Dismantling The Barbados Tax Model

Submitted by the People’s Democratic Congress (PDC)

This week’s PDC contribution deals with another set of reasons why there must be large-scale lawful political opposition and street protests in Barbados in the foreseeable future by the relevant masses and middle classes of people, and by the relevant businesses and other entities and their respective supporters,  against the government’s continued wholesale stealing and robbing of countless portions of their incomes (TAXATION) in evil violation of the Holy Biblical Eighth Commandment, and in  diabolical transgression of the  income and property rights of such people, businesses and other entities in this fair land.

So, as it stands therefore, there is enough wisdom and knowledge out here in Barbados and across the internet right now to indicate that the government knows exactly that what it is doing IS  TOTALLY  WRONG  AND ABOMINABLE  in terms of its unrighteous TAXING of the relevant portions of the incomes of the relevant people, businesses and many other entities in Barbados (or otherwise THE  STEALING FROM/THE  ROBBING  OF the relevant portions of the general income of the relevant people, businesses and many other entities in this country).

Too, the government must know that TAXATION has long had very severe, profound, and disabling social, political, psychological, material, financial and other effects on esp. the broad masses and middle classes of people in this country, and on the proper growth and development of the country as a whole.

Barbados Authority Employee Forcefully Enforces Water Code

Submitted by Fort George Resident

I am writing you to lodge a complaint about an incident which took place in Fort George Heights on Wednesday 11th August, 2010 at 9 am. I was in my garden wetting my plants when a BWA vehicle passed my house and I was verbally abused unprovoked by the driver.

The vehicle’s registration number is believed to be ML929 but I stand to correction. The driver can be described as bald headed and between the ages of 40 and 50 years old. The vehicle had 3 other occupants but I was not accosted by them.

I had my back to the road and when the vehicle stopped in front of my house, this is what I heard. “You have to be the most unreasonable rasshole woman in the world, rain falling and you wetting plants”, to which I replied “I pay for the water that I use”. It was even more unreasonable since the worker obviously meant we are in the wet season, since it was blazing hot sunshine the whole day. It was not actually raining at the time.

The Myth Of Building A Society Without The Economy – Part II

Submitted by Sylvan Greenidge … a former BLP Press Secretary

Photo Credit: John Fenze Blog

With respect to Constituency Councils, the BLP has always supported Community Councils as opposed to Constituency Councils and the reason is quite pellucid. There are already at the community level, a number of community groups both governmental and non-governmental that are functioning well, though with some financial constraints. These groups have formed the bedrock of community life in Barbados for years and all that is required is additional funding and access to technical skills to make them more responsive to the new challenges of community life.

Community life in Barbados is replete with success stories of persons that have emerged from the hard work of our community practitioners and who have gone on to make their country proud both at home and abroad. They achievements were accomplished with far les money than the DLP is spending today with little or no results.

Taxpayers now have to fork out over Bds $12 million annually out of a crippling economy to carry out the work of these Constituency Councils whose core functions are merely a duplication of the established community groups.

Let us take a look at the St. Philip Constituency Council.

Related Link

The Myth Of Building A Society Without The Economy – Part 1

BU Apologises…

Yesterday, many of you who visited BU would have been surprised at the less than appealing appearance of the blog. Unfortunately, WordPress the host of our blog changed the Theme which many of us would have become accustomed. A couple months ago BU did mention that the old Theme was to be phased out and we would eventually have to change it.  The change came yesterday, unannounced!

Here is an extract from a statement issued yesterday by WordPress.

Clarity Needed In Broadband Speed Sold By LIME In Barbados

Sir Neville Nicholls - Chairman of the FTC and SEC

(6) The Commission (FTC) may on its own initiative or on the request of any person carry out any investigation that it considers necessary or desirable in connection with matters falling within the provisions of this Act, the Utilities Regulation Act, and any laws relating to consumer protection and fair competition which the Commission has jurisdiction to administer – Fair Trading Commission Act

When the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) was established in 2001 so much was promised by the previous government of the leadership it was expected to exert on  how Utilities  were regulated in Barbados. For many years before that it had been the public’s perception that Utilities operated to the beat of their own drums. Since the establishment of the FTC in  2001 nothing has changed to reshape that perception. The Utility which has attracted the greatest ire from Barbadians has been LIME formerly Cable and Wireless. Perhaps what has stung Barbadians the most is the fact jobs have been relocated to St. Lucia and other low cost based islands. This is after decades of Barbados being the cash-cow for Cables & Wireless in the hemisphere. Even if Barbadians were persuaded to finally accept LIME’s, formerly Cable & Wireless restructure, the promise of enhanced customer service as a result of the changes has been elusive.

Barbados Today carried a funny piece last week which poked some fun at the online customer support which kept advising users to visit LIME’s Windsor Lodge Office to seek resolution.

The Rice-Bowen National Housing Corporation Eruption

Submitted by Bajan Truth

Marilyn Rice-Bowen, sacked NHC Chairperson - Photo credit: Nation Newspaper

Sage advice from the acting P.M. Freundel Stuart about the wisdom of putting ‘vulnerable’ persons in the way of temptation.  The remarks by Marilyn Rice –Bowen raises questions about commitment of the Minister to the promises of the manifesto; it raises questions about what possible deals may have prompted the Minister to plough ahead and give contracts without due process; it raises questions about the regard the DLP has for small black businesses; it raises issues of transparency, integrity, honesty and accountability.

It is appalling that two years later after the promise of change, honesty and accountability that today we the nation of Barbados have strong reasons to doubt the integrity of ministers of its government, who came to office on the strength of corruption on the other side, and a promise of transparency and honesty with legislation to back it up.  When challenged about commenting on Marilyn Rice-Bowen’s allegation the Minister declines to comment.

The broken promises were disappointing, the incompetence disheartening but the dread spectre of possible corruption in less than three years and by the golden boy,  just fuels my fury. All of this after week by week of accusing the other administration, now this.  Here is Marilyn’s press statement in whole.

Minister Denis Lowe, Why Come To The Table With Unclean Hands? – The Secretive World Of Peter Andrew Allard Part VII

Minister Denis Lowe (1) Peter Allard (r)

I take extreme offense at a Caucasian male telling me, as a Minister of government in modern Barbados, that he is going to threaten to embarrass a national government in this way. It is completely unacceptable … – Quote attributed to former Prime Minister Owen Arthur, extracted from an email sent to Peter Allard by K. William McKenzie

Source:  K. William McKenzie Court Documents

BU joins with all Barbadians to pray for the hurried return of  the ailing Prime Minister David Thompson. To use the local vernacular, all hell seems to be breaking lose in Barbados. The verbal indiscretions which Senator Jepter Ince suffered on a recent VOB talk show.  Minister Darcy Boyce being given the green light to break his silence by hosting a press conference which has led to accusations of its constitutionality. Most ominous has been the loud silence by Acting Prime Minister Fruendel Stuart on matters of the economy at a time when the country is trying desperately to source inspiration from good leadership.

Given the revelation by sacked National Housing Chairperson Marilyn Rice-Bowen on the weekend, BU is left to ask Prime Minister Stuart – do you think now is a time to show some leadership? The fact that BU continues to ask Minister Denis Lowe some hard questions about his relationship with Peter Allard must not be helping the situation.

As promised BU has had the opportunity of going through more of the voluminous files of K. William McKenzie, with an emphasis on the connection/relationship Allard/McKenzie and Minister (then Senator) Denis Lowe. Given the silence to date on questions asked in earlier blogs BU exposes subsequent findings HERE likely to interest the Barbados electorate.

Who Will Guard The Guards?

Here is what Kammie Holder is writing elsewhere – Credit to Nation Newspaper 06/08/2010

Kammie Holder

It cannot happen here, has never happened here and will never happen here! Police brutality is alien to Barbados, as well as forced confessions. No rogue cops exist here and our detectives are too smart to resort to duress for confessions.

Last December 8, in Jamaica, Ricardo Hill aka Kentucky Kid was fatally shot by a squad of policemen. What’s makes this interesting is that Mr Hill and his wife had complained about police harassment and brutality. He was encouraged by his lawyer to install a camera at his residence. In a matter of days Hill was visited by a squad of policemen, including the inspector with whom he had been involved in a vehicular accident earlier.

The video, played for the area police, showed Mr Hill being physically abused. No action was taken by the police high command and the threats continued. Kentucky Kid made a YouTube video showing the incursion of his residence by this squad of officers with a simple message: “If you are viewing message I was killed by the police.” Who guards the guard? Is not the citizenry part of the policing partnership?

Last Thursday, I received a video clip via Twitter entitled Wanted Man Murdered By Jamaican Police. This video reminded me of gunfights in the wild west, when the gunslinger still standing would casually walk over with bravado and fire shots into his foe.

Wyclef Jean: Our Destiny Is Not Written For Us But By Us

Submitted by Austin

Wyclef Jean - Photo credit Reuters

Wyclef Jean is expected to launch a bid to lead his troubled homeland, Haiti. After decades of paying the price for overthrowing it’s colonial rulers, and a devastating earthquake that killed an estimated 300,000, Wyclef has embarked on a monster and noble task.

In the words of President Barack Obama, “our destiny is not written for us, but by us…”, my prayers and admiration are with Wyclef as he leaves the comforts of the entertainment life to help his motherland stand on it’s feet again. As a believer in the wisdom of God which often surpasses our own earthly understanding, Wyclef’s journey in life may have lead him to this exact “moment” where one man could have an opportunity to do so much for so many.

The true measure of a man is not what he does in times of comfort and ease, but what he does in times of challenge and controversy. We known that Wyclef has no political career to speak off and has lived in the US for many years while returning to Haiti often, however what is most important at “this time” is that he has demonstrated “love for country and humanity as a whole” on the world stage, attributes that cannot be easily measured by the intentionally broken political systems that exist throughout the Caribbean.

Meet Your Meat

Submitted by Rosemary Parkinson

Whilst I am not against being carnivore…I love love! my meat…and please, do not take me for a fool…I know this particular trailer is an ‘advertisement’ to a big extent and probably the horror has been condensed BUT…from all the books I have read (some by carnivores) such as The Food Revolution (John Robbins), In Defense of Food & Carnivore’s Dilemna (Michael Pollan), Fast Food Nation (Eric Schlosser) and the movie Food Inc – just to name a few – this is normal practice in the big food industry of the United States. And, believe you me, this is not just about meat grown for food, this is also about plants grown for food. The greed is heavily embedded in everything we import from the United States.

Now…I see our health people are going to ban cigarettes because they are worried about what cigarettes do to those who smoke and what second-hand smoke does to those who inhale but…who is worrying about what we put into our bodies through food? What about banning what comes from the U.S. – this is what, dear people, who like a good steak from the U.S. – this is what you are chewing…this is what you are swallowing…this is what you are eating! This film shows the truth. And that is fact. And by the way there’s not enough space in the world to begin to write about the engineered plants…that word speaks for itself anyhow!