Interesting Article on a NEW BLOG

To My Friends over at Barbados Free Press. Found this article over on this new blog.

 I do not believe that  the allegations below are true.

Please Defend yourselves.

CYBER FRAUDS
September 29th, 2007 at 12:08 am

barbadosfreepressfraud.wordpress.com

Beware of Barbados Free Press Internet Scam. FRAUD!!!

I have created this BLOG not for any discussion, but just to warn people out there about a set of INTERNET FRAUDS who scammed me out of US $500.

Please BEWARE of a group of internet fraudsters who operate a WordPress blog called Barbados Free Press.

It’s all a BIG SCAM.

The person(s) behind it post a barrage of false reports about the lack of press freedom in Barbados and how the government there has been oppressing and harassing them. They complain about how the lives of their families are being threatened and how they have to hide for fear of being attacked. It’s all a BIG HOAX. None of it is true. It’s ALL LIES!!!

The fraud part comes in when they contact unsuspecting people (like me) asking for “donations to help in the fight for press freedom and freedom of speech”. Once they get your email address, they will start to send you messages about how few volunteers they have and how much work it is to get the message out to people in Barbados. They convinced me to donate some money to them, but after checking some of what they posted on their blog against what was reported in the online newspapers in Barbados, I realized that it was all just another type of 419 internet fraud. My suspicions grew shortly after I wired the money to them as instructed, because it was sent to a bank account in Canada. Who knows how much money they have already collected through this scam.

Please don’t be fooled by those shameless crooks, liars and frauds. Barbados is a beautiful country with lots of genuine, friendly, hardworking people. But these FRAUDS at Barbados Free Press deserve to be thrown into jail for ripping off unsuspecting innocent people. When I try to make complaints about it on their blog, they either block me or delete the comments immediately, so I was forced to create my own blog to warn others. Chances are the person(s) behind it may not even be living in Barbados. They use the names Marcus, Shona, George, Cliverton, Robert & Auntie Moses, but I’m pretty sure that those names are all FAKE and I strongly suspect it’s only one person using all those names.

I can’t believe I lost $500 of my hard-earned money by trusting those crooks.

Beware of Barbados Free Press… DON’T GIVE THEM ANY MONEY!!!

Beware of Barbados Free Press… DON’T BELIEVE THEIR LIES!!!

 

 

Unaffordable and Unsustainable

That’s how Prime Minister, Owen Arthur, described Opposition Leader, David Thompson’s housing proposal which was made in response to his March 14, 2007 Financial Statement and Budgetary Proposals.

Arthur was at the time delivering the Third Annual Tom Adams Memoraial Lecture on Thursday night at the Frank Collymore Hall, the City.

He dismissed the Democratic Labour Party’s proposal of providing interest free mortgages for the island’s 28 000 public officers as a major charade.

The Finance Minister argued that an analysis of the proposal would reveal that it was unaffordable and unsustainable.

Maintaining that the proposal was unaffordable Arthur said: “Assuming a modest average mortgage of $150 000 and an annual uptake of only 10 per cent of public officers(i.e 2800) the annual funding required is $420 million. Assuming a repayment period of 20 years at zero rate interest, the fund will not be able to lend to new public officers from the repayments of the initial borrowers since inflation and the expenses associated with operating the fund will cause its value to be eroded year by year.”

He further argued that its longevity would depend on the ability of the Government to make annual cash injections in the order of hundres of millions of dollars.

In addition, the Prime Minister charged that the DLP’s proposal would directly undermine the Credit Unions, which have been able to empower their members and strengthen their financial bases through interest charged on loans, including mortgage loans.

Arguing that the DLP’s proposal does not offer a solution to the island’s housing problems, Arthur said: ” The notion of providing interest free mortagges to public officers is not a solution to any of the issues facing us in Barbados today in respect of land and housing.”

He pointed out that it would mean that maids in the hotel industry, workers on farms and working people in all categories of private enterprise would have to meet the cost of their own housing solutions, while contributing over $450 million per annum in subsidies to their counterparts in the public service.

Arthur reminded his audience that this was not the first time on the eve of a general election that the DLP had sought to win public support by the presentation of proposals which it did not intend to honour to the hilt.

Citing an extract from the late Tom Adam’s 1984 Budget, Barbados’ second Prime Minister had said on that occasion: “Calls by the opposition spokesmen and other figures for impossible levels of tax relief are part of a political game and can be ignored. They are made, not because they are feasible, but to give the Opposition an opportunity of criticizing the Government for not doing, what in their hearts they know cannot in wisdom or prudence be done.”      

LAND

The Opposition Democartic Labour Party has no interest in enacting Alien Landholding Legislation when it forms the Government of Barbados.

 

Prime Minister Owen Arthur levelled this charge at the opposition party on Thursday night while delivering the Third Annual Tom Adams Memorial Lecture at the Frank Collymore Hall, the City.

 

 Giving the background to the issue and stressing the hypocricy of the DLP on the sale of land to non-nationals, Arthur recalled that in June 1970, the DLP administration of the day had decided that legislation should be enacted to control the holding and disposal of real property by aliens.

 

The Minister of Finance further recalled that a Bill was drafted and taken to Parliament on January 20, 1976, but he pointed out that in the nine remaining months of the administration no attempt was made to pass the Bill.

 

According to Arthur, on the return of a DLP administration in 1986, the matter was raised again in the form of a question from a DLP member of Parliament.

 

Commenting further, the Prime Minister recalled that on November 25, 1986, parliamentary representative for the constituency of St George South, Richard Byer, tabled parliamentary Question #50 which sought to address the issue.

 

In a response on February 3, 1987, the DLP spokesman said: ” It is not the intention of the Government to introduce such legislation at this time, but the matter will be kept under constant review.”

 

Arthur said that again on June 11, 1991 parliamentary representative for St Michael North East,  Leroy Brathwaite , raised a similar question but yet again on April 27, 1993, the DLP Government indicated that it had no intention of passing alien landholding legislation in Barbados.

 

He recalled that on April 20, 1998, his administartion established a Select Committee drawn from both sides of parliament to “enquire into and report on, inter alia,existing laws, rules and regulations relating to owenership of interest in land in Barbados by non-nationals.”

 

According to Arthur, the Committee reported to the House of Assembly on December 18, 1998 and found that the “evidence does not support the perception that there are tracts of land in Barbados which are owned by non-nationals, but rather that non-resident nationals own a large number of lots in Barbados.”

 

He said the Committee had recommended that there was no no need at that time for restriction of non-nationals ownership of land in Barbados.

 

The Prime Minister pointed out that subsequent to this, Barbados had become a signatory “to, and is, since 2001, applying the provision of the the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, creating the CSME under which it commits itself to removing existing restrictions on matters such as access to land and undertakes not to introduce new ones.”

 

He stressed that in the face of this history, it was not a practical matter to envision the introduction of Alien Landholding Legislation in Barbados.

 

Arthur however acknowledged that the matter of access to land and housing at affordable prices was valid.

 

Citing statistics to show that the price of land had risen dramatically over time, the Prime Minister noted that the main factor driving prices was demand.

 

Answering the query of what was driving demand, Arthur argued that it was “a direct by- product of economic growth and confidence in the economy.”

 

” Robust economic growth over the past decade,  a 36 per cent increase in wages, 33 000 more persons employed, enhanced job security and general confidence in the future have all driven high demand and the price paid for land. The story is illustrated by the fact that the value of residential mortgages has grown by 100 per cent since 1994,” the Finance Minister boasted.

 

He reminded his audience that over the past 40 years there have been thousands of subdivisions approved for the creation of new housing lots.

 

According to the Prime Minister,  in 1970 there were approximately 42 000 parcels of land in Barbados, but by 2007 that figure had risen to 130 000.

 

He however pointed out that there were some 42 605 vacant lots scattered across the country.

         

Stressing that he will continue the process of providing lots for prospective home owners, Arthur said: ” The Government will continue to approve sub-division of land for housing and to create new planning conditions so as to influence the market by providing significant quantities of land at low prices, thereby putting pressure on private developers.”

 Arthur cited several of the provisions he had introduced during his March 14 Budget which sought to bring home ownership within the reach of a wide cross section of the local society

Term Limits

With elections fever reaching high temperature, the Democratic Labour Party and its sympathizers are now putting forward a strategy which they anticipate would attract the attention of the electorate in hope of an election victory.  Sadly to say this strategy is devoid of any serious proposals to enhance the social and economic well-being of Barbadians. The Dems are proposing that leaders should be limited to only two terms in office – a legal requirement practiced in the United States where the President serve for two consecutive four year terms only. 

This law is believed to have entered US politics following the protracted stay in office of President Roosevelt. If implemented here it could see political parties changing along with their leaders considering the style in which we vote in Barbados.  But why would the Dems want to pursue such a course. The DLP passionately believes that Barbados is their country to do as they please and that “no price can be too great to redeem that situation”. 

It is fascinating to note that the late Rt. Excellent Errol Barrow led the DLP as Premier and Prime Minister of Barbados for fifteen consecutive years between 1961 and 1976.  Not once during that period was a Dem heard to say that Barrow was in office too long. In fact when he returned to lead them to victory in 1986, no one questioned the sanity of his decision nor did any one think then that we as a people should have been focusing on the development of institutions of governance that can operate independently of people, rather than the building of dynasties that are directly related to individuals.

Following the death of Mr. Barrow, the mantel of leadership fell to Sir Lloyd Sandiford. His administration faltered so badly that by the middle of his second term the only respectable way out of his dilemma was an early election. Any administration that can feel comfortable with an unemployment rate of 26.2%, an 8% cut of public servants salaries in addition to severing over 3000 of them can not be a administration that is interesting in the well being of its people. Such administrations are not fit to govern. The electorate exercised its democratic right and removed that administration from office. The dismal performance of the DLP was the main reason for its defeat in 1994. not its length of stay in office. Any suggestion to limit a Prime Minister terms in office that does not take into account the freedom of choice and the right of the electorate to determine when a Prime Minister and his administration has lost its political relevance and right to govern is baseless. In the same way that the electorate is given the freedom to determine when an administration is serious and ready to govern it must also be given the freedom to determine when it has fallen out of favour with the people and is unfit to govern.

This has been our experience. The suggestion being advanced by Peter Wickham and the other DLP apologists, who now find themselves faced with the real possibility of losing the next election can only be described as desperate and regressive. In fact why would Barbadians want to take this retrograde step of limiting our leader’s term in office when in the USA they are now debating moving back to their former system of unlimited terms. The tinkering being proposed to our constitution is not dissimilar to that carried out in the DLP when Thompson was re-installed as leader. However Barbadians stand too much to lose from such foolish and unnecessary risk.

OF Steel and Fire

 I have been told that in some Orthodox Jewish households children are not allowed to enjoy any pocket money unless they performed some basic household chore. Even small children are asked to wash dishes or clean their parents’ shoes before they benefited from pocket money. It is believed that this practice continues to this day to instill in Jewish children that nothing of value is achieved without effort. In other words, they are told that there are no free “lunches” in life. It is accepted, that having worked hard to achieve a goal, one tends to treasure it. 

This writer was driven to cite this aspect of Jewish social life after observing the meteoric rise of Opposition Leader, David Thompson, on the political landscape of Barbados. It is generally felt by a wide cross section of the Barbadian society that the ease with which Thompson achieved his life’s goals has insulated him from the daily struggles of the ordinary man in the street. In practically every area of life privileges were bestowed on him even though he claimed that he worked at one of the outlets of Mrs Mirchandani to earn pocket money during his school boy days. However, a cursory examination of his career would show that he was given a safe seat in St John on the death of the Right Excellent Errol Barrow in 1987; given access to Barrow’s legal practice and handed the leadership of the Democartic Labour Party after its implosion in 1994. Finally, after walking away from the leadership of the party following the St Thomas by-election, it was returned to him following a well executed palace coup which removed the then Leader of the Opposition, Clyde Mascoll, from the leadership of the party.

 

It has been said that “the finest steel has to go through the hottest fire”. Experience has shown that the individual who was able to overcome the challenges of life eventually emerges a better person. In fact, the celebrated author, Ernest Hemingway, once said : ” The world braeks everyone, then some become strong in the broken places.” While Thompson enjoyed an almost hassel-free passage in his political career, Prime Minister Owen Arthur has been tested in his like the Biblical character, Job. As a result of these challenges Arthur has become strong in the broken places. beginning in 1984, Arthur was defeated by one vote by the DLP candidate, Sybil Leacock, but returned to defeat her at a later poll. Again although displaying academic brilliance, he was almost buried among such outstanding political figures as Sir Henry, Sir David Simmons and Sir Richard Cheltenham.

 

Thompson needs to recognise as a matter of urgency that Barbadians do not vote for a leader because he possesses outstanding oratorical skills or because of his sartorial elegance. Speaking in the House of Assembly on the passing of the late Errol Barrow, one parliamentarian was moved to say: ” Nobody carries charisma to a shop, nobody wears charisma, nobody eats charisma, nobody lives in charismaand therefore to believe that any man born of a woman can present himself no matter how attractive he looks and how attractively packaged he is and that black working class people of this country would swallow himbecause he has these mystical qualities, is to assume ignorance on the part of the people.” The speaker mainatined that at the end of the day the electorate must be told what is in the political process for them.

 

Keen student of the humanities that Arthur is, he has recognised that real-politik dictates that the material and emotional needs of the people must be addressed if he is the gain their allegiance. Faced with these realities, Arthue has put programmes in place to empower the sons and daughters of the working class. Even though some contractors employed by the Urban Development Commission and the Rural Development Commission have abused the system, it cannot be contradicted that these two agencies provided a ray of hope to the “small man” who wanted to take control of his life. Freedom comes with self-employment, and there is no meaningful capital accumulation where one is employed by another person.

 

At another level, Arthur has sought to restore the self-esteem of some erstwhile DLP supporters and members whose academic brillance remained unrecognised by Thompson. Thompson needs to recognise that Grantley Adams and Errol barrow did not become national heroes because of some mystical attribute called charisma. In their professional careers and later in their political careers, they used their skills and power to assist the dispossessed. Older Barbadians may recall that Barrow plucked the late Wendell McClean, Professor Frank Alleyne, and Dr Farley Brathwaite from the Ivory Tower of the Cave Hill Campus to assist him in national building. Are we to believe that THompson fears talented people because of a lack of confidence in his? You may recall that recently Thompson accused some potiticians of attemting to intellectualise politics. However, he must be reminded that everything in life begins withan idea.              

Virtue

“One cannot establish the domination of virtue by means of virtue itself; with virtue itself one renounces power, loses the will to power.” Friedrich Nietzsche. This piece of wisdom as expounded by the great German philosopher, Nietzsche, springs to mind whenever my intellect is assaulted by the outpourings of the self-proclaimed political strategist, Hartley Henry. It is noteworthy that this political strategist only achieves success for his clients where the electoral machinery is rudimentary or where political leaders preside over a modern-day fiefdom. It should also be noted that his chief mentor and friend, Dr Don Blackman, developed political posturing into a fine art during his political career in Barbados. Henry is obviously one of Blackman’s top students. 

The accuracy of Nietzsche’s observation was borne out by the muscular and empty rhetoric used by that demagogic firebrand from the working class district of the Ivy, St Michael. Barbadians may recall that Dr Blackman coined such phrases as “white shadows and “aristocrats of the skin.”  At a meeting in Haynesville, St James, he once threatened to “swing his cudgel with malice” against those of European descent who controlled the commanding heights of the local economy.

Hindsight has taught Barbadians that this empty rhetoric was only meant to inflame the passions of the poor in St Michael East and curry favor with local Pan-Africanists. Since leaving political office in 1991, Blackman has jettisoned his Pan-Africanist posturing and gone to bed with lilly white businessmen from the deep south of the United States of America and East Indians- racial groups he once claimed were the natural enemies of black people. The question must be asked : what can Barbadians expect from one of Blackman’ s acolytes who has now assumed the role of the Joseph Goebbels of the opposition Democratic Labour Party and the moral guardian of  275 000 Barbadians?

Week after week Henry makes calls for transparency and integrity in government. He also complains about the cost over –runs on major government projects, but fails to acknowledge that even in the construction of private homes, cost over-runs have become one of the headaches in the construction sector. He conveniently over looks the fact that in the current volatile economic environment, the price of building material and professional services are in a constant state of flux. Under these circumstances, charges of corruption being levelled at government ministers can be dismissed out of hand.

As the philosopher further stated in his exposition on virtuous men, “reformers cannot achieve their objectives without force, lies, slander and injustice. In one of his recent offerings on regional air travel, Henry blames Prime Minister Owen Arthur for the astronomical increase in the cost of travel, while he exonerates the regional air carrier, LIAT. He claims that even though a LIAT round trip ticket from Barbados to Trinidad and Tobago with a stop in Grenada carries a basic price tag of US $ 286, the local tax impositions in Barbados push the final price tag for the ticket to US $410.90. However, he failed to tell his readers that the taxes raised were used to provide social services for the poor in Barbados and not directed into a minister’s pocket.

The delivery of social services in several of our sister territories is still at a rudimentary stage of development, hence the mad rush by Caribbean nationals to gain immigrant status in Barbados and thereby benefit from the safety net that has been set in place over the past 40 years. This writer was shocked to discover that 45 years after every Barbadian child enjoyed free secondary education, the recently elected Prime Minister of Jamaica, Bruce Golding, fulfilled an election pledge and discontinued the payment of tuition fees at all government secondary schools.

 Any government which believes in the sanctity of human life, is duty bound to introduce progressive tax reform to narrow the gap between the poor and the better off in the society.Taxes imposed on the traveling public assist in providing free medication for the chronically ill and free health services at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the many polyclinics scattered across the island. The taxes raised also provide housing solutions for the island’s poor through the Urban Development Commission and the Rural Development Commission. It has been said that “a great moralist is, among other things necessarily a great actor.” Henry, do not be fooled the Barbadian electorate has already recognized the actor in you. Your posturing like that of your mentor has become crystal clear to every Barbadian.

Hartley, they are aware that your current crusading fervor will dissipate whenever the DLP assumes office. How many times have the Barbadian electorate heard promises of removing corruption from the corridors of power only to recognize with the German sociologist, Max Weber, that “after coming to power the following of a crusader usually degenerates very easily into a quite common stratum of spoilsmen.” Hartley, the issue during the next general election will continue to be one of leadership. If an item is not broken, why change it?

The captains of industry will only continue to invest in Barbados if there is clear evidence that a cadre of trained financial managers controls state power. As it stands at present, any Barbadian can identify at least six Barbados Labour Party members of parliament who are trained in the area of economic and financial management. Can this be said of the DLP?                       

Dems Outlook Bleak

The confusion within the Democratic Labour Party over a unified approach to a social and economic policy is not a surprise to Barbadians.  That the chief spokesmen of the Party, Thompson and Sinckler, are at variance with each other on the type of policies to be pursued is without a doubt a political collision that was bound to happen sooner rather than later. This confusion is the result of a group of persons whose mutual hatred of each other is what binds them together and whose concept of togetherness is one of perception rather than reality.  

Barbadians will remember that Sinckler, Pilgrim and others were used to successfully oust Clyde Mascoll from the Presidency of the Party. The campaign by Thompson to recapture the Presidency was very nasty to say the least with Thompson and his cohorts basking in the limelight as their objective was achieved.

No doubt Thompson’s achievement shed an ugly cast on the Dems with subsequent divisions amongst its members. But while some of the old stagers of the Party had expressed resentment at the manner in which the campaign was conducted because they knew of the Rt. Excellent Errol Barrow’s views about Thompson, a few of the others felt that they should show him a redeeming face. But if you thought that the lack of a unified and cohesive, social and economic policy was causing confusion amongst Thompson and Sinckler and the rest of the Party then you should have been the fly on the wall at George Street on Monday when an informal meeting was held to examine The Hon. Clyde Mascoll’s contribution to the call-in programme, Brass Tacks on Sunday.

 From all reports received he was absolutely brilliant. Mr. Mascoll displayed a high level of competence of all the subject areas in which he was quizzed and commanded full respect for his knowledge on economic matters. Never has it been so blatantly clear that the conspiracy to remove Mr. Mascoll from the DLP was a complete ideological and political lost to the DLP as it was on Sunday.

That not a single lead spokesperson of the DLP could muster the courage to pick the up the telephone and call the programme to challenge Mr. Mascoll is testimony that the DLP seriously lacks the resource personnel with the economic competence and political foresight to manage the affairs of this country.  One would have thought that Thompson, having failed to impress Barbadians with his lack-lustre conference speech, would have been moved to redeem himself by engaging in intellectual combat with Mr. Mascoll but sadly he failed to stand up.

What about Sinckler Mr. Mascoll’s contender in the constituency? For two and a half hours he listened as Mr. Mascoll derailed his chances and that of the DLP of winning the next election through the pronouncements of sound economic programmes without a single challenge but then begs for a slot on the call-in programme the following day to spout what can only be described as pure political vermin.  

Following Mr. Mascoll’s excellent presentation on Sunday all Barbadians including Thompson’s hatchet men have now concluded that Mr. Mascoll’s departure from the DLP was in fact a monumental loss to the political creativity and stability of the Party.  On reflection we must now accept that to have swapped Mr. Mascoll for Thompson is equivalent to swapping a thoroughbred for a donkey. The Dems now say that the outlook for the party is very bleak.

Man is Very Well Defended Against Himself

Man is very well defended against himself, against his own spying and sieges; usually he is able to make out no more of himself than his outer fortifications. The actual stronghold is  inaccessible to him, even invisible, unless friends and enemies turn traitor and lead him there by a secret path-  Friedrich Nietzsche. History is replete with cases where members of the middle and upper classes had become “renegades” of their class and identified with the suffering masses of their societies. In local politics, names such as the Right Excellent Sir Grantley Adams and the Right Excellent Errol Barrow immediately spring to mind. Barbadians may recall that in paying tribute to the Right Excellent Errol Barrow following his death in 1987, an eloquent politician of that period had this to say: “Now in a society like Barbados where the majority of the people are of working class origin, historically such societies and peasant societies have been led by men from other classes.

The speaker went on to say that the reason why middle class persons led the fight to transform the dispossessd in any community was because more often than not, the oppressed class could not throw up the leaders with the skills and the organizational ability to lead effectively. He identified national heroes, Grantley Adams and Errol Barrow as two members of the local middle class who transcended their social class and provided dynamic programmes for the working class in Barbados. He maintained that this was the essence of Adams’ and Barrow’s genius, the ability to transcend their social class and be relevant to the numerically dominant class. This observation has been repeatedly borne out where social revolutions have occurred. Generally, it is not the economically depressed person who leads the assault against oppression, but the person whose appetite has been whetted with the trappings of power and privilege. This writer recalls a statement made by a former parliamentarian who in questioning the bona fides of a former fire-band politician saying: “ If a hungry man is given a ham sandwich, circumstances dictate that he will take the first bite before he considers the hunger of his fellowman.

The view expressed by this sagacious politician of yesteryear is consistent with that expressed by Nietzsche who is reported to have said: “Any radical movement can be easily managed. All that is necessary to control it is to open occasionally the trap-door between masters and slaves and let the leaders of discontent come up into paradise. According to the philosopher, it was not the leaders that must be feared, but those lower down who think that by a revolution they can escape their subordination. Repeated attacks on Mia Mottley’s work ethic by self-proclaimed political strategist, Hartley Henry, have driven this writer to respond on her behalf even though I am aware that she has the oratorical skills to defend herself. In one of his recent columns Henry questioned Mottley’s workload as a Cabinet minister in the Owen Arthur administration. The question must be asked: “Who is Henry to question the work ethic of one of Barbados’ brightest political stars in recent times? At a mere 41 years Mottley holds the position of Deputy Prime Minister in a Cabinet of highly qualified individuals.  

This writer contends that Barbados stands to benefit more from a politician with Mottley’s social roots than from one who seems to think that opportunism and cunning are laudable political attributes. Having lived in the lap of privilege from birth, experience has shown that she would be less inclined to be sucked in by the trappings of political power. According to the saying, she has been there, seen it and done that in her short life.  I can vouch for the energy and commitment she brings to any task, having sat in on some of the meetings she chaired as Chairperson of the Subcommittee for Security for Cricket World Cup 2007. I am told that several of her meetings ended in the early hours of the day even though she had to fulfill her official duties as Cabinet minister and parliamentary representative for St Michael North East. I recall the passion with which she defended the region’s sovereignty in the face of attacks by Australian officials who had questioned our right to introduce the Caricom Visa System for the tournament. Armed with these facts, I am inclined to agree with Prime Minister Owen Arthur’s observation that Henry is anxious to have “friends at court” for selfish reasons.

Speaking at a public meeting in Welches Terrace, St Michael, late last year Arthur said: “Henry does not want a share of the fatted calf, he wants a herd.” His mentor, Don Blackman, would have had similar ambitions. They always try to find out what is in it for them.  As Nietzsche said in my opening quotation, the stronghold of an individual’s personality remains inaccessible to him unless a friend or an enemy turns traitor and leads him there by a secret path. As a political opponent, I have turned traitor and exposed the deep recesses of Henry’s personality for Barbadians to see. Henry has a right to live a lie believing that he is the moral guardian of the Barbadian society. No one can take him seriously. However, Mia take a bow, you have scaled many heights in your brief sojourn here on earth. We who are privy to the workings of party know that you are hardworking and a team player.                             

Government Response to Arch Cot Tragedy

It is not without reason that Barbados is seen as the best run black country in the Western Hemisphere. The professional manner in which the Britton’s X Road tragedy was handled speaks volumes about a caring administration which gives the lie to the now discredited racist belief that good governance is the preserve of a specific racial grouping. Under Prime Minister Owen Arthur, Barbados continues to escape the designation of a “failed state”- a status into which several Third World counties have fallen since gaining independence in the post 1957 period. It is noteworthy that at first light on Sunday, August 26, Prime Minister Owen Arthur and several members of his Cabinet were on the scene sharing the pain and suffering of the Codrington family who at that time had appeared to have lost five of its members in the tragic incident.

While sharing the pain and suffering of the family, Arthur immediately put plans in place to rescue the five members of the family from the dark cavern into which they had fallen.    An insightful political thinker once argued that a political leader’s ideas about society were rooted in his/her conception of man. Unlike his predecessors in office, Arthur having not sprung from the local petit bourgeoisie did not have to transcend his class to connect with the masses. After thirteen years in office he still displays a natural affinity with the working class which nurtured him in rural Barbados. Visitors at the scene of the tragic incident would have noticed the pain etched on his face as he spoke with residents of the district and tenants of the affected apartment block. There is no doubt that in his interaction with the crowd at the scene, he would have heard that the head of the household, Donavere Codrington, was an ambitious working class man who only sought to lift his young family out of the soul-destroying grip of grinding poverty. He would have heard that the young farther had recently rented the apartment oblivious of the danger which lurked beneath the apparent solid foundation of the structure. Arthur, who on several occasions during his political career has recalled the challenges he faced as a young man to benefit from a tertiary education, would have most likely said in quiet reflection: “There goes Owen Seymour but for the grace of God.”

The experience of poverty sensitizes caring people to the suffering of those who are attempting to make their way out of the quagmire of poverty. This explains his crusade in the elevation of the sons and daughters of maids and porters to high political office in his administration. What better way to complete the social and economic revolution which was initiated by the Right Excellent Errol Barrow over 40 years ago? Arthur ‘s crusade has now made the opposition Democratic Labour Party redundant. It must be told that long before mid-day on that fateful Sunday, Arthur had already delegated the task of overseeing the rescue, and later recovery mission to his Minister of Home Affairs, Dale Marshall, while Minister of Social Transformation, Trevor Prescod , was assigned the task of ensuring that all displaced residents were given adequate accommodation at the Vauxhall Senior Citizens Village and the Seventh Day Adventist Church on Dalkeith Hill, St Michael. Based on the early arrival of the Miami Dade County Firefighters, Government would have wasted no time in seeking expert assistance from a friendly state.

It was this team accompanied by sniffer dogs who were able to locate the bodies of the victims trapped beneath the rubble in the cavern. Reports indicate that food items and cooked meals were provided by agencies of the Ministry of Social Transformation for the displaced residents at the two locations. Apparently unaware of the services currently being offered by the Bereavement Support Services of the National Assistance Board, Leader of the Opposition, David Thompson,  suggested that counseling should be provided to those individuals affected by the tragedy. In fact, immediately following the cave in, Prescod  directed that personnel of the Bereavement Support services be pressed into service.

Parliamentary representative for the area, Noel Lynch, who was also on the scene throughout the day offered assistance to the traumatized residents. Commendation is in order for the local corporate sector who provided washing machines and other household appliances for the evacuees. Perhaps, the crowning achievement of the tragic event was the professionalism displayed by the Department of Emergency Management and the military and para-military agencies during the recovery operation. These agencies should be commended for their commitment to duty under trying and dangerous conditions. Barbadians may recall that during Cricket World Cup 2007, Deputy Prime Minister and former Head of the Caricom Ad Hoc Committee on Security for CWC 2007, Mia Mottley, had given the assurance that the provisions put in place to ensure the safe staging of the tournament would be one of the lasting legacies. Unfortunately, the tragic events of August 26, made this self-evident.

The rapid pace at which command centres were established by the Department of Emergency Management, the Royal Barbados Police Force and the Barbados Defence Force was a clear testimony of the enhanced professionalism of these agencies since CWC 2007. Personnel attached to these three agencies showed a tenacity and a willingness to work even to the point of exhaustion. Conventional wisdom states that the closer one is to a situation or a system, the less one is inclined to see its virtues and defects. The accuracy of this observation is borne out repeatedly to this writer during conversations with other Caribbean nationals. Just  three months ago I was filled with a strong sense of national pride when I was told by a young Jamaican businessman that the first aspect of Barbadian life that caught his attention was the order in the Barbadian society. He also contrasted the non-violent nature of our political system with Jamaica’s. Barbadians are basically a law-abiding people who have the greatest respect for good governance. Barbados remains one of the few states in the region where embassies accept documents on face value from nationals seeking entry into metropolitan countries.  Good governance in Barbados ensures that it remains as an oasis of peace in an otherwise lawless and crime ridden region.                     

QEH Sabotage Political

All Barbadians can be proud of the commendable work performed by the staff of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to avert any loss of life during the recent power outage when the standby generator failed to function. It was truly a test of their faith and commitment to their profession. The entire scene resembled an assimilation drill that would have otherwise been carried out as part of a preparedness plan to sensitize employees of their role during an emergency situation. Such drills are carried out with a set of contingencies in place to handle any emergencies that may arise. However, in this case it was not an assimilation drill to assess the readiness of the Hospital’s back up plan but a calculated and insensitive act of sabotage.  

 The headlines on the front page of the Nation Newspaper for Sunday, August 26, 2007, “Sabotage 45 minutes QEH power outage puts patients’ lives at risk” could not have been comforting news for those of us with family members in the hospital. That the breaker, which controls the circuit to the battery to recharge the generator, had been found turned off was the worse of news. Who switched off that breaker? Why would anyone want to jeopardize the lives of so many patients? Who would have benefited from the calamity that could have arisen from this cruel and unconscionable act, aimed to show mismanagement of the Hospital? 

The QEH is our prime health care institution and has been attracting positive reviews from international agencies. Foreign dignitaries who have used the services of our Hospital, including the son of the former Prime Minister of Great Britain have all spoken highly of its service. The employees at the Hospital take their jobs far too seriously to want to put its reputation on the line. But we await the outcome of the investigation, which we hope would shed some light on the dastardly act and we expect the full weight of the law on the perpetrator. No patient of the QEH should ever in the future have to fear for their life.

There can be no gain political or otherwise from acts of this kind.   We have recently observed a number of incidences that have undoubtedly revealed there is a plan amidst to create a welter of discontent in our country. The plan is design to distract this BLP government from its development agenda by keeping it in a continuing state of reaction. This observation brings into sharp focus a letter addressed to the President of the DLP Mr. David Thompson by Nigel “Olusegun” Harper former President of the NUPW. Among other things the letter recommends that: “What is the broad picture for taking back our Government? What Projects do we contemplate? What are we planning to do on a daily basis, weekly basis or monthly basis to achieve the victory? I wish to lay out in capsule the following highlights as I see them. 

There must be a Revolt Rebellion among Workers, Youth, Children, Very Small Businesses, Consumers, Taximen, Minibus Operators, Sportsmen, Artist and even the spiritually conscious. The DLP must create a welter of discontent. Keeping the B.L.P in a continuing reactive state”. 

 Is it possible that the contents of this letter have been endorsed by the DLP? Could this be the plan adopted by Thompson to whom the letter was sent? But worse of all could this be the explanation for the sabotage at the QEH and the other incidences at work in our country?