Barbados Electric Bicycle Experience – Great, until Sugar Hill

THE BARBADOS E-BIKE (ELECTRIC BICYCLE) EXPERIENCE

David Cameron of Ottawa, Canada commenced conducting a preliminary feasibility study in Barbados with an EMoto™ Milano brand e-bike for his company CameronEV (Electric Vehicles).

The study started with using the Milano e-bike on the South Coast in St. Micheal & Christ Church and expanded Parish by Parish up the West Coast to the Parish of St. Lucy then down through St. Andrew to the Ecolodge – Barbados in Mellowes, St. Joseph.

A distance total of 176km was tested over a five-day period Oct 8-12 ending with the hill coming out of Mellowes up to Sugar Hill proving to be too much for the e-bike configuration under test. The Parish of St. Joseph remains to be conquered by the ‘green’ machine along with the Parishes of St. John, St. George and St. Phillips upon David Cameron’s return in late November/early December.

Amazingly, the electric current cost a total of $2.00 Barbados Dollars recharging nightly and periodically during refreshment stops along the way.

It was very evident that the people in Barbados know how to “Share the Road”. The drivers in Canada and the United States could learn a lot from the Bajan drivers about sharing the road and being courteous. The e-bike maximum speed of 32km/h meant the e-bike needed to be passed on the road and the short horn toot people gave as they passed did make one feel safer.

David Cameron would also like to thank both the establishments that allowed the e-bike to be periodically topped up and the people along the way who asked questions and offered both refreshments and let the e-bike be topped up from their house current. A very special thank-you goes to Grahame & Andrea Reeves-Law of the Ecolodge-Barbados for their assistance and guidance, Champion Wrecker Services for the flat-bed truck service, Mr. White of St. Joseph when the Mellowes Hill proved too much, the patrons at a refreshment stand in Inch Marlow for their wisdom on bicycle licensing, Alfred in Oistins for the bicycle licence assistance, the Blue Moon Guesthouse in Rockley for their assistance and Mr. Jerry Spooner of Spoons Customs Brokerage for the tremendous assistance in getting the study & testing underway.

David Cameron looks forward to returning and completing the feasibility study. All in all, very very positive thus far.

http://www.cameronev.com

Ingrid Persaud coming home early from Miami, misses Barbados

“I stared at his disappearing form and tears flowed down my face.

By 7am this morning in the full glare of morning I decided to return to Bim earlier than planned. The household will survive without the new linens, kettle and DS games I should have secured.”

For all our government’s faults, and our legitimate concerns about where this country is heading, Barbados is home.

Sometimes the rock seems so small, sometimes so large – but there’s no place else we’d want to live.

Ingrid is in Miami on a shopping trip but she can’t sleep so she’s coming home early.

A worthy read at her blog Notes from a Small Rock: Lost in Transit

Welcome home, Ingrid!

Freedom of Information Request #2009-2: To Barbados Department of Emergency Management

Barbados Queen Elizabeth Hospital Washroom in September 2007 - A new report details whether or not the hospital was built to plans and proper standards, but citizens aren't allowed to know!

Hiding information from citizens…

Was Queen Elizabeth Hospital built to proper standards? When Government refused to tell the Nation newspaper, the journalists said “OK” and walked away.

With much fanfare during the 2007 election campaign, then Opposition Leader David Thompson promised that a DLP government would introduce Freedom of Information legislation (FOI) within 100 days of taking office. FOI was part of a promised ITAL (Integrity, Transparency and Accountability Legislation) package that dropped off the radar the minute that the DLP gained access to the treasury after 14 years out of power. Likewise, the promise to “immediately” enact conflict of interest rules for Ministers was never heard about again. Thanks To Prime Minister David Thompson, Barbados Government Officials Can Still Use Their Office For Personal Profit

In Opposition, David Thompson promised Freedom of Information laws within 100 days of election. He lied.

Almost two years have passed but Thompson and his government members don’t want to enact Freedom of Information Legislation because FOI would allow ordinary citizens access to government financial records. That would empower ordinary citizens and the media to hold elected and appointed government officials accountable for wrongdoing and the Prime Minister doesn’t want that!

Like the Barbados Labour Party government before them, the DLP government is committed to keeping citizens in the dark – but there is no reason why we can’t put these Freedom of Information Requests on file on the internet. Someday perhaps citizens will be able to act upon them, but in the meantime the presence of these FOI requests on the internet will serve to illustrate that Prime Minister Thompson and his gang know nothing about transparency, accountability or integrity.

Our first FOI request was to the Barbados Transport Board about vehicle maintenance standards and what happened when both rear wheels fell off a bus.

Here is our second Freedom of Information Request…

FOI Request #2009-2: To Barbados Department of Emergency Management

To: Department of Emergency Management

FOI Request: PAHO Inspection Report, Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Dear Sirs,

Under the FOI legislation of Barbados, I demand a copy of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Inspection Report as prepared by the Pan American Health Organisation, and any associated internal or external communications held by the Barbados Department of Emergency Management as indicated in the attached October 13, 2009 Nation newspaper article Call for stiff building codes. The article indicated that the PAHO spokesperson would not divulge “any information as to whether the Queen Elizabeth Hospital was built to standards.”

As a citizen and taxpayer I demand under FOI to know this information about a public facility.

I enclose the required fee and expect to receive copies of the requested records within 100 days as per the FOI law. Specifically, I request copies of…

1/ Queen Elizabeth Hospital Inspection Report as prepared by the Pan American Health Organisation.

2/ Copies of all internal and external correspondence and/or reports mentioning this PAHO report.

Yours truly,

A Bajan citizen empowered by the Freedom of Information Act of Barbados (enacted 2017 by the Barbados Integrity Party government)

Further Reading

September 10, 2007: Your Child Is Sick: Welcome To Barbados Queen Elizabeth Hospital