Barbados Cricket World Cup Disaster Still Receiving Worldwide Media Coverage

Malcolm Speed, the former ICC chief executive, has admitted the World Cup in the West Indies last year was one of the more disappointing episodes of his seven-year tenure in charge. (clip) Speed told the Sydney Morning Herald that what should have been a “celebration of cricket” will “always be looked upon less than favourably” for many reasons.

The 2007 World Cup in the West Indies failed to attract full houses at newly-built stadia for the event, with overpriced tickets largely keeping out locals. The tournament also ended in a farce; Australia secured the trophy for the third time in a row, but the match in Barbados ended in near-pitch darkness after the umpires misinterpreted the rules regarding bad light.

“Cricket has a chance to make amends in the West Indies with the ICC World Twenty20 in 2010,” Speed said…

… from Yahoo! News Speed Regrets World Cup Failure

Does Anyone Know How Much The Cricket World Cup Disaster Cost Taxpayers?

The national disaster of Cricket World Cup was the showpiece of the Barbados Labour Party Government. It will forever live on as a case study in how to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to achieve fewer tourist visits during a year. Tourism Minister Noel “Instant Millionaire” Lynch continually lied about the number of visitors and even when the government was forced to give away free tickets and fill the place with school children, he maintained that Cricket World Cup was a “success”.

Oh… can anyone tell us who owns Kensington Oval? More than a hundred million of our tax dollars were poured into refurbishing the Oval without first settling who owns the place. Yup, if I owned the Oval, I’d say “thanks, now p’off ” to the government too!

We mention this because, frankly, unless we publish it the Barbados public would never hear about Cricket World Cup ever again.

Barbados Government Minister Byer-Suckoo Cautions “Not To Get Our Hopes Up” Waiting For Child Abuse Reporting Legislation

Byer-Suckoo As Useless As… Oh, Never Mind!

In a year as a Cabinet Minister, Esther Byer-Suckoo has not created or introduced even one piece of legislation in any of her areas of responsibility. She did not introduce any new regulations or do anything that involved an actual result. Lots of talk but zero action.

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

And just to put it in perspective, Byer-Suckoo isn’t all that different from most of the other Ministers in the DLP Barbados Government. Lots of talk, but very little real action. Very little “doing” that produces an actual result or change in the status quo.

Now Byer-Suckoo is talking again – this time about the Child Care Board being “in the process of developing a national reporting protocol for child abuse.”

Key words here are “in the process of developing…”

Meaning “Nothing done in a whole year. No real action. No results. Wunna hear a lot of talk and nothing else.”

And knowing that ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WILL HAPPEN, Byer-Suckoo tries to cover her own butt by cautioning that nothing will happen…

“I have been cautioned that legal work takes long and I mustn’t get my hopes up but I believe that the work with families and especially children is paramount. . .so I will dare to get up my hopes, regardless of how high those fruit are hanging,” says Byer-Suckoo.

Isn’t that sweet? Byer-Suckoo has mastered the art of sucking and blowing at the same time. Hey… she is all for the children, but nothing is going to happen and it is the fault of those damned lawyers!

Please… will Thompson please fire this do-nothing and put someone in there who will actually make something happen? Ahh… on second thought, Thompson doesn’t have anyone better to replace her so never mind.

And to further the deception the Nation News titles their article New Protocol For Reporting Child Abuse AS IF SOMETHING ACTUALLY WAS ACHIEVED! What liars they are at the Nation newspaper. There was no result. No new child protocol was created or implemented. What liars.

Want a laugh? Think about this: If the Barbados news media refused to report government speeches about “going to do this” and “going to do that” – how many news articles could they print where a government minister showed that something had actually been done?

Barbados Has No Law Requiring The Reporting Of Suspected Child Abuse – And The DLP Government Will Not Create Such A Law!

Byer-Suckoo is talking about creating a “protocol” which is another way of saying that she and the DLP government do not intend to create a law requiring professionals to report suspected child abuse. A “protocol” is without the force of law. Medical and teaching professionals who fail to report child abuse will not face legal sanctions for keeping quiet.

There are certain laws that are now a given in civilised countries. Laws dealing with drinking and driving, wife abuse and child abuse are foundational to protecting innocent people – but successive Barbados governments have failed miserably to enact and enforce these laws.

The Thompson government is no different.

How Do You Change Culture, Performance and Yes, Even Morality? You Change The Law and Enforce It Uniformly – Public Attitudes & Compliance Will Follow

Members of Parliament and legislators in other countries are sometimes referred to as “lawmakers” – a recognition of the importance of political leadership in setting, directing and achieving big-picture strategic goals through making laws. Members of Parliament are not supposed to be “administrators” of government. We have a civil service for that.

Can someone please tell me of one law that the DLP passed in their first year that changed our society in any way? Any law?

OK folks… especially all you DLP supporters. Please… tell us about one law that the DLP passed during their first year that actually changed something in our society in any way.

Over to you, DLP supporters…

Film Maker Annalee Davis Publishes Letter To Barbardos Advocate Editor – And She Does It Here At BFP

KNOWING OUR PLACE?

Letter to the Editor,

I am responding to an anonymous letter appearing on page three of the December 4th Advocate newspaper and captioned on the cover page “Know your place here, Rickey Singh!”

I am curious why the Advocate would give such visibility to an anonymous article seeking to silence a prominent journalist.

The question that comes to mind is this – what racial, residential or political qualifications are required for any person to have a legitimate place?

The title of the article suggests that Mr. Singh is out of place here in Barbados.

I would like to remind this author without a name, that Mr. Singh is a CARICOM national, honored with a doctorate for his outstanding contributions as a journalist, a past President of the Caribbean Association of Media Workers, a former editor of Caribbean Contact as well as the author of a weekly column at the Nation newspaper for twenty-four years.

Mr. Singh does not need my defense nor do I have a personal relationship with him.  I know him because of his published words.

The unknown writer suggests that Mr. Singh should  “be respectful of the rules of this island …..and avoid becoming involved in anti-social behaviour.”  Is Mr. Singh’s commitment to his twenty-four year column an example of anti-social behaviour?

The writer without a name should be well aware that the Caribbean has been pursuing a regional integration project since 1973, and there is every reason why CARICOM nationals can legitimately voice their opinions and raise issues in any Caribbean country.

In addition, the writer goes on, “out of a sense of gratitude the media worker would repay this island’s generosity by finding something good to say about it.”  But where was the Barbados governments’ generosity in 1983 when his work permit was withdrawn because he dared to speak out against the Grenada invasion?

The writer without a name goes on to ask if Mr. Singh thinks he has a right to “use the Nation newspaper to criticize” the current administration and warns that you “do not bite the hand that feeds you”.

Click the image to read the Barbados Advocate story "Know Your Place Here!" at Ian Bourne's Bajan Reporter blog.

These are bold statements from a cowardly author.  How does the writer without a name determine who has a legitimate place in this country or this region?  Do you need to be a member of a political party, or particular race, or particular religion to have a legitimate place?

The writer ends by saying that attacks on the Government “must not cause officials to back away from enforcing the existing regulations.”  If so, the reverse is equally true.  Attacks like this anonymous one, should not cause journalists to put down their pens, singers to silence their voices or artists to stop reflecting on our lived realities.

I know Mr. Singh’s place.  He is not “hiding behind Press freedom to sow the seeds of social unrest” as the author without a name has hidden behind a safe veil of anonymity.  To the contrary, Mr. Singh owns his points of views and has refused to be silenced by the fear or the harsh reality of being put ‘out of place’ by anyone.

Annalee Davis

Barbados

(BFP note: Annalee Davis is the creator of the film “On The Map”. Her blog is here)