Burger King’s Equine Burgers, Non-Communicable Diseases and the Coming of Cost-U-Less

Burger King opened in Sky Mall (Barbados)

The news this week that fast food restaurant Burger King had to pull ‘beef burgers’ from its UK outlets which were supplied by an Irish vender has alarmed many Barbadians. Why you ask? Burger King recently opened its doors at Sky Mall formerly Mall Internationale in Barbados. It is a bold move by Bizzy Williams the principal investo given the view that Barbadians are not regarded as burger lovers. Perhaps he is banking on the fact that Bajans have moved on from the McDonalds experience. Nothing wrong with eating horse meat though, the issue like most things nowadays is it is all about the lack of business ethics and public trust. If you say you are selling beef burgers how the hell does it translate to HORSE MEAT? Let us hope that the carcasses of some of those retired horses owned by Bizzy’s brother do not make it into the kitchen of Burger King Barbados.

What has provoked the interest of BU about the coming of Burger King is a statement made by President of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce Lalu Vaswani at the renaming of Sky Mall which coincided with the opening of Burger King:

“… Barbados’ food and beverage and agricultural sectors can greatly benefit from the opportunity to secure long-term supply partnerships with franchises. Equally, it is in the economic interest of franchises to ensure a viable local supply chain, since reinvesting in the local economy promotes economic growth and consumer demand,” he said. (Barbados Advocate – 1/28/2013)

Urgent Need To Define A Relevant Land Use Policy

Mark Cummins - Chief Town Planner Credit: Nation

“We face a problem in Barbados with smallholdings. A lot of these date back to pre-emancipation days when many non-slaves were what was described as “free persons of colour”. However, to be able to hold public office, they had to own in excess of 10 acres of land. Many free persons of colour purchased the minimum 10 acres of land and many of those titles remain with the descendants today”

–  Amused

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The controversial Bizzy Williams brother of Sir Charles Othniel Williams is in the news again for asserting the government is to blame for the  ‘spiralling price of land’. He is partially correct although it is not as simple as he suggests. A former Commissioner of Land Tax stated recently if government wants to significantly reduce the price of land it would have to release several lots into the market to satisfy current demand. This would lead to a measure of price equilibrium. It is no secret that demand for land currently outstrips supply. It is easy for Barbadians to take pot shots at the Williams brothers because they are known to be rich and therefore an easy target. The fact that both of them are outspoken means the Williams target becomes even bigger.

When analysing the issue of spiralling land prices in Barbados several factors must be considered. Successive governments have used real estate development to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) especially on the West Coast. There are also Barbadians living in the Diaspora who have been encouraged to invest in Barbados to respond to  government’s insatiable need for foreign exchange. What about the ownership of large tracts of land which Amused reminded us of in the quote above and the impact it has had on freeing up land?