Defending The Bajan Brand – II

Submitted by Kim Young as a comment to the BU blog Defending The Bajan Brand

You know David, I share the views of some of your commentators. First, I think I understand what you mean by “reputational management”. I suspect that you are alluding to the good reputation Barbados has on the international scene as a Country with Standard and Poors, WHO, PAHO, major UN bodies etc. We have good governance GENERALLY, a country with good infrastructure, a decent longevity rate, medical and other social, environmental and cultural infrastructures that support the people of the country and its guests.

On some points I have to disagree. I do  not agree that Barbados is properly branded. I never did. Indeed, when I lived in New York I have never seen a Bajan product at all. If you are referring to Barbados as a tourist destination, it is “branded” to some extent in England in particular (where I now live) as a tourist destination particularly since we were once a colony BUT, and this is a big but, the budget or the mismanagement or whatever is responsible makes Barbados as a brand , in terms of its marketing, rather inferior. I have never seen a poster in the major train stations ( my station is perfect – Gloucester Road Tube) but I see Jamaica, Majorca, Egypt, St Lucia, Greece, Spain. Barbados products – I shop at Waitrose, just around the corner here in Kensington. I have seen every possible brand of product and never a Bajan except Mount Gay Rum at £17 a bottle and a badly presented box of sugar @ £2 per box. Had Plantation Sugar packaged it like they do in SuperCentre, Holetown, and sell it for Barbados $17, they could sell it in London for £5 at least. That silver boxes sugar is used in the Queen’s box at Ascot yet they put a crappy box in a supermarket. The Brits would gobble up the pewter tin of sugar to just show it off if nothing else. That is good branding.

Is The Local Media Turning The Corner?

Credit has to be given where it is due. The local media has developed in recent days a frenzied pursuit of a story which details how a man rose from the dead and waltz out of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital morgue. Of course BU is NOT suggesting we should trivialize the story of Mr. Scantlebury. Whatever the outcome we hope the truth finds its way to the fore.

What is interesting about the case of the dead man who rose again is the important role of the Fourth Estate in the gathering of news and stoking public opinion.  It is refreshing to observe the bulldog determination which the local media has shown so far with the Scantlebury story. Should Barbadians reasonably expect that after one week all the questions still being asked should have been answered? A scan of the hospital record-keeping of the morgue and or a view of the surveillance records should easily have resolved this matter by now.

Mottley Much Too Negative!

Hartley Henry - DLP Political Strategist

Prime Minister Thompson made an observation last Sunday evening that set me thinking. He said, in effect, that Opposition Leader Mia Mottley had become the face and voice of negativity and bad news in Barbados. I had never actually verbalized it in that manner, but as I think about it, he is correct!

Whenever I see comments attributed to Ms. Mottley or hear her voice on radio or television, I immediately brace myself for something non-uplifting. I conducted a straw poll among some acquaintances and, ‘surprise, surprise’, they saw it the same way.

In Mass Communication classes we were taught about “uppers” and “downers”. The tutor would say ‘you have essentially to choose the type of persons with whom you associate. Their comments and interventions will either lift you up or put you down. After a while you tend to know where they are likely to come from, even before they speak’. That is very true in the case of Ms. Mottley, ever since she assumed the role of Leader of the Opposition.

You do not have to be listening to the news, you only need to see the image of Ms. Mottley and you know that what is being said will not make you happier about yourself, your community, your government or your country. Indeed, it will have the opposite effect. It will make you depressed, fearful, scared or even put you in panic mode. The focus is essentially always about how terrible things are or will become. It will also be about how great the situation would have been had there been no change of government on January 15, 2008.

Angry Black Men: The Psychopathology And Its Perturbations On The Black Family

Submitted by Terence Blackett

Beginning any controversial piece of literary discourse can be a daunting task. Equally challenging is tackling a taboo subject area which can be exhilarating, as one grapples with the issues that are so pertinent to the thesis you are trying to build – in order that it may have structural integrity. The concept of “Angry Black Men” is a work under construction. It is the title of a book which is currently in manuscript form and will be due out for publication around the autumn of 2010.

The BU Family has got (firsthand) the opportunity to debate rigorously (no holds barred) how this postmodern phenomenon is affecting the Black Family and how this psychopathology can be contained and managed through a variety of remedial interactions and recommendations.

But what is anger? Anger is a natural emotion that affects us all at some point. But for some people, anger can get out of control and cause problems with family relationships, friendships, work and even the law.

It is a scientifically proven fact that intergenerational transmission of social, cultural, moral, philosophical and spiritual capital has produced inequalities across the periphery of the Black family and any attempt at a one-sided explanation of the issues which focus just on social relations or culture or discourse is in itself radically incomplete at the least and copiously sterile at worst.

Guyana Government Has Institutionalized Torture As An Instrument Of Law Enforcement In Violation Of Extant Constitutional And International Law

Submitted by by Rickford Burke, President of the Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID)

14 year old Torture VictimTeen Being Transported to Hospital

I join Guyana’s former Attorney General, Bernard de Santos, Attorneys-at-Law Nigel Hughes, Raphael Trotman, Khemraj Ramjatan and 25 other prominent Attorneys, in strongly condemning the barbaric torture of the 14 year-old son of Ms. Shirley Thomas, as well as the torture of Deonarine Rafick, by Guyana Police at the Force’s “D” Divisional headquarters at Leornora Station, over the alleged murder of ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) official, Ramnauth Bisram.  When ever criminal investigations involve justice in the interest of the PPP, government agents are allowed to employ torture as a interrogation instrument.

I have been in communication with individuals in Guyana. Despite the diatribe of Police Commissioner, Henry Green, it is evident that the Police Force (GPF) indeed attempted to cover-up this barbaric act. Their investigation in how the media got word of this criminal ac and photographs of the tortured boy is repugnant. Commissioner Green and others may have committed obstruction of justice and malfeasance in office; crimes which warrant removal from office and prosecution.

The evidence shows that detectives from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) who had been tasked with investigating Bisram’s murder, doused the teenager’s genitals with a flammable liquid and lit him afire, after they failed to coerce him to give up presumed information on the murder. He sustained third degree burns around the genital area. This is a most inhumane and evil act that is deserving of capital sanction.

Defending The Bajan Brand

Barbados despite its size and paucity of resources has been able to build a brand identity which is respected by many in the region and internationally. Barbados did not develop a respected brand by accident. The good governance of Barbados in a post-independence period has manifested itself through a stable political and social climate. The achievement continues to defy the analysts and envy among many Caribbean neighbours.

If Barbados were a company operating in a competitive market and had built a brand identity to compare to what Barbados the country has developed, how do you think the executive of company Barbados would react if the brand was under threat? Commonsense alone would suggest the executives of company Barbados would carve out a strategy using all reasonable resources at their command to protect the brand.

Tourism In Crisis, But The Minister Is Not Concerned – Not Even About His Shadow

Submitted by a BLP Supporter

Richard Sealy, Minister of Tourism

First, the Minister was going after new markets, even before seeking to sure-up the ones Barbados had.  Then there was a money-back-gimmick if the temperature dropped.  A substantial amount was being deducted from every package booked.  We then heard about ‘staycations’ and marketing Barbados’ tourism product on the blogs.

Prime Minister David Thompson too had a brilliant idea how to market Barbados’ tourism product.  While the people of Checker Hall, St. Lucy and surrounding areas were complaining about dust, Mr. Thompson said that the Arawak Cement Plant should put a “welcome sign” on its roof.

Minister Sealy rejoiced when Jet Blue landed, with passengers who might have paid US$99 – hardly the crowd that would stay at the Hilton or at most west coast hotels.

Last week, the Central Bank Governor said that the Barbados economy may recover in 2010 but that any such recovery is dependent on the winter season, which is dependent on activity in our source markets.  This is further uncertainty and more like the trademark DLP lucky-dip and governance by delay.

Guyana Police Under Fire For Brutal Torture Of 14 Year-old

Submitted by Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID)

14 year old Torture VictimTeen Being Transported to Hospital

NEW YORK: The Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) Sunday harshly condemned the brutal torture of a 14 year-old boy by Guyana Police at the Leonora Police Station, West Coast Demerara. The Institute also accused the force of an attempted cover-up, and is calling for the removal of Guyana’s embattled Police Commissioner, Henry Green as well as the command of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Force’s “D” Division, headquartered at Leornora Station.

“The brutal torture of this 14 year-old boy at the hands of evil Police officers should invoke the outrage of the Guyanese nation and the world as well as condemnation of the active policy of torture, which has been countenanced by the government of President Bharrat Jagdeo,” the New York based Institute said.

Recently, Guyana’s Minister of agriculture, Robert Persaud, told Parliament that three Guyana Defense Force (GDF) officers who were tortured with electric shock and burnt in connection with missing GDF AK 47 rifles, were not tortured but that their treatment should only be view as “roughing-up.”  GDF Chief of Staff, Commodore Gary Best, also made this assertion while defending torture techniques employed by Guyana’s security forces. He also claimed that the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Persons, “defines torture too broadly.”

25 Prominent Attorneys In Guyana Condemn Brutal Torture Of 14 Year Old Minor By Guyana Police

Submitted by Rickford Burke of Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID)

Public Statement by Attorneys

31^st October 2009

“No person shall be subject to torture or to inhuman or degrading punishment or other treatment.”

Article 141 of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.

“Any person who is arrested or detailed shall be informed as soon as reasonably practicable .. ..of the reasons for his arrest or detention and shall be permitted, at his own expense, to retain and instruct without delay a legal adviser of his own choice…”

Article 139 of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana

“Every person, as contemplated by the respective international treaties set out in the Fourth Schedule to which Guyana has acceded is entitled to the human rights enshrined in the said international treaties and such rights shall be respected and upheld by the executive, legislature, judiciary and all organs and agencies of the Government, and where applicable to them all natural and legal persons and shall be enforceable in the manner herein prescribed.”

Fourth Schedule includes Convention of the Rights of the Child

Article 154 A of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.

The (Guyana Police) Force shall be employed in the prevention and detection of crime, …. and the due enforcement of all laws and regulations with which it is directly charged …” Police Act Chapter 16:01 of the Laws of Guyana.

The events surrounding the arrest, detention and subsequent torture of a fourteen year old minor and at least one other suspect while in the custody of the Guyana Police Force at the Leonora Police Station are as chilling as they are abhorrent.