Barbados DLP Government Insider: Chinese Provided Container-Load Of Free Shoes For People Of Barbados, But Corrupt BLP Insiders Sold Them!

Shoe Incident Is “Tip Of The Iceberg”

We have heard rumblings that the new DLP Government under David Thompson is uncovering unbelievable incidents of corruption by the past BLP Government. Like everyone on this island, we’ve been hearing and seeing the evidence of BLP corruption ourselves for about a decade, so these revelations are hardly surprising.

What will be surprising is if the DLP Government actually follows up with charges and recovery of our stolen funds from BLP members’ offshore bank accounts.

BFP reader “Wishing In Vain” is a DLP Government insider who has proven his credentials many times on this blog by delivering insider information.

The following conversation took place today between Barbados Free Press and DLP Government insider “Wishing In Vain”…

Wishing in Vain
March 31, 2008 at 3:07 pm

The reality of the situation is that even on the 31 st of March 2008 the NATION NEWSPAPER has not yet woken up to the fact that there was and election held on the 15 th of January 2008 and the ruling party of the day were evicted from power and control of this great island we call home.

Since the election the paper has shown a clear bias towards positive coverage for the blp, not sure how they manage to spin it that way as they are totally out of sync with the citizens who charged the blp with arrogance and corruption and gross misconduct in office, but their effort to make the blp look good is ongoing, what a job they have on their hands made even harder with the reports being filed on things such as HARDWOOD HOUSING, Urban Development, National Sports Council, explain how Booza King could charge the organisation he is part of and involved in $48,000 for catering for less that 120 persons at an event held by the N S C or where did the container of donated shoes from the gov’t of China to the people Barbados get sold by these same bastards, this is only the tip of the iceberg these are some among others.

**************

BFP says,

Please provide the details about the shoes, WIV. Names, dates, where etc.

Wishing in Vain
March 31, 2008 at 3:16 pm

Stay tuned to this station, trust me as real as it comes.
The reality of the extent of the reach of this corruption is unreal.

**************

BFP says,

We know how bad it was, WIV.

What we don’t know is whether people will go to jail for it or not. We don’t know if the Government will launch wide-ranging international lawsuits in attempts to recover the offshore funds… or if it will hesitate because that knife cuts both ways.

We are also extremely disappointed with the lack of transparency and accountability shown by the PM over the bizjet issue, and his broken promise to immediately adopt the Ministerial Code as he said he would.

You can read the entire exchange here.

Barbados Labour Party Blog Removes Link To Website Threatening Murder Of Adrian Loveridge

“Now that the next election is approaching in 2012/2013, some folks from the BLP have asked us to remove or modify our past stories of the threats.

To that request, BFP replies: NOT A CHANCE!”

UPDATED: March 15, 2012

For seven long months in 2007/2008 the official WordPress blog of the Barbados Labour Party linked to the BFPE blog (Barbados Free Press Exposed) that published threats against many people, including threats to murder Adrian Loveridge, to burn down his business, and to rape his wife. At the time in 2007/2008 the Barbados Labour Party was asked to remove the links from their blog to BFPE but did not do so for seven months until BFP and Keltruth blog focused on the story and wouldn’t let go.

The Barbados Labour Party blog was started by Dr. William Duguid, who was an MP and high party official but we don’t know who was in charge of the official BLP blog at the time that the editor decided to link to the threats at BFPE. It is a fact though that the Barbados Labour Party knew of the threats to murder Adrian Loveridge and was content that their official BLP blog should publicize and link to the blog where the threats were posted. The Royal Barbados Police Force shamefully refused to investigate the threats, and especially after information surfaced linking some of the threats to a computer in the Member’s Lounge of the Barbados Parliament!

Now that the next election is approaching in 2012/2013, some folks from the BLP have asked us to remove or modify our past stories of the threats.

To that request, BFP replies: NOT A CHANCE!

The threats, the history of the threats, the refusal of the police to do anything about them and the shameful promotion of the threats by the BLP official blog will remain on Barbados Free Press.

As a reminder of what happened, read the following story originally published by BFP on March 31, 2008…

Takedown Follows Keltruth Blog Story Linking BLP To Threats of Violence

Who says that blogs don’t have the power to force change in Barbados?

Just a few hours ago the Barbados Labour Party – BLP – came one step closer to ending a shameful incident in the history of the party and Bajan politics.

The official BLP Blog has just now stopped promoting and linking to a website that published threats to murder political opponent and hotel owner Adrian Loveridge and his wife.

It took seven long months for the Barbados Labour Party to decide to disassociate itself from people who call for the murder and rape of BLP political opponents!

The offending website is the Barbados Free Press EXPOSED (BFPE) blog that has been active since August of 2007. The operator(s) of BFPE threatened to murder Adrian Loveridge and his wife on several occasions by posting articles and comments on BFPE and by posting comments on other Barbados blogs. They also posted comments threatening to rape Mrs. Loveridge and to burn down the family hotel.

Barbados Director Of Public Prosecutions Fails To Attend Debt Collection Lecture

photo: Charles Leacock – Corrupt Director Of Public Prosecutions For Barbados

Somewhat tongue-in-cheek, we report that the Barbados Director of Public Prosecutions, Charles Leacock, did not attend the Effective Debt Collection and Fraud Awareness seminar hosted last week by the Barbados Community College’s Industry Services unit at Savannah Hotel, Hastings, Christ Church.

Had he taken advantage of this opportunity, Mr. Leacock would have heard retired banker Basil Graham saying “The responsibility of the collector is to motivate the debtor to pay . . . You have to let them understand that you are not adversaries and your intentions should not be to fight, bully, nor to antagonise,”

DPP Leacock Misused The Barbados Police & Criminal Justice System To Collect A Private Debt

Our Director of Public Prosecutions had a little problem with collecting some back rent from one of his tenants two Christmases ago, so he had a corrupt police officer named Paul Vaughan drag his female tenant from her screaming child in the middle of the night.

Sergeant Vaughan took the tenant Ronja Juman to the police station where she was strip-searched – presumably looking for back rent. After having a female police officer look in Ms. Juman’s vagina, Sergeant Vaughan told her she had better pay her debt to the Director of Public Prosecutions or she would be charged. She was then released without charges because, after all, the intent in dragging her from her home in the middle of the night and humiliating her with a vaginal search was not to lay charges, but to get her to pay up.

Juman had given some jewellery to the Director of Public Prosecutions earlier on, but you know how it is with extortionists… once you start to pay you have to keep on paying.

When Juman couldn’t come up with more money, the Director of Public Prosecutions had her charged with a criminal offense over the back rent! What happened to those charges is anybody’s guess because the Barbados news media is too frightened to cover the story.

So we say that it is a shame that Director of Public Prosecutions Charles Leacock didn’t attend the Effective Debt Collection seminar – but it is understandable. Thugs generally don’t take seminars about customer relations.

When you are one of the most powerful men on the island and you can have your corrupt police friends descend upon your debtors in the middle of the night – who needs seminars?

Further Reading

BFP: We Publish All The Documents: Barbados Director Of Public Prosecutions, Police Sgt Paul Vaughan And The Blank Search Warrant Scandal

Nation News: Motivate debtors to pay, don’t bully

Bermuda Government Puts Pressure On Royal Gazette Newspaper – Advertising Revenues As A Weapon To Control The Press

Bermuda Government Kills Advertising Contract With A Newspaper That Won’t Keep Quiet

The Bermuda Government has axed subscriptions and advertising contracts with The Royal Gazette – a newspaper that describes itself in this way…

“The Royal Gazette aims to cover the whole community fairly and accurately ands to act as an independent voice. It is not affiliated with any political party.”

Apparently Premier Ewart Brown and his crones consider The Royal Gazette to have been acting a little too independently and they are now seeking through financial extortion of the island’s only daily newspaper – to control the news that citizens read.

We on Barbados can sympathize with the Bermudians as our news media was under the same extortion for years of BLP government. Whether things will change significantly with the new David Thompson DLP government remains to be seen.

Further Reading at The Royal Gazette

March 26, 2008 – Government Axes Its Royal Gazette Deals

March 27, 2008 – Government will use electronic media after axing Royal Gazette deals

March 28, 2008 – Premier: “Learn To Live With That”

March 29, 2008 – Free Media Is Important

Further Reading At BFP

Barbados Government Mouthpiece Newspaper “Nation News” – Refuses To Publish Column By Adrian Loveridge

Attention Barbados Offshore Investors and Transparency International – Corruption Stories Being Hidden By Barbados Media & Government

Barbados To Allow Convicted Gun-Toting Rapist Foreigner To Work On Island

Barbados Says “No Problem” With The Double Standard

There is a double standard that exists with artistes and celebrities. We allow them to break all kinds of rules because… well, they are special. Hollywood is most famous for this, excusing and even continuing to fete celebrities who take sexual advantage of children. (Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Michael Jackson)

We’re no different on this island – and maybe even more willing to tolerate the excesses of the rich and famous because they bring big dollars and prestige to Barbados.

Under ordinary circumstances, Bajans would be horrified that their government issued a work permit to a foreigner man who was convicted of rape, robbery and gun possession and has recently been granted parole after 8 years in prison. Citizens would be calling for answers as to why the government would let such a man on our island when he is not a citizen.

Don’t Worry Folks… He’s A Musician On Parole

When I get to the heart of the story and say that I’m talking about Jah Cure in Barbados to perform at the upcoming Reggae On The Hill at Farley Hill, the same folks who were upset about our headline will now wonder what the fuss is all about.

Just remember friends, we don’t want convicted gun-toting rapist-robbers on our island home. Unless, of course, we can make some money by letting them visit.

Just some thoughts on a Sunday afternoon.

The rape victim, Suzanne Ferguson, who waived her anonymity to speak out after she heard Cure was due for release, told the Jamaican press last year: ‘Every time there is a lot of publicity about Jah Cure, I have even more flashbacks.

‘Sometimes I am so afraid to leave my house. It seems to me that entertainers are more valued than everybody else in Jamaica and, as a woman, I feel seriously undervalued.’ She has claimed she was offered money by Cure’s supporters to retract her claims.

… from The Guardian Rape row as ‘new Marley’ comes to UK

Why Should Anyone Trust Ricardo Marshall Of The Solid Waste Project Unit?

Ricardo Marshall, project manager in the Solid Waste Project Unit, is one of the idiots most responsible for the disaster that is the Greenland Dump. As described by Professor Hans G. Machel…

Ricardo Marshall, as I have pointed out before, is ignorant and incompetent in the position he presently holds. He has proven this numerous times, both in the printed media and in his appearances at my public presentation and on Brass Tacks in February 2006. As an example, I refer to my lengthy article “Nothing good about Greenland”, which appeared in the Sunday Sun on February 27 2005. In this article I show, point by point, that Marshall does not understand the issue(s) at hand. Marshall needs to be replaced.

… from BFP’s Greenland Fiasco Dooms Barbados – Professor Hans Machel Names The Liars, Thieves & Incompetents

In the latest piece of deception about the Greenland Dump as published in the Nation News, Ricardo Marshall claims that the only waste going into the site in the future would be “residue” after all organic materials, plastics, chemical and construction waste was removed from the garbage.

Uh-huh. Sure.

Why should anyone trust Ricardo Marshall at this stage of the Greenland Project?

He has forged ahead in the face of a wall of technical advice against the site. The site has had to be rebuilt twice due to the instability of the ground and they still can’t get an engineer to certify it and structures yet to be built – like the leachate treatment station.

Ricardo Marshall and his co-conspirators have bet everything on making Greenland Dump operational – even without leachate treatment. They have totally ignored modern incineration/vaporization technologies because they have had tunnel vision for the last 15+ years.

Marshall can’t even tell us how much has been spent for this useless and dangerous project.

But the one thing he knows is that his career and personal credibility are tied to the Greenland Dump becoming operational… so he presses ahead despite all technical evidence against the location.

Further Reading

Nation News: Trash Talk: Waste of Money

The Link Between Barbados Labour Party BLP And Threats To Murder

Keltruth Blog traces the links and, as far as we’re concerned, proves the headline.

Keltruth Blog: Yes, there is a link between the BLP and Threats of Violence

United States Military Having Trouble Locating All Those Mischievous Nuclear Missiles! Should They Look On Barbados?

You know how it is… you think you know where all your nuclear weapons are and then WHAM! All of a sudden, there’s an empty space in the kitchen cupboard where your B-61 variable-yield thermonuclear device used to be.

Or, even more troubling – you think you have two W80 cruise missile warheads in the garage but when you count them there are four on the shelf. Wholoss! I know they are only 11 inches by 30 inches, but how could you have miscounted?

Well, you can take comfort in knowing that you are not alone. The United States Military has the same problem: they don’t always know how many nuclear weapons they have or where they are.

Last August a bunch of mischievous nuclear-tipped cruise missiles loaded themselves onto a B-52 and flew themselves from North Dakota to Louisiana. The pilots didn’t even know that they had six nuclear warheads on board! (CNN story here)

Only last week the Taiwan Air Force discovered that they had six nuclear missile fuses on their shelf that had been delivered to them in 2006. Just one problem: the Taiwan Air Force isn’t supposed to have this kind of weaponry. They thought the parts were helicopter batteries they had ordered! No kidding.

And they sat on the shelf for two years before someone noticed that they didn’t exactly fit the choppers. Did the US Air Force miss these ballistic missile fuses? Apparently not. (CNews story here)

Nuclear Weapons On Barbados During The Cold War?

We’ve come across information about some of the activities that used to take place on BIM during the Cold War – including at least two US Military projects that were secretly conducted on our island without the knowledge or permission of our government.

We’d like to include any information about nuclear weapons on Barbados in a yet-to-be-written Cold War story – so if you’ve heard any stories please either email BFP or leave a comment with your story.

Oh… and please check your closet. You never know if the Yanks might have left a few helicopter batteries lying around!

L.A. Times and New York Times Both Apologise For Publishing Fictional “News”

With our jaundiced “news” eyes, we and other media-literate bloggers are continually spotting the absurd lies that are published every day in the worlds so-called “legitimate” news media. (A cynic would point out that here on Barbados we have had much more practice than in some other countries in spotting horse-manure published as news!)

The two largest incidents that come to mind for us on the world stage are when Reuters knowingly published over a thousand faked and staged “news” photos (stories here and here) and the infamous story by Dan Rather where he knowingly used forged documents in a national news story. (“RatherGate” destroyed his career – story here. His critics pointed to many other suspect stories by Rather.)

Two Major U.S. Newspapers Caught In One Day!

Los Angeles Times Fake Story – “Sean Diddy Combs Involved In Tupac Shakur Shooting”

MARCH 26–Last week’s bombshell Los Angeles Times report claiming that the 1994 shooting of Tupac Shakur in the lobby of a Manhattan recording studio was carried out by associates of Sean “Diddy” Combs and that the rap impresario knew of the plot beforehand was based largely on fabricated FBI reports… (Story links here and here)

New York Times Fake Story – Reports Of Interrupted Basketball Game Were Based Upon Staged YouTube Video

SPOKANE, Wash. – A story by KHQ reporter Anthony Gomes, revealing that a popular internet video prank was a fake, has prompted the New York Times to run a correction to an article it published March 24th…

SPOKANE, Wash. – An aspiring filmmaker at Eastern Washington University says he never meant to prank the New York Times when he posted a video online March 16th… (Story links here and here)

Question Everything You Read, See & Hear In The News Media & Blogs

Question Why Stories Appear On The Blogs, But Not In Barbados News Media

The lapdog news media of Barbados routinely ignores stories that would cause a media feeding-frenzy in the North American or European news media. Can you imagine what would happen in Britain if a Minister of Government expropriated land and then ended up building a home for his mistress on the expropriated land? (BFP story here)

Or how about a story of police using a pre-signed blank search warrant (published online for anyone to see) to drag a woman from her home and children at 3am so they could search her vagina for back rent money owed to the Director of Public Prosecutions? (BFP story here)

Do you think if either of those stories had happened in New York City or London that the media wouldn’t have been all over? They would have been camped out in front of the Minister’s home and the Director of Public Prosecution’s office for sure!

Report: KPMG Accountants Facilitated Fraud That Helped Kill Bear-Stearns – What Does This Mean For Barbados?

If Barbados Can’t Trust KPMG – We Are In Trouble…

A story in the New York Times says that the United States Trustee has produced a 500+ page report that details wrong-doing by KPMG Accountants in their handling of New Century Financial – a failed company that collapsed in the recent US housing/mortgage disaster and played a big part in the Bear-Stearns debacle. (New York Times story here)

As our friend at Pull! Push! Blog always says “IANAA – I am not an accountant”, but even ordinary folks are well aware of the close relationship between KPMG Accountants and the Government of Barbados. Indeed, KPMG has a heavy governmental and corporate presence throughout the Caribbean.

How Could This Impact Barbados?

Our offshore banking industry is one of the cornerstones of our economy, but it is coming under increasing pressure from sectors of the United States and Canadian Governments that see all offshore banking as bad for those countries. Even Presidential candidate Barack Obama has developed a position on offshore banking that could be devastating for Barbados should he win. (BFP Obama offshore banking story here)

Our ability to continue to prosper depends largely upon our image of a country that can be trusted and one that has effective oversight of the offshore banking and corporate sectors.

KPMG is heavily relied upon by the Barbados Government to provide much of our oversight. The U.S. Trustee says that KPMG is willing to look the other way if the price is right.

According to the U.S. Trustee report, KPMG and others were willing to look the other way so much that the entire US mortgage industry collapsed and brought down one of the largest global investment banks and securities trading and brokerage firms in the world.: Bear Stearns.

Hmmmm…. and that makes me wonder how much KPMG Barbados has been looking the other way when it comes to Barbados’ government finances too! (KPMG Barbados website here)

In Offshore Finance & Banking, Image IS Reality

Barbados and KPMG have to be concerned about image as well as reality as the internet has made information so accessible. For instance, a decade ago no one outside of those involved would probably know that the Ohio government alleged that KPMG Barbados “breached this duty in preparing and certifying inaccurate and false financial statements” in the collapse of an Ohio insurance company in a case called “Ann H. Womer Benjamin v. KPMG Barbados et al.” (link here – PDF)

KPMG Barbados is relied upon by the Government of Barbados to perform various tasks for our county – even for doing information security audits. Many other Caricom governments are also heavily involved with KPMG. (KPMG Caricom website here)

With the recent appointment of KPMG-alumni Darcy Boyce as Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs and Development and Energy, the connections between our government and KPMG can be seen to be getting even closer. (Darcy Boyce’s impressive bio with KPMG and the Barbados Central Bank is here)

Serious and tough times are ahead for Barbados and our offshore industry. Let’s hope that Mr. Boyce’s and our government’s close relationship with KPMG does not become a liability.

We can’t stress it enough folks… Now, more than ever, Barbados needs Integrity, Transparency, Accountability Legislation – ITAL

Website Of Barbados Auditor General Puppy To Shut Down

Finally! Auditor General Of Barbados Establishes Official Website

For two years, Barbados Free Press has been calling upon the Auditor General of Barbados to publish his annual reports online.

One year ago, we established the “official” website of Toothless: The Auditor General Puppy Of Barbados. Our purpose was to mock and embarrass the Auditor General into establishing a website.

We are pleased to report that as of February 15, 2008, the Auditor General of Barbados, Mr. Leigh Trotman, now has an official website and has published the last four years of annual reports online. (Official Government Website: Auditor General of Barbados)

Whether Toothless had anything to do with the creation of the Auditor General’s website, or whether a change of government was the deciding factor – the big winners are the citizens of Barbados. Although there is a long way to go before we have transparency, accountability and a commitment to integrity throughout our government – this is a long-overdue first step.

A damned shame that even the Auditor General had to be dragged kicking and screaming towards public accountability and transparency.

We’d really like to know from Mr. Trotman whether or not the new government had anything to do with this development – or if the February timing was a coincidence.

Barbados Free Press Will Keep Our Promise

Toothless the Auditor General Puppy promised that he would take down his mock website when Mr. Trotman put up an official website and published the past 15 years of reports. Here is what Toothless said…

I’ll Take Down This Website When My Master Puts Up His Own!

I’m going to leave this website up until the Auditor General of Barbados puts up a website and makes his annual report available online for all citizens. As a matter of fact, I’ll leave this website up until Mr. Trotman posts online the annual reports for the last 15 years.

Mr. Trotman will probably want to put his email address up so citizens can send him tips about wrong-doing or waste by government officials. That would be a really good idea too!

(from the website of Toothless – the Auditor General Puppy Of Barbados)

The Auditor General has only put up the last four years of reports on the internet, but he has put his contact information and email address up so that citizens can send him tips, information and questions.

So… Toothless the Auditor General Dog will take down his website on May 1, 2008.

Well done, Toothless!

Further Reading

Official Barbados Government Website: Auditor General of Barbados

Barbados Police Advise Rape Victim “No Charges Possible Because Your Divorce Is Not Finalized”

Barbados Women As Property

Only a few days after a United States Department of State report criticized Barbados for “societal violence against women and children”, Shona heard last night of a woman who was recently raped by her estranged husband – and our police say they are unable to lay charges because our laws are reflect a time when wives were owned by their husbands.

As it was explained to Shona, the woman has been separated from her husband for two years, but has not yet been able to obtain a divorce for reasons of money. The dispute over the marital assets and custody of the children is still before the courts as it has been for almost two years.

According to Shona’s source, the woman has not lived with or had relations with her husband for 25 months since he beat her one night over two years ago and she returned to live with her mother. Recently the “husband” forced his way into her mother’s home and raped her. There is no doubt about the rape because the neighbours saw him force the door and heard her screams, however it was all over pretty quick and by the time the police arrived he was gone.

The police do not doubt that there was a rape, but the victim has been told that a formal rape charge is not possible because, unlike some other jurisdictions, our rape law has not been updated to take care of a situation where there is no doubt that the couple no longer have a marriage, but no formal divorce has yet been obtained.

If all the above is true as Shona believes it to be, we cannot fault the Royal Barbados Police Force. We lay the blame squarely on the members of the past BLP Government who for 15 years failed to deliver even the most basic of modern laws that many other countries take for granted.

Caption This Photo!

For those readers who would prefer no bubble, here’s the same photo without…

–(click the thumbnail for full size)

NOTE: Thanks to one of our most loyal readers for the photo! 

Greenland Dump Undermined By Springs But The Lies Continue

As of February 21, 2008 at the Greenland garbage dump site, the underground springs had been breached and attempts to pump dry had failed. During digging of the cell, the mechanical digger broke the underground spring which flows downhill from the 800 foot escarpment overlooking Greenland valley. There are five springs which run from the escarpment through the valley.

Labourers working on Greenland Plantation recall the springs broke the surface at several points and they could drink water from these springs.

A large diesel pump (in the Williams’ Construction blue and gold colours) with a six inch intake hose attempted to pump the water off into the Greenland river system but it kept flowing. After days of pumping, failing to get rid of the water, the engineers of J.R. Burnside of Toronto, Canada who did the retrofit study of the first attempt to build the dump site, (which had been designed and supervised by Stanley Engineering of Edmonton Alberta Canada – now trading as Stantec) ordered a large quantity of granite boulders brought to Barbados from Dominica at considerable expense.

(One can see the large pile of volcanic boulders by the flour mill near the shallow draft of the Bridgetown port next to the pile of white sand which is covered by black plastic with tyres which was imported for the beach reclamation along the south coast.)

We are told that this retrofit of Greenland had come in on time and under budget. THIS IS A LIE.

No contract for the building of a leachate tank or system for treating leachate has been awarded to date. The estimated cost is $25 million. No civil engineer will design and sign the plans for the foundation for the leachate system as this area has a long history of landslip and storm washout. This leachate will then drain downhill into the Greenland River and enter the sea at Green Pond on Morgan Lewis Beach: destroying marine life. It will also endanger the people and livestock living in or near Shorey Village.

I recommend that Ricardo Marshal and Stanton Alleyne of the Solid Waste Department, Ministry of Health, Government of Barbados – be frank and fair with the Hon. Prime Minister David Thompson and his Cabinet advising in writing the dangers of siting a garbage dump at Greenland.

Professor Robert Speed, geologist who worked on the geology of Barbados and is acknowledged worldwide as the authority on Barbados’ geology, has stated both verbally and in writing that he cannot tell the Barbados Government where to site a garbage dump but Greenland is the worst location in Barbados due to its long history of landslip and storm washout.

Professor Hans Machel, Geologist of the University of Alberta, Canada, with seventeen years experience of fieldwork in Barbados has also spoken and lectured on the dangers of siting a garbage dump at Greenland. Records show that there were storm rainfalls of over 20 inches in 24 hours in the years 1900 to 2000 and that massive landslides followed.

Prime Minister Thompson, please demand that the full scientific truth of the hazards of siting a garbage dump at Greenland be revealed to you so that you and your cabinet can stop the garbage dump at Greenland. To date $80 million has already been spent or committed. The government should adopt the recommendation of the Landis Report of 1984 which said that Barbados was too small a land area with a tourist economy and too large a population to site a landfill anywhere on the island.

Incineration which converts waste to energy, along with sorting, composting, recycling and incineration of 40% of the 1100 tonnes of solid waste produced in Barbados daily is the recommended system. Unless you take this fundamental decision, Barbados will suffer financial and environmental disaster.

Richard Goddard

Barbados Bathsheba Surfing Beach, Soup Bowl – Devastated By Storm

We drove down to Bathsheba this Monday morning to check out any possible beach erosion after last week’s BIG North swell which pounded the coastline for three days.

Here’s what we found… All the white or white-ish rocks you see here were all covered by sand just a week ago. The exposed bedrock is white from lack of exposure to the sun and to various darkening marine organisms like moss, etc.

Below is directly at the famous Soup Bowl. As you can see, the beachings will be a bit rough until the sand returns!

Thanks to our roving reporter D.

The Richard Goddard Story: More Tales Of Barbados Government Oppression

Bajan Chicken Farmer Is Not So Chicken…

It’s Monday morning. Inspectors turn up at Richard’s property asking for his dogs to be locked up, so that they may come into his yard. Richard responds: “I already put up the dogs. I was expecting you.”

One of the inspectors replies: “But our visit is a secret. How you know we were coming?”

Richard comes back with: “I knew you were coming because I filed suit against your minister at 3 p.m. Friday!”

Retribution is expected in the island…

Keltruth Blog continues their series on Barbados Government retribution against citizens who disagree with government policies. See their newest story: Richard Goddard – The Chicken Farmer who is not Chicken

The More We Hear From Tourism Minister Sealy, The More We Like His Ideas

It is still a little early in the game for the new Minister of Tourism, but so far he is at least proving that his perspective is long term rather than the “BIG EVENT” shortsightedness of his predecessor, Noel “Instant Millionaire” Lynch.

Firstly, he is talking about Barbados tourism in a post-Castro world and is obviously considering the strategies that we will need as we face the greatest changes seen in Caribbean tourism and economies since the 1959 Cuban revolution. (Hey… maybe Minister Sealy even read our April 19, 2006 article Cuba After Castro – What Does It Mean For Barbados?)

Secondly, Minister Sealy seems to understand that we must look after our core clientèle before we try anything fancy. That’s a fundamental rule of business that was forgotten during the past BLP government’s tenure.

Remember the huge press conferences where Noel Lynch proclaimed that fleets of Boeing 747s would be arriving from India and other Asian markets? Man, that must of been some good herb that Noel was smoking!

In contrast, Minister Sealy has so far exhibited a firm grip on reality.

Here’s a little bit of what our new Tourism Minister has been saying lately…

“The morning that [Castro’s] eyes don’t open, and Cuba opens up in a big way, we can have some problems in this part of the world.

“(Cuba) is going to be largely untapped and will have a lot of potential as far as tourism development is concerned…”

“…what might concern me is our capacity to attract investors who would find themselves going into Cuba”.

… “My view, frankly, is that [Britain] should be treated separately and any foray into new markets cannot be at the expense of our traditional markets that have been good to us and continue to be good to us,”

… read Minister Sealy’s full comments in the Nation News story Cuba Might Be A Threat

Your Daily Dose Of Stories That Would Cause Heads To Roll In Most Other Countries…

UPDATED: QEH Radioactive Iodine Shortage

Various apologists for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital have stated that the supply problems with radioactive iodine at the hospital are due to a world-wide shortage, however this is not what is being said by the hospital itself. Here is what the Nation News says..

One family told the SUNDAY SUN that they were told by their doctor that the QEH was unable to pay the suppliers and this had caused the delay. A doctor who spoke to this newspaper on condition of anonymity repeated this charge.

Short supply

In its statement, however, the QEH neither confirmed nor denied that this was the problem. It said “technical difficulties experienced at the institution recently resulted in a short supply of radioactive iodine from our suppliers. The QEH is pleased to inform that these technicalities have now been resolved”. 

In other words, the “short supply” from the suppliers was the RESULT of “technical difficulties” at the hospital. The newspaper article then goes into a typical convoluted explanation that boils down to this: THE SUPPLIER WASN’T PAID.

Further, the “worldwide shortage” of isotopes was a four week event back in November and December – and there was never a cessation of supply. In hindsight, the Canadian suppliers even dispute the word “shortage” as the South Africans immediately stepped in to fill the gap. (reference here and here)

Perhaps the Queen Elizabeth Hospital would care to address this in a more transparent manner instead of the usual double-speak.

Just remember this folks… This is Barbados, so no person is at fault for anything.

Original Article As Published… 

Those of us who have lived and worked abroad for even a short time return to this island with a sense of bewilderment at the nonsense that we Bajans put up with from the people who are supposed to be running our government and civil service.

We sit there and take it for years without really questioning the reasons that things are so fouled up – as if we expect things to be no other way.

Let’s take a trip through the news today and see what we can see…

1/ Cancer patients have been unable to receive radioactive treatment for months at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital because the place didn’t have the money to purchase the needed supplies. Or… because some airplane didn’t come because monkeys were playing with shotguns. Take your pick of the excuses offered by the QEH in the newspaper article here.

Fact: You can put a box on an airplane anywhere in the world and have it delivered the next day to anywhere else in the world. It is done millions of times a day.

So don’t give us some BULLSH*T that folks have been waiting four months for cancer treatment because of some problem with an airplane.

People will probably die needlessly because of this outrage, but the best Barbados can manage is a newspaper article four months after the nonsense started – saying in typical Bajan fashion that no one is really to blame.

Nobody to blame? BULLSH*T! Somebody should fired… and we should start with the Hospital Board of Directors…

But that brings us to our #2 most ridiculous story of the day…

2/ Owen Arthur Says Hospital Board Of Directors Should Not Be Fired!

Yes, folks, the former Prime Minister says that the government shouldn’t change how the Queen Elizabeth Hospital is run! Here’s the article here.

Sure, Owen… let’s leave things the way they are. After all, the QEH is just fine… Like Billie Miller said, “De place is so clean you can eat off de floors.”

3/ Former Attorney General Dale Marshall Says The Government Doesn’t Run Things ‘Bout Hey – And The Water Situation Was Fouled Up By The BWA Technical Officers

I am continually amused by members of the Opposition who have the foolishness to stand up and offer advice or criticism to the current DLP Government. A few weeks ago interim co-leader of the Opposition, Mia Mottley, actually criticized Prime Minister Thompson for taking a private jet ride as a gift. Ha! Mia didn’t say it too loudly though because she knows that she and her previous government can’t exactly boast about their integrity.

Today we have former Attorney General Dale Marshall informing the Government that the country has water supply problems – doan ya know? (newspaper article here)

This is the same Dale Marshall who forgot to pass a law declaring the new prison as an official prison… so the transfer of prisoners to the facility had to be put off for a month! (See BFP’s article: New Prison Can’t Be Used Yet – Because Government Didn’t Pass Required Law)

Further, Barbados still has water problems after 14 years of BLP Government because, according to Mr. Marshall… “…the bald truth is that even now the solutions that have been implemented by the technical officers at the BWA have not been entirely satisfactory.”

Gosh… why didn’t we hear about “the bald truth” when Dale Marshall was a Cabinet Minister in the last government? !!!

But then, Marshall goes on to say that the current government will rely upon the same technical people for engineering and strategies. Yup… the same folks who fouled things up under the BLP. And, according to Marshall, there’s nothing to be done!

Well Mr. Marshall… you know we had a HELL OF A CRICKET PARTY on this island. Tourism even dropped during the year!!! Nobody came, we had to give away thousands of free tickets and it probably cost the people of Barbados half a billion dollars or so… but the BLP Government gave a HELL OF A CRICKET PARTY!

What do you think we would have been able to do with a half a billion dollars directed to the vital infrastructure of Barbados, Mr. Marshall? Do you think that would have helped the hospital? The water situation? The cancer victims?

While you were cavorting with the corrupt VECO executives and blowing a hundred million dollars over budget on your prison, old ladies continue to haul water in buckets like their slave ancestors long before them.

Mr. Marshall, Ms. Mottley & Members of the Opposition: You have zero credibility and you know it. SO SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP.