Nevis Gets A Free Tirebaler Through Canadian Generosity – But Will They Change The Oil?

Tire Bales Are Only 5% Air - What Can We Build With Them?

From the Barbados Sanitation Service Authority blog, we learn that the Canadian Government has assisted in providing a tire baler to Nevis. What’s a tire baler? Glad you asked. According to Touch the Earth Construction…

“Tire-bales are “big rubber bricks”. They’re made in an hydraulic press, exerting extreme forces to compress approximately 100 tires into a “brick” 2-1/2′ x 5′ x 5′, weighing ~2,000#, wrapped with (5) .113 inch dia. steel wires pre-formed into square-knot ends which are hooked together when the press reaches it’s compression capacity.  The press is then released and the bale is completed.  The bale is now the density of most wood, weighing in at roughly 50 pounds per cubic foot and containing only 5% air.”

Tire bales are used for building retaining walls, housing and a dozen other uses. Even if the bales are not used for a purpose, they significantly reduce the amount of area necessary to store tires – and the tires do not act as mosquito breeding grounds because bales do not hold water.

So good for Nevis. I hope their tire baling programme works out. We learned about tire baling through the Barbados Sanitation Service Authority blog as written by (I think) Ian Bourne. Another source of information on tire balers is Encore Systems of Minnesota USA, who say they are the largest manufacturer of tire baling machines (website here).

But Will The Oil Be Changed?

You’ve met those people who never change their engine oil? Usually they don’t purchase the auto themselves, because if they did, they would look after it. They never change the oil and they wonder why their engines die after two years.

That pretty well sums up all these special projects where people and governments receive machinery for free. They don’t appreciate how much money it took to purchase the equipment and they don’t look after it.

Maybe it is the fact that so much of our government’s budget is “borrowed” and donated from the first world as government charity that we as Bajans have a cultural problem in that we don’t see that government equipment, buildings, infrastructure and charity programmes have to be paid for by someone.

Not to mention that the words “preventive maintenance” do not appear in the Bajan lexicon. Why do you think that Barbados public utility vehicles are in as rough shape as we see them in? Why do we have so many buses on the road in poor condition?

What Happened To The BLP Government’s 3 Million Dollars Of “Free” Weed-Wackers?

One last thought: Remember when the Mottley/Arthur Government decided that the way to save the young men hanging about was to get them into their own businesses by purchasing week-wackers and other landscaping equipment for them and giving (as opposed to loaning) equipment to them?

How many of those weed-wackers are still operating? Our guess… zero.

Does anyone know who these young men are and IF they are still “in business” with the equipment that was given to them?

How Many Weed-Wackers And Lawnmowers Can You Buy For Three Million Dollars?

Barbadian Stranded In Nigeria For Past 45 Years !

Her accent and physical appearance easily gives her away as a foreigner, but few people know the pathetic story behind the sojourn of 87-year-old Gwendolyn Joseph in Nigeria for the past 45 years…

Continue reading one of the strangest stories you have seen in a long time at Punch of Nigeria

Mumbai Terror Murderers: Born In Britain Muslims Captured Taking Part in Attacks

Two British-born Pakistanis were among eight gunmen seized by Indian commandos who stormed buildings to free hostages, Vilasrao Deshmukh, the chief minister of Mumbai, reportedly said.

The Foreign Office earlier said it was investigating reports on NDTV, a local television news channel, that the terrorists – who swarmed luxury hotels and other tourist sites in the city – included “British citizens of Pakistani origin”.

The development came as Gordon Brown called for international co-ordination to combat terrorism in the wake of the attacks. He said: “We have got to look at how international action against terrorism can be improved.”

… from Telegraph UK (link here)

How Does One Tell Fundamentalist Muslim Murderers From Ordinary Everyday Citizens?

As with the Muslim terror bombings of the London and Spanish transit systems, and the “shoe-bomber” Richard Reid who wanted to murder an entire airplane full of families, some of the Mumbai murderers were born in the west.

If they are truly religiously motivated, then perhaps all killed muslim terrorists should be buried in pig guts. According to some, the hardcore Muslim terrorists believe they can’t get those virgins while buried in pig guts.

What do you think folks? IF it were shown that burying killed terrorists in pig guts would remove significant numbers of recruits from the ranks of those willing to go on suicide missions, should society take this measure?

How Many Barbados Government Ministers Received New Vehicles As Election Rewards?

Friends, we received the following anonymous complaint. Like all things anonymous INCLUDING THIS BLOG it should be taken with a grain of salt and carefully considered before you go rushing off proclaiming it as the gospel.

We must also consider that the anonymous writer of the letter might be one of those government workers who think of the democratic process and the people’s elected representatives as “inconvenient”. Perhaps this anonymous government worker is a BLP fat cat who is trying to sabotage the DLP government. Or maybe they are a dedicated employee trying to do their best. Keep an open mind, friends!

That said, much good comes from our newly found ability to discuss important matters in public without having our families and our jobs targeted by political elites who consider themselves entitled and above the law. That is not to say that all or even most government officials fit into that category – but you know many who do!

So here is the letter. Let’s discuss it and also consider the question posed by the title of this article. Am I correct that every newly-elected DLP Government Minister received a shiny new vehicle as a reward?

What say the ordinary people about all this?

Here is the anonymous letter…

Transport Minister John Boyce

Good Morning, I am a government employee at the ministry of transport & works, since the induction of john boyce as commander in charge, he also takes the hats of head of departments and foot soldier.  I have worked in the ministry for 11 years under 5 ministers.  And during that time I have never seen any acted or done the things he does.

Firstly, the painting of the building, can u imagine they tested a colour (baby blue) on the entire back part of the administrative block, wastage of paint and time.

Up to now the building isn’t finish and this was been painted from january and this is now november.

He got rid of a parking spot located directly in front his spot so he can drive his gas guzzler (usa ford sports trac) straight into his spot so that he would have to drive around the cars parked in front of the delegated parking spaces for senior staff.

He has not allocated two reserved parking spaces for himself, one for his private vehicle and the other for the ministry issued vehicle.

Every month he orders two cases of bottle water the first minister to do such.

The previous ministers before him didn’t get a gov’t suv to drive around to play pretty with they drove their vehicles when going about the gov’t business.

How could the treasury be so broke and is happening.

He is acting like this is his home.

What a shame!!!

Former Barbados Minister of Housing Gline Clarke Finished At Least One House On Schedule!

Government Minister Clarke Built This House For His Mistress - Using Laundered Money Upon Land His Government Expropriated!

Gline Clarke, former Housing Minister under the BLP Arthur government, is in the paper today advising the current Thompson government on home building schedules.

Now there is something Clarke knows about!

For many months back in 2006, every Friday afternoon Minister Gline Clarke would appear like clockwork at the jobsite of a home he was building for his mistress on land that he had expropriated for “Public Housing”.

He would come straight from his ScotiaBank branch where he always withdrew his Friday wads of cash from his personal account after bypassing other lower customers who had to wait for service. If Clarke only knew what those customers and bank personnel were thinking at the time.

Bye the way, sometimes the money Clarke withdrew had originally been deposited as “campaign donations” to his personal bank account. Prime Minister Owen Arthur may have led the way in this practice of money laundering and converting political donations to personal use, but his friends soon followed the master!

So perhaps the Thompson DLP government should listen to Gline Clarke when he gives advice on scheduling house construction. After all, there was at least one home that the former Minister of Housing was able to complete on time!

Further Reading

Nation: Clarke Cautions On Housing Programme

BFP: Barbados Government Minister Gline Clarke – House and Mercedes On Expropriated Land

December 1st Last Chance To See Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary For Free

Sanctuary Admission is FREE on MONDAY, December 1st

Eight thousand people showed up on the previous Free Day at the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary.

Yup… eight thousand folks who value the natural heritage of our country and want to preserve it for our children’s future took a walk on November 9th to see the mangroves, birds and wildlife that don’t exist in such a natural state anywhere else on Barbados.

Monday, December 1, 2008 is your last chance to see Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary for free because…

Graeme Hall Will Close December 15th As Canadian Philanthropist Driven From Barbados

Over the years thousands upon thousands of Bajans and tourists alike enjoyed the peace and learning experience of the last remaining mangrove wetlands on the island. Thousands of school children on learning tours encountered Graeme Hall in a way that their parents never could in the days when they were in school.

A generation ago, the last mangrove wetland at Graeme Hall was an abandoned, difficult-to-access, polluted garbage strewn mess. One man decided to rescue this precious piece of natural heritage for Bajans, Barbados and the world. One man and he wasn’t even a Barbadian!

Peter Allard, a philanthropist from Canada, poured some US$35 million into cleaning up the wetlands and creating the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary. He asked for nothing in return, and in fact received less than nothing.

Safety First: Barbados Government Does The Right Thing

Cracks At Wilkie

CRACKS have been found at Wilkie Cumberbatch Primary School and the Ministry of Education has decided to relocate the students and teachers.

Minister of Education Ronald Jones said yesterday the ministry was taking no chances with the “superficial cracks” found in the eastern block, and will be relocating the students so that remedial work can be done on the building.

The minister said the building was 46 years old and its walls were constructed with “coral stone and reinforced block work” and the school was not built to accommodate its present roll of more than 600 students.

“What will be done will be a complete reinforcement of the entire structure where, based on the reports provided, steel girders and things of that ilk, would be used,” Jones said…

… continue reading this article at the Nation (link here)

No Nonsense – School Closed

It is good to see that our new government is capable of making an immediate decision when called for. Somebody obviously went to the school to inspect the cracks and said, “First priority – get the children out”.

That is an entirely different behaviour than we’ve seen over the years from government. There have been times in the last ten years when we thought there wasn’t a bureaucrat on the island with a brain in their head.

To the person who first made the decision to close the school and then sold it up the ladder: well done!

Too bad they weren’t one of the consultants who were engaged when cracks started appearing in the building that eventually fell into the cave-in and killed the Codrington family back in August of 2007.

Former Barbados Tourism Minister Noel “Instant Millionaire” Lynch Hired As Consultant By St. Vincent and the Grenadines Government

When Noel Lynch was Barbados Tourism Minister he ran out from a live radio show when a listener asked him to explain how he became a millionaire in a few short years on a government salary. Lynch subsequently sued the radio station, whose cowardly managers paid him off rather than fight for their journalistic freedom.

Such is the character of Noel Lynch that he does not believe he should be accountable to the voters to explain his “instant millionaire” status.

And 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. Lynch settles upon a fiction in his mind and that becomes reality. Cricket World Cup was his baby and it was a frankenstein that will take us a generation to pay off. (The last game played at night without lights was the crowning touch!)

So pity the poor taxpayers of St. Vincent and the Grenadines whose government has just hired Noel Lynch as a tourism consultant. Wahloss!

Good luck to the hotels on St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Just remember to watch your wallets! Any man who acted as Noel Lynch did when asked a reasonable question about the origins of his unexplained recently acquired wealth cannot be trusted.

To listen to Lynch yourself, click on the photo at the top of the story.

Save The Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary Facebook Group Goes International!

Click Photo For Barbados Advocate Article About How Mangrove Swamps Fight Global Warming

Group Membership: 4,500+ Worldwide

I’ve never really been into FaceBook or other social networking sites like Shona has, but now that I see what is happening with the Graeme Hall cause I am excited about the future of citizen activism in Bajan environmental, political and social issues. We see some new tools to complement the blog during the next election and we’re learning to use them!

The FaceBook group Save The Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary is only two weeks old but already has 4,500+ members worldwide.

It is the worldwide reach that I find so impressive. While the Barbados-based membership remains in the majority, the number of international members is very impressive as is the variety of countries they represent. I spent a few minutes browsing the membership list yesterday and saw members from Barbados, Bolivia, Florida, Canada, California, Scotland, North Carolina, Malaysia, Trinidad & Tobago, London England, Nigeria, Ohio, Switzerland, Manchester, Italy, Bahamas, New York, Israel, Texas, Netherlands and… Bangladesh! (whew!)

International Bankers For Graeme Hall National Park! (Come again?!)

Graeme Hall Flamingos Networking on FaceBook! 😉

Also impressive is how Facebook can bring some influential people and groups to assist a cause. For instance, I see many many members who proclaim their school, church or profession and have brought with them an already establish network of trusted friends and colleagues. The financial community is for some reason quite well represented on the Graeme Hall Facebook group with members from Credit Suisse, Ernst & Young, CIBC Bank, Royal Bank and many others. There are also some big names in the group who everyone know. Big names as in influence and money.

All these diverse folks are coming together for one common cause: to establish a National Park to save the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary – which is the last significant mangrove forest in the Western Hemisphere.

We’re going to pay more attention to the Save The Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary group and the entire social networking world. Perhaps we might see a Barbados Free Press Facebook page run by Cliverton. Barack Obama’s election team was big into FaceBook and you can bet that Facebook will be a big part of the election effort in Barbados next time around.

In the meantime, why not drop over to the Graeme Hall group and see how many of your friends are there? Sign up and receive notifications of all the events and news surrounding the Graeme Hall National Park efforts. You owe it to yourself, Barbados and a better future for all Bajans.

Guyana Consul Norman Faria Expresses Admiration For Some Of The Greatest Mass Murderers In History

“Communists were, and continue to be, motivated to never accept injustice and racism and to act and speak out accordingly…”

Honorary Consul for Guyana, Norman Faria, writing his disgustingly warped Remembrance Day piece in the Nation Fighting Fascism

Will Somebody Please Buy Norman Faria A History Book?

Norman Faria simply obliterates history in his latest diarrhea published as an editorial in the Nation.

According to Faria, it was those courageous and morally righteous Russian Communists who stood up to those evil Nazi fascists. His article features Alexander “Sasha” Perchersky, a captured Russian political officer who was a Jew and led the famous Sobibor Concentration Camp rebellion. Yes, Perchersky did lead the revolt to escape Sobibor concentration camp, but in Faria’s mind that’s all it takes to say “Communists were, and continue to be, motivated to never accept injustice and racism and to act and speak out accordingly…”

(Interesting statement by Faria, that the Communists “continue to be motivated to never accept injustice…”)

Let’s have a little tour through history and see how Mr. Faria’s warped fairytale stacks up, shall we?

German-Russian Pact Divides Up Poland – August 24, 1939

Who Invaded Poland and Started World War Two? Germany AND Russia…

Conveniently forgotten by Faria is the fact that Russian Communists invaded Poland at the same time as Hitler’s troops. You see, just a few weeks earlier in August 1939 the Russians signed this little “non-aggression pact” with Germany that split Poland between the Germany and Russia.

After invading eastern Poland the Russians (who “never accept injustice” according to Faria) murdered tens of thousands of military officers, teachers, priests, rabbis, politicians and Polish cultural leaders. Then they deported a million or two Poles to the Guglag camps as slave labour. This has been the standard Communist operational procedure right from the murder of the Czar and his children, through Lenin, Stalin, Mao and the capture of Hue City where the Communists went door to door with long prepared “please report for a meeting” lists. Those who reported were murdered.

Children Murdered By Communists In The Killing Fields Of Cambodia

Not to mention that stalwart of Communism, Pol Pot, who brought “year zero” to Cambodia. Piles of skulls and photographs of the victims of perfect communism can be found in the killing field museums throughout Cambodia.

And who can forget the religious persecution of Christians, Jews, Muslims and others by the Communists of Russia and around the world? Apparently, Norman Faria can.

Systematic Massacre Of Community Civilian Leaders By Communists - Hue City

Faria might also want to look up a few words from history as he praises his new Russian communist friends too much more. He should research the words “Katyn Massacre“, “Gulag“ and “Holodomor“.

Cambodia - Killing Tree

Is Norman Faria On The Russian Payroll… or Only One Who Stalin Called “Useful Idiots” ?

Now before you laugh derisively at that question and ignore it as tabloid hyperbole, please consider the following…

– Russia is entering the Caribbean in a big way as it contests with China for influence and control in the area.

– Russia is arming Venezuela and will base deep-water navy vessels there. The Russian President is currently touring South America and Russian Naval vessels are at this moment entering the Caribbean for a “joint exercise” with Venezuela.

– It is well documented that Russia has, throughout the last 90 years, always maintained networks of sympathizers and agents – especially in geographical areas where it desires more influence. “Friends” within the news media are well paid.

– Consul Norman Faria is an educated man. He is not ignorant of history and certainly not ignorant of the tens of millions murdered by communists throughout their short but bloody history. Yet, he wrote the pure lies that he did.

– An analysis of the Faria article will show that he has used the Rememberance Day event to simply write a positive article about Russians and communitists. In context, the article is strained and strange. It seems apparent that Faria’s main agenda was to write something positive about the Russians during the week that their President is touring the area.

Read some history friends, then tell us what you think about Farea’s claim about Communist morality and why you think that Faria wrote as he did.

Barbados Solar Powered Auto Breaks World Record For Distance

Barbados Registered Vehicle In The Snow!

Well… It Is REGISTERED In Barbados. That Makes It Ours, Right?

By a strange turn of international law, the world distance record for solar powered vehicles now belongs to Barbados.

Sort of.

A Canadian – an Air Canada flight attendant named Marcelo da Luz – set the world record for distance traveled in a sun-powered car. He broke the current record of 15,070 kilometers (9364 miles) on October 30, 2008 in Victoria on Canada’s Pacific coast.

To break the record, da Luz traveled for three months starting in Toronto, Ontario Canada and motoring (humming?) through New York State, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Montana, Manitoba Canada, Saskatchewan Canada, Alberta, Yukon Canada past the Arctic Circle to Inuvik NorthWest Territory, Yukon and Alaska.

Bajan Sun Powered Vehicle

How Does Barbados Come Into This?

Mr. da Luz is a Canadian. His solar-powered vehicle “Xof1” was built in Canada and his journey was conducted entirely in Canada and the United States.

But his vehicle is registered in Barbados.

The Ontario Province authorities would not register a solar-powered vehicle and allow it to travel on the public roads, so Mr. da Luz took advantage of a wee bit of international law that basically says if a vehicle is registered in one country, other countries must allow it on their roads even if it doesn’t meet their vehicle standards.

Back in April of 2007, Xof1 was shipped to Barbados where it was inspected and then licensed by our country. Thus, when Mr. da Luz broke the world record, he did it with a Bajan solar-powered vehicle…

Sort of!

At the time the vehicle was registered in Barbados, Mr. da Luz wrote the following on a Yahoo! solar car group…

“Hello Solar car enthusiasts,

As you may already have learned from the project website “news update”. XOF1 is now licensed and registered as a regular vehicle in Barbados.

The past two years I tried to work with various Canadian governments (Ontario, Northwest Territories, Alberta, etc…) to get the proper permission to drive the solar car on public roads without any success.

The project (car and driver) moved to Barbados got licensed and registered, it can now be driven on public roads not only in Barbados but in most countries including Canada protected by the 1949 International Traffic Treaty that overrules local laws.

Interesting enough, regular vehicles are not inspected in Barbados. However, due to XOF1’s high profile it got inspected. In fact, the licensing chief officer demanded all inspectors to check the solar car before allowing it to be licensed. After some modifications done to the vehicle it got approved.

XOF1 have also raised it’s international profile, we had the car on display at NextFest in New York as well images of XOF1 along with half scale model will be in display for the opening of the first Science Center in the Philippines. It is being used to promote the First International Alternative Congress in Brazil…”

Further Reading

Globe & Mail Newspaper: Powered By The Sun

Xof1 Website

Xof1 Blog (rather dated)

Interior photo click on thumb…

Barbados Cabinet Changes Are A Positive Sign – Even When We Disagree With Some Individual Appointments

One Year For A Government Means They Own The Situation – Can’t Blame The BLP Anymore!

With his government approaching almost a year in office, Prime Minister David Thompson shuffled his Cabinet. While he probably would have liked to fire a couple of people, politics meant he couldn’t hurt anyone too badly – at least not in public.

The leaks to the press tried to convince the public that Thompson was merely realigning the Cabinet to take advantage of the talent shown by his people in various positions. Sure. And if you believe that one we have some run-down GEMS hotels that would make a fine investment for your portfolio!

Let’s face it: after being out of government for 14 years, the DLP and Thompson probably made a few errors in their original Cabinet appointments. This is not to say that Thompson can’t lead or has bad judgment, it is a simple statement of truth to say that the true capabilities of many of Thompson’s people were unknown or untested when the DLP first formed the government.

Now those capabilites (or lack of) are known and the Prime Minister has put his best people where they can do the most good – and his weak sisters where they will do the least damage. Thompson also knows that the current line-up has to be it. After a year in government even the most ardent DLP voters expect SOMETHING to happen in their respective areas of interest.

Words Do Not Equal Action Or Results!

After a year, if the Thompson government can’t start to show some headlines that don’t begin with “so and so made a speech” the public’s tolerance will soon fade. (Note to Barbados politicians… the public has caught on to the fact that photo ops, speeches and promises do not equal action and results.)

Some of Thompson’s choices we don’t understand – like the “non-demotion” of Chris Sinckler who we thought was doing a reasonably good job as our international voice. We say “good luck” to Sinckler who is now in charge of the rat’s nest of corruption known as Urban Development. The place is infested with long-term BLP appointees who are desperately covering their own and the BLP’s tracks at the same time as they sabotage the efforts of the current government.

Is The Environment About To Get The Attention It Deserves… Or Is It All Smoke & Mirrors?

We are most pleased about the creation of the position of Minister of the Environment, Water Resources and Drainage as it suggests that the Thompson Government might now be giving these important areas the attention they deserve. Mind you, it might all be smoke and mirrors but that will soon become evident when the budget is announced. (No money = not important to the government.)

Denis Lowe & David Thompson

As to Denis Lowe as Minister of the Environment, we don’t know what to think. We admired his anti-corruption stance in the years prior to this election, but like many DLPers, he seems to have gone quiet on this issue once he was elected. Also, during his time at Urban Development he hardly set the world on fire. That may be an impossible situation at UDC, but the same cannot be said for the Environment portfolio. It will soon become apparent whether Dr. Lowe can get anything done or not.

Here is what we expect and demand from Dr. Lowe in the next year. We think the list is reasonable and achievable – but only IF Prime Minister Thompson provides the Environment Ministry with the resources (read “money and personnel”) and high profile that it deserves.

We demand the following of Environment Minister Dr. Lowe and the DLP Government in the next year…

– New legislation to set handling and disposal standards for toxic chemicals like those that resulted in the closing of Louis Lynch school.

– Petroleum and chemical pipeline and storage tank standards that would require companies to measure transmission or capacity losses on a daily basis to detect pipeline and tank leaks – to prevent another pipeline leak from going undetected for months as happened with Shell.

– Targeting of the Top 10 polluters on Barbados to document, educate, notify and then charge.

– Major educational and enforcement efforts introduced to stop the island-wide littering that is destroying our value as a tourist destination.

– Establish a serious Barbados Environmental Enforcement Squad as detailed in our June 29, 2006 article Enforcing Environmental Laws In Barbados – Forget The Police, We Need Specialists.

That is all possible within the next six months, Dr. Lowe – but we’ll give you a year as long as you provide some milestones, results and transparency along the way.

The New Barbados Government Cabinet

Hon. David Thompson,PM – Minister of Finance & Investment, Labour, Civil Service & Energy

Hon. Fruendel Stuart, MP – Deputy Prime Minister, Attorney General, Minister of Home Affairs

Hon. George Hutson, MP – Minister of International Transport & International Business

Hon. David Estwick, MP – Minister of Economic Affairs & Empowerment, Innovation, Trade, Industry & Commerce

Hon. Dennis Lowe, MP – Minister of the Environment, Water Resources & Drainage

Hon. Donville Inniss, MP – Minister of Health

Hon. Christopher Sinkler, MP – Minister of Social Care, Constituency Empowerment, Rural & Urban Development

Hon. Esther Byer Suckoo, MP – Minister of Family, Youth Affairs & Sport

Hon. Ronald Jones, MP – Minister of Education & Human Resource Development

Hon. Michael Lashley, MP – Minister of Housing & Lands

Hon. Richard Sealy, MP – Minister of Tourism

Hon. Steve Blackett, MP – Community Development & Culture

Hon. John Boyce, MP – Minister of Transport & Works

Sen. Hon. Haynesly Benn – Minister of Agriculture

Sen. Hon. Maxine McClean – Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade

Hon. Patrick Todd, MP – Minister of State: Education & Human Resource Development

Sen. Hon. Darcy Boyce – Minister of State: Finance, Investment, Telecommunications & Energy

Sen. Hon. Arnie Walters – Minster of State: Labour & Immigration

Sen. Irene Sandiford Garner – Parliamentary Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office

Further Reading

Prince William In Barbados Training With Special Boat Service

HRH Prince William

Prince William joins special forces for Caribbean training

It is thought the Prince, 26, will work with the Special Boat Service (SBS), which is aiming to combat drug trafficking and piracy in the region.

The Prince is said to have flown to Barbados on Sunday in preparation for 10 days’ activity with the SBS. While details of his mission are being kept secret, SBS forces train in carrying out late-night raids on suspect vessels…

… continue reading the article at The Telegraph UK (link here)

Can Barbados Free Press Readers Report Any Sightings?

Alright folks… let’s see if we can come up with HRH’s location. We know he wasn’t at Hercules Bar on Friday night! If you see Prince William, please let him know that Clive will stand him a gin and tonic (or whatever he drinks) next Friday afternoon. 🙂

Meanwhile, A Guyanese Living In Barbados Says We Should Dump The Monarchy…

Hmmmm… if Dawn A. Holder is so concerned that Bajans are oppressed by our old Colonial ties, perhaps she can explain why no one walks after dark in Guyana and why she is so happy to be in Barbados…

Stabroek News – Guyanese should be proud that they have ‘broken the bondage of far distant powers’

Barbados Bus Crash Injures 59 – Police Cannot Determine If Drivers Had Been Drinking

Barbados Police Lack Breathaliser Equipment & Laws To Properly Investigate Road Accidents

Thompson DLP Government Continues BLP Policy Of Doing Nothing To Stop Drunk Driving

A major crash between two buses and an auto yesterday left dozens injured, and just like the other major bus and auto crashes during the past three years our Barbados police do not have the breathalizer equipment or laws that would show if any of the drivers had been drinking.

We lose more people to drunk driving than we do to murder, but after eleven months in office, the Thompson DLP Government has done nothing to address the serious problem that our country lacks enforceable, modern drunk-driving laws.

In practically every civilized jurisdiction in the world when there has been an accident and the police suspect the driver might have had even one beer, the driver has to blow into a breathalizer machine to prove how much alcohol is in his or her body. We know that some people can drink lots and not “look” like they are drunk, but they shouldn’t be driving. The breathalizer provides scientific evidence so there is no doubt.

Barbados Free Press has been calling for breathaliser laws and equipment for the police for almost three years now. In that time we have seen some horrible accidents and even mass fatal accidents – but our law enforcement officers have no way of testing to see how much those drivers had been drinking. Short of falling down drunk, there is no law against drinking and driving in Barbados.

The first job of government is to protect the citizens, and successive BLP and DLP governments have failed to protect the citizens when it comes to people who drink and drive.

Six dead at the Joes River tour bus crash, four more dead in the Emancipation Day crash and others. But in these and other serious crashes since, aside from an autopsy, Barbados Police have no way of proving how much an involved driver has been drinking.

That is because our government has been negligent in providing the legal structure and the equipment that the police need to protect us all.

Back in July of this year, BFP said…

Prime Minister Thompson… time to act, Sir. If your government can’t implement breathalizer laws during the first year of your term, that will pretty well say everything about your priorities and leadership.

Attorney General Stuart, Prime Minister Thompson, Transport Minister Boyce

Three Men Who Could Have Saved Lives In Barbados But Chose Not To

Prime Minister David Thompson, Attorney General Freundel Stuart and Minister of Transportation John Boyce did nothing in the past year to introduce breathalyzer laws and equipment to Barbados, or to stop the drunken slaughter on our roads every weekend that kills outright or cripples people for life and destroys faces, families and livelihoods.

They have no reasonable excuse for not doing so.

During the past year, they could have obtained already-crafted legislation from any number of sources, and purchased equipment and trained police officers as the legislation was being finalised. Six months, tops.

Civilized jurisdictions all over the world have amassed tens thousands of legal cases, trials, reports, and committees to develop modern laws, training and operational standards for the police and the courts. The breathaliser technology itself is now computerised, mass produced, more accurate and cheaper than it has ever been. Roadside screening units for uniform patrol officers can be had for a few hundred dollars. The laws in British common law countries are decades old… been through the Supreme Courts and back again.

All that is readily available if our government gave a damn.

Like the previous BLP Government, the Thompson DLP Government seems to have trouble actually making things happen. Lots of cheap talk, but no real achievements to make life better and safer for Bajans.

Further Reading

Nation Newspaper – 59 Injured In Bus Accident

CBC – Scores Injured In Bus Accident

BFP…

November 22, 2007 – Five Year Sentence For Dangerous Driver – But Still No Breathalyzer Law

October 30, 2007 – More Road Deaths Than Murders: Yet Barbados Still Does Not Have Breathalyzer Laws Or Technology

August 15, 2007 – Minister of Transport Gline Clarke Finally “Talking” About Driver Breathaliser Tests – As First Suggested By By Barbados Free Press Over A Year Ago

July 25, 2006 – Barbados Government To Ban Cell Phones While Driving

Useless Barbados Environment Minister Should Be Sacked – Along With A Few Others

Some observers believe Dr Esther Byer-Suckoo, Minister of Family, Youth, Sports and Environment, may have too much on her plate and could well see her responsibilities reduced…

… from the Nation article New-Look Cabinet Coming

Can Anyone Name One Real Achievement In Eleven Months?

Oh yes, Minister Byer-Suckoo obviously has too much on her plate because other than a series of public speaking engagements she has accomplished nothing in eleven months. Nothing.

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah - Byer-Suckoo is All Talk, Zero Action

Let’s consider the Environment Ministry position, shall we?

New legislation to set handling and disposal standards for toxic chemicals like those that resulted in the closing of Louis Lynch school?

Nothing

Petroleum pipeline standards that would require companies to measure transmission losses on a daily basis to detect pipeline leaks – to prevent another pipeline leak from going undetected for months as happened with Shell?

Nothing.

Targeting of the Top 10 polluters on Barbados to document, educate, notify and then charge?

Nothing.

New Environmental Legislation of any kind?

Nothing.

Major educational and enforcement efforts introduced to stop the island-wide littering that is destroying our value as a tourist destination?

Nothing.

Let’s Not Forget That David Thompson Didn’t Think The Environment Was Important Enough To Have A Dedicated Minister

The only real Environmental “accomplishment” of the DLP Barbados Government in the last 11 months has been HARMFUL to the environment. The DLP government passed a development plan that would allow commercial and residential construction on the Graeme Hall wetlands buffer zone.

That is the sum total of what your Barbados Government has accomplished in the last 11 months in respect of the environment!

Qatar Police Use Whips On Asian Labourers “Because The Asians Do Not Understand”

“You will never see me accepting another contract in the Middle East. I don’t care how much money I’m offered next time, it is not worth the indignity of being looked at like I’m some sort of lower lifeform by people who don’t even wash their hands after doing the necessary.”

BFP’s Robert talking about working as an aircraft maintenance engineer under contract in Middle East countries.

Whipping Victims Chosen By Race

The Middle East if full of contract workers. Some, like BFP’s Robert, are well-paid professionals who put up with the nonsense as fair trade for the money. Younger workers are also attracted by the novelty and a sense of adventure which, according to Robert, soon fades.

But 90% of the foreign workers in the Middle East can rightly be described as low-end labourers and little more than slaves. Some really are slaves. There is a racial hierarchy enforced everywhere with Arabs at the top, followed by whites with blacks and asians at the bottom of the pile.

When Robert saw the following article online he said we must write about it, so here you go…

Souq Shock For Asian Bachelors

ASIAN bachelors were beaten with whips and even kicked during a heavy-handed police operation to prevent them from entering Doha’s popular souq areas yesterday.
Several encounters, witnessed by Gulf Times, saw Heritage Police Officers using stick-like instruments to herd labourers away from cordoned areas along Grand Hamad Avenue.

When one officer was asked why such force was being used he replied: “They are not allowed inside this family area.” He then explained that whips were being employed “because they do not understand”. 
Although policemen usually patrol the Grand Hamad area on Fridays, they tend to be plainclothes officers who do not carry weapons such as those on show yesterday.
 Shockingly, Gulf Times saw one officer using his whip on five separate occasions within a ten-minute period, even running to catch people before hitting them. 
Other appalled witnesses said they had seen labourers being kicked by the officers if they did not move quickly enough to exactly where they were told.

… continue reading this article at the Gulf Times (Link Here)

Youth Worker: Women In Barbados Not Counseled Before or After Abortion, PLUS… Abortions Provider George Griffith Talks About Profits Being Made From Abortions

“They said they did not get enough information or counseling. They were only given a form to fill out and the abortion was done,”

… Barbados Youth Worker Marcia Weeks talks about the bad experience of women having abortions in Barbados in the Jamaica Observer article Forum calls for definition of lawful abortion

Move ‘Em In, Abort and Move ‘Em Out – The Business Of Making Money Doing Abortions

There is an interesting contrast today between two online articles about abortion in Barbados. First we have a very balanced article posted online at the Jamaica Observer that provides a fair discussion of abortion with all sides having a say.

Barbados Youth Worker Marcia Weeks complains that Barbados abortion providers don’t provide counseling to women contemplating an abortion or to those who have had an abortion. “Just sign here” is how Ms. Weeks describes what happens to many pregnant women who are considering an abortion.

As we and others have pointed out before – when people in the abortion industry make more profits when they abort more babies, it is only natural that they will favour abortion over having the child born alive. Thus “Just sign here”.

Then we have abortions provider and sorry excuse for a failed BLP politician George Griffith writing in the Nation newspaper that even those who “benefit financially” from abortions don’t rejoice. (Nation article here)

Well, the abortion industry may not “rejoice” but they sure do like to market their services! And the more abortions they perform, the more money they make. That’s pretty simple to see even for an abortion cheerleader like Griffith.

And… from the independent observation of a local youth worker, Barbados abortions providers like George Griffith and his staff don’t bother counseling women before or after their abortions. The women arrive frightened, confused and abused. More often than not they have no idea of the size of the child in their womb, and no idea of the ability of the unborn child to feel pain, to sleep and to explore their world.

Nope… for George and his staff it is “Just sign here” as they move ’em in and move ’em out.

No wonder so many women have breakdowns after they have the abortion and then learn the truth about their unborn child.

Oh well – no one can claim that George Griffiths and his staff aren’t efficient! I suppose that is something to be proud of.

Why Caribbean Unity Under Any Name Will NEVER Happen…

Only In Jamaica: Shoot-Out At Governing Party’s Conference Kills One, Wounds Two

The Prime Minister of Jamaica gave a speech at his own party’s conference. Shortly thereafter, guns were drawn and police shot one man dead.

Does Barbados really want to consider itself even remotely aligned with Jamaica?

As Living in Barbados Blog puts it… “Jamaicans, We Are So Tired Of Your Nonsense“