Ping Yark’s newest edition here… and it’s free!

Ah yes – Ping Yark is here. The latest edition of that irreverent UK newsletter for home sick Bajans.

You can download it here… Ping Yark Barbados

Chris Sinckler must replace Prime Minister Stuart for next election or Mia Mottley will eat the DLP alive

Finance Minister Chris Sinckler

A wake-up call for Freundel Stuart and the DLP

by Dalrymple

Prime Minister Freundel Stuart may have won a victory and even I one of his more honest critics must warn him, don’t let this victory snatched from the jaws of defeat go to your head. Do not be fooled, it was more the divided and disgruntled opponents that allowed you the sight of the winning line. When it came right down to it, you are and is a much more decent sort of chap than that so and so Owen Arthur.

Barbadians by and large are a fair and honest people, and they trusted you in preference to a bullying rogue and economic villain. However if you want to be remembered or leave any form of legacy, then now is the time to show some spunk, some oomph, the problems are many and solutions evaporate by the day.

“Let me tell you, Prime Minister Stuart – it is not enough to speak of European countries being in the same boat. It is not enough to invite pity and hopelessness.

You are the head honcho and regrettably the buck stops at your door.”

Now is the time to show what you are made of. Let it not be said that you are the Captain that took the Bajan Titanic to a watery grave. Your economy needs a complete structural change, a root and branch reorganisation. Are you prepared to bite the bullet or are you merely around for the ceremonial looking good but not prepared to solve the problems and challenges that confront this island state?

Many of the institutions need a proper overhaul, none appear fit for purpose. As an example, it is the job of the police to fight crime and bring the criminals to justice.

“Why should the population at large not be able to wear their jewellery as and when they please?”  

The atrocious crime of being a young man

Recently in my reading, I came across this speech by William Pitt the Elder in reply to Horatio Walpole in the House of Commons in the UK in 1741. I am sure readers will find it interesting in light of recent events in Barbados.

It was during a debate on search warrants for seamen that the famous altercation took place between Mr. William Pitt and Horatio Walpole, in which the latter endeavored to put down the young orator by representing him as having too little experience to justify his discussing such subjects, and charging him with “petulancy of invective,” “pompous diction,” and “theatrical emotion.”

Baba Elombe Mottley

Reply to Horatio Walpole on a charge of Youth delivered in the House of Commons, March 6, 1741

SIR,–The atrocious crime of being a young man, which the honorable gentleman has, with such spirit and decency, charged upon me, I shall neither attempt to palliate nor deny, but content myself with wishing that I may be one of those whose follies may cease with their youth, and not of that number who are ignorant in spite of experience.

Whether youth can be imputed to any man as a reproach, I will not, sir, assume the province of determining; but surely age may become justly contemptible, if the opportunities which it brings have passed away without improvement, and vice appears to prevail when the passions have subsided.

Barbados Detective Constable on Owen Arthur: “Give the man 2 bottles of Mount Gay and tell him go home and don’t come back.”

Should police officers openly discuss politics?

by WSD

We have many sayings in Barbados and two of my favourites are mostly true: “Everything is political” and “Nothing is secret for long”.

Everything can’t help being political in a smaller society where everyone knows everyone else and knows everyone else’s business. You can sneak around on Bim with somebody’s husband or wife but sooner or later it will out. Sneaking around always does out in Bim.

No secrets when it come to politics either! Bees against Dems on election day and after election day too. In the public service when a supervisor position opens up, LOOK OUT! Watch the Bees and the Dems line up to support their brothers and sisters.

Our last Chief Justice – just the highest judge in the country that’s all – was a former BLP politician, attorney general and acting Prime Minister. Did something ever get judged one way and not some other way because the judge was a BLP and the accused was a BLP member too? That was always in the back of people’s minds and it shouldn’t have been. Whether David Simmons was a good Chief Justice or not doesn’t matter if it looked bad that he was a politician in charge of the courts.

When there is a possible conflict of interest based on family or friendships or business relationships it damages the people’s faith in the institutions. A big criticism of Chief Justice Simmons accepting the position was that it looked bad, and caused people to be suspicious that the highest judge might have conflicts of interest based on his politics.

So it can be with other government professions too, and that includes police officers.

“This tell me something about Owen Arthur, he pushed out Mia because he wanted to be prime minister if they won the elections, now they lost he put he back in, give the man 2 bottles of Mount Gay and tell him go home and don’t come back. My respect to Mia for taking things so cool.”

Posted on the BLP Facebook page by a Detective Constable of the Royal Barbados Police Force

Is it proper if a police officer discusses politics on the internet while identifying themselves as a police officer?     

Barbados vote buying scandal starts at the top with BLP and DLP leadership

“How did the two political parties, both claiming to be rather financially impoverished, raise a conservative estimate of over twenty million dollars to pour into a three week campaign?”

“Deals are commonplace and state agencies are used to distribute largesse.”

Submitted by the Mahogany Coconut Think Tank and Watchdog Group.

The Mahogany Coconut Group submits that the real vote buying is in the upper echelons of our society. What we witnessed on Election Day was some voters getting cash, cell phones, iPods and a bill paid here and there. The real votes were bought by those shadows – black and white – who Dr. Don Blackman referred to a few decades ago! Of course Dr. Blackman talked only about white shadows but the corporate landscape has dramatically changed over the years – we now have shadows of all colors and ethnicities.

While we shout from the roof tops about what took place on elections day, we bury our heads in the proverbial sand by refusing to ask one simple question: How did the two political parties, both claiming to be rather financially impoverished, raise a conservative estimate of over twenty million dollars to pour into a three week campaign?

We ask Dale Marshall (BLP) to tell us about the successful “cake sales and car washes” that raised their money.

We ask Ronald Jones (DLP) to tell us more about the “$500 here and there” that was given to his party by well wishers.

Let’s face it; elections are now big business and the corporate shadows are well entrenched in both the Barbados Labour Party and the Democratic Labour Party. Anybody who believes that car washes, cake sales and a five hundred dollar donation here and there, can raise this large amount of money, needs to seriously wake up from their slumber!

Former Minister Elizabeth Thompson predicts Donville Inniss defeat and BLP Government

UPDATED: Friday, February 22, 2013 2am

Minister of Pornography  Health Donville Inniss was re-elected. Obviously the goat vote opposition wasn’t enough to unseat the porn profiteer.

“At the minute, I’m predicting a BLP Government”

Friday, February 22, 2013 @ 12:01am

We just saw former Barbados BLP Minister of Government Liz Thompson on CBC tely predict that in St. James South Donville Inniss will lose to Sandra Husbands – and the BLP will form the next government.

Will porn industry profiteer Pornville Donville Inniss retain his seat?

Let’s see what happens!

Election 2013: Rape and abuse of a post-independent Barbados

Dalrymple

“For the very first time in my life, I approach an election faced with the choice of supporting neither party.

I could not bring myself to vote for any of the above.”

From the February issue of Ping Yark (download for free here)

by Dalrymple

It is with much trepidation and cynicism that one awaits the outcome of the recently called election. On the one hand we have a visionless indecisive ditherer and on the other hand we have a political brigand and highwayman willing to rape and abuse the country in the interest of his friends, relatives and the ever-increasing number of yard fowls. How could a post-independent Barbados in the 21st century find itself in such a situation? How could we have ended up in such circumstances; between a rock and a hard place? How we have frittered away the legacy of Grantley Adams and Errol Barrow and the great builders of our country, a country built on transparency, decency, integrity, accountability and good governance?

One despairs of the future of an unsuspecting populace that is swept along on a tide of emotion while allowing the rape and abuse of my country. For the very first time in my life, I approach an election faced with the choice of supporting neither party. I could not bring myself to vote for any of the above. I now strongly feel that we should start a movement to take back our country from the emerging class of professional political elites who are only interested in their personal aggrandisement or in the enrichment of their friends and relatives and their party cronies. In all of this the masses and the their interests ark of adequate housing forgotten or ignored.

Marva Cossy: your vote doesn’t count for anything (But would she vote independent?)

“I don’t intent to vote.” 

Vote for whom… Vote for what?

by Marva Cossy of Caribbean Marvel blog

Voters in Barbados will choose a government on Thursday, February 21 but I don’t intent to vote.   I said so months ago and my friends behaved as if I was committing treason.

To vote or not to vote is a right I have to exercise, but when I made my declaration, my friend instantly shifted their heated debate about the performance and potential of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) and the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) – to the value of an ‘X’.  Six or seven of them against one, me! Unity was achieved as they tried to sell me the importance of vote.

They eloquently painted the road to enfranchisement taken by working class Barbadians; verbally re-enacting the 1940s struggle with as much drama as if they were present. They were delighted that I matched them with equal passion on the historical issues as well as the significance of having the right to vote. But they were disappointed that I was (and I am) resolute about my position not to vote.

I was accused of selling out those Barbadians of yesteryear who fought to gain that right to vote for themselves and future generations; I was chided for wasting the money tax payers spent on my 20 plus years of education; some of their ‘friendly’ criticisms are too harsh for public ears.

“I am unmoved. What difference will my voting make? That is the question, I’ve asked myself countless times and I’ve searched my soul for an honest opinion. I’ve examined the parties and see no philosophical divide; no major difference in programmes; no vigour, all status quo.”

…continue reading this article at CaribbeanMarvel: Vote for whom… Vote for what?

Independent Politicians in 21st Century Barbadian Society

“Independent candidates are the beginning of the next wave of political development in modern Barbados.”

A Role for Independent Politicians

The author prefers to remain anonymous

The political landscape of post-independence Barbados has been, and continues to be defined by an unhealthy rigidity perpetuated by the two-party system. In the midst of the General Election of 2013, this model of governance stands outdated and ineffective to the needs of a modern Barbados. The reality of this election is that the Barbados Labour Party and the Democratic Labour party no longer enjoy an overwhelming vote of confidence by Barbadians.  Record levels of dissatisfaction with both major political parties have been noted and continue to increase rapidly throughout this election cycle.  The choice in the frankest of terms to the average voter is the choice for the lesser of two evils.

Modern Governance and Democracy ought not to and can no longer hinge upon the choice of a lesser evil. 

In a country replete with a cadre of intellectual, capable and hardworking individuals the choice must be a choice of, and combination of visionaries that reflect what is genuinely best for national development.  When almost half of Barbados reject both the Democratic Labour Party and the Barbados Labour Party and would vote for an independent candidate if given the opportunity, it is evident that Barbadians are dissatisfied with the limited options available.

The distrust, reluctance and unease with which the average Barbadians view politicians of both major political parties prevent our best minds and hands from entering into this aspect of national development. This cannot be acceptable. The reality of a small island developing state such as Barbados is that we need all hands on decks and we cannot afford this suboptimal use of our resources. The reality is that we need a collection of voices to make Barbados work for every Barbadian. The simple reality is that Independent voices are needed to address the magnitude of the challenges facing us.

Nation – Cadres Poll: When you know both devils

Mia thought they were in love… but Owen was ready to give her a shove!

Note shows Arthur tried to get Stuart to take Mia Mottley off his hands

Sunday’s Nation / Cadres Poll shows 39% of respondents wanting Freundel Stuart to return as Prime Minister, with Owen Arthur trailing slightly at 36%. (Nation article here)

There was no poll option for Mia Mottley as Prime Minister: just like in real life. Also just like real life about 30% of the respondents won’t say or are voting independent. As our own Barbados Free Press poll showed last October, Bajans have had it with the two old parties but need good people to stand as independents during the election. (See BFP’s 38% of Barbados voters would vote for an Independent)

Click note for large

In the middle of the weekend poll results we also had the revelation that Owen Arthur tried to get Freundel Stuart and the DEMS to take Mia Mottley. As proof of the offer, Stuart produced a note he said Arthur sent to him. And once again Bajans are reminded that politicians flow between the two major parties because there is no real difference between the two. It’s all about which gang you hang with, not that the two gangs are really different at all. (See Barbados Today’s Arthur’s note)

Bajans know both of the offered choices: BLP/Owen Arthur or DLP/Freundel Stuart, so it’s not about a devil you know and one you don’t. We’re all too familiar with both devils and the two devils are the same. There is no difference, not a whiff of real difference, between the Dems and the Bees or their leaders.

Get this straight folks…

It doesn’t matter if the DLP or the BLP are elected because the end result of a DLP or a BLP government will be the same for Barbados and Bajans.

That’s why you must vote independent if you have the chance on Thursday: vote for anybody just so long as they are not DEE or BEE.

Note photo courtesy of Barbados Today

Kammie Holder: Can government be trusted? The need for Freedom of Information in Barbados

It is a shame that Kammie Holder did not run as an independent candidate this time around – because he’s just what Barbados needs: someone who genuinely cares about this country and the people yet hasn’t a bit of desire to be a professional politician.

Next time… Kammie please run!

Further Reading

For a list of Kammie Holder’s previous articles at Barbados Free Press see here

Noel Lynch is Bajan racial gutter politics at its worst: “Freundel Stuart is the ugliest Prime Minister we have ever had.”

“Red Man”

04:00
“I am a married man. Nobody ever married Freundel Stuart. Who would? Who would? A man that has a face that only a mother could love, and a teacher would accept because he’s getting paid.”

06:05

“Feundel Stuart is the laziest, unaccomplished, ugliest Prime Minister we have ever had.”

12:45

“There’s one idiot, nincompoop in that lineup that the Dems have, a fellow called Peter Gibbs (Ince?). A red man, in my opinion, who has lived his life trying to disadvantage black people because he thinks that he’s white.”

Noel Lynch quotes Barbados Free Press, calls us “Wicked”

16:45

“I go to work at the CHTA and the first day that I land in the job the man who is Director General shows me a letter that came from an anonymous source in Barbados. It is a letter that appeared on the Barbados Free Press. It is a letter that is written by the Dems, and this is what you related to when you go. The letter read…

“Good luck to the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) – they will need it. The organisation hired defeated Barbados Tourism Minister Noel Lynch as its new Deputy Director General and Director of Membership.

Hey, we hope the CHTA has much more luck than Barbados citizens did in getting accountability and answers from Noel Lynch about where the money went when he was in charge.

Mr. Lynch was part of the cover-up that denied Barbados citizens any accountability for the hundreds of millions of dollars of their tax money thrown into the black hole known as the GEMS Scandal – Hotels and Resorts. And what a scam it was!

Then there was the disaster of the Cricket World Cup and the outright lies Lynch told us about the event even when it was plainly apparent to all that he was lying…”

Noel Lynch was quoting BFP from our January 11, 2010 article Former Tourism Minister “Instant Millionaire” Noel Lynch hired by Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association

“That is the kind of wicked people that these people are!”

Stuart a “Rat”

22:05

“I heard that rat, Stuart, I heard him in Parliament you know…”

Violet Beckles supporter rants – but on a foundation of truth

Al Barrack scandal started under the BLP. The Violet Beckles scandal touches BLP and DLP and so many lawyers!

Violet Beckles scandal nothing less than massive land fraud by lawyers, politicians

Submitted as a comment by BFP reader ‘Look’

The BLP throughout the year embarked upon numerous issues, any and everything they could think of to sink the DLP ship. Arthur just months ago reported to Midweek Nation that REDjet might still be flying if government has honored its commitment to the collapsed airlines. Arthur, apparently did not consider FACT that Bajans owe REDjet nothing, absolutely nothing but indeed owe Al Barack millions. Barrack has in his possession a court ordered judgment; REDjet does not.

Mia Mottley fusses to the Nation News (July 2012) that government owes more than $100 million to the University of West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill Campus and called for an “urgent” permanent solution to the mounting debt problem. Laugh. Go ahead and laugh. Laugh, laugh, laugh. Government at moment owes Al Barrack $77 million, a mounting debt problem that occurred because Arthur was into folly with Julie Price, had hit upon one of his drinking binges and or was sleeping. Barrack wants to get paid. Barrack has in his possession a court ordered judgment, Bajans must pay. Mottley herself has taken possession of property that belongs to Violet Beckles not her. David Thompson investigated Violet Beckles claim of which involves the BLP administration, and the National Housing Commission (NHC), a government entity. . . . . moving tax numbers from one person with deed to another person with no deed and no proof of sale. . . . massive land fraud.

David Thompson, David Ames – Quite the pair!

PM Thompson & David Ames – click photo for large

Dear Barbados Free Press

I’d like a simple answer from the DLP to a simple question: How much “political donations” money did Harlequin Properties or David Ames whatever “donate” to the Democratic Labour Party?

Why aren’t Bajans allowed to know this? You know the way things work around here. It had to have happened!

signed,

Klingon Sailor

Dave Ames of Harlequin Property meets Prime Minister of Barbados

On Friday 19th June I had a meeting with the Prime Minister of Barbados, David Thompson, where we were discussing the Merricks’ project. He assure me of his full support of his Government and country in ensuring the success of the resort and is assisting us in moving the project forward so that we can start building the resort as soon as possible.

I impressed to him the fact that we are looking to begin building the resort later this year and he confirmed that he will do everything possible to enable us to start work on site. It is our intention to open the resort in stages from 2011.

Members of the Government of Barbados will be attending the launch on 13th and 14th July, which hopefully shows the commitment the Government and the country are giving to Harlequin and the Merricks project.

from the Harlequin Property newsletter website

Candidates for New Barbados Kingdom Alliance forced out of election “victimisation coming from DLP, BLP”

No-show NBKA candidates need more courage, more doing and less talk

Last August the founder of the New Barbados Kingdom Alliance (NBKA), Lynroy Scantlebury (photo above), said his new political party would be running at least 10 candidates in the election that was then expected in November. The longer the election was held off, the more candidates the NBKA would run…

… or so Mr. Scantlebury said. Lately he was saying that the NBKA would run 15 or 17 candidates.

With deposit day come and gone, we now know how many NBKA candidates are running: One, that being Lynroy Scantlebury himself in St. Peter.

Mr. Scantlebury was recently quoted in the Barbados Advocate saying that the other candidates backed off due to “tremendous levels of victimisation coming from both parties”. That’s what he said last December too in Barbados Today’s New Party Cries foul.

That could have happened I suppose and it probably did – but just how much credibility can Scantlebury and his “party” have left after their aborted election run? Not much no matter how much “victimisation” came their way. If you want to see a real “victim” of politics, one only has to look as far as Taan Abed – the former DLP candidate who is running as an independent in Christ Church West.

Taan Abed declared his candidacy last August, and with 38% of Bajans willing to vote independent Taan has a real chance to win his seat. That would be something to shake up the old guard!

Mr. Scantlebury and his candidates need more courage, more doing and less talk.

(Photo courtesy of Barbados Today)

Barbados election called for February 21, 2013: Integrity legislation, Freedom of Information, Conflicts of Interest rules all dead dead dead

BLP, DLP: all the same!

Barbadians are going to the polls on February 21, 2013, and as most folks realise, it doesn’t make a lick ‘o difference which party you vote for.

Both parties’ platforms are indistinguishable from each other whether the subject is economics, social programmes, the environment, tourism, offshore banking or any other issue. It just doesn’t matter who you vote for: nothing depends upon it. Barbados will not be one wit better off under either party.

If David Thompson was alive today, he would be facing serious questions about his involvement with CLICO and Leroy Parris. Thompson might even be facing a lawsuit or a criminal investigation about the time when he was CLICO’s lawyer. But Thompson conveniently died and that took care of that.

Owen Arthur? Well, where do we start? All the corruption under the Arthur regime still happened. His depositing election funds into his personal bank account happened. The VECO contract for the prison happened: awarded without tender to a company that never built a prison. When the Alaska Veco scandal broke showing that the company bribed politicians all over the world, the Attorney General Dale Marshall met with company officials for ten minutes and announced, “Not here. Nothing like that happened in Barbados.”

Sure. We believe Dale Marshall… and we’ve got some Florida swampland to sell you too: just like CLICO bought with your hard-earned retirement savings.

What is to be done? Easy… VOTE INDEPENDENT

How to stop this nonsense? That’s easy folks. Go to the DLP and BLP rallies. Sing the songs, chant the chants and don’t do anything different: because you KNOW what happens to those who break the party ranks.

BUT THEN… On February 21st, go to the poll and vote for anyone but the DLP or BLP. Let’s punish them. Let’s remove their legitimacy because of their long record of corruption, lies and profiteering.

Whatever you do folks: on the day, VOTE INDEPENDENT!

BLP fires up the base with the same old, same old…

Mia Mottley shows off her new body: almost a babe! (according to BFP’s Cliverton!)

10,000 Brave Weather to hear Barbados Labour Party at Heroes Square: BLP need new thrust

by Ian Bourne, The Bajan Reporter

So despite a last-minute cancellation verging on a dictatorial tactic, the Barbados Labour Party took the victimisation and capitalised on it to boost numbers. A check with Police sources indicate attendance that night at Heroes Square from as low as 8,000 or at a peak of 10,000 people! A true meeting, this session drew not just Bees and their supporters but Dems and neutrals – it was a chance to lay out a coup de grace strategy if chosen over the current Freundel Stuart regime…

Instead the public was treated to much of what it has heard since the January 2010 By-Election, with a few exceptions which are listed further on… Kerrie Symmonds used words like “contumacious” or “megalomaniac” now really; are ten-dollar words gonna pull the voters who are undecided and did not spend a long time at school? Now when I use large vocabulary, via Internet I have the option to link the phrase or word in question to various definitions – truly, would the audience be hefting dictionaries with them? Or have such devices in their phones or tablets? Why be on their phone or tablet when they can hear what’s the next move?

It also seems the majority of the Party members are trying to mimic the speech mannerisms of Owen Arthur (Arthur has a tendency with his St Peter drawl to stretch “Man” and punctuate every sentence like exclamation – now so too were most of the men that evening apart from trying to say face it and fix it in different ways, if it is the trademark of him who’s selected as Opposition Leader, then the posse need to create their own catchphrases), they need to leave that for Owen and develop their own clever clichés! There were good speakers that night, but let’s look at the more mediocre of the crew first…

… continue reading this article at Ian Bourne’s The Bajan Reporter

A reminder about that massive pension increase for Cabinet Ministers

From our “Worth reading again” department, here’s a little sample from the ePressBarbados article by Caswell Franklyn posted on February 13, 2011. The link will take you to the full article:

Massive Pension Increase for Cabinet Ministers

On the other hand, if the amendment were applied to the Retiring Allowances (Legislative Service) Act the picture would be quite different and alarming. That Act makes provisions for the pensions of Members of Parliament. Like public officers the allowances are not taken into consideration when computing the pensions of retired parliamentarians. The table below shows the effect on the monthly pension entitlement of the Cabinet and parliamentary secretaries at current salaries.

Post Current         Entitlement $      Proposed $          Increase $
Prime Minister     11,287.53             14,334.11              3,046.58
Deputy PM             9,595.02             13,481. 61             3,889.59
Minister                  8,465.67              11,129.23              2,663. 56
Parl. Sec.                 8,218.13                9,969.03             1,750.90

It is interesting to note that the politicians qualify for their pensions at age 50 after serving a minimum of 8 years to qualify for half of their salary. They qualify for ⅔ of their salary after serving 12 years. A public officer qualifies for a pension of ⅔ of his salary after serving 33⅓ years.

Call me naive but I believe that these massive unconscionable increases in monthly pension entitlements would be unintended consequences of the Budget, despite the emerging pattern. In 1991, just prior to the 8% cut in salaries, parliamentarians gave themselves an increase of 10%. Also in 1991 Government reduced the severance payment entitlement for all workers except Constituency Assistants. I am left to wonder what next?