Drunken Sailor Spending By Barbados Government Will Result In Increased VAT And Other Taxes

If you don’t believe that our government has borrowed and spent like a drunken sailor then listen to what the IMF told Owen Arthur
last week: If you don’t increase the VAT to 17% and make it apply to more things then you are in big trouble.

Oh and the tax incentives – giveaways to the rich- that we have now? Both the DLP and BLP governments have told us that they are good because they bring in more investment that is good for us. Not so says the IMF. Actually the concessions are raising our costs.

Sounds right after all someone has to pay while the rich get away.

And the IMF were too polite to mention the vast overspending on projects where the government is ‘only’ the guarantor of Gems, Veco, 3S and the Kensington Oval debt for a total added on the top of just over one billion dollars.

Oh and of course no one in government bothered to tell the IMF about the hundreds of millions of dollars that leak out every year into the pockets of Owen and his merry band. That adds 1% to the VAT right off so every time you are buying something thanks is being given to our government pickpockets.

Don’t believe that Owen and the gang are thiefing? Or maybe you are a government BLP supporter and you are outraged over this accusation?

No problem… have each member of the government declare their assets, including all offshore bank accounts and assets that they have had since the BLP were elected some 14 years ago and we’ll withdraw the accusation.

We’ve mortgaged the airport, the port, taxed the people till they can’t take it anymore. We’ve let the politicians tell us to put up with it while they get fat on our backs.

When will we have a leader who is for the people?

Combatting Illegal Dumping – Community Meeting Tuesday For Haggatt Hall, Monroe Village, Dash Valley

Is The Island Getting Cleaner In Some Parts?

Is it my imagination, or am I starting to see a cleaner island in some parts? Perhaps wishful thinking, but we have to applaud the efforts of the Sanitation Service Authority, Ministry of the Environment, Ministry of Health and the other agencies who have been organising these town hall meetings. The people who work with waste problems every day know that it is not enough to merely clean up the mess because there will be a new mess tomorrow. We must change the public consciousness and the morality that is behind illegal dumping.

Good work, folks! Please keep it up as all Barbados appreciates your efforts.

Sanitation Service Authority

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Town Hall Meeting at Dash Valley Community Centre on Tues. 25/09/2007

The St George South District Emergency Organisation with the Ministries of Environment & Health will be hosting a Town Hall meeting at the Dash Valley Community Centre at 7:00 pm on Tuesday 25th September 2007.

This meeting is for the following areas only – Haggatt Hall, Monroe Village and Dash Valley – persons from the community will be brought up to date on the best ways for combatting illegal dumping and the benefits of recycling.

Talks at the Dash Valley Community Centre will be given by – the Sanitation Service Authority, the Environmental Protection Department, the Solid Waste Project Unit and the Vector Control Unit.

A question and answer session will be run after the presentations – all residents from – Haggatt Hall, Monroe Village and Dash Valley – are asked to make a special effort to attend the Dash Valley Community Centre at seven o’clock, Tuesday night on 25th September 2007. Together, we can all keep Barbados clean!

Mikaela Davis, Bajan Student At University Of Toronto, Canada – Excellent Ambassador For Barbados

During the last few years, Mikaela Davis has had the benefit of traveling and learning outside of Barbados and she is putting her expanded world view to good use for herself and her country. A few years ago she was part of an exchange programme at the University of Connecticut that saw her meet and work with other high school students from all over the world.

Now at the University of Toronto, Mikaela has just published a two-page feature article in the Victoria University paper The Strand.

‘Barbados: Just around the corner, still beyond your imagination’ is well-written in a friendly, easy-going style that illustrates our national character as much as it does Mikaela’s love for her home. I’m sure that half the folks reading the article will want to get on a plane to Barbados the next day. I’m also sure that many folks will actually travel to Barbados at some time as a direct result of reading Mikaela’s article.

Barbados needs talented, hard working young people like Mikaela Davis and we hope she comes home after finishing her education – but even if she ends up working abroad (as so many of our young people seem to do these days – can’t blame them) Mikaela will continue to be an excellent ambassador for Barbados.

Somebody on BIM should be targeting her to be hired on her graduation day. We shouldn’t let this one get away!

Barbados: Just Around The Corner, Still Beyond Your Imagination

by Mikaela Davis, The Strand

Some might consider my summer destination very exciting, but to me, spending two months in Barbados was simply spending quality time at home. As a local I often take for granted the beautiful beaches, the gorgeous weather, and the blue skies – but I must say that Toronto winters have helped to cure that a little bit.

Barbados: the home of singing sensation Rihanna and the best rum in the world – what more could you want from a place, right? Well, Barbados has much more to it than those trivial details. Not only is the weather wonderful all year round (except during hurricane season) but the culture and general atmosphere you find in Barbados is fantastic. It’s one of the most laid back, relaxed places out there. If ever you visit, you must venture into one of our many rum shops and you will see this attitude I am describing unfold before your eyes. In a rum shop you will probably be privy to some locals playing a good old game of dominoes over a few drinks and maybe a flying fish cutter (a Bajan term for sandwich) to satisfy your taste buds. The people are so friendly and helpful that your venture into the rum shop will show you the heart of Barbadian culture. Perhaps you will even get a few rounds of dominoes in yourself…

… to continue reading this excellent piece, log into The Strand (link here)

(You might or might not have to register, but its worth it)

Note: All information for this BFP article was entirely gleaned from the internet and started with a Google alert for “Barbados”. We’ve never met Mikaela and she’ll be as surprised to see this article as anyone. Which is all to say that the people seeking to know who BFP is shouldn’t bother Mikaela with their damn-fool thuggish questions. A shame we have to write this here, but there it is.