“You’ll get your gas line, the governor gets his bill, and I’ll get my job in Barbados,” … Peter Kott, former Speaker of the House, as recorded during FBI Alaska bribery investigation. Kott was offered a position with VECO involving the new Barbados prison.
VECO Corporation Heavily Involved With Barbados Politicians, Government Projects
Breaking News: On Friday, May 4, 2007, American politicians and businessmen were indicted in a bribery scheme involving VECO Corporation, a company that is heavily involved with the Barbados government and various Barbados politicians and business people. VECO’s Barbados projects include the oil terminal and pipeline, and the building of the new prison.
At least one of the arrested Alaska politicians was secretly recorded by the FBI in conversations where he spoke about receiving a position with VECO’s Barbados prison operations. As there are hundreds of hours of police recordings, there is no doubt that further Barbados revelations will occur at the trial.
This Is A Big Story – And It Will Get Bigger
The FBI launched a series of co-ordinated raids in August of 2006 and carried away hundreds of boxes of evidence from various political and corporate offices in Alaska and Washington. (This was widely reported at the time as was the Barbados connection, but for some reason the Barbados media failed to carry the story. I wonder why?)
Alaska Report wrote of the raids at the time…
Should anyone be surprised that the super cozy relationship between the oil industry and Alaska’s Republican leadership has finally come to the point of a full-blown criminal investigation?
This is but one of the questions that Alaskans are asking in the wake of an FBI raid on the offices of six legislators which, as of this writing, is only hours old.
Here’s what we know at this point:
On Thursday, August 31st, (2006) FBI agents served simultaneous search warrants on the offices of six Alaska legislators: Bruce Weyrauch, John Cowdery, Pete Kott, Donny Olson, Vic Kohring and Senate President Ben Stevens. All but Olson are Republicans.
According to Kohring and legislative attorney Tam Cook, the search warrants named VECO, the oil services company that has a notorious history of stacking the political deck in Alaska.
(big snip)
Soon, friends . soon we will know more. In the meantime, for those of us who have been outraged and disgusted for years by the amount of control that VECO and the oil industry have had on Alaska politics, let us take some satisfaction that justice may finally be served for corrupt leaders who have sold out our state.
It’s about time.
… from Alaska Report Feds Raid Veco, GOP Legislators
Which Barbados Politicians Are Involved?
VECO is a huge corporation headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska. With close ties to the Bush Republicans and operations in Alaska, Washington State, Alberta & British Columbia – Canada, India, Russia, United Arab Emirates and Barbados, VECO is a powerhouse in the oil and natural resources industry. VECO also has large interests in construction, pipelines & terminals, power generation, manufacturing, biotechnology and military contracts industries.
VECO Corporation and it’s wholly owned subsidiary Commonwealth Construction were the primary contractors on the Barbados Terminal and Pipeline project, and the (then) “$120 Million” new Barbados jail.
The company has often been criticized for having a corporate culture of unethical behaviour, bribes and undermining democracy. (Obviously, the American Federal Bureau of Investigation would probably agree with that statement.)
If VECO Corporation has acted unethically on their home turf of Alaska, one has to wonder what they might be guilty of in a foreign country like Barbados.
Photo from the VECO website – Grig Cook, President of Commonwealth Construction (l); J. Patricia Alleyne, J.P.; Dr. Leonard Nurse, Chairman of Barbados National Terminal Company; and, The Honourable Anthony Wood, J.P, M.P., Barbados Minister of Energy and Public Works at the 2004 ground-breaking ceremony for the oil terminal.
A Responsible Barbados Media Would Follow This Story Carefully
We know from media articles that the FBI even has recordings of telephone conversations between VECO officials and the corrupt politicians – where VECO’s Barbados operations were a topic of conversation.
What else does the FBI have?
You can bet that the Prime Minister of Barbados and many of his gang aren’t going to get much sleep in the next little while as they wonder what will surface during the trials and investigations yet to come.
Barbados Free Press will continue to follow up on this important story – even if no one else in the Barbados media mentions it.
Former, Current Alaska Lawmakers Charged
By STEVE QUINN
The Associated Press
Saturday, May 5, 2007; 5:09 AMJUNEAU, Alaska — For several thousand dollars and other promises, prosecutors say one current and two former Alaska state lawmakers threw their support behind a tax scheme and natural gas pipeline to benefit a company.
The three men, Rep. Victor Kohring of Wasilla, and former state Reps. Pete Kott of Eagle River and Bruce Weyhrauch of Juneau, were arrested Friday but deny wrongdoing. The three Republicans pleaded not guilty at their arraignments.
Kohring was charged with extortion, attempted extortion, bribery and conspiracy, according to a federal grand jury indictment unsealed Friday. Kott and Weyhrauch, each entered their pleas to four counts, including conspiracy to commit extortion, extortion, bribery and fraud. If convicted of all charges, each of the men could face up to 55 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
Prosecutors allege the three were involved in a scheme that unfolded as lawmakers weighed a new petroleum profits tax structure and a new contract for a natural gas pipeline last year.
Kott, the former House speaker, explicitly said during a teleconference with company officials that he would support the pipeline and the company’s preferred version of the tax proposal if he was made warden of a prison the company was building in the Caribbean, according to the indictment.
… continue reading this article at the Washington Post (link here)
Our kudos to Barbados Underground and others who smelled a rat with VECO long before this story broke.
Barbados Free Press 
Dat is de one thing I doan understand about this place.
Bush and his Republicans say Clinton do everything wrong, that he not dealing wid Saddam right and all kinda thing, the US needs to running-over the United Nations whenever they don’t get the vote they want and all kinda ting…. Now they mashup everything sooo badly they left having to do everything the way Clinton did it. Including holding talks with Iran. Holding talks and subsequently negotiations with N. Korea… They impeach Clinton about lying about having Inter-marital sex.(A mere family moral issue) And low and behold this Bush administation has tossed around more lies, more corruption, you name it… Every few months a new Republican having to resign in shame for breaking the law….
I’ll be too nuff happy when I get de heck out the states and get my perminant residency up in Canada. I wish these dumb democrats would stop listening to Bush say “Well you’re just practicing politics!” and would actually try to act like an opposition party for a change.
Would it be worthwhile for the Public of Barbados to hold a public inquiry with the persons in charge of this company to find out under oath if they took any kickbacks in Barbados?
Pingback: Barbados Becoming A Society Of "Fat Cats" And Soft Corruption « Barbados Underground
Well a sincere thank you to BFP for finally bringing this scam to light, I have been saying all along that jail had steal in there and we will see as this goes along who else got paid for favours somehow the names Bannister, Nicholls and Owing are starting look to be front runners.
This has been brewing for somewhile now and I am very happy to see this show up on BFP how it has missed being reported by the regular media may give us some clue as to the extent of the gov’t control of the media sadly it is the case.
Bannister and Nicholls are the players here that brought this to Owing we shall now wait and see what Anthony Wood has to say and so to what $$$ Owing has to say as well without a shadow of a doubt they have all increased their bank accounts with this deal as we can clearly see the company was not opposed to paying politicians bribes even in the USA so why would it be so difficult to pay them in our 2 x 4 island of Barbados that is the easy part.
Wot? Bribery and corruption charges against US politicans by the FBI? And Barbados involved you say, lad?
Well, cannot say I am not surprised old boy. Just not cricket the way they do these sort of things in the colonies these days.
Not like when we ruled it, is it quite?
Maybe it is fitting they are building a prison!!
Only thing is the sun in St. Philip real hot and there may be now a mad rush to make an air conditioned wing
We shouldn’t have to deal with the cost overuns beacuse this here is one of dem BOLT projects.
I saw another BOLT project in yesterday’s paper too!! These guys aren’t building a prison … but they are moving the Bermuda Triangle.
…. and here I am thinking this Bermuda Triangle talk was bare imaginary talk.
Our rule of law is now more american than it is British but you have to thank Owing for the ship rider agreement etc etc that gives the americans the right to rule you.
I am shall await the comments of ?? , marcus2 and the rumble idiot and cannot wait to see what spin they put to this one, the only spin they need is the spin of the combination locks on the jail cells when the whole bunch of them retire there oopps forgot no one goes to jail here for corruption only in the big countries does that happen!!!
“For several thousand dollars and other promises, prosecutors say one current and two former Alaska state lawmakers threw their support behind a tax scheme and natural gas pipeline to benefit a company.”
These politicians appear to be pikers compared to our politicians who only “tief” in the hundreds of thousands and many millions of dollars
not to mention the odd planation house.
Surely the Nation News or BHTA could spin this into a bigger and better place to live?
Our rule of law is now more american than it is British but you have to thank Owing for the ship rider agreement etc etc that gives the americans the right to rule you.
I am shall await the comments of ?? , marcus2 and the rumble idiot and cannot wait to see what spin they put to this one, the only spin they need is the spin of the combination locks on the jail cells when the whole bunch of them retire there oopps forgot no one goes to jail here for corruption only in the big countries does that happen!!! !!
“Lobbying” politicians is legal.
Getting paid commissions for helping companies win bids for projects is legal.
Therefore private citizens should have nothing to fear unless they have bribed politicians or given them “gifts”in order to get these projects.
I am sure this does not happen in Barbados. Our politicians are honest and upright citizens and worked hard to get where they are today.Minister Lynch said so and I am sure Dr.Duguid will agree.
Now lets us deal with the real issues.
Jerome Hinds show us your list again and this time include Kensington oval. The caribbean’s most beautiful and expensive partly covered daylight only stadium, But dont forget Gems,Greenland, the Flyovers,the Warrens office.
Sorry forget GEMS. Mascoll on the other side now so what he said about GEMS was “misinterpreted “.
Just the facts please.
Somebody already familiar with the prison site may well be spending more time there in his retirement years.
Didn’t Bannister get the ethanol factory job? Was VECO involved in this one too?
This Bannister seems to have his finger in many pies.
What else does he do?
Feds Indict Alaska GOPers
By Paul Kiel – May 4, 2007, 6:06 PM
I tell you, corruption doesn’t get any uglier than Alaskan corruption.
The investigation surrounding VECO, an Alaskan oil company, has finally borne fruit. Two Republican members of the state legislature were indicted today, one of them the former speaker of the house. There’s still no word on the fate of former state Sen. Ben Stevens, son of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), who is also under investigation.
Oh, and it’s ugly. Pete Kott and Bruce Weyhrauch are on the hook for trading votes for cash and sweet jobs, plain and simple. From The Anchorage Daily News:
The indictment says Kott asked executives of the unnamed company for money and a job after he left the Legislature. Weyhrauch, an attorney, asked for a job and legal work, the indictment says.
On about Sept. 26, 2005, the indictment says, Kott called an unnamed company vice president and said, “I need a job.”
The vice president replied, “You’ve got a job; get us a pipeline,” the indictment says….
In a meeting on April 18, 2006, Kott told the company executives, “You’ll get your pipeline, the governor gets his bill, and I’ll get my job in Barbados.”…
Kott met with the company executives in their hotel suite on May 7, the indictment says, and told them he had tried to defeat an amendment to the oil tax the company didn’t like.
“I had to cheat, steal, beg, borrow and lie,” Kott said, according to the indictment.
The company’s chief executive responded, “I own your ass,” the indictment says.
These two are among the same group of legislators who took a shine to calling themselves the “Corrupt Bastards Caucus.” No wonder.
———–…
The indictment includes portions of recorded conversations, which included profanities at times and a passage in which Kott asks the company for a job overseeing a Barbados prison that the company manages.
The company’s name was not disclosed in the indictment, but VECO separately said it was the company involved. Its offices were searched at the same time the lawmakers’ offices were inspected.
At one point, according to the indictment, VECO Chief Executive Bill Allen told Kott: “I own your ass.”
…
The oil-tax change was pushed by former Gov. Frank Murkowski, a Republican, and the three major North Slope producers, ConocoPhillips, BP Plc and Exxon Mobil.
…
One current lawmaker and longtime critic of VECO’s and the oil industry’s influence on Alaska politics said the criminal case should change the political climate.
“Certainly VECO was the biggest donating entity in the state for over a decade,” said state R
ep. Les Gara, an Anchorage Democrat. “Hopefully, the FBI investigation will reduce their influence in Alaska politics.”
Folks I think we need to investigate the Barbados Karamath link…….
Caution certainly appears not to be the watch word at BFP.
One again another story in a Journal from
over-in-away is given prominance by BarbadosFreePress.
Let us hope that you do not end up with egg on your face yet again!
In your exuberance to portray all black Bajan Politicians as crooks all you are doing is making all Black Bajans look bad, but then again that may be your secret agenda.
Marcus2 any article from” over and away” that mentions Barbados is open to discussion by all Barbadians and BFP is right to make it a “Topic.”
BFP is not making anyone look bad. People who choose public life (politicians) and people who choose to make a living from Government Contracts and Projects must expect scrutiny from the public (Taxpayers and citizens).
If you want your Buisness to be private do not become a politician or Lobbyist.
Marcus2, was there a tender for:
ABC Highway widening and proposed flyovers?
New prison in St. Philip?
BFP: Why have you backed off from your earlier directive to the Marcus2 character?
No-name… Karamath can wait, stay on VECO and all will become apparent.
I am growing oh so concerned as to why the DLP isn’t jumping all over this.
It’s an open goal.
Maybe BFP has been right all along, and the whole system is involved in these sordid politics of inclusion.
Sorry for repeating my post of last month…. but, ” Can anyone tell me if Mr Leonard Nurse ( Oil Terminal and Waterpark ) is related to Lt Col John Nurse ( Prison )?
Justasking
May 5th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Marcus2, was there a tender for:
ABC Highway widening and proposed flyovers?
New prison in St. Philip?
++++++++++++++++++++++++
What abot the effing-all plant?
Any Tender or news on that?
Here is Peter Kott’s record.
It is unbelievable that he could get caught out like this. For the past 15 years he has been religiously been reelected.
http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/house/24/KOT.php
He also seems qualified for the job at the prison. He has a BS in Criminal justice from FIU …. guess his 15 years experience as a politician will also carry some weight.
After all this, we have to ask how will Veco man the prison once it comes into operation?
Everytime they apply for a work permit for an expat to do a job somebody is going to holler for murder. … and with justification ….
Have they jeopardised the next 25 years of a revenue relationship with Barbados just to be able to say they own somebody’s a**?
Will Barbados now be placed in a position where we have to consider taking Veco out of the equation just to assure some credibility to the whole process of incarceration?
This whole Veco relationship with Barbados should have been in the open from day one and the expectations and details known to everyone up front.
By operating clandestinely and then proceeding to get caught, Veco has compomised both itself and the Barbados Government. It is unbelievable that a GOB could let itself be put in such a position in such a sensitive area.
Any future jail break, disturbance in prison etc. will be clouded by this.
What a bunch of klutzes.
Maybe it will all blow over. This is Barbados.
…….. Lt. Col. John Nurse should sleep a whole lot easier.
His job may be assured!
Within the last 6 months 2 of our Caricom colleagues ( St. Lucia & Bahamas ) have held their general elections.
Barbados is due to do so within the next few months also.
A careful read of the news link below would indicate the power of the electorate to put an end to corruption, arrogance & plain dishonesty by our politicians.
Below are some of the issues in the St. Lucia election.
http://www.stluciastar.com/NewsHome/CommentsLetters/tabid/390/newsid902/397/Default.aspx
The end result : the Kenny Anthony administration was VOTED out of office !
Below are some of the issues in the Bahamas election.
http://www.thenassauguardian.com/editorial/301938427198870.php
The end result : the Perry Christie administration was VOTED out of office !
In Barbados for the past 13 years the citizens have been expressing concerns over :
Broken promises !
Greenland !
St. Joseph Hospital enquiry!
GEMS!
CBC !
UDC!
FBI report!
Edutech!
Promises of $ 34 million roads fo St. Philip !
Warrens building!
Flyovers costs!
New Prison costs!
Extravagant spending !
QEH!
and the latest scandal CWC 2007 !
Read the story in the link below :
http://www.nationnews.com/story/300922687082446.php
What will the verdict be in Barbados on these financial & governance issues when elections come around ?
After all of this, does the BLP deserve another 5 years to continue on their merry – go round ?
Would the Barbadian electorate demonstrate the intellectual & intestinal fortitude like their St. Lucian & Bahamian counterparts ?
How much crap is enough ?
Wake up Barbadians !
The time of decision is fast approaching !
anything other than a huge leap of speculation supporting your assertion of some connection between three executives of the company and Barbados’ government?
… didn’t think so.
Here is an extract from a blog about Veco. Perhaps the BLP has already received campaign funds from the said company.
————————————————————–
VECO] is unabashed about its political involvement, giving money to politicians with the clout and mindset favorable to opening the arctic.
“We try to get those people elected,” VECO President Pete Leathard told Alexander’s Gas and Oil Connections, an online newsletter covering the oil industry. “We put a lot of money into the effort,” Leathard said. “We support those people, and they think pretty well like us.”
Guess that may be why VECO is here in the first place!!
It sounds like they have goals in common with politicians the world over.
Comment Maker, have you ever heard of a person named Glyne Bannister?
… didn’t think so.
Comment Maker
“anything other than a huge leap of speculation supporting your assertion of some connection between three executives of the company and Barbados’ government?”
where there is smoke there is fire
sounds like they think and act alike
until now quietly and wink wink because they own our asses!
Could the FBI do something like this here in Barbados?
http://www.californiachronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=13270
… and this is stale news.
This Internet thing is wonderful!!
Me wonder if this is tied to that US$4million overseas that the FBI been questioning recently?
Was this where they bumped up on that money, during their investigation?
Hmmm…. the plot thickens…..
People can check the FBI website to see whether they have put their indictments for this scam yet.
Usually they publish recent investigations, even before it goes into court.
Cannot wait to read directly from FBI on this.
Me wonder if anyone sweating yet?
Can we also have some independent anlysis of the airport contract, issued to the Canadian company?
I am not alleging anything untoward occurred, but it would be nice to have some comfort that such checks are being done, especially as the place leaks etc and cost so much.
I remember the last time there were so many rumors of men in black suits sniffing around a senior minister….that was a while ago.
This guy Kott didnt want money… all he wanted was a job in Barbados … Wow … the BHTA should get their ad guys cracking on this one.
Marcus2 said
“In your exuberance to portray all black Bajan Politicians as crooks all you are doing is making all Black Bajans look bad, but then again that may be your secret agenda.”
—————————————————————-
Good one BFP … you’ve certainly hit a nerve when all they can do is try to play the race card …..
M2
They are doing it all on their own!!
Unfortunately they are using our money, but hey, what’s money? It is only paper!!
Well, one thing seems obvious M2, our politicians can’t be bought for the measely sums that their white American Brothers go for.
Ours are men and women of value!
… yup, they have far higher standards!!
Jude,
Kott did not just want any job here in Barbados, he’d been promised the warden’s job at the new prison by Bill Allen, CEO of VECO.
It’s totally unbelievable, the livelihoods (and possibly lives ) of our prison officers being protected by a man placed in his position because he takes bribes.
Think of the other groups who would seek to corruptly influence the proper running of the prison, and the consequences of their bribery being successful.
This corruption is not a recent phenomena, but is ingrained in VECO’s company culture.
In the mid 1980s VECO was fined more than US$72,000, the largest fine ever by the Alaska Public Offices Commission, for funnelling secret donations to a group of candidates through an illegal employee payroll deduction plan.
This info is easily obtainable on the web, yet why did our politicians select this company in preference to a cheaper local bid ?
Unless this court case stirs parliament into demanding complete transparency, both in the prison bid process and the BOLT contract details, then there is only one answer to that question.
I call again for an independent, professional Contractor General to oversee every major
government contact, ensuring fairness in the bid, competence in the drafting of the contract, and total compliance by both parties.
I notice that Parliament has given the green light to import natural gas via a pipeline subject to successful negotiations!!!
Hmmmmmmmm!!!!
let’s see..do i feel sorry that corrupt politicians in Barbados will be exposed for the criminals they are..hmmm..let’s see here…..again when will the FBI be here?…soon huh…..lol….
paul sealy
We now understand the paranoia in Parliamant about allowing the US into a country to interdict drug smugglers under the shipriders agreement.
Who knows what they might find.
Wonder what ever happened with that FBI report?
They been hey already. They have an office here yu know.
This Veco contract is similar to Karimath. Both have a corrupt past with tainted relationships with politicians and accusations of bibery. I am amazed that GOB did not do any due deligence with these organisations. Simple research on the internet would have provided enough information for any non- thiefing gov’t to reject dismiss their proposals.
I submit that the reason why these persons have been allowed to do business is bacause they have offered kick backs of some kind. It appears from there track record that this is the way they operate. Check it for yourselves on the internet.It makes you angry when you realise that this BLP is in bed with such criminals. This is one big MAFIA! No woner they made fun of David Thompson’s ‘crime and voilence’
This matter of VECO was also discussed sometime ago at this link.
No-name
May 6th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
“This Veco contract is similar to Karimath. Both have a corrupt past with tainted relationships with politicians and accusations of bibery. I am amazed that GOB did not do any due deligence with these organisations. Simple research on the internet would have provided enough information for any non- thiefing gov’t to reject dismiss their proposals.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Obviously someone moved heaven and earth to identify, recruit and hire persons and corporations with these qualifications.
I was talking to one of the guys from Commonwealth a few days ago, and they are bidding on the new marina project in Bridgetown (at the pierhead). He was quite confident that they were going to get it.
John,
Bird of a feather flock together. Have you ever noticed the people Mia and Jerome hangs out with on weekends? Barbados has a reputation as a place where anything can be bought.
I ahve spoken to a number of foreign business persons who have/had businesses on the island and they always call the names of certain persons they have been told they have to interact with if their respective businesses are to go anywhere…..
here is the link on our forum where VECO was first mentioned.
http://www.barbadosforum.com/index.php?showtopic=3337&st=40
No-name
I am aware of the practice.
In plain language the free enterprise system which the world is supposed to have embraced is not so free in Barbados.
It makes no sense to open a business in Barbados to follow your dreams or support a family long term.
Don’t mind all the talk about opportunities for young entrepreneurs.
This is plain rubbish.
and don’t begin to talk about dubious insurance companies allowed to register in Barbados. I was shocked to see how Carlos Belgrave, Supervisor of Insurancee and Pensions managed to receive the “worst regulator” award for 2006 awarded by Offshore Alert.
Re: Jerome Hinds
May 6th, 2007 at 12:17 am
Within the last 6 months 2 of our Caricom colleagues ( St. Lucia & Bahamas ) have held their general elections.
Barbados is due to do so within the next few months also.
A careful read of the news link below would indicate the power of the electorate to put an end to corruption, arrogance & plain dishonesty by our politicians.
——
And if you watched the results of Both the Bahamas and Saint Lucia the incumbent got bounced out of office in both cases.
If we were to get lucky and have the same thing happen here it could not happen to a more deserving lot, these people are callus and uncaring to the people who put them there in the first place.
Now that BFP has revealed the dishonesty that is the BLP and their connection to this other crowd of bastards which we have clearly seen to be not opposed to paying bribes to US politicians therefore why should it be too hard to buy the local ones??? The local ones would be rushing with cap in hand to beg to be paid their bribe money hence the Nicholls,Bannister’s andOwing’s so closely knit in with them.
My second point is that now that theBFP has done such a wonderful job of bringing this scandal and those involved to the fore I shall eagerly await your exposure of the deal with Nicholls,Bannister, Owing, Washington and Johnson of black entertainment TV fame, with the importation of a 1000 slot machines under the veil of the Barbados Cricket Association this number more than doubles the figures already here.
We are not likely to hear anything from any of the existing operators because for them to have received a permit in the first place you had to be close to the leader and the ruling party to even get a look in as well as make some donations of money to Owing.
This is a developing story with many angles and many players involved with kick backs all around, if we look carefully we may even find who the true owners are of these 1000 new machines oh Owing we deserve better than this treatment from you lot.
I think inquiry needs to be done in the Cable & Wireless contract for the simple reason that. When Cable and Wireless was given their license. They stated 1st that they would not— open up the Barbados market unless the Barbados government pays them to hand over their license and then they would renegotiate a new license. A want to say I vaguely remember a figure might have been thrown out there somewhere on the order of BDS$235 Million???? for C&W to agree to surrender their exclusive license which was to be good until around 2011.??? And they would allow competitors to move in as long as they were paid. Suddenly there was a hushed reversal and all of a sudden Cable and Wireless agreed to give up their contract just all of a sudden… I want to know if they were paid the hefty sum to give up their license.
Spin Doctor Rawle Eastmond of all people has just said in the 12.30 VOB News that gov’t will introduce integrity legislation…and .a commissions of social justice to arrest the growing distrust of gov’t. He says this is a world wide problem.
This is the same Minister who has been talking about safety and health legislation – still to be proclaimed as well as the employment rights bill – still to be enacted. If one is to judge the past performance of this Minister …the integrity legislation will take another 10 years.
These mean of course that there will not be enough time to have this enacted before the elections.
Min. Eastmond’s announcement is just a stop gap…to appease all of us who have been calling for such legislation.
The error of the BLP government is that they believe that if they say they will do it, we will believe them and shut up.
They have yet to realise that ploy no longer works.
Could this be the same minister who has said he does not know what the gov’t is doing as they are doing nothing for the people??? what a difference a few days can make in the life of a politician!!
No wonder he is so hard to get to he is too busy talking nonsense.
”No wonder he is so hard to get to he is too busy talking nonsense”
I guess this time because its in the administration’s favour he does not have to be treated for low blood sugar.
Ok
So the Nation has come to the realisation that Veco, our prison contractor is involved in alleged fraud and bribery of public officers.
They don’t seem to have twigged that the a** of the man who would most likely have become its warden is also owned by Veco.
In years gone by, we could have expected to see an emergency press conference called by the Attorney General or Prime Minister to explain why it is that we have nothing to fear!!
We would expect vice presidents from Veco to be at the press conference to say how this behaviour is not condoned and the perpetratrors are being rooted out.
Nothing…. yet, just silence.
Get in the action,
I believe it was you who supported my thread re VECO corruption last September, or maybe John.
Whoever I cannot stress enough VECO epitomises the corruption running through the top echelon of our government, follow this money and all the stinking mess will be revealed.
Barbados Free press broke the Veco story 3 days before the nation mentioned it. why is the nation always following bfp? they must have better sources than bfp! Do you think that BFP embarasses The Nation into covering stories that they normally would hide?
From VECO.com
The website of the VECO company.
(Note how the values say they won’t cheat or steal. Doesn’t say anything about bribes though! Ha Ha!)
VECO VALUES
SAFETY EXCELLENCE
Our primary objective is to individually or collectively identify the hazards associated with our environment and products, and develop a safe solution for each situation.
HONESTY
We maintain integrity by always matching our actions with our words. We don’t lie. We don’t cheat. We don’t steal.
From the website of Veco corporation where they have posted their “values”
It says they won’t cheat or steal, but it doesn’t say they won’t bribe! Ha ha!
VECO VALUES
SAFETY EXCELLENCE
Our primary objective is to individually or collectively identify the hazards associated with our environment and products, and develop a safe solution for each situation.
HONESTY
We maintain integrity by always matching our actions with our words. We don’t lie. We don’t cheat. We don’t steal.
DID VECO GIVE OWEN ARTHUR A CAMPAIGN DONATION?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/05/09/national/a153615D06.DTL&type=politics
Bribery Pleas Prompt Look At Donations
Guilty pleas from two oil field services executives who admit bribing legislators have Alaska officials examining whether they should give up campaign contributions connected to their company, for years a major player in state politics.
Campaign donation records also show that VECO Corp. sent tens of thousands of dollars to candidates outside Alaska, including President Bush. One of the executives, VECO founder and CEO Bill Allen, served as state financial co-chairman in Bush’s 2000 campaign.
Since 1990, Anchorage-based VECO, its employees and their family members gave the state and national Republican parties, GOP congressional candidates and Bush slightly more than $1 million, according to an analysis by watchdog Center for Responsive Politics. Bush’s 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns received a total of about $24,000 of that money.
Wow! There is a thought. How much did Veco give to the BLP in “campaign donations” after they got the contract for the oil terminal?
Did Owen Arthur put any of Veco’s “campaign donations” into his personal bank account? Did any other government MP receive campaign donations from Veco? Did any of these go into any “personal” bank accounts “by mistake” like Owen Arthur said?
Where is Royalrumble? Where is Marcus2? Where is Doctor Duguid? Where is…
Oh… never mind!
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Which Barbados Politicians Are Involved? start with Owen and Mia, and all who knew and said nothing.