Bajans held hostage by the Chicken Cartel

The Editor
Barbados Free Press
Dear Sir/Madam,
Recently, Mr. Carlisle Brathwaithe, President of the Barbados Egg and Poultry Producers Association (BEPPA), has been keeping a lot of noise about the adverse effect that, the importation of turkey wings is allegedly having on the sale of chicken. He has alluded to the fact that, there were about fifteen-hundred persons [...]

C.L. Financial’s assets vanished into thin air – $100.7 billion down to $23.9 billion

“Given accounting conventions as to intervening events and their reporting, it is startling, to say the least, that this balance sheet should have declined to $24Bn just 12 months and 13 days after their reporting date. Only 56 days after publication.  This is an aspect of the fiasco which has not been discussed in public, [...]

The Barbados Chamber of Commerce & Industry – Franchising Presentation with Regional Expert Mario Sabga-Aboud: Wednesday September 30th

Franchising – A Catalyst for Economic Development
There are strong and opposing views in the Barbadian business community over the granting of a licence to open a franchise of the American fast food chain Subway in Barbados. Some members of the business community object to Subway setting up shop citing the threat of job security during [...]

Conflicts of Interest and Sinister Secrecy Continue in CLICO Scandal

Barbados Insurance Industry executives finally sound public alarm about Prime Minister Thompson’s friendship with Leroy Parris
The Prime Minister of Barbados has a long-standing conflict of interest between his duty to the public and his close friendship with CLICO Barbados executive Leroy Parris. Mr. Thompson has addressed the conflict essentially by saying that Parris is [...]

EXCLUSIVE REPORT BY BARBADOS FREE PRESS: CL Financial Group Collapse – Insiders Took Bribes To Have Company Purchase Land For More Than Market Value!

UPDATED: Tuesday, June 2, 2009 9:00pm Bridgetown (Section Updated: Barbados Free Press Digs Deeper)
Court Documents Filed In US$38 Million Florida Land Fraud Case
Barbados Free Press Turns Up TWO NEW Companies – One Registered Feb 2009 – Possibly Involved & Not Yet Known To Fraud Investigators!

Court documents sent to Barbados Free Press reveal that a CL [...]

Barbados Needs Lower Intra-Caribbean Air Taxes To Help Level The Playing Field Between Cruise Ships, Air Travel And Island Hotels

At a time when various Caribbean Ministers of Government have recently met and agreed to levy yet another tax on intra Caribbean air travel, its time perhaps for them to contemplate exactly the effect its having on land based tourism.
A seven day cruise departing from Barbados was recently advertised with one of the largest companies, [...]

Message To The U.K. News Media: British High Commissioner To Barbados Is NOT Our “Barbados’ Head Of Trade”

“During the Trade Visit, Thomas had the opportunity to outline Akome’s services to Barbados’ Head of Trade, British High Commissioner Duncan Taylor. On his recommendation, Akome approached BICO.”
… from a press release published at 24dash.com: Cool Customer! Croydon Enterprise Business Helps Ice Cream Firm Slash Energy Bills
UK Press Release: BICO Ice Cream Gets A New [...]

Barbados Chamber of Commerce & Industry Enlists New Marketing Communications Executive

The Barbados Chamber of Commerce & Industry in meeting the current economic challenges of Barbados through effective and efficient communications with its stakeholders has announced the appointment of Mr. Ian Bourne as its new Marketing Communications Executive.
Chief Executive Officer of the BCCI, Magnus Whitehead, says that Bourne will strengthen his organisation’s ability to communicate with [...]

Barbados Government Bailed Out CLICO Even Though Company Failed To File Financial Statements

Barbados Prime Minister Thompson Was Lawyer For CLICO When They Failed To File Financials For 13 Years!
David Thompson and CLICO CEO Leroy Parris have had quite the cozy relationship and it just keeps getting better. Well, better for them anyway. Whether the relationship is healthy for the taxpayers of Barbados, that is another question. Especially [...]

People You Can Rely Upon: Pretty Ethiopian Orphans, Rich African Widows, CLICO Investment Bankers…

We’re All Going To Be Rich! Filthy Rich, I Tell You!
One never knows what little GEMS of financial information and advice will show up in your inbox each morning. Today all I have to do is to show a little faith in what these folks are telling me and I shall be rich, rich, rich!!!!
Email [...]

Cable and Wireless/LIME Made Over A Billion Dollars Profit Last Year – A Pity They Didn’t Invest Some Of That In Customer Support

“The past day has heard me screaming loudly and boiling internally at the ostrich called “LIME”. I am reading books on arson as I write. The story in brief, and it’s not the first time. “Catch 22″ has nothing on this…”
… Dennis Jones of Living In Barbados blog considers suicide, arson and a number of [...]

Barbados Tourism Disaster On The “Platinum” West Coast

“The old people in Barbados used to say that if it rained on New Years Day it will rain all year. Well, we had a lot of rain here on the west coast on New Years Day and if the old people are right, a lot of people are going to get soaked in 2009.”… [...]

Ian Bourne’s New Year’s Resolution – No More Abuse From KFC and Chefette in Barbados

From The Desk of Ian Bourne
Ms Kim Tudor; Nat’l Initiative for Service Excellence/
Ms Michelle Hustler-Small; Bds. Coalition of Service industries/
Editor; Daily Nation/
Editor; B’dos Advocate & Heat Magazine
28/12/2008
Attn: New Year’s Resolution, viz. – Service
Dear All:
Most people at this time of year make a New Year’s resolution; more often than not it usually involves losing weight. [...]

How Much Did Abdul Pandor Invoice Barbados For Re-Designing The ABC Highway?

Barbados Free Press received the following submission from an anonymous reader. As with all anonymous writings, including this blog, people should take a little salt, think for themselves and attempt to confirm or deny facts before coming to any conclusions. We have removed some information and sections from this piece.
Let’s see if anyone can come [...]

Barbados Business and Government Hesitate To Use The Term “IP” (Internet Protocol) – Why?

Short answer: Money.  Hundreds of millions of dollars per year, in fact…
Longer answer: IP leads to what is known as Next Generation Networks (NGNs).
While the Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) AKA the Public Switched Telephone Service (PSTN) dealt with a single 64 kb/s dedicated circuit (which always takes a single route) between two users to [...]

Witness Intimidation In Barbados: Was Mercedes Van Registration At Home By Accident – Or For A Sinister Reason?

For Barbados and for our children, this threatening of court witnesses must stop. This firing of court witnesses must stop. This harassment of court witnesses must stop.
If the police will not stop it, then we must turn to the court of world opinion. Barbados Free Press will do everything it can to ensure that each [...]

The FBI VECO Documents That Mottley and Thompson Don’t Want Bajans To See

Bookkeeper Told “Leave No Paper Trail” For Corrupt Politician – But It Remained Anyway!
VECO’s financial records would show monies transferred to corrupt Barbados politicians, but neither Prime Minister Thompson nor the previous Deputy Prime Minister Mia Mottley want Bajans to see these records.
Barbados Prime Minister David Thompon has not asked the American FBI for access [...]

Secret Documents Show How The Barbados Government Used The Military To Destroy A Canadian Investor

“We have just taken a brief look at the documents. Whether or not we can figure them out remains to be seen. One thing is sure – many big shots’ feathers will be badly ruffled! There will be plenty of excitement when we publish. It will be a wild ride.“
… from the Keltruth Blog article [...]

AIG Uses Bail-Out Money For US$440,000 Executive Weekend!

Less than a week after being bailed out by US lawmakers to the tune of 85 BILLION dollars, AIG – American International Group Inc. – spent US$440,000 to send executives on a weekend retreat at a posh California resort – including US24,000 in spa charges.
Yup. Spa charges. Nails, hair, steam baths, massage – the works. [...]

Financial Meltdown Quotes From Around The World

Barbados
“The lower price (of oil) will do nothing for global warming, hopefully a great deal for our tourist industry, and very little for offshore Barbados oil interests because deep water oil cannot pay for its drilling and production costs at a $50 dollar barrel return.
The amazing point about the cut back in the world demand [...]

Fallout For Barbados Tourism? Stock Market Bloodbath Worldwide – Pray Harder…

Work Harder, Spend Less
If last week was brutal for those who still own stocks, today is worse. Right now, hundreds or maybe thousands of folks in Europe and North America are thinking “No Barbados vacation this winter.”
And that, my friends, is going to hit us hard.
Barbados is at the end of the flyways for tourists [...]

Flavorite Foods Replies To Barbados Free Press About Ice Cream Recall – Won’t Provide Reason For Recall !!!

“Attached you will find the most recent Health Certificate issued by the United States Department of Agriculture to Flavorite Foods Limited for milk powder imported from Arizona and NOT China as you blog is suggesting.”
…Steve Bostic of Flavorite Foods Limited in an email to Barbados Free Press
Email Raises More Questions – And Answers None…
With the [...]

Barbados Consumers Watch Shouts Out: Digicel False Advertising

Consumers Gathering Evidence Of False Advertising By Digicel
Our friends over at Barbados Consumers Watch are up in arms today over an advertising campaign by Digicel that promises “Talk Free After 3 Minutes” and delivers something else.
As we understand it, Digicel users are banding together to collect the evidence against Digicel on a wide scale.
Is Digicel [...]

Cable & Wireless Makes 91 Million Dollar Profit – Barbados Consumers Still Pay $4.00 Monthly Charge Per Cell Phone

Barbadians are being portrayed as over 90 percent literate, but we must ask ourselves if this literacy entwined our behaviour regarding how we are raped by certain multi national monopolies whose only language are Profits, Assets, Dividends and Price Increases. In the last budget speech, Barbadians were fed a rough diet of taxes that [...]

UPDATED: International Investors Fear Dirty Justice In Paradise

Would You Invest Where The Courts Do As They Please To Ensure An Outcome The Government Desires?
There is a situation going on in the small island state of Seychelles where the Supreme Court is so obviously manipulating a court case towards a favourable outcome for the government.
The government might win this specific court case, but [...]

Wall Street Journal Covers Corrupt VECO – But Misses Barbados Connection

The Wall Street Journal has an excellent little summary piece of how VECO Corporation bribed politicians in Alaska as a normal part of doing business. (WSJ article here)
Where the WSJ article fails, is that it doesn’t mention the fact that VECO had a 10-year relationship with many BLP politicians in Barbados – where it built [...]

Barbados Light and Power Net Income Up 48% In One Year – Yet Still No Investment In Alternative Energy Sources

Today our friends at Barbados Underground posted a strong case that the company that Barbados allows to have a monopoly over power has been irresponsibly gouging consumers while failing to make realistic changes for the country’s future.
Is it time to cut BL&P down to size through regulated pricing and government-mandated investment into new technologies?
If [...]

CNN.com Links To Keltruth ‘VECO Barbados Jail Fraud’ Story – Big Step For Little Barbados Blog

CNN Links To Keltruth Blog For The Fourth Time!
Every day millions of blogs all over the world link to major news sites like BBC, Fox, CNN, NY Times, Sky and others as the bloggers write their own takes on the day’s happenings. Huge news organisations like CNN sometimes have hundreds or even thousands of blogs [...]

The Cheques That SSA’s Stanton Alleyne Refuses To Explain

Exhibit #1

Exhibit #2

Why Did Stanton Alleyne Take Money From A Government Contractor?
It is very simple folks. Really simple.
Back on March 12, 1999, Stanton Alleyne as the acting manager of the Barbados Sanitation Service Authority wrote an official SSA letter to the Manager of the Caribbean Commercial Bank informing the bank that “Andrew’s Builders” had been [...]

Trip Advisor.Com Clients Upset At $100 Barbados Visitor Driver Permit Fee

Last Week Alone 24 Million People Planned Travel At Trip Advisor.com… And Now The Discussion Is About The Increased Barbados Car Rental Costs

It is a small world out there, friends – and when people plan their vacations and business trips online there is not much that remains hidden. This morning travelers at Trip Advisor.com are [...]

Barbados Car Rental Agency “New Driving Permit Fee Will Be Devastating”

‘The effect on our business will be devastating. Considering that what the Prime Minister has done is effectively removed our ability to sell 1, 2 and 3 day rentals. We simply cannot absorb this increase’.
‘My fear is that we will have such a significant downturn that jobs will be lost and the ripple effect will [...]

Why The Barbados Flyovers Had To Die!

The flyovers had to be killed for four very good reasons….
1/ The old Owen Arthur/Mia Mottley BLP government was corrupt and the flyover project was contracted to a corrupt builder – Jonathan Danos of 3S Steel Solutions. Mr. Danos even admitted that he was corrupt in a sworn court document. You can’t get much clearer [...]

University Of The West Indies Construction: Caribbean Companies Squeezed Out By Chinese Government

This story was leaked to the Nation News and CBC a week ago. Why hasn’t the Barbados news media covered this story?
Our thanks to a special friend who sent us the following letter. For the record, none of the people named in the letter had anything to do with delivering this letter to Barbados Free [...]

COVER-UP: Royal Barbados Police Force Ignores Violent Threats To Businessman

Personal attention of Mr Darwin Dottin
Commissioner
The Royal Barbados Police Force
Subject: Death Threats
Once again, death threats, against myself and my wife, are appearing openly on one of the popular blogs, Barbados Free Press.
As you are aware, I have formally reported these and other threats in writing to you personally. The last contact I had from the [...]

The GEMS Hotel Scandal Continues Under New Barbados Government

How much longer is the economic folly of GEMS going to continue?
Recently the Barbados Advocate carried an article in which the Auditor General stated that Hotels and Resorts Ltd owed Government, (the taxpayer), $48 million in unpaid interest.
He also reported that the then Government had agreed a loan of $145.3 million.
Hotels and Resorts Ltd, currently [...]

Venezuela Claims Two Blocks Of Barbados Offshore Oil!

Why Hasn’t The Barbados Media Reported This?
Barbados Free Press came across an article published today in an oil industry trade paper – detailing how the Government of Venezuela is claiming that two of the blocks of oil rights being offered by Barbados are in Venezuela’s waters.
The article speaks as if this fact is well known [...]

Want To Reduce The Cost Of Barbados Chicken? Ban The Addition Of Water…

Robert Lucas Takes On The B-B-BockBados Chicken Cartel!
Dear Sir/Madam, The Editor
Listening to the Prime Minister’s address yesterday, pertaining to the cost of chicken, I was under the impression that, when he referred to the Barbados Agricultural Development Marketing Corporation’s (BADMC) importation of chicken, it meant whole chicken. I was disabused of this impression on reading [...]