Barbados One Armed Bandits – A Little Bit Of History Remembered

Tom Adams, Nathaniel Natty Greene And The 1977 Slot Machine Scandal

When Senator Aaron Truss was arrested and then…

UPDATED: July 22, 2010

How many slot machines are there in Barbados? Who imports them? How much money do they make for the owners and the government? Is there any audit procedure actually used to confirm revenues and taxes owing? Do any government officials have shares in slot machines or gambling establishments?

We’ll be looking at some of those issues in a later article, but to get us in the mood here’s a story we first published in 2007…

Sex, Love And Betrayal At The St. Lawrence Gap

Auntie Moses Pretends Not To Read Cheese-On-Bread!

Matthew was taken aback. “I don’t mean to hurt you, Tasha, but face it. We haven’t been on the same page for a long time.”

“Stupid me, I thought we were on the same page for the last eight years,” she retorted hotly. “Do you know I actually thought you were going to propose to me tonight?”

By this time, couples at nearby tables were staring in their direction. Out of the corner of her eye, Natasha saw the hostess approach and she waved her away. The woman gave Natasha a worried look and retreated.

Matthew had the decency to look ashamed. “I’m sorry, Tasha. I didn’t mean to mislead you. Things just…happened.”

… A scene at the St. Lawrence Gap from the novelette “Trading Hearts” by Bajegirl (link here)

Caught Out!

Yesterday morning, Shona caught Auntie Moses reading some romance fiction at Cheese-On-Bread! blog.

After years of warning Shona about her collection of softback romance novels, saying “Not a ting good be come a dem”, this makes twice that Auntie has been caught out reading romance stories by Bajegirl at her Cheese-On-Bread! blog.

Give it up, Auntie Moses… You can’t resist the hotty stories at Cheese-On-Bread! any more than Shona and her friends can!

🙂

Opera Telecom – Fraudulent Operations In Barbados

Personal attention of the
Hon. Lynette Eastmond
Minister of Consumer Affairs

Fair Trading Commission

Opera Telecom
In early July I became increasing concerned over a series of TV ‘ads’ that were being aired at almost saturation frequency on CBC Channel 8.

The ‘ads’ invited viewers to respond by text or telephone at a cost of BDS$2.30 per call with a selection of possible answers to various questions. A classic example was: ‘What is the capital of Barbados?’

While the conditions of the competition were shown in very small print and literally flashed on the screen, it was absolutely clear that the operators were a company called OPERA TELECOM.

I emailed the company in the United Kingdom and an Ms Joanne Nugent responded as GM (General Manager) of Opera Interactive Caribbean showing a local (Barbados) telephone number (230 6742) and a UK Fax Number (44) 0870 046 9668, which is in fact the FAX number of the Birmingham headquarters of Opera Telecom and the website address of Opera Telecom (www.oitg.com).

Ms Nugent’s email address is joanne.nugent@oitg.com

The current CEO of Opera Telecom is Garry Corbett who’s email address is garry.corbett@oitg.com

I was unable to find any Barbados registered company under the name of Opera Interactive Caribbean but through the CAIPO office found a company listed an Opera Interactive (Barbados) Ltd under the number 27987.

As you may be aware Opera Telecom has recently been fined a record GBP 250,000 for rigging a premium rate competition phone line on behalf of GMTV.

Media reports estimate ‘callers were cheated out of GBP 20 million over four years’.

‘Opera Telecom was ordered to pay a full refund to complainants and banned for managing competitions for a year’.

You can get some idea of media response to the events simply by typing Opera Telecom on GOOGLE News.

In the last but one email response Ms Nugent has categorically stated that Opera Interactive (Barbados) Ltd has absolutely no connection to Opera Telecom.

Frankly, I find this difficult to believe as the TV ‘ads’ shown on Barbados clearly display Opera Telecom and you will see by the four separate emails I am forwarding that Ms Nugent has on at least one occasion copied our emails to the CEO of Opera Telecom, Garry Corbett.

Over the last few days yet another competition Barbados Lucky Numbers has started to appear both on CBC Channel 8 and half page print ‘ads’ in the press.

Again, respondents are requested to call or text at a cost of BDS$2.30, yet no company is listed as the operator of the competition.

As with the previous Opera Telecom competition, no list of winners has been published and the public has absolutely no idea what funds and profits were generated from this promotion.

I would be grateful for your comments.

Yours Faithfully

Adrian Loveridge

29 September 2007

Sent by email and printed letter and copied to Senator Lynette Eastmond, Minister of Consumer Affairs and the Office of Public Counsel.

Barbados Government Triumph: Little Brass Bells Issued To Bedridden Hospital Patients!

UPDATED: August 17, 2010

Queen Elizabeth Hospital staff contacted Barbados Free Press with the following that speaks for itself:

Dear Barbados Free Press,

I would like to provide an update to your September 29, 2007 story “Barbados Government Triumph: Little Brass Bells Issued To Bedridden Hospital Patients!”

The bells are gone having been taken or lost and the patient call system is still broken. Help!

signed, A concerned staff member

BFP replies… Okay, we’ll put the old article up at the top for a few days. Same old, same old ’bout hey!

Original Article first published September 29, 2007…

Improving Health Care In Barbados

Seriously ill patients at one ward at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital no longer have to moan or throw bedpans to attract a nurse. Each patient has been issued with a small bell.

Oh… wait a minute. The bells didn’t come from the government, they came from the Cardiac Support Group when the government decided that repairing the broken electronic nurse alert system was not a priority.

Is Barbados Going Bankrupt? Part 78 Of A Continuing Series… More Late Payments To Government Employees: Teachers This Time

Today’s story of government workers not being paid is nothing special… just more of the same.

Like all the past articles on the same subject.

When you have spent all the rent money on booze and fast women, something has to give. It’s the same way with government: when you blow a third of a billion dollars on a cricket party, the teachers have to wait.

TEMPORARY TEACHERS who have not been paid should receive their salaries before the end of next week.

This assurance has been given by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Atheline Haynes, who told the WEEKEND NATION yesterday evening there was “a problem” regarding the payment of temporary teachers “at a number of schools”.

“The Ministry of Education is apologising for the delay,” she said. “Every effort is being made to ensure all teachers affected are paid by the end of next week.”

Tuesday was pay day and the WEEKEND NATION understands that teachers at more than 30 schools have been affected. Some of them have been working for more than five years.

The Nation News: Pay Soon For Temporary Teachers

Secret Order In Council Cancels Privacy Rights – Invokes Executive Powers – Barbados Government Takes The First Step Towards The Abyss

Government Prepares To Win The Election Any Way It Can

The Government of Barbados under Prime Minister Owen Arthur may have already used a secret Order In Council to invoke far reaching executive powers to intercept the private communications of Barbados citizens – including the political opposition.

Two independent and previously-reliable sources inform Barbados Free Press that as early as July of 2007, senior government Cabinet Ministers held talks about intercepting private communications and sought legal advice about how to legitimize this action without informing Parliament.

We are told that some weeks ago Prime Minister Arthur announced his decision to a group of inner party members that his government would use a secret Order In Council “legalize” the tapping of phone calls and the interception of emails and other electronic communications.

The purported intent is to stop leaks of government information that have recently been exposed on the internet, but our sources indicate that the government’s intent is far more sinister and wide-ranging.

Orders In Council – A Means To An End, A Means Of Getting Around Parliament

In Commonwealth countries, an Order In Council (OIC) is primarily used as a method for the government to create minor laws and regulations without going before Parliament each and every time a minor change is needed. For instance, increasing the fine for submitting late tax information might be done through an Order In Council.

According to Wikipedia and some other research we’ve done, OICs are created by Cabinet and must then be approved by the Governor General.

Parliament and the public are notified about most OICs, but the most controversial use of Orders In Council happens when a government wishes to cross the lines of democracy, but wants to keep to the “letter of the law” in case they get caught. The solution: make a new, secret law that Parliament and the people don’t know about – that lets the government do as they please, but provides them with a “get out of jail free card” in case things get exposed.

An Order In Council could make an otherwise illegal wiretap “legal” – with no judge’s warrant necessary. (As long as the government is willing to say “to Hell with democracy”)

For examples of controversial uses of an Order in Council you can check Google or read a bit on Wikipedia here.

“No Warrant” Communication Interceptions Have Already Started

Our sources are not in a position to know if the secret Order in Council has already been signed, but one source reports that the interceptions of communications without warrant have already started as if the OIC had been signed.

Our sources state that the Owen Arthur government will be intercepting the private communications of opposition party members, government workers and others who are suspected of being behind the leaks and the various Barbados blogs that have been causing the government so much concern.

The skills and interception equipment gained during Cricket World Cup are now being used to implement the intent of the Order in Council. It is believed by one of our sources that at least some police officers and or defense personnel would have to be working closely with the government. In other words, while most of the communications interception team would be told that their purpose is to identify persons leaking confidential government information, at least SOME of the personnel would have to be part of the larger agenda to gather information about the political opposition.

Barbados Free Press Was Notified Four Weeks Ago Of Nation Newspaper Server Downtime

In the early hours of September 15, 2007, the servers at both the Nation News and the Barbados Advocate were taken offline simultaneously. BFP had been notified of this several weeks ahead of time so it came as no surprise – although several comments by readers showed that this strange occurrence did not go unnoticed by some of the public.

BFP can now let our readers know that the reason the newspapers’ servers were taken down was to install new monitoring software to facilitate the government’s efforts to identify the writers of Barbados Underground and Barbados Free Press. This was done with the cooperation of the senior management at both news organisations.

Barbados Free Press Responds

As must be obvious to everyone by now, some of the sources who provide BFP and Barbados Underground with information probably work for or within the BLP Owen Arthur Government.

While we must all be careful of the agendas behind any news organisation or information (and that includes BFP – we expect our readers to question and think about everything and that includes BFP), it is apparent to the writers at BFP that some within the government are appalled at this latest Owen Arthur government assault upon democracy.

Barbados Free Press has taken the steps we needed to maintain our privacy. In the end, Owen Arthur’s problem is that many in his own organisation are appalled at what is happening to our democracy and our country.

So, Mr. Prime Minister, the next time you are talking about intercepting private communications and abusing your power, just remember that some of the folks in the room might actually care more about their country than their political affiliation.

Because such good people exist, we have four words for you and your thugs, Sir: “Private Data Network Uplink”

Dear Mr. Thompson

This article should serve as confirmation about some of the things you have been hearing from your own sources. During the past year, you and your party have not been an effective opposition. When the government wanted to change our constitution with four days’ notice and zero debate – and empower foreign troops on Bajan soil – you and your party allowed that to happen.

Time to stand up in public, whether in Parliament or not, and ask the question directly of the Prime Minister. Time to refuse to accept non-answers.

Time to see what you are made of. Time for us all to see if you have what it takes.

Next Article In This Series…

Blank Search Warrants Pre-Signed And All Ready To Go

Myanmar Cuts Internet To Shut Down Bloggers and Independent News

The government of Myanmar (Burma) is killing people on the streets again this morning, and they have shut down all internet service to the country.

You see friends, despots everywhere fear a free news media, but most of all they fear ordinary people discussing corruption, freedom and democracy.

That is true in Myanmar, and it is true in Barbados.

No, the Barbados government is not shooting people in the streets – but all the other danger signs are there.

Especially now.

While we ready our breaking story, you can read about Myanmar here…

Myanmar Government Shuts Down The Internet

Barbados Free Press Staff OK, Blog Is Up Again

Hello Friends

It has been an exciting day – but it was the sort of excitement as is found in that ancient Chinese curse “May you live in exciting times.”

Nonetheless, the blog is back up again and everything appears to be working.

Clive and I are working on some breaking news, while Robert is writing an article that may cause some heart attacks among mother hen flight instructors everywhere.

We’ll see you in the morning.

Marcus, and the gang: Shona, George, Cliverton, Robert & Auntie Moses.

Barbados Apartment Collapse – Where Is All The Money?

From a Barbados Free Press reader. Printed as received with a few paragraph breaks added…

Subject: Brittons Hill Tragedy

Not one cent collected in the Media Relief Fund has been given to the surviving family of those who died. Over one month later and no one, not the owner of the apartment or any one acting on his behalf has spoken to anybody in the Codrington Family even if was to simply return the deposit and months rent on the $1500.00 a month apartment at Arch Cot Terrace.

Not one cent from the peace march and fashion show has been donated to the Codringtons. In fact the church New Covenent Ministries that opened the BNB account to receive money is in no way connected to anybody involved in the tragedy. Not even the insurance companies has said a peep as they deem it an act of God.

People meet the Codringtons and say I gave money for you at the telethon. They have not received a penny. Not one document has been drawn up regarding the trust fund for the children.

No, the Codringtons are not greedy, nor needy, but somebody has to let people know that contrary to popular belief your money is not going where you intended.

On the peoples business the government promised to match at least a couple hundred thousand to the telethon – so said Trevor Prescod. This has not been done.

The government boldly proclaimed they paid for a funeral: it was two oil companies that put up the money.

Don’t be distracted by the family feud, it is in the interest of the youngest Codrington child and even then, there is no contest.

They finally released the bodies to Lyndhurst on Thursday Sept 27th, so look out for the burial next week. It was a political show and spectacle at the thanksgiving service, but no more.

Keep your money, the Codringtons are not getting it anyway, everybody is holding back something to do this and to do that. Give back the five lives lost, then we can talk. The only two groups that have delivered on any promise to the Codringtons is the Broadstreet taxi association and Chefette Restaurants.

Signed,

A BFP Reader

Barbados Free Press Going Offline For 24 Hours Or Less

Hello Folks

Before 11pm on Wednesday, September 26, 2007, Barbados Free Press will be going offline for an estimated 24 hours – or less. At times the blog will entirely disappear – while at other times we will be online but none of the moderators will be on duty.

Whether we are down for the entire day or a few hours all depends on how quickly we can make some things happen.

The reason for this will be clear upon our return.

My friends…

We are not living in the Barbados of our parents – where no matter what hardships we faced, our elected representatives, police and judicial officials at least knew right from wrong and the importance of the Rule of Law. No, people didn’t always live up to the standards as they should have: but at least they knew enough to know when they were doing wrong.

Fact: American Airlines Flight AA1089 Miami-Barbados 26 September 2007

Welcome To Barbados! 

“The Government of Barbados has refused to supply the forms (immigration and customs) to American Airlines and has also refused to allow us to print the forms”

Senior Flight attendant advising the passengers on a nearly full flight TODAY!

On arrival at GAIA no customs forms were available.

A number of prominent Barbadians were on this flight and can confirm this statement.

Can the Minister of Tourism please urgently advise what is the current position of issuing landing cards and customs declaration forms to passengers on our largest American carrier servicing Barbados?

To The Person With The Pink Paper…

TO THE PERSON WHO SENT US A PINK SHEET OF PAPER

Message received. Please wait.

Give us 24 hours exclusive for reasons that will become obvious tomorrow.

Something big happening and have to wait 24 hours.

Folks, this message is another one of those housekeeping communications that have to be posted when we can’t email… and we don’t dare email at this moment.

Thanks! 

Barbados Government’s Propaganda Response For Director Of Public Prosecutions – “Ronja Juman Is A Thief, A Whore, A Druggie – She Deserved It”

Good day, friends!

Please take the time to read this article so you can understand something that will be happening at Barbados Free Press later today. We want you to know the background so you can clearly see the Government’s current strategies to deal with BFP and also the government’s attempts to defuse the situation involving the DPP and police thuggery against Ronja Juman and her son.

The Government Attacks Against Barbados Free Press Continue – With A Twist

As our regular readers know, for the past few months Barbados Free Press has been inundated with thousands upon thousands of vile comments designed to shut down freedom of speech, especially our readers’ discussion of government corruption and other vital issues. In response, for two months BFP staffed the comment moderation almost 21 hours a day in four shifts. But we have real jobs and families, so that couldn’t be a permanent solution.

Through sources and our own enquiries, we know that these attacks were coordinated and that they were carried out by agents of the Government of Barbados. (For any doubters, read on to the end of this article and your doubts will be gone)

Agents of the Government also put up their own blogs with names similar to BFP – the idea being to piggy-back upon BFP’s Google hits and popularity to continue the attacks against free speech. The same people who established those blogs and flooded our comments section with vile filth also made violent threats against BFP’s writers, a local business owner and a DLP candidate and their families and homes.

A few weeks ago, we were forced to put Barbados Free Press on “moderate all comments”. The attacks continued, but it was easier to list the spam once an hour, dump it and then post the rest of the good comments.

BFP’s Readership Soars!

The number of comments declined, but average daily readership soared with our first print edition – and has stayed right up there. In fact, two days ago we welcomed visitor number 1,500,000 (1.5 million) and moved to the top 20 on the WordPress Top Blogs list. Not bad for a nothing little part time blog out of an island with a population smaller than most US cities!

At current traffic levels, over 3 million people will visit Barbados Free Press in the next 12 months from all over the world. And that is not counting the folks who read a paper or emailed edition of BFP!

The coordinated government attack with the strategy of posting thousands of vile comments backfired and caused us to do something different – the print edition – and that resulted in unprecedented visitor growth.

Vile Comments Cease – Overnight!

Then three days ago, the vile comments stopped.

Just like that.

We used to receive dozens of vile, threatening comments from three or four IPs in an obviously coordinated attack, then as soon as we blocked the IPs, the attackers would establish new internet routes and go at it again in a contest of will that ran 24/7 for months.

The comments stopped.

They were there, and then they weren’t. Similarly the government blogs became dormant with no new attack “articles.”

Someone Ordered The Attack Campaign Against BFP To Stop

How foolish those coordinating the attacks against BFP have been! The fact that the vile comments stopped all at once is proof enough for any doubters that the attack was a coordinated effort.

For the past three days, we have had the comments section wide open again with no moderation and not one vile comment has been posted!

Why did the attacks stop? That’s easy… someone ordered that this form of attack was to stop.

Now that we have mentioned how the attacks suddenly stopped, there will probably be a few more – but it is too late. Our readers have seen proof with their own eyes that the attacks upon Barbados Free Press were coordinated!

The people attacking BFP made a public mistake and showed the world that the attacks were a coordinated strategy.

A New Strategy – Posting Single Comments To Defuse The Ronja Juman Incident

The same government agents have now adopted another tactic – trying to influence the debate by posting single comments from one IP before moving on to another IP and posting a supporting comment in a different name.

Here are two comments posted an hour apart from two IPs. Both are by the same writer. How do we know that? We’ll have to defer on the public explanation for now, and it will have to be sufficient just to say that the government agents made some other mistakes that Cliverton picked up on.

Notice how these and other similar comments on the Ronja Juman articles imply that the writer has confidential or “inside” knowledge or knows Juman. This is insidious propaganda designed to divert the attention from the actions of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the police and Juman’s involvement with a man who appears to have been misusing his position to defraud the government of import duties and VAT.

The strategy is obvious… The government hopes to defuse the situation by saying that Ronja Juman * (Mrs. Juman’s first name is spelled two ways in various court documents “Ronya” and “Ronja”) deserved what happened to her because she is a thief, a whore and a druggie. Previous comments spoke of “inside” knowledge that the police action was really a drug raid, and that’s why the vaginal search at the police station.

Read the BFP articles yourselves, folks. Look at the documents posted online at the Justice B Mine website. Make up your own minds. We have examined all and find that the police nighttime raid, naked vaginal search, interrogation and criminal charges are all about back rent owed to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

I don’t know Ronja Juman. She might be a thief, a whore and a druggie for all I know…

… or not. But that has nothing to do with the Director of Public Prosecutions misusing his authority, the police and the courts to harass and intimidate a person so they will pay him back rent on his apartment building.

Here are the propaganda posts from the one government agent. There are many similar comments already posted, and you can expect more of the same…

Lollyboy

Re—Ronya Juman

What a story…but it is not strange to me…..a story has 3 sides..

I am familiar with this woman…..for the time I knew her she told that story of her husband…..but I realized that both of them were ideal for each other….they both both rented houses over the years and moved out without settling the bills….I remembered the condos and apartment owned by my friends at sunset Crest St. James..the matter called for extreme action to recover the rent arrears…

This woman is a stranger to the truth…she is a con-woman…her skin is pretty ….she looks at sex as nothing more than a plaster on a cut….

Have you seen how she recalled those events….she mentioned all the names….what do think de Rev…was doing come on!….he was her man..she entertains for money….she tricks you ….uses you….and most most men who are ignorant will be trapped….

Sep 26, 4:05 AM

catty

Both husband and wife were charged one time for larceny of diamonds…..I wonder if them is de same diamond now in de picture…

Things does ga round in circles…..dum get off then by technical err…but de diamonds dis still at large…..and ya remember na…..de police like dem get trapped in bed…….soft skin woman

Sep 26, 5:33 AM

Further Reading

Barbados Free Press

Barbados Director Of Public Prosecutions Charles Leacock – Ordered Police Thuggery Over His Tenant’s Unpaid Rent – Night Raid, Woman Strip Searched Over Unpaid Rent!

Demand Justice For Ronja Juman!

Justice B Mine blog (link here)

The Broken Trident’s Weblog Talks About Controlling The Slaves And Political Corruption – Nietzshe, Anyone?

New Barbadian blogs are popping up all over the place these days. Its probably enough to drive a certain elected official to the bottle if he wasn’t already Mount Gay’s best customer.

The Broken Trident blog is so new that the ink hasn’t dried on the screen yet, but he or she has something worthwhile to say.

Why don’t you stop by and have a read? If we visit two or three other blogs a day, THEY will never be able to stop the discussion. If one blog goes down, two more will start.

From The Broken Trident’s Weblog…

History Lesson

“Any radical movement can be easily managed. All that is necessary to control it is to open occasionally the trap-door between masters and slaves and let the leaders of discontent come up into paradise” -Nietzshe

As one BLP blogger quoted. As our history has shown us it is the influential, the highly educated and members of the socially elite that have lead this country. In these times of political corruption it is even more important for us as a nation to look back at our origins, not as far back as Africa per say, but to the origins of this country and what it was founded on…

… continue reading this piece at The Broken Trident (link here)

What Is Good Government?

Bajan Lion left this comment on our post Demand Justice For Ronja Juman!

We think it is worth reading…

Good Governance

To whom it may concern.. an it should concern you , did you know?

Good governance adopts policy and practice that promote the interests of the governed. Politicians are elected and officials appointed to advance stability, prosperity and dignity. They operate judiciously, accountably, responsibly and in a transparent manner, and use community resources optimally for the common wealth.

Good governance has realistic, audited programs to combat corruption, and does not send good money after bad.

Corruption in officials is bad on so many levels. It connotes decay, immorality, or impairment of integrity or virtue. It denotes the abuse of power to gain personal advantage in the form of financial or other material resources or in reciprocal favours. The culprits exploit their office to win advantages (to which they are not entitled). They are not up to the tasks of good government, but seek office to milk the system. Given the opportunity and the ease of concealment, the temptation is rife in societies inured to it. Beyond a criminal law which detects it and orders restitution, we need a fearless press, a vigilant democracy and savvy electorate.

Now if we cant get or expect this from the BLP and the DLP, then who or by what means are we going get Barbados back on the right track? If not for us then at the very least for the next Generation. All Bajans deserve to have a good standard of life.

So Much Corruption In Barbados and So Little Time! Sir COW Williams’ Conflict Of Interest and The Great Barbados Land Grab

A reader has taken us to task for not addressing the issue of Sir COW’s conflict of interest in relation to the Barbados Farms Ltd. land grab.

Our apologies, dear readers. There is only so much time in a day and so very much corruption in Barbados.

If only we could win the lottery and do Barbados Free Press on a full time basis, we would be able to print many more stories of the way things are on our small island home.

So, take it away concerned reader…

The Great Barbados Land Grab

I have been increasingly disturbed by what may now be called “The Great Barbados Land Grab”.

Following the announcement by Sir Charles Williams and a group of investors to purchase a controlling interest in Barbados Farms Ltd, this has now been succeeded by a further bid by the CLICO Group. The disgrace here is that Sir Charles Williams (COW) is a board member of Barbados Farms Ltd (BFL), and yet claims that his bid is based on the inability of BFL to make a profit.

How could you at BFP allow COW to get away with this blatant conflict of interest? Surely, as a director, COW has a duty to the shareholders of BFL to make the company perform to the best of its abilities. How can he therefore turn around and claim that he and his friends can make BFL profitable once again? He didn’t even have the decency to resign as a director first! The fact is that BFL own 4000 acres of land in Barbados. For the amount being offered for the shares by COW and his cohorts, they would only need to develop about 300 acres to recover their investment, leaving them with 3700 acres free.

It’s the kind of land grab reminiscent of the stories we read about the Wild West! Nobody who has seen COW operate with agricultural land will believe that he seriously wants to keep it in agriculture. His whole juggernaut has to be continued to be fed. As one job is completed, those earth moving machines must move on. The CLICO offer has little more to recommend it, and there is generally a feeling in Barbados that, despite Mr Parris’s protestations, they are just awaiting a change of government to move ahead and develop what they have.

They don’t need any advanced “nod and a wink” before they purchase, because both they and COW know how it’s done.

To the shareholders of Barbados Farms Ltd, I say that you must make your directors identify that land owned by BFL that cannot be used for agriculture, and apply to develop it to YOUR benefit, and nobody else’s. And demand the resignation of Sir Charles Williams from the board, immediately, for failing in his duty as a director.

Jdid Presents The Afropan Steel Orchestra’s ‘The Barber of Seville’

You must visit Doan Mind Me blog when you have a few minutes to watch this video. Thoroughly enjoyable!

And while you’re there, our friend Jdid has many other interesting posts.

Demand Justice For Ronja Juman!

In Barbados, An Abandoned Mother’s Unpaid Rent Meant A Night Raid By Police For Interrogation & Intimidation – Complete With Naked Body Cavity Search

When thugs of the Royal Barbados Police Force planned a raid upon Ronja Juman and her 6 year old son, they scheduled it for the middle of the night when the family would be sleeping. Like the Nazi Gestapo or Communist Stasi of old they wanted to inflict maximum terror and intimidation.

Her offense?

Unpaid rent – a private debt to Charles Leacock, the Director of Public Prosecutions for Barbados.

Juman was dragged off in the small hours of the night to the police station where she was searched naked and even had her intimate parts searched by police.

All for unpaid rent!

Ronja Juman’s story is detailed on the Justice B Mine blog and in the BFP article Barbados Director Of Public Prosecutions Charles Leacock – Ordered Police Thuggery Over His Tenant’s Unpaid Rent – Night Raid, Woman Strip Searched Over Unpaid Rent!

* (Mrs. Juman’s first name is spelled two ways in various court documents “Ronya” and “Ronja”)

What Are Good Barbadians Going To Do About This Injustice & Thuggery?

In the next few weeks or months, we’re going to have a discussion about what good Bajan people can do to stop the government corruption and abuse by government officials that has now even gained hold of our Royal Barbados Police Force and our Justice system.

Forget about complaining to the police, the government or the justice system. As they say in the gangster movies, The Fix Is In.

Various public officials have known about Ronja Juman’s middle of the night horror for months. These public officials include Chief Justice Simmons, Attorney General Dale Marshall, Prime Minister Owen Arthur and various high police officials.

Robert Mugabe would be proud.

Tell The World!

One place where I think we should start is to tell the world. International embarrassment and pressure works. If we organise, Barbados citizens could send out hundreds or thousands of Emails within a week or two. We will put together some examples of letters and publish the names and addresses of organisations that might put pressure on the thugs that seem to be in charge of this country.

So let’s get the contact information for various organisations and BFP will post it all later.

Who can Barbadians turn to in the international community?

Here’s some specific and general suggestions for organisations we want to tell about what happened and what is happening to Ronja Juman. Let’s hear your suggestions and comments please.

– Transparency International

– Amnesty International

– Reporters Without Borders (over the Barbados media blackout and censorship that will accompany Juman’s case in Barbados.

– International Association of Chiefs of Police (What is their criteria for membership? Can we petition the organisation to revoke the membership of the Royal Barbados Police Force?)

– Other respected international police and justice organisations.

– Women’s groups around the world.

– Various high courts around the Commonwealth. The Chief Justices around the world.