Court issues order: Afra Raymond can drag stonewalling Trinidad government before Judicial Review

Tough guy, that Afra Raymond. Won’t take “NO!” for an answer from a government that doesn’t think it needs to obey the Freedom of Information laws.

They fired Afra from where they could in the news media and thought he’d go away – but still he walks on in search of the truth. They tried ignoring him and now he’s gone to court and obtained an order when most people thought he couldn’t.

Yup, this is getting even curiouser and curiouser!

Order granting leave to file judicial review in Afra Raymond vs Ministry of Finance and the Economy.

CL Financial scandal: Government ignores Freedom of Information request, Activist heads to court

At least Trinidad and Tobago has a Freedom of Information law!

What is being pursued here is our right as citizens of a modern republic to the details of these huge expenditures of Public Money – the CL Financial bailout is costing some $24Bn, about $3.5Bn USD! – and the background to how critical legislative support is obtained.  It is my view that S.34 was not the first time and that the spectre of ‘regulatory capture’, which underlines much of the discourse around the Great Depression 2, is in fact founded on a sinister degree of ‘legislative capture’.

Having had a series of ‘cat and mouse’ exchanges with the Ministry of Finance since my Freedom of Information Act application made on 11 May 2012, this is my pre-action protocol letter sent to them by my attorney on Thursday 7 March, seeking their proper reply in 7 days…that time expires at midnight today, Wednesday 13 March.

So stay tuned, because we are going to the High Court after that…

Afra Raymond

Barbados, Trinidad governments excel at turning public assets into private profits

The ‘Eden Gardens’ transaction is a prime example of a large-scale economic crime against the State and the interests of its citizens.

Again, I ask – ‘Who were the beneficiaries?’

As we read Afra Raymond’s latest tale about how public monies are turned into private profits by corrupt T&T politicians and their friends, our thoughts turn to a dozen similar situations here in Barbados.

BLP or DLP doesn’t matter: the record of both major parties makes it clear that Barbados politicians have made it their business to rape the public purse at every opportunity. Think Dodds Prison and the Oil Terminal. Think CLICO. Think land expropriations where government doesn’t pay for the land ever and then some Minister of Government ends up fooping his mistress in a house built on stolen land. Her house but everybody knows where the land and building money came from.

Some church going folks will be upset I used the F word. They should first be upset at the Minister and if they have any upset left over then worry about my f word – for Bajans are being fooped by their guvment every day. It doesn’t stop.

Barbados lacks ITAL – Integrity Legislation, Transparency and Accountability Legislation. Prime Ministers Thompson and Stuart and their corrupt DLP promised it just to get elected in 2008. Then they pretended to push it through when they knew an election would kill it. An doan fool yourself… Mottley, Arthur and the BLP were in on the plan.

We can’t have the politicians restrained by little things like Integrity Legislation and Conflicts of Interest rules, can we?

There is only one political party in Barbados… the DLP-BLP coalition and they take turns every few years to let the other be on top. That’s the way things work in Trinidad & Tobago too. It’s all about turning those public assets into private profits. Afra Raymond tells us about some real experts…

by Afra Raymond

Calcutta Settlement review

The simple, inescapable fact is that the State could have lawfully acquired the ‘Eden Gardens’ property for less than $40M.  The HDC paid $175M in November 2012 to Point Lisas Park Ltd (PLP) for that property, which is the reason I am calling this an improper use of Public Money.

Despite having available the advice of the Commissioner of State Lands, the Commissioner of Valuations and various attorneys at HDC and so on, the Cabinet approved this transaction.  This Cabinet, with two Senior Counsel at its head and several other seasoned legal advisers, appears to have been unaware of, or intentionally ignoring, the legal safeguards.

“I am calling for this matter to be swiftly investigated and the responsible parties prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Some readers may be surprised at those assertions, so here are my reasons for making such…

The last two articles examined the steps leading to the HDC’s purchase of land at ‘Eden Gardens’ in Calcutta Settlement.  In my opinion that transaction, as well as the one which preceded it, are both highly improper and very probably unlawful.  The HDC purchase must be reversed and the responsible parties investigated/prosecuted as required by our laws. 

Barbados election doesn’t matter when the two parties are the same

DLP & BLP politicians at work

by Perdy

There is no difference between the two parties in my opinion. Both parties take it in turn to dupe the public into believing they are better than the other; yet when either wind office, they carry out the same or similar agenda as the the other party next.

Prior to the 2008 election,we were told by one party how corrupt the other party was, displaying so-called evidence. Four years later this claim is still being banded about. If one party has evidence to prove the other lied steal or borrowed, which may be against the law, it should proceed to bring a case against the other in a court of law and have those responsible prosecuted.

Four years later, with no action being taken, brings me to conclude there is no truth or, those critical are just as guilty as those they are criticizing.

If there are no laws currently on the statue books to use to prosecute, why not? Again 4 years have passed where those laws should have been implemented so as to halt or prevent a repeat of it happening again.

“The truth of the matter is: There is no difference between the 2 parties. The party is in power is as guilty as that out of power. If one witnessed a crime or is aware of a crime committed; refuses to take action to prosecute or to take preventative action, he is as guilty as the guy who has committed the crime.”

I would like to see good governance; transparency, integrity, especially those who are holding the public purse. There is temptation in many organizations and ‘Humans’ are weak. Some kind of legislation should be on the statue books so as to deter those who weak. The law should be applied equally to all who break the law.

It is high time now. We should be pressuring those who are in office or are thinking of running for office, that if they break the law, they will be harshly dealt with. No mercy should be shown to corrupt politicians.

Barbados has no anti-corruption laws. Neither party has put Integrity Legislation or Freedom of Information laws in place although each party has promised to do this many times. This brings me to conclude that neither party can claim to be credible when it comes to being honest with the public.

There is no difference between the two parties.

Submitted by BFP reader Purdy. BFP’s Robert corrected a few spelling mistakes and added some connective sentences. Purdy’s original can be viewed here.

International Press Institute reports how Barbados politicians lied about Integrity Legislation, Freedom of Information, Defamation law changes

Prime Minister Freundel Stuart and his DLP promised Integrity Legislation. They lied. That was a slimy thing to do!

UPDATED: January 22, 2013 (pinned to top. scroll down for newer)

Have another read of this folks and remember that the promised Integrity Legislation will not become law before the next election.

Time to vote for ANY INDEPENDENT!

Here’s our original story first published October 15, 2012….

Lying corrupt DLP, BLP politicians will not pass Integrity Legislation

The just-released International Press Institute report on Barbados tells the sad history of how the DLP – Democratic Labour Party lied about Integrity Legislation just to get elected. The report is dated last June, 2012 and now that we are well into the political campaign for the next election we know the truth: there will be no Integrity Legislation put forward by the governing DLP. It was all a sham to get elected in 2008.

“The government and the population know that Barbados’ Defamation Act is a relic of the colonial past and that it hinders freedom of expression. IPI believes that when the country’s politicians are aware of the situation and have already attempted to change it, half of the work is done. We are optimistic that there is still enough time before the January 2013 elections to implement the new legislation.

While several news outlets now say that the people in Barbados were misled and that the Freedom of Information, Defamation and Integrity Legislation is an outstanding debt, IPI believes that public opinion can be changed. Barbados’ leaders have the opportunity not only to change these reports, but also to make history, as those who make this decision will have ushered in a more free, transparent, and democratic country.”

… the last two paragraphs of the Report on the IPI Advocacy Mission to End Criminal Defamation in Barbados (PDF here)

Former BLP Attorney General confirms no plans for Integrity Legislation

Barbadian voters remember former BLP Attorney General Dale Marshall as the one who hilariously gave a clean bill of health to VECO’s operations in Barbados after a 25 minute conversation with representatives of the company. This was after a series of scandals showed that Alaska-based VECO used bribery of politicians as a standard operating procedure to obtain government contracts.

The Owen Arthur led BLP government awarded VECO the contract for the new Dodds Prison even though the company had never built a prison before. Everything was done in secret and that’s the way Dale Marshall, Owen Arthur, Mia Mottley and the BLP like it.

Afra Raymond: I will not be stopped!

“It is a wonder that you are continuing to write these articles Mr. Raymond. Have you received any pressure to stop? If only our Bajan journalists had your integrity and courage.”

Barbados Free Press reader WSD comments on Afra Raymond’s article CL Financial bailout “a major failure on any scale”

In response to a reader’s concern for his safety, journalist Afra Raymond replies:

Readers,

I am going to continue on my course, this is an epic crisis, being the single largest episode of corruption in our region’s history, so it is essential that the few of us keep on informing the public and agitating for Economic and Social Justice in this matter.

I am independent enough to maintain these efforts – no one is ever absolutely independent in our small societies – and it is a painful reflection in this, our 50th year of T&T’s Independence, that our leading institutions, academies and thinkers have remained resolutely silent in the face of this tidal wave of ‘commesse’ and ‘bobol’. It does make me wonder what was the ultimate purpose of all the sacrifice of our foreparents who struggled for liberation from colonialism, education and self-determination. What was that all for?

It is a disturbing measure of the depth of the corruption in all the western democracies that so few of the main players in this global meltdown have actually been imprisoned, but that is an issue for another column in this series.

My rallying call is -

SILENCE IS THE ENEMY OF PROGRESS!

Thanks for your support

Afra Raymond
www.afraraymond.com

CL Financial bailout “a major failure on any scale”

“The region’s largest privately-held group of companies is now under State control, in a situation of huge insolvency, with no proper accounts and no declarations being filed by the Directors…

This development is a serious peril to our Treasury.  It must be a matter of the gravest possible concern to all right-thinking people that our fundamental Integrity safeguards appear to have been circumvented or ignored in a matter of this size and consequence.”

A call to order

by Afra Raymond

The CL Financial bailout continues to be a major failure on any scale, both in the causes of the fiasco and especially the manner in which it has been handled. This is my update on what has been the progress in this campaign.

First… A Reality Check

The equation for our reality check is –

Expenditure of Public Money
Minus      –      Transparency
Minus      –      Accountability
Equals     =     CORRUPTION

In May 2009, I wrote that the Directors and Officers of the CL Financial group should be required to file declarations under the provisions of the Integrity in Public Life Act (IPLA). According to the IPLA, the Schedule detailing those persons is at page 31 – one of the classes of person required to file declarations to the Integrity Commission is –

“Members of the Boards of all Statutory Bodies and State Enterprises including those bodies in which the State has a controlling interest.”

I have put the last part of the sentence in italics to emphasize the deliberate choice of language by the legislators.  The drafting of legislation is a painstaking exercise of strategy, debate and sometimes compromise…my point being that the inclusion of that last phrase must mean that the legislators intended to go beyond merely saying ‘Statutory Bodies and State Enterprises’, which would be the obvious, to specify that the IPLA must also apply in situations where the State has a controlling interest.

The CL Financial Shareholders Agreement (the Agreement), of 12 June 2009, which I obtained by using the Freedom of Information Act, specifies at clause 3.1 that the Board of Directors of CLF shall consist of seven Directors, four of which shall be nominated by the Government.  The government has been exercising its rights under this clause, so it is clear that the State’s controlling interest in the CL Financial group is effective.

Barbados Free Press republishes deleted Harlequin news story

Why was this Harlequin news story removed by Echo-news.co.uk ?

BFP readers supply over 30 copies of deleted Harlequin news story

As BFP reported yesterday, Echo’s news story ‘Wickford man at the centre of storm in the Caribbean property market‘ by investigative journalist Jon Austin was deleted from the internet the day after it was published in the dead-tree edition, and within hours of being posted online.

This deletion of internet content fits right in with our observation last week that articles critical of Harlequin are disappearing. In some cases entire websites have disappeared.

Barbados Free Press has received legal advice concerning our use of a news story originally published on Tuesday, July 10, 2012 by echo-news.co.uk on pages 14 and 15 of their dead tree edition, and on Wednesday, July 11, 2012 on the internet.

This is of vital interest to Bajans due to freedom of the press issues, and also of interest to those investors who have very legitimate questions about why so few units have been completed throughout the Harlequin projects list, why the construction is not following the schedules communicated earlier by Mr. David Ames and where and how investors’ money is being spent.

“There are also serious public questions about the Harlequin’s relationships with various officials and why certain governments have, among other unusual decisions, allowed Harlequin to get away with not filing financial statements as required by law for periods of up to four years.”

This is of special concern to Barbadians as our country has no Integrity Legislation, no Freedom of Information and no Conflicts of Interests rules for public officials: this despite 30 years of promises by various DLP and BLP governments.

There seems to be a concerted effort to prevent serious, in-depth public discussion about issues surrounding Harlequin, its operations, finances, and its relationships with politicians in various countries. That is bad for freedom of the press, transparency and accountability. It is also bad for democracy.

Our legal advice is that BFP is allowed to publish the Echo article in full to review and discuss the content, and the takedown. Especially in the absence of Integrity and transparency laws in Barbados, both the content of the news article and the circumstances of its removal from the internet are of vital public interest that supersedes any copyright issues.

BFP and our readers recognize that any allegations in the article are unproven, and we invite representatives from Harlequin to join in the discussion to correct or clarify any inaccuracies. If Harlequin so desires, BFP will publish any response or communications from the company with due respect and prominence as we have done before for Harlequin and others.

For discussion:

Why was this story removed by Echo-news.co.uk?

Are there any inaccuracies or omissions in the news story?

Readers, please feel free to use the comment section to discuss these questions and others that are of vital public interest.

Thank you!

Our sincere gratitude to the over 30 readers who sent us copies of the Echo-news.co.uk news article ‘Wickford man at the centre of storm in the Caribbean property market’

Here is the story. Class; discuss! …

Wickford man at the centre of storm in the Caribbean property market

Wednesday 11th July 2012
By Jon Austin

A SOUTH Essex businessman is at the centre of a political storm in the Caribbean where his firm is striving to develop a series of luxury holiday resorts.

The Harlequin group – run by David Ames from Brock Hill, Wickford – has become a political football in St Vincent, home to the company’s partially-open resort.

The Basildon-based firm is meant to be building six resorts in the Caribbean and one in Brazil.

In April, an Echo investigation revealed some of the 6,000 people who invested in the resorts wanted deposits refunded due to delays to some projects.

Now some investors have launched court claims in St Vincent in a bid to win back their cash.

At the same time staff, contractors and suppliers, working at Harlequin’s flagship Buccament Bay resort, are also taking action through the courts amid claims they haven’t been paid for several weeks.

The firm also hasn’t filed any accounts in St Vincent for the past four years, meaning investors cannot track what has happened to their cash, which has been sent overseas to build properties.

Harlequin Property in St Vincent, which owns Buccament Bay, could be struck off in the country if it fails to bring records up to date.

Mr Ames, 60, who said he was recently made a citizen of St Vincent and has the backing of the ruling Unity Labour Party, vehemently denied allegations staff were not being paid. The claims have been raised in the Vincentian parliament.

He said all resort staff were being paid on time and it was down to individual contractors to pay workers.

The business, which has a marketing office in Honeywood Road, Basildon, has so far built around 300 out of 1,120 units at Buccament Bay, with work yet to start in earnest on other resorts.

Opposition politicians from the New Democratic Party of St Vincent said at least eight claims – including some lodged by unpaid workers as well as investors – are going to court.

The party’s leader Arhnim Eustace called on the government to ensure payments were made to local contractors and employees.

He told the Echo: “I am aware a number of local contractors who say they have not been paid have filed cases in the court. This includes local contractors, workers and a supplier of vegetables.”

He said amounts claimed in cases varied, but at least one involved an alleged unpaid amount of £118,000.

Why did our Minister of Works and Transport endorse this technology company? Does he own stock?

BREAKING HOT NEWS: Company paid up to $100,000 to certain websites to promote this stock! Did they pay anything to Minister of Transport John Boyce or any other Bajan? See end of story for details.

“Utilizing the Start FEED unit in Barbados on our government vehicles will result in tremendous fuel costs savings, in addition to major reductions of toxic automobile emissions and assist the government in accomplishing the goal of a cleaner and healthier Barbados.”

Hon. Mr. John Boyce, Minister of Works and Transport as quoted in a press release and stock prospectus for Great Wall Builders Ltd.

Did Barbados Minister John Boyce receive any gift or benefit from Start Technologies or Great Wall Builders Ltd.?

A new stock is in play. Press releases and a stock prospectus were sent out hyping new technology that is claimed to improve fuel efficiency by 20%. The miracle aftermarket gadget “uses a high-voltage electric current to break long-chain hydrocarbon molecules into shorter, lighter more volatile molecules.”

Why didn’t Detroit or Toyota think of this? Because they are stupid, that’s why! In 100 years of internal combustion engine development nobody has thought of this…

except… there have been many similar devices in history making the same claims about using electric current to modify the properties of fuel. There are even websites where engineers debunk this type of claim that electricity will change the molecular structure of fuel and result in significant mileage increases.

Not to worry though: the Barbados Minister of Transport attests that the technology works. And it’s not just Bajan citizen John Boyce saying this: he is a Minister of the Government of Barbados and representative of the entire country, so his claim must be true… right? It must be because the credibility of our country and the government rests upon Mr. Boyce’s endorsement.

Some engineers and scientists disagree with Minister Boyce. They say that claims of 20% increase in mileage are not scientifically possible and that these devices are scams…

“The unburnt fuel in the exhaust (even before the cat) represents 1 or 2% at most of the input fuel. If you factor in the energy in the CO emissions, the figure still only rises to 3% maximum. So even if the fuel “saving” device could totally eliminate unburnt fuel and CO in the exhaust, and give an absolutely 100% complete burn, you would only save 3% of fuel. Claims that 10%, 20% or even more of the fuel is not burnt and escapes into the exhaust are entirely false…”

From Tony’s Guide to Fuel saving gadgets

Why are my warning antennae up and pulsating?

The press release by GWBU reports that the Barbados Ministry of Transport and Works tested this new technology over a 2 month period and confirmed the claims of the company. Imagine what a 20% fuel saving could do for the world! With that kind of savings the West could tell the Arabs to shove it where the sun doan shine. That would be the end of the UK’s travel duty. Cruise ships will flock to Bim because they will use 20% less fuel.

This is big. Really big… and the stock price soared!

So the stock price of GWBU must go up… and up it went! Nine cents a share to a buck seventy three in a few of weeks!

I wonder if Transport Minister Boyce or his family members or close friends have any of this stock?

Good. That’s great to see entrepreneurship and progressive capitalism at its best: making money and saving the planet.

Hey… Minister Boyce… we are saving the planet with this device, right?

Just a few questions Minister Boyce. We know you’ll take the time to answer them because although your government promised to implement Freedom of Information Legislation within the first 100 days of office, your government didn’t do that in almost five years because you were really busy with (fill in the answer here.)

But the DLP government is committed to transparency and accountability – with or without legislation – so we know that you will take the time to answer a few questions…

Dear Minister Boyce:

1/ Did you or your family members have any GWBU stock? How many shares? Waddya pay per share?

Afra Raymond asks: Who will benefit from the expenditure of public funds at Invader’s Bay?

Updated August 4, 2012

Trinidad & Tobago government negotiating with businessmen for Invaders Bay Development Project

Just like in Barbados where politicians sometimes use the most elaborate schemes and deceptions to transfer public lands and other assets to the private sector without transparency or lawful process, the government of T&T is about to provide private interests with public assets at Invaders Bay. Will the public interest truly be served? And how are the people of T&T to be assured that there is nothing happening ‘on the left’ ???

Govt green light for talks on Invaders Bay

Cabinet yesterday gave approval for negotiations to begin with businessmen Derek Chin and Jerry Joseph for the Invaders Bay Development project.

Planning Minister Dr Bhoe Tewarie, speaking at the post-Cabinet news conference at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s said that D Chin Commercial Development Ltd’s proposal to lease a portion of the State land to construct a Streets of the World entertainment and shopping complex was accepted and negotiations will commence with market determined commercial lease rates…

… read the latest at the Trinidad Express Govt green light for talks on Invaders Bay

BFP’s original story first published April 25, 2012…

Do citizens have a right to know where and how public funds are being spent?

The land at Invader’s Bay, Trinidad was reclaimed at public expense about 10 years ago. Now Afra Raymond and the Joint Consultative Council for the Construction Industry are trying to determine who owns the lands, and under what laws the lands were created and transferred.

Simple questions, to be sure… but the answers have not been forthcoming from the Trinidad and Tobago government.

Why Prime Minister Stuart never mentions Freedom of Information legislation anymore

DLP thick as thieves with Parris, Duprey, CLICO & CL Financial

by Nevermind Kurt

It is readily apparent to anyone without a political agenda that the introduction in Parliament of the DLP’s promised Integrity Legislation was strategically withheld for the last four years so the DLP could again use the issue in the coming election. Their lies fooled the voters last time, so why not use the same technique again?

The obvious plan is to have the legislation ‘almost’ make it through this session of Parliament, but not be declared as law. That has been the intent all along: to have the legislation stillborn so a/ the current government would not have to conform to integrity rules, and b/ the current government can now say “We almost made it except for the damn Opposition. Give us one more term to finish it.”

Fool me once, etc…

How quickly the electorate forgets that the DLP promised to introduce Integrity Legislation and Freedom of Information within the first 100 days. The DLP also promised to introduce a Ministerial Code including conflict of interest guidelines “immediately upon forming a government”. That code was to have been a policy declaration and could have been implemented on the very first day as promised.

Leroy Parris and good friend Finance Minister Chris Sinckler share champagne

The DLP didn’t introduce any of these promises because as it turned out Prime Minister David Thompson and his gang were thick as thieves with Leroy Parris and Lawrence Duprey of CLICO and CL Financial infamy. It also turned out that David Thompson and his law firm were money-laundering for Parris. (That’s the auditors talking, not us, and you can read about it here.)

Under those situations and many more questionable activities of the DLP, it’s no wonder that the current government didn’t keep its promises concerning integrity legislation. A big part of the DLP/CLICO/Parris/Duprey relationship would have immediately become illegal under the new legislation and there’s no way that Thompson or Stuart would permit that.

So the DLP leadership lied to get elected and then delayed, delayed, delayed integrity rules until the DLP was well into its fifth year of majority government when the designed-to-be-stillborn legislation could be produced again at the right moment like a rabbit from a magician’s hat.

What happened to the Freedom of Information Act?

Prime Minister Stuart has been in the papers recently pulling out the Integrity Legislation, telling folks “It’s coming!” and setting up the public so the DLP won’t be blamed when the legislation doesn’t make it into declared law in time for the next election. Stuart fully intends that the promised integrity legislation “almost made it!” will be an asset, not a liability during the coming election.

But he never mentions Freedom of Information anymore.

The reason that the DLP never mentions FOI is that the thieving politicians know that Freedom of Information is the key to making the integrity legislation a real threat to the way things are ’bout hey.

Freedom of Information legislation gives ordinary citizens an easy and economical means to legally force the government to provide copies of documents and information that citizens need to hold officials accountable. Integrity Legislation isn’t much use if you can’t force the government to surrender the paperwork that proves offences. Stuart and the DLP know this and THAT is why FOI became a non-subject.

Look at the plight of David Weekes – and know why the Government hates Freedom of Information

David Weekes is an ordinary Bajan man trying to sue the CARICOM government and the cartels that run this place. PM Stuart won’t provide him with the CARICOM ratification documents he needs for his case. These are documents that every citizen should have a right to see, but the Barbados government is denying them to Weekes to spoil his case… and some people are so upset with Weekes that he believes (and we do to) they tried to burn down his home. With no Freedom of Information legislation and process, ordinary citizen Weekes has no effective means of forcing the government to provide the public documents that he needs.

That’s why the BLP and DLP elites and their cartel cronies have never implemented any kind of Freedom of Information rules and process: they desperately want to keep information out of the hands of citizens.

The thieving politicians simply don’t want the little people to become empowered by knowledge and access to public documents.

And that, my friends, is exactly why the DLP will not implement Freedom of Information and why the Opposition BLP is silent too.

Nevermind Kurt

Further Reading about Barbados political elites and (cough, cough) ‘integrity’

September 24, 2011: Prime Minister Owen Arthur “invested” YOUR money in Nigeria. A predictable result.

August 28, 2011: We told you so! Integrity Legislation buried in a dark hole

October 17, 2009: Prime Minister Thompson’s new strategy for avoiding Integrity Legislation, FOI

Trinidad: Police storm newspaper offices, journalist’s home

Snapshots from the battle for press freedom

Police seize Andre Bagoo’s computers, phones, flash drives

Nine police officers raided the Newsday offices and journalist Andre Bagoo’s home on Wednesday – seizing at least four computers, two mobile phones and several external storage drives. The police say they are looking for evidence of Bagoo’s sources for his December 20, 2011 story about the row between Integrity chairman Ken Gordon and deputy chairman Gladys Gafoor.

Of course, now that the police have EVERYTHING on Bagoo’s computers they will have a look at EVERYTHING, won’t they? Emails, love letters, shopping lists, contacts list, financial records, photos, sources for every story Bagoo has ever written – little things like that.

The latest attack in the Trinidad police campaign to muzzle a free press comes two months after a similar raid on TV6 last December.

The lesson is that if the Trinidad news media won’t self regulate (as the Guardian did causing journalist Afra Raymond to resign in disgust) then the Trinidad & Tobago police will teach the Trini press to know their place.

We’ve had our own problems here in Barbados with the police strong-arming journalists, seizing their cameras and arresting journalists for photographing accident scenes and corrupt police officers. As a society we must be vigilant and aggressive about preserving the independence and freedom of the press. History has too many examples of what happens when citizens drop their guard.

Photo courtesy of Newsday: Journalist Andre Bagoo, centre in white shirt, surrounded by officers of the Anti-Corruption Investigations Bureau (ACIB) as they search his computer in an attempt to get him to reveal the source of information in a report he wrote on the Integrity Commission.

Further Reading

Newsday Statement

Newsday:  Shame!

Newsday: Newsday raid shocks AG

Trinidad Express: Police storm ‘Newsday’ offices in PoS

Trinidad Express: Cops want interviews with CCN directors

Trinidad Express: Newspaper stands by journalist not to reveal sources

Guardian: Tribunal to probe Gafoor

Newsday Statement, February 10, 2012

NEWSDAY condemns in the strongest possible language, yesterday’s raid by officers of the Anti-Corruption Investigations Bureau (ACIB) on our Newsroom at 23A Chacon Street, Port- of-Spain and at the private residence in Belmont of this newspaper’s senior investigative parliamentary and political reporter, Andre Bagoo.

The police officers led by Senior Superintendent Solomon Koon Koon, executed a warrant and searched Mr Bagoo’s desk in our newsroom, went through his office computer, all documents on his desk, including parliamentary papers and other information used in the course of his duties.

After two hours they left our Chacon Street newsroom, taking with them two flash drives, one Newsday cellphone issued to Mr Bagoo, his personal cellphone and Newsday’s computer hard drive on which Mr Bagoo has stored confidential information relating to his duties.

Why is Wikipedia blacked out?

Wikipedia is protesting against SOPA and PIPA by blacking out the English Wikipedia for 24 hours, beginning at midnight January 18, Eastern Time. Readers who come to English Wikipedia during the blackout will not be able to read the encyclopedia. Instead, you will see messages intended to raise awareness about SOPA and PIPA, encouraging you to share your views with your representatives, and with each other on social media.

More information here.

Integrity Legislation, Freedom of Information dead on DLP Government’s 4th anniversary

Remembering the DLP Victory on January 16, 2008

Do you remember the pride we felt? For the first time Bajans had hope that we could free ourselves from the corrupt cartels that anonymously purchase our elected representatives’ loyalty with massive amounts of “election support”.

With the election of the DLP Democratic Labour Party, Barbados would now have the integrity legislation, freedom of information access and conflicts of interest rules so citizens could effectively monitor where our tax dollars were spent and hold our elected and appointed officials accountable.

The corruption of the previous BLP government caused a citizen rebellion at the polls in January of 2008. With no restrictions, no rules, no reporting and no transparency the “election support” money flows freely in Barbados politics and the favours are returned by the successful politicians in the form of government contracts… which ensures more “election support”. It is a viciously corrupt circle that politicians have the power to break – but none will.

David Thompson, Freundal Stuart and all the DLP candidates promised they would implement laws and policies to change all that. True, it takes more than laws and rules to change a legacy and culture of corruption, but without the laws there is no beginning and no hope. Thompson and the DLP knew that new laws and rules were the foundation of any change and they promised to establish those laws.

Remember the joy?

Here’s what one DLP supporter had to say at the time…

Yardbroom

January 16, 2008 at 9:36 am

This election was won because the people of Barbados had an opportunity, – denied in the recent past – to really see what goes on in Barbadian politics.

The Blogs played a decisive part, and you BFP was as the vanguard, no praise is too high. What BFP did was expose the underbelly of Barbadian politics. There was then a reason, for Integrity Legislation and your “constant position” on the subject meant it had to be addressed. The DLP responded to the wishes of the people, as they had to, and as a result we awake this morning, 16th January 2008 to the change we had all hoped for – at least on this blog.

Sadly, “Yardbroom” and most of the DLP diehards haven’t been seen too much around Barbados Free Press since a few months after the election when they realized that Bajans had been fooled again. Too bad the DLP supporters’ fervor for Integrity Legislation and Accountability disappeared with the DLP’s election victory. And disappear it did!

Here we are four years later with no Integrity Legislation, no Freedom of Information, no accountability, no rules about Conflicts of Interest or election funding transparency.

David Thompson and the DLP lied to us to get elected. They promised to “within 100 days” introduce Integrity Legislation, Freedom of Information, amendments to the Defamation laws, checks and balances on the Prime Minister’s power and to “immediately upon election” introduce a Code of Conduct for Ministers.

Instead, the DLP borrowed the CLICO business jet, protected Leroy Parris from prosecution and put him in charge of the CBC to influence what news Bajans would hear. The DLP did that in exchange for “election donations” from CLICO – paid for with policy holders’ money. That’s as corrupt a scenario as anything the BLP did.

Thompson and the DLP lied. Four years later there can be no dispute.

Waiting in the wings for the triumphant return are Owen Arthur and the corrupt Barbados Labour Party – who sucked the treasury dry during their 14 years in power. What they didn’t sell, they stole.

Corrupt DLP or Corrupt BLP: Who will you vote for?

Some say that the choice between DLP and BLP is the only choice voters really have. I say we have another choice: the “Anybody but” candidates. Please let me explain my thinking…

Between the DLP and BLP, it really doesn’t matter who you vote for. There is no real difference in policies or performance. As a result, for decades politics in Barbados has largely been about tribal politics: it’s about which gang holds the best shows, and distributes the most corned beef and beer. That is a pretty sad picture of Bajan politics but I don’t think that anyone will challenge it.

The only way we can change things is to depower the DLP and the BLP – so here’s the plan…

Take their money. Say nice things to whatever party you normally support. Don’t do a thing differently until election day…

Then, walk in and vote for Anybody but DLP and BLP.

No, we’re probably not going to send many independents to Parliament (but if we could, that would be wonderful!) – but what we can do is to disrupt the circle of corruption, upset the “predicted” results and take comfort that you’ve spoken far louder than if you simply hold your nose and vote DLP or BLP.

Time to punish the DLP and the BLP: take their money, dance and party – then vote for “Anybody BUT”

Afra Raymond on CL Financial Inquiry: “We have a fight on our hands to get at the facts.”

Colman Commission testimony: 9NOV2011

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Big Shot lawyers try to limit Afra Raymond’s testimony before Colman Commission

Look at them squirm, my friends. The one thing they don’t want is ordinary folks to have the chronology of the CL Financial fraud simply laid out as Afra did in his PowerPoint Presentation. The lawyers for the Central Bank, Lawrence Duprey, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Andre Monteil want thousands of papers, annotated with footnotes, references, circles and arrows, indexed, crossed-referenced and filled with phrases like “NOTWITHSTANDING LACK OF NOTICE TO THE PARTIES OF THE PROPOSED BUT UNFULFILLED ACTIONABLE EVENT…”

They sure didn’t want Afra’s simple PowerPoint presentation.

Yup, big shot lawyers love boxes and boxes of materials that make a simple series of individual frauds look too complex to get a handle on. Anything to obscure facts that show their clients’ intent, involvement, negligence or crimes.

Big shot lawyers hate a simple chronology that shows what their clients did, how they did it, and provides a few choice quotes that show their clients are Guilty as Hell. Lawyers hate the simple, the understandable.

PowerPoint: “What did they know and when did they know it?”

Afra Raymond has his full PowerPoint presentation up at his website AfraRaymond.com, along with some new videos and posts about what’s happening at the Colman Commission into the failure of CL Financial.

No wonder the lawyers aren’t happy about having Afra hanging about the Colman Commission – he makes it all so clear and easy to understand. Swing by Afra’s website for an eyefull, but if you are a CLICO or CL Financial victim make sure you’ve taken your blood pressure meds today. You’re gonna need them.

Attention Finance Minister Sinckler: About those Donville Inniss US Corporations, Real Estate and Assets

How did Donville Inniss get cash to Florida to purchase this condo?

Finance Minister Sinckler assures: Barbados plays by the rules! (But does Minister Inniss?)

by Marcus & Shona

Barbados has this little problem right now. French, American and Canadian politicians are calling our country a “tax haven” and other names – which is actually their way of accusing Barbados of offering secret offshore banking to foreigners who don’t want to obey the tax laws of their own countries.

France and some others say we don’t obey the rules of international finance. (Joke on the side: How many French soldiers does it take to defend Paris? Answer: Nobody knows. The French have never tried to defend Paris.)

Our government is responding to the charges with an aggressive public relations campaign and a host of reciprocal information sharing agreements with other countries. We’ve also pledged to update financial legislation and to more effectively monitor international financial transactions.

Fair enough. The sea is changing so Barbados is setting out some different sails and adjusting the windage and the helm. Good. We’ll check the passenger manifest too, to ensure that everybody on board is someone we don’t mind sailing with. That’s only common sense when our survival depends upon the friendship of other countries. (“Friend of all, satellite of none.”)

This is serious business for Barbados, because as Minister Sinckler said the other day at a meeting at Cin Cin Restaurant (Look at the food! THE FOOD! YUM!!!)

“…the international business and financial services sector contributes upwards of 60 per cent of all corporate revenues in the country and, therefore, that is an important station for us and one that we seek to protect and, of course, guard very zealously.”

… Minister Sinckler quoted in the Barbados Today news story Leading by example

What about the international finances of Health Minister Donville Inniss?

Barbados Free Press is publishing a series of stories showing that Minister of Health Donville Inniss profited from the online porn industry. Our stories tell the truth even if the Barbados news media covers up and looks the other way. Minister Inniss knows that our stories are true so he hasn’t taken any steps to have the stories removed from WordPress where Barbados Free Press makes its home.

But now we get to the issue of money. How was Minister Inniss paid for his involvement with online porn companies? Was he a stakeholder in any company or was he providing a paid service to front the porn industry? Were any of his family members or friends acting as proxies?

We think we see some interesting discoveries on the internet….

Call for civil disobedience to stop Cove Bay Development

Professor Henry Fraser targets conspirators in government and business

“Places like Cove Bay must be protected from concrete, cranes and capitalist conspirators, even if we have to lie in front of the bulldozers”.

Sam Lord’s Castle “betrayed… plundered and pillaged… destroyed by a series of acts of piracy on land”.

Professor Henry Fraser talks with Barbados Today Fight Back!

by Nevermind Kurt

Strong words indeed from one of the academic establishment types, but will Professor Fraser really do it?

Even if he does sit down in front of the construction machines, will he have any company? How old will his friends be? Will his students join him?

The kind of social activism that Henry Fraser is talking about – peaceful but physical acts of defiance against traitorous political and business elites – hasn’t been seen in Barbados for a long, long time. The garbage on the roadside and couldn’t-care-less about over-development attitudes of the under 40 crowd don’t provide much hope for this island’s future.

Look at what the West Coast became as we all watched it happen and that includes yours truly. It didn’t matter whether the DLP or BLP was in government: there was no planning for green space or public access to the beaches. Our greedy politicians and business people like Owen Arthur, the Williams brothers and (insert dozens more names here) conspired to sell off our natural heritage, block off our beaches and spoil our most beautiful views – and we let them do it.

“Why do we continue to allow the elites to pave over our little piece of paradise? I think that’s simple…

No rules or disclosure about election financing means that developers pay big money to the political class. Owen Arthur, David Thompson and Freundel Stuart made decisions against our national interests because they were paid to.”

The politicians we elected for saying fine things about preserving our natural heritage betrayed us for money at every opportunity.

In the May 2003 election Owen Arthur’s cry was “Keep the best of Barbados for Bajans”. Shortly thereafter the government came out in favour of developing destroying Cove Bay. Barbados Tourism Investment said this on their website:

“Cove Bay is a delightful address overlooking the Atlantic ocean to the north of the island. It will provide the investor with one of few remaining opportunities for ocean front residential development, which in itself creates a unique selling point for the project. The site offers several options for other well chosen complementary uses which will enhance the residences by providing services and amenities and possible income opportunities for purchasers.”

from the Barbados Tourism Investment website here. The page is gone now but we preserved it in a February 2007 post here.

The DLP are no better. With all their 2007 campaign talk about stopping the concreting of Barbados and preserving the environment, the first thing they did after gaining power was to remove the protection from the Graeme Hall wetlands so Thompson’s developer friends like Leroy Parris could build on the watershed.

As BFP’s Cliverton once said:

“The DLP promised in writing in their “Pathways to Progress” policy booklet that they would require a 2/3 free vote in Parliament to change agricultural land to allow development.

That’s the promise that Thompson and the DLP put in writing and it’s a promise that they broke with their first piece of legislation that killed the Graeme Hall National Park, and since then in many other cases.

What makes these betrayals possible?

Why do we continue to allow the elites to pave over our little piece of paradise? I think that’s simple…

Troublemakers in Barbados

UPDATED: June 1, 2012

With the firebombing of homes lately, we’ve put this article at the top for a day or two as Bajans consider what kind of a society we have, and what kind of a society we want. We at BFP do not count ourselves heroes in the grand scheme of things. There are some real Bajan heroes out there, and we honour a few of them in this post…

Where do the troublemakers go from here?

We have to take the next step. We have some ideas that we’ll share in the next few weeks, starting with this one: VOTE INDEPENDENT. Vote for anyone but a Bee or a Dee. We must disenfranchise the ones who for the past 20 years have lied to us and stolen our tax dollars. In truth, they stole our future. They are amateurs playing with other people’s money and consider it their right to skim off the top.

The next 10 years are going to be difficult ’bout hey, and if we’re a billion or two short with nothing to show for it, you can blame the BLP and the DLP.

Original post published October 19, 2011…

by BFP’s Anonymous Cowards

We at Barbados Free Press are anonymous cowards – and for good reason. We’ve seen what happens to the troublemakers on this small island who have the courage to stand up in public and criticize the political and business elites.

Death threats. Arson. Threats to pets and family members. Crops burned. Shots fired at a home. Cars keyed in the middle of the night. Jobs lost. Feces smeared on a business. Homes broken into. Home searched without warrant in the middle of the night. Woman arrested and vagina searched for a copy of the home rental contract. (Really!). Police question your child at school to pressure you.

Oh yeah, we’ve covered all these stories and more here at Barbados Free Press.