrivals, explore brand possibilities in additional markets, make sales presentations in key U.S. and Canadian cities to some 3000 travel professionals, host 26 fam tours and invite approximately 1000 agents to come to the destination on educational visits to see, sample and enjoy a taste of Jamaica’s product offerings, and what do you get? – a recipe for a successful summer sales program.

The Immigration Issue Exposes The Divide Between The Academics And The PEOPLE

Norman Girvan, Research Fellow at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine

Prime Minister David Thompson’s new immigration policy which addresses the vexing issue of undocumented CARICOM workers living in Barbados takes effect from today albeit a national holiday. The policy comes not too soon for many Barbadians who with their eyes see the problem for what it is, an open door immigration policy practiced by the previous government which was not sustainable. The woefully inadequate management information system at the Immigration Department to track people traffic across our borders has since been acknowledged by the Auditor General in his report  for period 2008-2009. Those who oppose the Thompson policy point to the the issues of historical linkages between Barbados, Guyana and the other Caribbean islands, betraying the spirit of the Treaty of Chaguaramas, the tone of the Thompson government as a leader in the CSME movement and among other issues.

Interestingly enough the issue of respective Caribbean island governments having cause to focus on more tightly regulating immigration laws has been a hot topic in recent weeks if anyone is to peruse the regional newspapers. Guyana is battling with illegal immigrants from Brazil and China, Jamaica, Dominica Republic and the Bahamas continue to deal with the influx of Haitians, Antigua and Trinidad like Barbados has been at the end of a large inflow of Guyanese and so it continues across the Caribbean. It makes us wonder why Barbados continues to attract the bulk of the dissenting commentary since announcing a new policy to deal with the problem.

A corollary to the immigration debate has been the perspectives of many of those in academia with a secondary observation, the position of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP).

Government Lead Strategy For Expanding The Manufacturing Sector In Barbados

Submitted by Corey Weekes MSc, CPIM, CIRM, CSCP - Operations Supply Chain Management Consultant and Director of Tropique Wines

As the right honourable Prime Minister indicated in his latest budget speech, we are experiencing very difficult times, and now more than ever, it is important to embark on strategies that generate sustained future growth in exports and foreign exchange. The strategy outlined in this article is penned with the idea of propelling the country on such a journey. It relates to the question of how we can bolster our manufacturing sector for greater foreign export earnings

Despite the policies of several governments, the challenge of increasing manufacturing’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) remains. A review of central bank reports leads one to the conclusion that successful manufacturing in Barbados is a mirage, with no future in today’s apparent world of services. But, before we detrimentally forecast this sector’s demise, let’s examine a model of success that continues in this area, and serves as a platform for sectoral development.

I have written before that the success of the medical device manufacturer, Lenstec Barbados Inc, is no accident, and has precedence for where team Barbados’s focus should be. The initial attractiveness of Barbados as a destination for manufacturing foreign direct investment (FDI) is very much present, in the form of low tax rates and duty-free material access etc, as found in the international business company act. These policies are the first important pillar for a successful manufacturing strategy, and remain laudable and attractive, but by themselves, are not enough to lure industrial FDI en masse.