New Chinese Product Recall… Condoms!

At Least They Aren’t Talking About Lead Content! 😉

Unknown if any defective Chinese condoms were imported into Barbados.

Perhaps Minister of Health Dr. Jerome Walcott can take time from his busy schedule of lunches at the Hilton to make some enquiries.

Washington Post: Concerns Affect D.C. Condom Giveaway 

President of 3S Structural Steel Solutions May Be Stripped Of Order Of The British Empire – MBE

“MBE – Jonathan Laszlo Danos, For services to British exports to Latin and Central America.”

So announced the BBC News on Friday, June 16, 2000 on the occasion of The Queen’s Birthday Honours. (BBC link here)

“Member Of The Order Of The British Empire” MBE – is the lowest honour on the list that tops out with Knight Grand Cross (GBE), then downwards to Knight Commander (KBE), Commander (CBE), Officer (OBE) and finally the MBE. Recipients of the GBE and KBE are called “Sir” (Like our Chief Justice Sir David “Virgin” Simmons, doan ya know!)

What Happens To Danos’ MBE If He Is Found Civilly Liable For Fraud?

According to Wikipedia, 114 persons have been stripped of their Royal Honours since 1921. (List is here) As we look through the list, we see that most of the disgraced ex-members were convicted in a criminal or military court of offenses ranging from child porn to fraud to drunk driving. But there are also a significant number of persons who were stripped of their honours without being convicted criminally.

In many cases, the reason for the stripping is not announced, or the reason is an act that that did not result in a criminal conviction – ie: a doctor being disciplined for incompetence or neglect by the Medical Board. I didn’t look at too many, but I do see one Leslie Albert Shipp who was stripped of his MBE after a Civil Court trial.

So there is precedent in history for stripping Jonathan Danos of his MBE should the civil court find he committed a fraud as alleged – especially in view of the fact that Danos was awarded his MBE for business activities in our region and the alleged fraud involves business activities in Jamaica.

Further Reading

BFP – President Of Barbados Flyover Contractor 3S Structural Steal Solutions Being Sued For Fraud, Kickbacks In Jamaican Bridge Project!

Barbados Underground: President Of S3 Barbados Limited Jonathan Danos Is Being Sued For Fraud And Conspiracy By Mabey, His Former Employer ~ Yet Another Shady Project By The Government Of Barbados

Wikipedia – Order Of The British Empire

Our thanks to reader Adrian Loveridge for commenting on Danos’ MBE and inspiring this article.

President Of Barbados Flyover Contractor 3S Structural Steal Solutions Being Sued For Fraud, Kickbacks In Jamaican Bridge Project!

Can’t Our Government Deal With Anyone But Crooks ?

3S Structural Steel Solutions’ President Jonathan Danos is being sued by his former employer, Mabey and Johnson Limited, in a fraudulent contracting scheme involving secret kickbacks on a bridge project for the Government of Jamaica.

David over at Barbados Underground has put together an absolutely brilliant piece of investigative reporting that causes me to ask three questions…

1/ Why didn’t The Nation News break this story?

2/ Why does our government continually deal with corporations and people with a record of corrupt kickbacks to fatten politicians and hangers-on?

3/ How much “consulting commissions” are built into the Barbados flyover project, especially considering it is three or four times the original estimate?

Oh…. I get it! Never mind.

Bloody crooks…

Barbados Underground: President Of S3 Barbados Limited Jonathan Danos Is Being Sued For Fraud And Conspiracy By Mabey, His Former Employer ~ Yet Another Shady Project By The Government Of Barbados

Also See BFP’s What A Surprise! ABC Highway Cost Triples Or More…

BFP – Flyover Files Missing From Barbados Government Corporate Affairs Office 

Photo: From left: President of 3S Barbados SRL, Jonathan Danos, Minister of Public Works and Transport Gline Clarke, and Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance Clyde Mascoll in a light moment after the launch. (Pictures by Sandy Pitt)

Pull! Push! Has Questions For World Bank President Robert Zoellick… Mr. Zoellick, Are You Listening?

One of the things I love about blogging is that when ordinary folks have something to say that makes sense, it can attract the attention of world leaders in practically any endeavour. I have no doubt that right now an internet bot is picking up the phrase “World Bank President Robert Zoellick” on our friend Amit’s Pull! Push! blog. There is just a chance that Amit’s article will be laid on Zoellick’s desk tomorrow morning.

Don’t laugh too much about that statement because just about anybody who is anybody these days has someone on their staff searching the internet for articles about them.

Anyway, I hope Mr. Zoellick heads over to our friend’s blog because what Amit says makes some sense.

Pull! Push! The World Bank Meets Wall Street

We’ve also added Pull! Push! to our sidebar because we think that Amit will continue to grow his readership with insightful articles like his current piece.

Barbados Real Estate Meltdown: Some Real Estate Agents In Denial Or On Drugs – Homeowners Demand Government Cave Maps

Elephant In The Room? What Elephant?

“I do not see a major negative impact on property values. In other words, people will have a shock… people will probably stay away from places that look like they have a cave but generally speaking I believe that prices would remain fairly steady.”

… Real Estate Agent George “Mellow” Ramsay commenting on whether apartment buildings falling into caves in the middle of the night just might change the real estate and homebuilding business in Barbados.

How Does A Person Identify Which Homes “Look like they have a cave”?

The spin doctors are trying desperately to calm down the masses with assurances that the cave-in problem is only in one very teensy-weensy area – but according to two real estate agents we’ve spoken with, folks are walking from already-written deals across the island unless tests are now done. As one chap put, “After Brittons Hill, who in their right mind would close a deal anywhere in Barbados without tests and assurances.”

Meanwhile, those special connected people who have access to government cave maps and data are scrambling to try and determine if their homes are worth what they hope they are. The vast majority of Bajan homeowners are also quickly waking up to the fact that the government cave maps are now the key to land values – but they are being denied access to the information by a corrupt government. (See Dear Prime Minister: Publish All Cave Maps And Data Now!)

The Nation News avoided talking about the subject for a week, but in the end they had to write something about the Barbados real estate meltdown express train that everyone hears coming down the track…

Property values ‘down the drain’

Properties near the ill-fated apartment complex at Arch Cot Terrace, Brittons X Road, St Michael, are valueless, says a realtor.

In addition, managing director of Big Mac Realty, Reverend Dr Gordon Matthews, said he believed the tragic incident, in which the complex plunged at least 50 feet into a cave last week Sunday, would usher in a new dispensation in “building and valuing”.

“In the immediate area, it is my opinion from what I have been reading in the papers from the experts that those properties along the fault line would be valueless because they are on a cave.

“This also brings about a new dispensation in building and valuing. Perhaps, we never thought about caves until this happened. We never thought about testing the ground before any development takes place, so I believe that this is now going to be introduced before any building or passing of land for development takes place to ensure that it is solid and the foundation would not present a danger in the future,” he told THE DAILY NATION.

… continue reading this article at The Nation News (link here)