How $100 Million Out Of Every Billion Dollars Spent By Government Goes To Crooked Politicians & Their Friends
See that new Government vehicle driving down the road? Maybe it is a SSA truck, or a supervisor’s auto from the Ministry of Public Works.
Your tax dollars bought those vehicles and the equipment in the back – but what you don’t know is that you paid five to ten percent more for the vehicles and equipment than you should have.
That extra “commission” (or “juice” as some call it) was paid to a middleman – sometimes called a “facilitator” or “coordinator” – who is said to have “put the deal together” or “arranged delivery” or “researched the purchase” or any of a dozen euphemisms that are used to conceal from the public just what is really happening.
Why doesn’t the Government of Barbados “research” its own purchases, or “arrange delivery” itself instead of paying “commission” to a “middleman”?
Why, indeed!
The answer is because crooked politicians and government officials approve paying the five or ten percent commission to the middleman – who then quietly pays a kickback to the politician or official.
What a cosy system!
Meet Hallam Nichols
Hallam Nichols is one of the foremost “middlemen” on the island. A close personal friend of Prime Minister Owen Arthur, he was invited to the PM’s recent second marriage when many Cabinet Ministers and others were not.
It is said that Hallam Nichols gets a piece of the action on a significant proportion of – some say the majority of – vehicle and equipment purchases made by the Barbados Government. He has been paid millions of dollars in “commissions” and “finders fees”.
Why has the Barbados Government directed millions of dollars of purchases through this one man, this close friend of Prime Minister Owen Arthur?
When the new DLP Government comes into power, we hope that they have the tenacity to look at every deal this man has ever made with the BLP government – because at the end of the money trail there are sure to be offshore bank accounts owned by the Prime Minister and other BLP big-ups.
How Barbados Flyover Middleman Jonathan Danos Operated In Jamaica
For more information on how these corrupt “middleman” operations are conducted, read a new story in the Jamaica Observer that explains how Barbados Flyover middleman 3S Structural Steel Solutions President Jonathan Danos and others took 8.5% of 45 Jamaican bridge projects valued at 22 million British pounds. (Jamaica Observer story link here)
Yes… when the DLP forms the new Barbados government, it is going to be exciting times ’bout hey!
Barbados Free Press 
watch this RUDY GRANT sending people house to house to find out who is bees from who is dees this is a way too try to rig the election. remember there are 35.000 people from guyana living in barbados and most are not straight and last time some of these same people voted BAJANS WATCH EVERY BALLOT BOX at the polling stations and when they leave the polling station mark them if you can because the bees have money lots of it and there are nasty and would do any thing to win now a dead man catches at straws we what back or hills and our fields and our beach land too keep your eyes open dont fall asleep at the wheel keep your eyes on the prize
for 300 plus years the head of Customs and his officers in Barbados have had many schemes to extract taxes and benefits out of merchants and citizens.
Every Barbadian can tell you of the side deals where a low fee of 10% or so was paid to the customs officer and nothing or very little to the treasury. We have all been complicit but this must change as it exemplifies how business is done throughout our society.
.
The effect of this has been to cheat the taxpayer and the government coffers out of its fair share of taxes. This causes taxes to go higher because monies are diverted into the pockets of the unscrupulous. Our taxes would all be lower if we paid our fair share and money could be put back in education, the QEH etc. What a novel idea?
Now the only thing I want to hear from the local rags is “What happened to the retired customs officer who was just gunned down on his front porch.”
The stories he could have told??? Come on bloggers. Someone is not telling?
The silence is still deafening!
Is it any coincidence that DANOS comes from the Greek word meaning ‘burnt’?
All the money that has been stolen over the past 15 years by BLP cronies could have provided us with a state of the art hospital and improved hundreds of kilometres of secondary roads.
Bajans will be looking for blood should the government change and the DLP had better deliver.
Hallam Nichols is one of the foremost “middlemen” on the island.
___________________________
Hallam Nichols had denied that he has ever bidded on any Government tender for the equipment.
I believe him because he has been given contracts without having to bid.
Bit I know for a fact that he was the middle man in the purchasing of Transport buses. Prior to his being inplanted by Owen with instructions that Corporations have to go through Hallam, buses were purchased through the local agents e.g. Simsons…not that has all changed.
The transport Board and the BWU should be able to confirm this.
So he is correct on a technicality but he nevertheless Owen has given him an unfair advantage over other business persons.
He is a bold faced liar.
Its not what you know but what you can prove. A lot more racket gets run but the problem is proof. Its is easy to talk about change, but what will change? Just the names! Name of the party and name of the racketeers. The end of the day someone else will be getting the same sweets that Hallam got through Owen…just this person will belong to Thompson.
Bajan Boy…you kidding, right? Which state of the art hospital? Which hundreds of km of secondary roads?
Just tell me you kidding.
DLP,
Please be mindful of any suggestion that Hallam Nichols is one of only a FEW who have benefited in a major way from the crookery of the BLP.
The argument must continue to be made that this type of behaviour with the BLP administration has been pervasive. The BTA and Tourism has been awashed of this for 8 years now.
Also, please understand that “we the people” on Tuesday January 15th will enter into a contract with you, our vote in exchange for ……… etc, etc.
Item #?? Pursuing the trail of the BLP stealing, bribes, kickbacks, commissions etc.
to the very end and prosecuting or exposing the facts for the public to see.
None of this nosense about thanking the BLP for their service to this country and national unity and all that crap.
I am already hearing talk about looking forward, and forgetting the past and all of this from those who have been part of the problem for 14 years.
It is time for some rich men and women, both black and white to join the many poor black men in HMS Dodds. If we cannot get them via the HMS Counts, lets get them in the Court Of Public Opinion.
DLP thieves built houses in Miami. DLP theives built half of sherbourne. DLP Theives renovated St. Joseph hospital. DLP Theives for Government.
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BFP Comments
Hello Saddened…
Yes, we quite agree that the DLP were crooked in government – what, 15 years ago? That’s why we need these new integrity laws. We believe that the DLP and Thompson will keep their promise to introduce the integrity law within 100 days of being elected.
The BLP however, have taken the thiefing to a whole new level never even approached by the DLP government of 15 years ago.
It is corruption on a mass scale and it would be impossible for the current PM and his bunch of ner-do-wells to stay in office and “clean up” what they have done. That’s why we need a change of government AND new laws. We need both.
BFP,
This is the last mass, the BLPers are running scared, they have limited time to sit at computers and post the vile and vulgar. Please open up the lines, remove or ease the time restriction on the moderation. Let the people converse freely, this place is about to explode in a wind of change.
You are correct. The BLP have not posted any new articles on their blog since the 5th Jan08. They must be busy removing all the information that will incriminate them.
Lady Anon
I said the money that was stolen, IF it was instead applied to matters of health and transport, COULD have done so much.
I do not post vile or vulgar remarks, I am not a BLP member or supporter. But being neutral and high lightening faults with both parties, all my posting are being withheld because someone have to correct innuendos by ty the DLP operatives.
BFP
if you can moderate 3-4 times a day thats good enough for me. We don’t need vile attacks from any political hacks. These attacks really do turn bloggers off from common sense discussion.
Where is the promised download edition?
DONT let this be your last mass there will be a panel interview with Owen Arthur and David Thompson this sunday live on http://www.onecaribbeanradio.com at 11.am-1.pm barbados time dont miss it tell all of your friends here in nyc and in barbados thank you
Who is the reckless liar now? Owen blatantly accused the DLP of attacking his supporters in St.Peter. The Police say he is wrong the attack was settling of old scores and nothing to do with politics. Can we expect an apology from Owen or is he engaged in environment of illegality that he is accusing others of. Owen your slip is showing you are panicking and you are losing.
This is the same Nicholls that pressured Four Seasons for giving Rayside a contract instead of C.O W
But you cannot get debates on CBC where the poor people can see about the cheques and the cost over-runs. Why?
You cannot get the debates on VOB. Why?
You cannot see the reports about the cheques in the Nation except in the ads. Why?
Hi BFP:
Your continual call for integrity legislation is appropriate. However, it will likely be ineffective without Whistleblower or Disclosure Protection legislation.
Regards,
Researching
Researching, I am also worried about the effectiveness of the proposed requirement for public officials to disclose their assets. Lawyers (and politicians) are very good at hiding their assets. The authorities will have to be vigilant and persistent to find assets that public officials do not want found.
So I agree with you on Whistleblower legislation. Barbados is too small for corrupt public officials to conceal their dishonest acts – you can be sure that for every act of corruption, somebody who is not directly involved knows about it. These people need a safe (perhaps anonymous?) way of reporting their suspicions or of bringing forward evidence of corrupt acts.
FOR THE PEOPLES SAKE OWEN MUSTGO NOW!
IT’S THE DEMS’ turn to drop a political bombshell.
The Opposition Democratic Labour Party (DLP) has cancelled all meetings tonight except its national rally at which leader David Thompson has promised to reveal “some of the ammunition I have in storage” and which he was planning to use during the aborted live debates in the lead-up to next Tuesday’s general election.
Titled Campaign Eye-opener One, this meeting will be held at Haggatt Hall, St Michael, near the Emancipation [Bussa] Roundabout. “Some people in this country may not like what I will have to say, but in the public’s interest I believe I have got to say what I know,” Thompson declared.
It was only last Saturday night that the Barbados Labour Party hinted of a bombshell at its Bridgetown meeting when it accused the DLP of wanting to take Barbados into bed with Taiwan instead of the People’s Republic of China.
Thompson said yesterday he would use the opportunity of a single, national political rally to reveal “the latest and most stunning example of governmental mismanagement and squandermania”.
While not giving further insights into the precise nature of tonight’s “bombshell”, the DLP leader said the revelations involved the reckless spending of hundreds of millions of hard-earned taxpayers dollars in a “highly suspicious and certainly non-transparent manner”.
“Mr Arthur has said this election is about leadership and the economic management of this country,” Thompson said.
“I want Barbadians from all walks of life and of all partisan political persuasions to come to Bussa Roundabout tonight and determine for themselves whether Owen Arthur and his BLP Government are deserving of another term, given the hard, cold facts that I will make public at that meeting tonight.”
“The moment I said I wanted a debate on governance, the BLP retreated from the idea of debates. I suspect the Prime Minister feared that I might have been onto something and he did everything humanly possible to pre-empt disclosure.
Red herring
“Mr Arthur came with this red herring issue of Taiwanese involvement in this campaign to detract persons from examining the real charges that have been levelled against him, dating back to 2003. The time has come for me to give chapter and verse on that entire episode that again involved some very questionable financial transactions.
“This election is not about China or Taiwan. I repeat for the umpteenth time that this Democratic Labour Party has not benefited in any way from a single contribution from either China or Taiwan. This election is about governance and the manner in which we want as a people to be governed. I gave notice during the Hardwood debate that I would have been calling names such as the late Johnnie Cochran in my wrap-up to that debate.
“I do not know if that was the reason for the sudden curtailment of debate, but after tomorrow night (tonight), I expect that the voters of Barbados will be in a position to answer that question for themselves,” he concluded.
Hallam Nicholls,
Owen is a liar. The biggest liar ever in Barbados.
During the rap up of the 2007 budget ” Mr Arthur admitted personal receipt of a cheque which he said had been endorsed and deposited to the BLP’s account. ”
Now the same Arthur is saying that it was distributed to his fellow thiefing Ministers. If you look at the cheques David presented on the meeting it is clear that the cheque was not endorsed to the BLP.
He is a liar! and a crook! Let’s vote him out this coming tuesday
Will David Thompson become the next Roosevelt Skerritt?
Especially with the Nation newspaper being so pro-BLP. He better watch his ASS!
Heard from a reliable police source regarding wire- tapping , was told the process was done mostly on cellphones, the equipment is with the police and all they have to do is to know your number and where ever you are in Barbados using the cell they will be able to listen in on your conversation. Confirmed today by a police source. BE CAREFUL HOW YOU USE YOUR PHONES
I think these types of things happen in all governments around the world.
Bajejun,
I have know of this for somewhile now as they have exposed a private conversation that I had with someone and the contents of the conversation where made public, this gov’t is the most dishonest corrupt set of frauds ever assembled to run the affairs of this island.
I sincerely hope that on assuming office the NEW PRIME MINISTER OF BARBADOS THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MR DAVID THOMPSON makes it a priority to set things in motion to charge these frauds for stealing from us the taxpayers of this land.
THIS BUNCH OF BASTARDS,CROOKS, FRAUDS, CORRUPT, THIEVES HAVE REACHED A NEW LOW IN THEIR ELECTION CAMPAINGING, ONLY TODAY I RECEIVED A TELEPHONE CALL FROM SOMEONE STATING THAT THEY WERE CALLING FROM QUALITY COMPUTERS LTD A COMPANY OWNED AND OPERATED BY KEVIN SKEETE A BLP OPERATIVE AND THAT THEY WERE CARRYING OUT A SURVEY, I HAD TO ASK THEM WHO AND WHAT THIS SURVEY WAS ABOUT, THEY HESITATED AND ALMOST DID NOT WANT TO RESPOND TO MY INQUIRY, ON PROMPTING THEM I WAS TOLD IT WAS AN ELECTION SURVEY, I ONCE AGAIN ASKED THEM ON WHO’S BEHALF THIS SURVEY WAS BEING CARRIED OUT THEY REFUSED TO REPLY, I ASKED THREE TIMES WITH VARIOUS LEVELS OF DISHONESTY THEY REFUSED TO RELEASE THE NAME OF THE PARTY BEHIND THIS SURVEY, I TOLD THEM TO PROCEED, THE FIRST QUESTION WAS WHAT AGE GROUP I FITTED INTO THIS I HAD NO PROBLEM REPLYING TO SO I RESPONDED, THE SECOND QUESTION WAS ASKED WILL I VOTE IN THE UPCOMING ELECTIO I RESPONED MOST CERTAINLY I AM, THE THIRD QUESTION IS THE ONE THAT BLEW MY FUSE IT WAS ASKED OF ME WHICH PARTY WILL I BE VOTING FOR?
NOW WHEN THE BLP CAN BE NASTY , DISHONEST AND SO LOW TO AS TO TRY TO FIND OUT YOUR POLITICAL AFFILIATION BY COMING THRU THE BACK DOOR AND BY DOING SO IN A MOST UNPROFESSIONAL MANNER IS DOWNRIGHT DISHONEST AND OUT OF PLACE.
WE NEED LAWS THAT WILL ADDRESS THESE THINGS AND PREVENT THEM FROM HAPPENING IN THE FUTURE, IN OTHER WORDS IF THIS IS AN ELECTION SURVEY THE PERSON BEING SURVEYED NEEDS TO BE TOLD FOR WHICH PARTY UP FRONT THIS SURVEY IS CONTRACTED.
THESE SLIMY NASTY BACK DOOR APPROACHES ARE NOT TO BE USED.
I TRUST THAT THIS BLP OPERATIVE KEVIN SKEETE WILL LEARN ABOUT HONESTY IN HIS DAY TO DAY OPERATIONS AND NOT BE LED ASTRAY BY ONES LIKE mOTTLEY AND COMPANY.
Anonymous re cheques,
Quack, Quack!!!
My fellow Barbadians,
It is that time again when the political parties ask you, the good people of Barbados, to come to the polls.
You might have heard some vicious and malignant rumours about the manner in which the current representatives have dispatched our resources.
I can assure you that while some seek only to enrich themselves, there are those persons who may be suitable for Parliament, of course other than the few lawyers and economists.
Indeed, when you are asked to come to the polls, we ask you to represent Barbados, to the best of your ability.
Thank you graciously for your time.
I will ask my friend ‘E’ to speak now.
E,
Barbadians, do NOT wake up and find these fields and hills no longer yours.
Our forefathers worked and tilled the land to bring us to where we are now.
From my vantage point, I see some abominations that are not what some would have envisaged for our great nation.
On Tuesday January 15th, vote for Barbados, vote with your conscience.
Remember those early workers for liberty such as William Wilberforce, Samuel Jackman Prescod, Charles Duncan O’Neale and remember those of our forefathers who worked the land, that which they could not own, but the fields and hills that would belong to us eventually through the work of great men and women.
Vote with your conscience.
Thank you.
BajejunI know we should be careful but Owen leads by using the fear factor and it got to stop and we have to do it. If you show no fear there are all powerless. See Kingsland case, I think it is joke that these people fear their lives if they did they would have given a longtime ago, but as a result they have the money hungry on the run.
re: tapping and cell phones
the only sure way to eliminate them as a threat to privacy, if you are having a confidential conversation, is to take out the battery. This is because there are some systems which allow for the remote switching on of the microphone and the stealing of sound even when the phone is apparently on idle.
The vast majority of us don’t need to worry about that — the number of people they can tap effectively, and listen to everything they say, is very small — but when the phone is being used be aware that the technology allows for keyword searches using voice recognition technology so that you might attract the listeners in even if you are off their list if you home in on something provocative
I fear that massive new capacities in the electronic surveillance of Barbadians will be one of the few tangible legacies of the cricket world cup.
See Mr. Thompson float like a butterfly and sting like a Dee at Freehill Black Rock – No wonder Owen Arthur can’t take the pressure – http://youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7EFCD46F9B10DF02
‘Capital Projects: On Time on Budget’
‘Her Majesty’s Prison’
‘ON BUDGET’
BLP ‘ad’ 12th January 2008 page 19 Nation
29 June 2005 – Nation
‘Motley said Government would have to await the completion of the designs to quantify the finance of the prison but she estimated it would cost around $100 million’ (no currency was identified).
19 June 2007 – Nation
‘Marshall said the cost of the prison was around US$140 million’.
Is this ‘effective management’?
Lie after Lie after Lie
When they made politicians, they made Lynch the supreme liar and crook of a politician.
What a world we live in, do you know that Mr Hammy Lashley’s Driver is the same criminal that was arrested today for the robberies in the North of the island the cutlass attacks and the beatings.
WELL DONE MR LASHLEY FOR YOU TO BE PART OF THIS PROGRAM OF TERROR UNLEASHED ON THE PEOPLE OF THIS ISLAND.
As a Bajan living in Canada for sometime now i read BFP as much as i can to get the goings on in Bim. Thiefing has always been a part of politics as far back since Adam was a boy.Remember St.Josephs Hospital? Who thief den? I hope for change for my island cause for sure some funny moves going on.My father dead and gone always use to say” all politicians like a bunch of bananas, they hang together, they all yellow and there is not a straight one among them.” Change is good ask a married man.
WIV…I think it is unfair to blame Mr. Lashley for the actions of his employee, if what you say is correct. I am sure that Mr. Lashley did not direct his driver to rob or to attack with a cutlass. I am sure this man did it of his own free will.
The slope you are on is slippery. I guess we should blame Ian Carrington because two NIS workers allegedly stole almost $1m.
Be careful how you speak.
Check Trinidad’s Judicial system..It .. no one is above the LAW (remember Panday)…. I love the Trinis for that….. when will the our Politicians, high profile public officers and corupted Judicial officers be broght to justice…..
DLP please ensure this is done within the 1st year of business.
VOTE JUSTICE …..
Fish pot we can’t stop steeling,but with the blp they steel on monsterous proportions.who thief then? the st joseph hospital was working, with doctors nurses,at the time it had about 86 patience in it.but this blp gov’ment close it down in st peter,who owen is pm & rep.for the area can you imagine that.that hospital was a great help,now they have guards up there watching a rundown building,over grown trees an such like.who thiefing now?.forgive me on steel steeling.
GUILTY BY ASSOCIATION MY FRIEND GUILTY BY ASSOCIATION GUILTY.
Nutcracker dont get me wrong i wid you. Thanks for letting me know what going on in Owen part of town.
God Bless BARBADOS.
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