Pat Hoyos - Publisher, Hoyos Publishing Inc
Paul Doyle’s plan to transform Skeete’s Bay into a bustle by building a restaurant to complement the others he owns located at the Crane Hotel has had to be shelved. Doyle has Mac Fingall to thank for putting a spoke in his wheel. It is a little over a week Mac went public with his concerns about Doyle’s Skeete’s Bay Culpepper Beach Houses project – Mac Fingall And St. Philip Residents ‘Fighting Back’ To Protect Their Way Of Life At Skeetes Bay which is pending Town Planning approval.
Since this project was forced to the public at the Town Hall meeting held at St. Catherine’s Sports Club, an obvious public relations job has been triggered in the local media. Pat Hoyos’s piece in the Sunday Sun [19/02/2012] titled ‘Ragga ragga Mac’ caught the eye today when he attacked Mac Fingall for vocalizing his concerns that Barbados was fast becoming a concrete jungle. To quote Hoyos, he labelled Mac’s protestation about how he viewed development in his parish as ‘one of the most awful anti-development rants I have ever heard’. After reading Hoyos’s article it became obvious Mac Fingall was operating at a level which left Hoyos in his wake. It is obvious Mac’s reference to slavery had to do with the outcome if Barbadians continue to sell and allow ‘others’ to develop our finite resource, the land! The result will be that these fields and hills we call our own today will not be ours tomorrow.
What intelligent Barbadians gleaned from Mac’s position about the West and South coast taking the form of concrete jungles, is to question whether such a policy is sustainable. What is the social cost of continuing with the policy? It has absolutely nothing to do with being anti-development and the St. Philip posse wanting to guard their way of life. To support Mac Fingall’s concern one only has to look at how Spain having invested billions in its tourist product is struggling mightily to attract tourists today. Today’s tourists are also spending less.
One of the freedoms enjoyed by the BU household is that we have no advertisers or sponsors to brown nose. We do not own a Who’s Who magazine which is dependent on the business community for its success. We can write how we freely feel on the issues. Pat Hoyos was out of line to ridicule Mac for expressing concern about how the pace of development has impacted the lives of Bajans.
Development at what price Mr. Hoyos?
Wasn’t the Bridgetown Redevelopment Project to extend the boardwalk to the Hilton?
@Hants
I trust you had a great FD too.
If you dont consider yourself “rich” it maybe semantics or you were not motivated etc. As a kolij grad you certainly had the ability.
I have never exploited the Kolij investment market BUT do email many bros to warn them of the dangers just like I would help any Bajan or others where practical.
Malta’s main advantage is that it is strategically located in Europe. This has been so for thousands of years. However, if the leaders ever decide to Analyse and Plan properly for the benefit of the people, then places like Malta, Singapore should be researched closely and commonsense utilised to appreciate the differences compared to Bim. Will this happen? Or will the pols continue to think short term and for their own pockets first and only!
Do the folks on here seriously believe that it matters to the politicians whether the people with money to invest are white, black, brown, cream etc
Please awaken from your somnolent state, if so, because it is the prospect of a major payday that rules the day. The leaders have and will sell their soul and peeps too!
In 1977 I did my dissertation on tourism in Bim and at that tender age appreciated that developing the “hamburger and coke” lower half of the market was very questionable in a densely populated island. Commonsense dictated that we should focus on the higher half in order to procure more revenue per capita so that less heads were required.
It occurs to me that development on the East Coast could be justified for Medical and Sanatorium/ Drug Rehab. Remember that George Washington brought his brother to Bim to avail him of the pure air, obviously there is no air purer than our East Coast. We could use the Washington story and the exclusivity for up market undertakings like Drug Rehab of rich people from the US as many would like to disappear for 3-6 months out of the limelight.
Add plastic surgery etc to this strategy. Why let Thailand etc benefit when their customers are right under our noses? this could create higher calibre jobs and lower end too.
@ David | February 21, 2012 at 1:33 PM |
“Wasn’t the Bridgetown Redevelopment Project to extend the boardwalk to the Hilton?”
Now that you mention the boardwalk, one wonders what are Government’s plans for those unoccupied and dilapidated hotel properties adjoining the boardwalk along the Hastings stretch. Can’t the owners be asked to clean them up or knock them down? They currently represent not only environmental eye sores and hazards but a breeding ground for vermin and disease carrying pests (rats and mosquitoes).
Soon they will be occupied by the growing number of vagrants and homeless. Either maintain them in a way that does not pose a threat to public health and attracting negative environmental appeal or raze them to the ground leaving the spaces as windows to the sea, as they were once.
@miller
When Sandy Lane had a road that ran along the coast, they diverted it. Similarly, if the area now used by government headquarters was to be designated for a large hotel (for which it is ideal), the the road would have to be diverted through Bayville. That would mean dislocation for some families, and that is a serious matter as it could disrupt the community. However, with proper handling and community consultations, it could be a chance to redevelop the area. I think that it would be win/win.
@Moneybrain
You truly live up to ur name. Put “Dr.” in front of it and ur set! Yes, ur ideas along with government investment in Aquaponics would be a salvation for the east coast. And it wouldn’t lead to the destruction of the area either.
And correction, Malta does indeed have a significant degree of real-estate protection laws.
But Like Malta, Barbados is strategically located between four regions in which it can strategically appeal to. The greater Caribbean, Central America, South America, and indeed North America. Barbados has a greater vast potential of setting up mutually beneficial business ventures with Latin America and the Caribbean as opposed to North America because North America is already developed (excluding Mexico).
The opportunities are virtually endless, and we shouldn’t let our “Anglo” tongues inhibit us from learning the tongues of our neighbors. For if we do, they would easily outpace Bim and leave her in the dust with nothing to salvage just like North America did.
These investors are all here for one thing ..and somehow because the Govt.is LEAN AND HUNGRY…..Barbados is a CASH COW…no wonder no cash is circulating here..you have to go overseas to find it,..
NEWS ON EMERA>>>http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/news-sources/?date=20120210&archive=cnw&slug=C3190
Excluding the impact of the accounting gains previously noted, Caribbean Utility Operations (the Caribbean) contributed $18.6 million to consolidated net income in 2011 compared to a loss of $2.7 million in 2010. For the fourth quarter of 2011, the Caribbean contributed $3.1 million to consolidated net income compared to a loss of $7.7 million for the same period in 2010. The increased net income during the quarter and year-over-year was due to increased investments in both Grand Bahama Power Company (GBPC) and Barbados Light and Power; and higher earnings at GBPC, which had expensed $6.1 million of acquisition related costs in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Talk about a good (ROI) return on investments !
@ peltdownman | February 21, 2012 at 3:41 PM |
“When Sandy Lane had a road that ran along the coast, they diverted it. Similarly, if the area now used by government headquarters was to be designated for a large hotel (for which it is ideal), the the road would have to be diverted through Bayville. That would mean dislocation for some families, and that is a serious matter as it could disrupt the community. However, with proper handling and community consultations, it could be a chance to redevelop the area. I think that it would be win/win.”
Which overseas investor today would be prepared to finance this massive “public’ infrastructural reconfiguration. Unlike Sandy Lane, the Bayville area has no upscale potential (golf course, polo etc) although close to a sheltered part of the Caribbean Sea to attract this massive foreign investment. The opportunities of free and easy money looking for a clean home or tax haven to do some washing are no longer “de rigueur” as far as the OECD and the US are concerned. The other Caribbean countries especially those in the OECS are competing vigorously and even “back raising” Bim in the race for FDI and they are winning. What are you going to do with the geriatric hospital? Knock it down and put our ‘golden and platinum’ citizens on the streets? The government fiscal position is so precarious and dire that not even bonds can be floated to finance the public infrastructural part of such a project. What about the construction of the new hospital? How would this expensive undertaking be financed, by foreign investment?
The current hot air ‘mouthings’ are nothing more than a good old Bajan political “fowl cock” flying up on the paling and doing some electioneering crowing to trick stupid people into giving their vote for a sweet song and promise of paradise (2007/2008 déjà vu).
Get real man! Let us see 4 Seasons or the Pierhead marina come on stream before putting your ear to political rumour mill about the redesign and reconfiguration of a major artery in the road traffic system in a confined space of Greater Bridgetown. Skipper, we know you are good at faking things, but you would have to dig real deep to look for the millions and millions of investment dollars involved here. Where is the money going to come from? The education and health budget or are we going to send home a third of the army of occupation, starting with the obese cabinet in Bay house?
This will be my contribution to this issue:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~sdcamp/Ecoeco/Greencities.html
Are our politicians for real?
@ David-BU| February 21, 2012 at 5:53 PM |
Are our politicians for real?
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But Dave, wuh ‘appen, man, yuh jess wake up from a long, long sleep or wuh? Yuh eh know dat we pols in Barbados are a special breed in DEM own class!
BTW, is it possible to get the other poster who signs on as “David-Not BU” to change his posting ID?
@de hood
But imaging the billions we have invested in education.
Imagine how we have boasted through the years about our literacy.
Imagine Guyana and the EC countries seem to have a model that working for them.
Imagine this ting doah.
@Brudah B
I neglected to touch on landuse laws in Malta BUT my point was that the pols arent concerned bout dat bring plenty cash and you can concrete Heaven and Earth in Bim.
But imaging the billions we have invested in education.
Imagine how we have boasted through the years about our literacy.
Brains ain’t brawn…..this is where powers that be lacking
Waaaait! Brownes beach next?
David BU is not going to be able to keep up with all the hot topics coming left right and centre.
perhaps to attract much needed public attention after his tyrannical tirade against his ertswhile ucal fedup colleagues, i observe sir roy, the beleaguered union boss in todays nation jumpin helter skelter in the skeetes bay development saga notwithstanding that it was his actions that brought the Four Seasons project to a crushing halt with his repudiation of the use of Chinese labour.Rather than revising their labour costs component, the investors withdrew instead as any wise investor would be wont to do. Should Lime stand fast and he loses the current dispute, then he stands to be further discredited after his previous humiliation at the hands of Royal shop and Sandylane and his empty mouthings would be seen for what they are worth.
@ balance | February 22, 2012 at 5:32 PM |
So balance, are you saying that the Union is responsible for the investors backing off the 4 Seasons project? This is not is what is being peddled as the reason. The international recession (as if it affected the Chinese economy in any serious way) is seen as the bogey man for the failure of this project.
You better tell ac and Bajanfuhlife that!