How much is Barbados really paying for Dodds Prison? Why aren’t we allowed to know?

UPDATED: October 24, 2011

Corrupt Barbados politicians breath sigh of relief as last VECO accused is sentenced in Alaska.

Nothing was too good for any politician who could award multi-million dollar government contracts to VECO of Alaska. The corrupt company gave cash, renovated homes, bought cars, trips and condos for politicians as their standard method of operation.

That is just how VECO operated worldwide: they obtained government contracts by bribing politicians, but Barbados politicians would have you believe that none of that went on here. No Sir!

And what did the Government of Barbados do when Barbados Free Press broke the story to the Barbados public that VECO executives and politicians were being arrested?

Well… good old Attorney General Dale Marshall announced that he would have a meeting with VECO executives to get the truth of the story… to see if any improper payments were made by VECO to Barbados government officials and politicians.

Yup… Attorney General Dale Marshall met with those VECO executives for a half an hour one morning and then held a press conference to announce that everything was on the up and up because the VECO executives said it was.

This is the same VECO that the Owen Arthur/Mia Mottley BLP government of Barbados hired without open competitive bidding to build our oil terminal and our new prison. VECO had never built a prison before, but by god, they were given the contract as a gift by then Attorney General Mia Mottley and Prime Minister Owen Arthur.

How much did VECO give to BLP politicians?

One source says that Mia Mottley received over $100,000 in undeclared “campaign contributions” from VECO Corporation that she fed into her constituency office. This is only what the folks in the office saw and is probably a fraction of the total. After all, if VECO received a billion dollars in government contracts, you can bet that they paid out more than a lousy $100 grand.

Our same source says that Prime Minister Owen Arthur’s constituency office also received big money from VECO, but on the amount they are unsure. Would Arthur have accepted less than his Attorney General that he barely tolerated?

As far as the DLP government goes, they never requested any evidence from the FBI even though all the VECO accounts were available and tape recordings showed that payments and favours in Barbados were discussed. Throwing rocks in glass houses and all that.

So it’s all over now. The Corrupt Bastards Club of Barbados walked free from what could have been a very sticky VECO wicket indeed.

Congratulations boys and girls… with no Integrity Legislation, no Freedom of Information laws we citizens of Barbados will never know the details.

But we still can see the truth.

Reuters: Final defendants in Alaska corruption case plead guilty

Further Reading that should Outrage Bajans

November 17, 2008 – The FBI VECO Documents that Mottley and Thompson don’t want Bajans to see.

September 22, 2008 – Barbados Prime Minister Thompson Confirms Previous Government Officials Stashed Millions In Foreign Bank Accounts

August 20, 2008: VECO’s “Corrupt Bastards Club” has a Barbados Chapter

August 15, 2008: Why Won’t Prime Minister Thompson Investigate VECO’s Corrupt Acts In Barbados?

Original Article: March 4, 2011…

Government conceals the true costs of Dodds Prison for a reason

Finance Minister Chris Sinckler revealed in yesterday’s Nation that we pay $30 million dollars for Dodds Prison every January, but he didn’t say how much we pay during the other months, how much we’ve paid so far, or how long the payments continue.

We aren’t told how much VECO provided to Barbados politicians in “campaign donations”

Mr. Sinckler doesn’t tell us how much of a premium we paid for the “financing” of the prison versus how much it would have been to pay for the prison outright, or to have borrowed the money from other sources rather than through the BOLT method that was chosen. We aren’t told what the expected operating, refurbishment and depreciation costs are over the life of the prison. We aren’t provided with different models based upon varying scenarios of the prison’s life expectancy.

We aren’t told how much VECO provided to Barbados politicians in “campaign donations”, and we aren’t told how many “fact finding” trips by Barbados politicians were paid for by VECO. We aren’t provided with a list of every company, contractor or supplier who received payment from VECO associated with the prison.

And we sure aren’t told who the ultimate beneficiaries of the construction, operation and financing are because undoubtedly some of the elected and appointed government officials had a piece of the action then, and probably still do.

Barbados contractor blows whistle on Florida corruption

Chairman of Pompano Beach Advisory Committee wanted US$2,000 a month “contribution” or no city contract!

Vicente Thrower, Chairman of Pompano Beach Advisory Committee, had a nice little business going on the side. For a “consulting fee” or “donation to the community”, Thrower used his influence to ensure companies received lucrative contracts with the city.

And, if people didn’t want his “assistance”, he used his position to deny them the contract or make life very difficult.

Then Thrower met long time Barbados resident and business person Lynn Allison and demanded US$2,000 a month – saying she should pay up if her company wanted to hold on to its $200,000 annual contract with Pompano Beach.

VECO cover-up continues in Barbados – CEO Bill Allen gets 3 years prison for bribing Alaska politicians

Alaska Senator’s Son was paid US$243,250 in “consulting fees”

The corrupt former head of VECO Corporation – the same company that built the Oil Terminal and the new Dodds Prison in Barbados – has been put in jail for 3 years for his leading role in VECO’s ongoing policy of using bribes to obtain government contracts. VECO founder Bill Allen will also have to pay a 3/4 of a million dollar fine, but frankly that’s just spare change to the man who used bribes of politicians as a standard operating procedure to grow his business into a multi-billion dollar international company. As part of a plea-bargain and in exchange for Allen’s testimony, Allen’s son and other family members escaped prosecution and were able to walk away with hundreds of millions of dollars.

The American FBI seized millions of VECO’s documents and made hundreds of hours of secret recordings to document how Allen and his company undermined US democracy by the simple method of paying millions to various politicians over the years. As was revealed over the last two years in public testimony and court documents, this bribing of politicians was VECO’s standard operating policy.

Who Did Barbados Prison “Consulting”?

In Barbados, VECO was closely associated with now Opposition Leader Mia Mottley and with former Attorney General Dale Marshall. Mia was “in charge” of building the new Dodds Prison.

After the scandal broke in Alaska, then Attorney General Dale Marshall met with VECO company officials in Barbados for 23 minutes, and then announced that there were no issues about VECO’s activities in Barbados. Dale Marshall was an active part of the VECO cover-up in Barbados.

Hmmmmm…. let’s see here. VECO had never built a prison before it was awarded the contract for Dodds – without tender. VECO used bribery of politicians as its standard operating procedure to obtain government contracts around the world.

And Dale Marshall says “no problem here” after a 23 minute meeting.

Nothing suspect there!

In any event, VECO and the BLP spread the “consulting” and sub-contracts around to DLP members at the time so that if the DLP ever formed a government, they wouldn’t be able to come after the BLP.

Hmmmmm…. DLP Prime Minister David Thompson has never asked American officials to allow Barbados to examine the VECO company records that list bribes of politicians around the world.

Nope. Nothing suspect there, either!

Who were the middlemen in Miami that handled the Dodds Prison shipments? What money was paid to “consultants” in Switzerland and the USA? Which Dodds Prison sub-contracting companies were owned by relatives of Barbados politicians?

Barbados citizens will never know, and have no right to know because both the Arthur/Mottley and the David Thompson government keep this information secret.

Citizens of Barbados? More like “suckers of Barbados” if you ask me.

Further Reading

Alaska Dispatch: Ben Stevens’ consulting fees surface in Allen, Smith sentencings.