Yardbroom Talks About Corrupt Land Use Changes

BFP reader Yardbroom is as usual beautifully eloquent in commenting about how government corruption in land use changes does more to keep ordinary Bajan folks down than any other single factor.

For this corruption we must blame our fellow blacks who have been running the government since our independence…

“We can never move forward as a nation until we have men/women of integrity running our country – that is our problem, and it cannot be said too often. Until then we will always be second raters, puffing and panting on the world stage with a veneer of progress, but the condos, concrete palaces and circumscribed greens of the golf courses which are admired, will not be our own.

We will be strangers in the land of our birth, Oh! how our forefathers must weep, as to what has become of us. So much pain, for so little gain, a pain “perpetuated” by those who felt the same warm confines, of the womb from whence we came.”

Read all of Yardbroom’s comments on land use and the BFP article here.

BLP Blog Says Government Does Not Beg – While Government Ministers Beg For U.N. Drug and AIDS Money

Hey – Don’t Forget About The E.U. Sugar Subsidy Either!

What a joke… The government’s BLP Blog is featuring a story about how the Government of Barbados no longer begs for foreign aid as it did under the DLP 20 years ago.

That’s the BLP Blog story. (link here)

I guess nobody told that to Senior Minister Billie Miller and other government members who are prattling on and on in the latest Nation News about how Barbados deserves some of that United Nations’ loot to fight drug trafficking and HIV/AIDS.

And let’s not forget the EU Sugar Subsidy blowup last year or all those government press releases about how wonderful the Chinese are to give Barbados such “gifts” as police and military equipment.

We have always been a beggar nation and it isn’t going to get any better with the debt load from all those mega-projects of the last ten years.

That, my friends, is reality.

Story link…

The Nation News: More Help In Drug Fight Likely

Trinidad: Six Masked Men Desecrate Hindu Temple

Religious tolerance is one of the major factors that differentiates civilized people from the barbaric.

Witness accounts indicate that a group of masked men were responsible for the desecration of the Hindu Temple at Waterloo, Central Trinidad. Masks would indicate a planned event as opposed to a bunch of drunken teenagers who chose a target at random.

We will be following this story, and would appreciate hearing about any developments from our Trinidad & Tobago readers.

Trinidad & Tobago Express: Sacrilege

BFP Says: Williams Brothers Are No Fools, So They Already Have “Unofficial” Change Of Use Permissions For Barbados Farms Ltd. Agricultural Lands

Ralph Williams was a very bizzy guy in July – and that was long before his wedding on Saturday or the announcement at the Hilton that he and his brother Sir Charles are intending to take over Barbados Farms Ltd.

While our opinion is just that, have a look at the story in the Nation News and ask yourself…

“Would the Williams brothers purchase controlling interest in Barbados Farms Ltd. on mere speculation that a decade from now the government (read “Owen Arthur”) might or might not approve a change of land use from agricultural to residential development?”

You have to laugh at the Williams’ statement that they intend to make the company “profitable”.

In Barbados there are massive profits to be made through one simple step – by changing land use permissions to enable agricultural land to be developed. Some folks have the greatest “luck” in obtaining permission to develop agricultural lands, while others (typically small farmers) sell out after waiting for decades – and then watch the new owners make millions in a matter of weeks.

The Prime Minister and other members of government have time and time again been implicated in corrupt activities surrounding land permissions, and the corruption continues unabated.

Trust your own judgment on this folks – but we say that land use permissions are already a done deal with the Williams brothers’ interest in Barbados Farms Ltd.. The only question we have is… how much will the Prime Minister personally make when the lands are developed?

Without laws against such corrupt behaviour, Owen Arthur continues to be free to profit from his official acts and decisions – and to make such decisions so he can personally profit from his position.

Corrupt? Yes.

But legal.

Here’s an excerpt from the article in The Nation News. Does it sound like the Williams brothers know what they are doing, or not? …

The two said they were committed to keeping a percentage of the more than 4 000 acres owned by Barbados Farms in agriculture, but also intended to place a portion of the land into housing developments aimed at low-and-middle income owners.

Sir Charles said they were prepared to sell house and land for between $120 000 to $200 000 at the lower income level, while the middle income housing could cost up to $500 000.

Their companies, Williams Industries Inc. and CO Williams Construction Ltd., are joining with three other entities in which the Williams brothers hold interests – Foursquare Estates Ltd., Eastern Land Developments Ltd., Astracan Inc. – to form Agricultural Investments Inc., which is angling for at least 50.1 per cent of Barbados Farms.

… read the entire article in The Nation News (link here)