Prime Minister Mia Mottley has warned her Cabinet that in event of any wrongdoing she is prepared to cross the floor of House of Assembly and lead an opposition to the Government she now heads.

The newly-elected leader, whose Barbados Labour Party (BLP) came to office last Thursday with an overwhelming 30-seat mandate, made it clear that she will not tolerate any breach of the trust given by Barbadians.

Delivering the feature address following the swearing in of 26 members of her Cabinet, Mottley, who along with herself and Attorney General Dale Marshall took the oath of office before Governor General Dame Sandra Mason on Friday, said that the win of all parliamentary seats means, “we now have an even higher duty to contend with”.

She assured the Barbados electorate that their ‘generosity’ to BLP candidates “will not be misused or abused’.

Mottley noted that even without the enormous victory it was possible for “dictatorial and lawbreaking tendencies to emerge”, but insisted, “it will not be so with any Government under my leadership”.

She added that “on the contrary I have already warned some of my parliamentary members that if I ever find it necessary, in the interest of fair play, and balance I am perfectly willing to convert myself into the most formidable leader of opposition to this Government”.

Noting that the BLP victory leaves it and the country without a parliamentary opposition to scrutinize the actions of Cabinet, the executive, she referred again to the plan to make two senatorial seats available through a constitutional amendment in the hope that they will be taken by the Democratic Labour Party “for their voices to be heard in our Parliament”.

She explained that while extending to the DLP, which garnered the second most votes, an opportunity to make its voice heard, she has no legal power “to remedy that efficiency of their absence” in the House of Assembly, the home of elected members.

The Prime Minister however made it clear that she has no desire to place them in the House because such seats were not earned through the wishes of Barbadians, “because this abundance of riches derive directly from the expression of the will of the people whose infinite wisdom I wholeheartedly received and accept”.

She said that the enormity of the victory puts upon the BLP Government a responsibility to conduct the business of Parliament differently and the ‘unique opportunity’ to involve other arrangements for “inclusive dialogue and participation of a wide cross-section of Barbadian stakeholders in the business of governance”.

Mottley spoke of an intention to use the committee system of Parliament “to co-opt external participation and input,” and to have “an enhanced consultative process with an expanded and re-energized Social Partnership through the structure of our proposed People’s Assemblies and national dialogues”.

“We will also consider the introduction of ‘Question Time’ where members of Parliament would respond to pertinent queries not only by members of Parliament but submitted by members of the public.

“The checks and balances function that is expected of a parliamentary opposition can be carried out by you the people of Barbados,” she said and pledged of her government “the highest standards of transparency and accountability, discipline and fairness”.

Mottley expressed her gratitude to “every Barbadian, for standing up, for speaking out, and for showing up when it mattered most to demonstrate the astounding power of your vote”.

“Because of you our country has just seen the most emphatic and unambiguous expression of the will of the people in its history,” she said to the large crowd that poured out of the Esplanade and onto the lawns of Government headquarters

Mottley said “the new dawn is here”, and while Government and Cabinet are amazed and affected by the mandate “placed on our shoulders …We acknowledge the solemn duty this demands of us, never to betray your trust”.

“It now falls to us to translate hope into action”, she said, adding that there is “no time for pause and there is certainly no place for triumphalism and exultation. We have serious work to do, and serious problems to solve”.

“I will be holding the ministers of the Crown of Barbados to the highest standards of efficiency and productivity.”

The island’s eight Prime Minister also insisted that “divineness and partisan tribalism must not be allowed to destroy this nation”.

During her address the Barbadian leader also spoke directly to Eastern Caribbean leaders in the audience - Grenada Prime Minister Keith Mitchell; St Lucia Prime Minister Allan Chastanet and St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves.

She assured that her Government was eager “to restore and re-invigorate its partnership with you in pursuit of our vital regional integration goals”. (GA)

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Message from Chairman of The Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association( BHTA)  Roseanne Myers congratulating Prime Minister Mia Mottley and her new Government.

 The Board of Directors, staff and members of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) extend sincere congratulations to the new Prime Minister of Barbados the Hon. Mia Amor Mottley, QC, MP and her parliamentary colleagues on their historic victory in the just concluded 2018 General Election.

The BHTA reiterates its commitment to work with Government and engage in continuous dialogue while also exploring all avenues for the continued development of our tourism sector.

We further pledge our continued partnership in this very important sector so as to ensure that tourism continues to be a major source of employment and foreign exchange earnings for our country and that it is beneficial to all Barbadians.

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A 67-year-old mother is grieving the loss of her son, who has become this island’s latest road fatality.

When Barbados TODAY visited the Lower Burney, St Michael home of Sheila Stuart earlier today, she was still in a state of shock over the untimely death of her son Ricardo, who was attempting to cross the ABC Highway at Mount Friendship just before midnight on Saturday when tragedy struck.

[caption id="attachment_239336" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Sheila Stuart is still in a state of shock over the untimely death of her son Ricardo (left).[/caption]

The pedestrian was run over by a motorcycle ridden by 29-year-old Renaldo Goodman who was also seriously injured in the accident and transported to the state-run Queen Elizabeth Hospital for medical treatment.

[caption id="attachment_239342" align="aligncenter" width="478"] Ricardo Stuart was attempting to cross the ABC Highway at Mount Friendship just before midnight on Saturday when he was run over by a motorcycle ridden by 29-year-old Renaldo Goodman who was also seriously injured in the accident.[/caption]

However, while Goodman, a police officer, remains in stable condition, Ricardo passed away at 11:10 a.m. Sunday, becoming Barbados’17th road fatality for 2018 and its fifth since last Friday.

Between tears today, his mother recalled that a group of male residents from the area had delivered the unpleasant news “that Ricardo get lick down and he like he dead”.

“I start to holler. A police come and said he coming back, and then the fellas come back and said they carry him to the hospital. They told me that his foot was broken and [he] had head injuries and his ribs break up and he has cuts in his face,” she revealed, while admitting that she was not feeling like herself since.

“It got me a bit down,” she said, while calling on Barbados TODAY to “pray for me, please”.

Sheila described her deceased son as an “alright boy” who “would do any little thing for me”.

Before becoming overcome with grief to the point of being unable to speak she also lamented that she was unable to visit Ricardo in hospital because she uses a walker and her physical movements are restricted.

However, she said she was kept abreast of his condition by relatives who initially reported that “he had a 50/50 chance” of survival.

The grieving mother also reported that her son had suffered brain damage during the collision, explaining that even if he had lived “he would have been a vegetable”.

The former Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) employee was previously declared medically unfit about ten years ago when he was run over by an SSA truck, which injured the same foot that was broken during Saturday’s fatal crash, she further revealed, adding that Ricardo’s death was the third one to hit the family within the past three years, following those of his aunt and his brother. 

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Antigua and Barbuda’s prime minister Gaston Browne has said his former Caribbean Community (CARICOM) counterpart Freundel Stuart frustrated the people of Barbados, leading to his crushing defeat by the Mia Mottley-led Barbados Labour Party (BLP) in the May 24 general election.

“I expected it. Up to a few days ago, I was telling my security detail that she [Mottley] would win all her seats,” Browne said during a radio programme on Pointe FM in the Antiguan capital, St John’s, over the weekend.

He was making reference to the victory of Barbados’ first female prime minister whose BLP managed to capture all 30 seats at stake in last week’s poll despite a bitter DLP campaign, filled with personal attacks.

“Clearly they have failed and it reminded me of the UPP [United Progressive Party government in Antigua] in 2014.

“You had an administration that could not account for its stewardship and one that would have failed the people,” he stressed.

The Antiguan leader also highlighted Stuart’s decision to allow Parliament to dissolve before announcing a date for the election, saying it was similar to what the UPP’s Baldwin Spencer had done in 2014.

“Clearly, they knew they were losing and in his [Stuart’s] case, I think he frustrated the people of Barbados to the extent where it would have been a clean sweep,” Browne said, even while making it clear he did not want to get into the internal politics of Barbados.

He however congratulated Mottley saying she “is clearly a very capable lady”.

“I am quite sure she will do a good job. I think Barbados would have made a change for the better,” he said.

“In fact, I can’t see the BLP doing any worse than the DLP,” Browne added.

Following last Thursday’s election, the 15-member CARICOM and the Barbados-based Caribbean Tourism Organization have in separate statements offered congratulations to the new Prime Minister and her Government on their historic victory.

Following yesterday’s swearing in of the full 30-member Cabinet which was attended by prime ministers Keith Mitchell of Grenada, Allen Chastanet of St Lucia and Dr Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Mottley, who said she had also met for lunch on Sunday with prime minister Roosevelt Skerrit of Dominica, was also warmly congratulated in a statement issued today by the opposition United Workers Party of Dominica.

“We applaud Ms Mottley for becoming the first female Prime Minister of Barbados and for leading the BLP to the first ever clean sweep of all 30 seats in the nation’s Parliament.

“We also wish to congratulate the people of Barbados for upholding our democratic traditions in the Commonwealth Caribbean in ensuring a peaceful transition of political power in their beautiful country.

“The Barbados Electoral and Boundaries Commission must also be commended for its role in preventing and discouraging acts of treating and bribery in order to ensure free and fair elections as an honest, accurate expression of the voice of the people.

“We therefore take this opportunity to encourage our Electoral Commission in Dominica to emulate the best practices for elections with integrity adopted in Barbados,” the statement issued by the UWP’s president Senator Isaac Baptiste added.

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Two of the island’s small political parties have congratulated the new Barbados Labour Party (BLP) administration on its overwhelming 30-seat victory at the polls last week.

However, following the swearing of the remaining ministers in Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s 30-member Cabinet yesterday, the leader of Solutions Barbados, Grenville Phillips II, today sought to warn the new BLP Government that it had its work cut out for it in terms of repairing the island’s ailing economy.

“They have a lot of work to do and they have a mandate to fix the economy,” Phillips told Barbados TODAY, adding that “now that the elections are over, we are hoping that before they go the route of austerity they can let all ideas contend as Ms Mottley has said”.

Despite not capturing a single seat in the May 24 election in which the BLP humiliated the incumbent Democratic Labour Party (DLP), which lost all 16 seats it held in the previous Parliament, Phillips said he saw the result as more of a rejection of Freundel Stuart-led DLP than anything else.

In fact, he said he and his team were in high spirits following the release of the results from last Thursday’s poll which showed that Solutions Barbados had started to make inroads with the electorate.

“The public has rejected the Democratic Labour Party with the unprecedented 25 per cent swing against them. They lost quite a lot of support, we gained quite a bit of support. We had no persons and then we suddenly had about 4,000 [votes],” he said, while suggesting that his party would have picked up more support had some of its supporters not voted for the BLP for the sake of getting rid of the DLP.

“My team is very encouraged because a lot of them did not have the name recognition that the other parties had . . . and we have very limited resources,” he added.

Therefore, Phillips said Solutions Barbados stood ready to act as the “informal opposition” to the Mottley-led Government.

“We have agreed to fill that role as an informal opposition and therefore we will be having a shadow Cabinet  . . . . We plan to monitor what the Barbados Labour Party is doing and to provide them with our best advice and treat them how we would want to be treated if the roles were reversed,” he said, adding that this was important if the country were to progress.

“We don’t plan just to be nipping at their heels for partisan reasons and trying to embarrass them, because if they do badly, we all do badly, if they fail, we all fail and if they succeed, well all succeed. So our job is to make sure we help them to succeed,” the Solutions Barbados leader said.

However, another fringe party leader, Neil Holder of the Barbados Integrity Movement, was critical of the size of Mottley’s 30-member Cabinet announced on Saturday.

“I would not have so many ministers,” he told Barbados TODAY in a separate interview this afternoon, adding that while “I have no objections to what the Prime Minister is doing and I understand there are things to be done . . . if it were me I would not have so many ministers, but if she knows what her plans are, we would have to rally around her.”

He therefore suggested that the entire country needed to rally behind the new Prime Minister.

“I’ve already called on the country to support the Prime Minister and give her an opportunity to get things going, because she is starting with a brand new slate and she starts with 100 per cent.”

Holder also stated that given Mottley’s long wait to become Prime Minister, she could not afford to become complacent.

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The Mia Mottley-led administration will be under pressure to cut wages and salaries, as well as state subsidies to a number of entities if it is to avoid a balance of payments crisis, according to one regional economist.

These are the “low-lying fruits”, according to Marla Dukharan, for which the new Government must aim in order to “stop the haemorrhaging” of the ailing economy, which she likened to an injured patient in a vehicular accident.

“You are going to have to cut those. To cut transfers and subsidies basically you are going to have to deal with the loss making state enterprises and you are going to have to deal with the public sector wage bill. So those are what I would say would be the largest priorities now,” Dukharan told Barbados TODAY.

At the end of March this year the Central Bank reported that the fiscal deficit had been lowered from 5.7 per cent, while the reserves stood at only 6.9 weeks of import cover or $423 million.

The economic situation has been compounded by Government’s high debt, which reached 151 per cent of GDP at the end of March.

“They are going to have to stop the haemorrhaging of foreign reserves because right now reserves are, in my estimation, just around US$200 million, which is about five weeks of imports, and with rising oil prices and then the US$60 million payment to Credit Suisse by the end of the month, you are looking at a very close to balance of payments crisis.

“So the first thing the Government has to do is shore up reserves somehow and stem the outflow of US dollars. One of the most effective ways of stemming the outflow of US dollars is to fix the deficit. So that would be the second highest priority,” she added.

In addition, Dukharan recommended turning to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for an adjustment programme, something Mottley has already said she was prepared to do if it became necessary.

However, she said it could mean two to three years of hard times before Barbadians could begin to enjoy the benefits of the programme.

“If they have a very aggressive front loaded programme, meaning that you do a lot of the adjustments upfront rather than we did in Trinidad for example, where you take your time and do a tentative piecemeal approach, if you do all of the adjustments upfront, in two to three years you are going to start to see the benefits of it. In other words, stability will return. So I think typically two to three years you can start to see positive results,” she reasoned, adding that any policy developed for the country should have “an element of climate resilience built into it”.

In its Barbados Staff Report for the 2017 Article IV consultation, the IMF had said while there was significant progress in reducing the high fiscal deficit, Government would fall short of meeting its ambitious fiscal adjustment targets set in May 2017.

“The adjustment, if maintained, will lead to a decline in the debt-to-GDP ratio, but debt will remain unsustainable. Further delays in privatization will lead to a continu=ed decline in reserves, while large financing requirements remain a serious challenge,” it added.

In the January 2018 report, which was based on a November 2017 visit, the IMF also pointed out that fiscal adjustment should focus on reducing expenditure and should be centered on cutting transfers by reforming state-owned enterprises and public pensions.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb

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On the first working day of her new life as the island’s political leader, Prime Minister Mia Mottley met with the Social Partners at Government Headquarters today in a bid to find common ground on how to fix the ailing economy.

One of the major concerns was the stability of the Barbados dollar, which the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a report issued in January, but which the then Freundel Stuart administration kept secret, was under threat.

The 2017 Article IV report, which Mottley made public as one of her first official acts, revealed that instead of US$1 for every BDS$2 in circulation here, there is now US$1 for BDS$11.12 in circulation.

Following today’s meeting, described by those present as upbeat and positive, Mottley revealed that the labour movement and business sector were both eager and willing to work with her administration during the stabilization process.

And in release issued later through the Barbados Government Information Service, the Prime Minister said the Social Partnership was in full agreement that the value of the Barbados dollar must be protected at all cost.

“I believe that we are all agreed on our efforts to stabilize the country . . . .What I can say clearly is that all of us are absolutely sure that we have to maintain this fixed exchange rate and the preservation of the value of the Barbados dollar,” Mottley said, while promising to release more details on plans for rebuilding Barbados’ ailing economy, whose foreign reserves stood at $423 million and whose debt was 151 per cent of the gross domestic product at the end of March.

Today’s meeting was attended by Chairman of the Barbados Private Sector Association Charles Herbert; President of the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados Cedric Murrell; General Secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWI) Toni Moore; and President of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) Akanni McDowall, among others. Also present were Minister of Information, Broadcasting and Public Affairs Senator Lucille Moe; Minister of Labour and Social Partnership Relations Colin Jordan; Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs Marsha Caddle and Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn.

[caption id="attachment_239367" align="aligncenter" width="500"] NUPW President Akanni McDowall warmly embraces new Prime Minister Mia Mottley (inset) during today’s meeting at Government Headquarters. Also pictured is NUPW General Secretary Roslyn Smith (right) who was all smiles during the exchange.[/caption]

While discussions are expected to continue on Friday, Herbert told Barbados TODAY he was buoyed by the level of urgency displayed by the new Prime Minister.

“We are very satisfied and we are very impressed with the urgency which matters are being dealt with,” Herbert said while refusing to go into great detail for fear of pre-empting the final report, which is to be presented to the public after the next meeting.

“What I can tell you is that a lot is happening. We had a very productive and fast moving meeting with lots of action plans. We have agreed that a full report would be made available to the public after the meeting on Friday,” he added.

Similar sentiments were expressed by McDowall, who said the meeting provided a platform from which the country could move forward.

“I am sensing that everybody is willing to work together because the general environment of the meeting has changed tremendously. People are now more upbeat and they believe that things are possible and we also believe that the Prime Minister and her colleagues are willing to listen, which is very important in this type of exercise,” McDowall said.

Meanwhile Moore described the talks as “refreshing”, adding that it gave those involved “an opportunity to engage very meaningfully on a number of issues that will define our course throughout the coming weeks and month”.

“The meeting was very cordial and frank across the board,” Moore said.

colvillemounsey@barbadostoday.bb

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The man who managed the Democratic Labour Party (DLP)’s disastrous campaign for last week’s general election is advising the party against taking up any seats in the Senate which would open up through a proposed constitutional amendment.

The Constitution makes provision for two opposition senators, but in the absence of an official opposition following the clean sweep by the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), newly-appointed Prime Minister Mia Mottley revealed on Saturday she had discussed a proposed amendment with Governor General Dame Sandra Mason, which would allow the party securing the second largest number of votes in the election to name the two Opposition senators.

However, DLP stalwart Robert Bobby Morris told Barbados TODAY this was not necessary since his party would prefer to earn its place in Parliament.

“My view is the Democratic Labour Party would be getting back their seats and claiming rightfully by that action, their place in the legislature in due course. I think that is going to happen. So I don’t think there is any necessity to create a position specially at this point in time. The Opposition in Parliament is not the only type of opposition that is possible. But I don’t think the Democratic Labour Party wants to be compromised in terms of their participation,” the former campaign manager said.

Morris was confident that it would not be long before the DLP re-establishes its connection with the electorate, even as he admitted that the BLP ran a much better and more appealing campaign while capitalizing
on the prevailing unfavourable economic climate.

“The Opposition would have taken a very strong position of building their own swing from their participation in Parliament . . . the votes of no confidence, their activities outside, rubbing shoulders . . . .That was a very dynamic approach by the Opposition of the day to make sure that they were in the public domain,” Morris said, adding that the swing against the DLP, which started in 2013, led to a “very powerful sweep” by the BLP.

“The combined elements of the economy and the hard work and planning of the Opposition and of course . . . they commanded the swing, because the total that they got, I think it is over 111,000 votes to the really small total of 36,000 meant that they appeal to the electorate more than the Democratic Labour Party,” he stressed.

Morris said the DLP would do some introspection, noting that the former Prime Minister, Freundel Stuart, had already served notice of his decision not to contest the leadership. He said party officials would therefore put their heads together and bring about a transition of leadership to take the DLP into the next poll.

The DLP took the initial step today toward preparing for the future when the various organs met to review the outcome of last Thursday’s general election.

“Agencies of the party were discussing and getting views on the experiences of what happened in the election,” General Secretary George Pilgrim told Barbados TODAY this afternoon.

He added that the executive council would meet on Wednesday to set a date for a post mortem which would involve DLP members who sat in the last Parliament.

Pilgrim said Stuart would continue to serve as president until the annual general meeting in August at which a replacement will be chosen.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

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A self-described prophet who claimed that he was told by God in a dream four years ago that Barbados Labour Party (BLP) leader Mia Mottley would become the island’s eighth Prime Minister, today said now that she has become the country’s leader Barbados will experience seven years of famine.

Thirty-one-year-old Janal Browne told Barbados TODAY he prophesized as far back as 2014 that “the woman with the iron fist” would rule the country.

That woman, he said, was Mottley, whose BLP swept the polls last Thursday, capturing all 30 seats at stake.

“A woman with an iron fist is a woman that would be able to call a spade a spade and be able to take it to a next level. The thing the Lord also said to me is that the Government will also have a seven-year period of governmental famine, as funds will be very low for the Government,” Browne, who co-founded Prophetic Movement Ministry, said.

Browne compared Mottley to King Solomon, described in the Old Testament as the wisest man who ever lived.

It is this wisdom, he said, upon which the Prime Minister must call in order to confront the island’s problems.

“In this season the Prime Minister has to use a lot of wisdom. If you look back at Solomon and those old leaders they had the wisdom of the times. She will need that wisdom when it comes to leading this economy as this is not one of the best economies for a Prime Minister to take over,” he said.

The self-proclaimed prophet contended that it was God who wanted Mottley to become Prime Minister, stressing that “we cannot come and change what God wants”.

Browne sought to defend his credentials as a prophet, contending that he had predicted the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 in 2014, the election of David Granger in Guyana and Allen Chastanet in St Lucia, as well as the fall of Kamla Persad-Bissessar in Trinidad.

“A lot of prophecies have come to pass all over the world. No one thought that Kenny Anthony would lose the elections and I prophesized and over 1,000 people were listening and I said that he would call the elections before its time and that he would lose the elections and six months after one of the newspapers in St Lucia had it. No one believed in it because he was well known and the favourite,” he said.

Browne said he had received backlash over his divine prediction about Mottley, because many felt as a man who ministers to people he ought not dabble into the world of politics.

However, he told Barbados TODAY he was simply doing God’s work and nothing else.

“My job is a prophet. I have been the spiritual advisor for a lot of people but the thing is I was just doing what God told me. The last four years the Lord prophesized and said the woman with the iron fists, Prime Minister Mia Mottley, she will become the leader. The thing is every person will come and say, ‘well I said it’, because you said it two or three weeks ago but this is the last four-and-a-half years when people did not see it,” he said, stressing that “in terms of her being the Prime Minister that was already written by God”.

Browne had predicted in February that the BLP would win the election by an overwhelming margin, a position that was at odds with a forecast by self-proclaimed psychic Ava Astra Griffith, was who had said the then incumbent Democratic Labour Party would have been given a third term by a 17-13 margin.

“It will be close in some constituencies that some candidates will demand recounts, while others will demand the results in law courts,” Griffith had said.

As it turned out, none of the seats was close.  

The post Hard times ahead appeared first on Barbados Today.

The island’s election managers are yet to reveal the final vote count or the level of turnout at this year’s general election, five days after the historic poll that saw the Barbados Labour Party under the leadership of Mia Mottley staging a clean sweep of all 30 seats to oust the Democratic Labour Party.

Chief Electoral Officer Angela Taylor declared this afternoon she was not in a position to provide official figures since the Electoral and Boundaries Commission (EBC) was still awaiting some of the data.

“I am still collecting information from the returning officers,” she told Barbados TODAY, while at the same time promising to release information on the turnout when it becomes available.

However, pollster and political scientist Peter Wickham reported that the turnout was about 60 per cent, the lowest in the island’s post-independence electoral history.

According to Wickham, an analysis of the available information revealed that the number of registered voters increased by three per cent while the overall turnout fell by four per cent.

There was a 62 per cent turnout for the 2013 general election.

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The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) must “cleanse itself of the ghost” of former Prime Minister Freundel Stuart before it can claw its way back from last Thursday’s devastating loss to the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) in the general election, according to a leading political scientist and commentator.

Having done this, Dr Tennyson Joseph said, the DLP should shift its philosophy back to the social democracy of its founder and former Prime Minister Errol Barrow.

The DLP suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the BLP in the general election, losing every seat, including its bastion, St John, and securing just over 20 per cent of the votes cast.

Joseph said the loss was the result of a mass popular revolt against the administration, which he accused of having a preoccupation with narrow economics and a lack of humanity in its messages.

Joseph, the head of the department of government, sociology and social work at the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), said the seeds for the massive loss were sowed in 2013 when the DLP’s barely hung on to power.

“The 2013 election was a vote against the DLP. Most persons have not analyzed it that way, but people were beginning to express dissatisfaction with the DLP from as early 2013 for the same narrow economism.

“What happened after 2013 is that they ended up doing the same thing a little more drastically. So what they did not do in 2008, they did it in 2013. They laid off the [public] workers, they terminated free education for UWI students and then they began to quarrel with the labour unions for the same narrow economism,” he said, adding that the numbers game continued into the 2018 election campaign.

“Imagine a party put out a manifesto and saying things like, ‘we did not cut salaries, we did not ask you to pay fees at the hospital’. Is that what you put in a manifesto? The only way they put that in the manifesto is because of the narrow economism. And therefore there was nobody in the DLP, including the Prime Minister, who said anything to change that language,” emphasized the political scientist.

Joseph said the BLP capitalized on the DLP’s shortcoming and shifted the message to a broader social one by “introducing social democracy back into the language and the DLP could not respond to that”.

The UWI lecturer added that the punitive tax measures introduced over the years, including the much-maligned National Social Responsibility Levy, left the population without hope of an improvement and forcing them to revolt en mass.

“The whole country . . . seventy-something per cent of the population voting in one direction can only be described as a mass popular revolt . . . and in my view, I hope the lesson sinks in that it was a failure of that narrow economism and it was a demand for a return of social democracy. Any other party that is trying to establish itself in the future, cannot remain trapped in that narrow economism and must find a way to redefine and redevelop a social democratic philosophy that . . . [espouses] both the economy as well as social development,” he suggested.

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Police are continuing investigations into a fire, which damaged an abandoned building at Upper Collymore Rock, St Michael this morning.
A team of 11 fire officers responded to the blaze around 6:20 a.m. and quickly took control, restricting the fire to the upper floor of the structure owned by the ANSA MCAL Group of Companies.
The lower floor was not affected and no other properties were damaged.
The fire was extinguished around 7:30 a.m.
The building has been unoccupied for more than a decade.

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Police are investigating the unnatural death of a man whose decomposing body was found in a track opposite the Daryl Jordan Secondary School at Trents, St Lucy around 9 a.m.

According to police, a man who was searching the area collecting bottles through a track about 50 metres from the main roadway opposite the school, discovered the body under a canopy of trees.

Police are asking anyone with information that can assist with investigations to contact the Crab Hill Police Station at 310-7700, the Holetown Police Station at 419- 1700 or the nearest police station.

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The untimely death of Omari Jabari Bynoe, of Glebe Land, St George, has cast a dark cloud over the Farm Road, St George community.

The 26-year-old was pronounced dead last Saturday, less than a week after he fell from a truck during a Democratic Labour Party (DLP) sponsored motorcade on May 21.

[caption id="attachment_244528" align="aligncenter" width="400"] The late Omari Bynoe[/caption]

Bynoe was reportedly sitting on the railing of a Toyota Hiace pick-up, driven by 57-year-old Ken Forde, of Sargeant Road, Ellerton, St George, when he lost his balance and fell into the road as the motorcade, given by St George South candidate Dr Esther Byer Suckoo, was returning to her constituency office.

He was subsequently admitted to hospital in serious condition and despite a brave battle, eventually succumbed to his injuries, after reportedly suffering major brain damage.

Even though they were bracing for the worst, members of Bynoe’s family, including his mother Joycelyn, were hoping and praying for the best.

With their worst fears now materialized, his aunt Sonia explained today that his death had been particularly difficult for his mother, who has lost her only son.

[caption id="attachment_244529" align="aligncenter" width="379"] Omari’s aunt Sonia Bynoe[/caption]

She also said that his older sister Tiffany was devastated by the tragedy.

“Everybody break up . . .  . It is a sad, sad situation,” Sonia said.

“He gone, gone. There is no coming back. We ain’t seeing he at all, unless it is in the box [casket],” she said with grief written all over her face.

Residents in the close knit St George community, including Collin Moore who knew Bynoe from the time he was a child, were also stunned to learn of his passing.

[caption id="attachment_244531" align="aligncenter" width="347"] Close friend of the deceased Collin Moore.[/caption]

Moore, a friend of the family, described Bynoe as “pleasant” and “productive”, adding that he was always willing to offer assistance.

He also said that his death had thrown a pall over the entire area.

“After we heard he was in the hospital  . . .   [a cloud came] over the community, and even after he passed, you could still feel and know that something really serious has happened in the area,” Moore told Barbados TODAY.

“It is a sad loss. All of us are going to miss him,” he added.
katrinaking@barbadostoday.bb

The post Fatal blow appeared first on Barbados Today.

Police and family members have identified the decomposing body of a male found at Trents, St James as that of a well-known vagrant, who has been living on the streets for years.

It was around 9 o’clock this morning that the gruesome discovery was made of the body of 60-year-old Trevor Clavier Marshall, alias Jungle, whose last known address was 1st Avenue, Jackson, St Michael.

[caption id="attachment_244526" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Trevor Marshall’s last known address was 1st Avenue, Jackson, St Michael.[/caption]

Lawmen say Marshall’s lifeless body was found on the ground under a canopy of trees. The discovery was made in a track, about 50 metres from the main roadway opposite the Frederick Smith Secondary School, by a man who was rummaging the area for bottles.

When Barbados TODAY visited the Jackson, St Michael home of Marshall’s sister Joan Greenidge this afternoon, she was too devastated to speak. However, his nephew Dwayne Cave said he was at work when he got the tragic news “that Jungle had passed away”.

He also revealed that his uncle was briefly hospitalized last week, but later discharged himself and had not been seen since.

Cave also said that while he was close to his uncle when he was a child, the two had drifted apart after Marshall decided to live on the streets.

“Everyone has their habits and I guess he had a habit too and I guess that could be one of the reasons [that he went on the street],” Cave, said suggesting that his uncle was battling drug addiction.

“At the end of the day, the family still looked out for him when he would come by, but there is so much you can tell a person and you cannot make them do something that they would not like to do,” he said, adding that Marshall death had hit the family hard.

Junior Lampkin, who is Greenidge’s boyfriend, also explained that Marshall, who lost his mother a year ago, frequented their Jackson, St Michael residence from time to time.

“He would come and go. . . . He is always on the west coast, St Peter areas and in Garden Land.  . . . That is where he hangs out. That is where he actually lives, down that side.”

However, he said the circumstances surrounding Marshall’s death remained a mystery.

“No one really knows what happened, but a woman called and said he passed out somewhere, where no one knows [and] then a man claimed that all he did was to drop him to the highway and tell him to go by his close relatives, so if anything happens someone would be there to take care of him and look after his interests. But he never, ever came,” Lampkin said.

Police investigations are continuing with an autopsy due to be performed to determine the cause of the vagrant’s death. 

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Two days after he was sworn in as Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Wilfred Abrahams got down to work today on the worrying sewage crisis on the south coast.

Abrahams met with General Manager of the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) Ketihroy Halliday to discuss the sewage leaks that have been plaguing the commercial and tourism belt between Hastings and Worthing, Christ Church for well over a year now.

“I would be a negligent minister if I didn’t,” Abrahams told Barbados TODAY when asked if he had reached out to the BWA on the vexing problem which has forced the closure of some businesses on the south coast.

However, he declined to provide any details of the talks, saying a statement would be issued shortly.

The talks came on the same day that the Mia Mottley-led 30-member Cabinet met to address critical issues affecting the country.

The previous administration led by former Prime Minister Freundel Stuart had said a lasting solution to the chronic sewage flare-ups was the construction of a new treatment plant, and that it was approaching the Inter-American Development and the Caribbean Development for financial assistance.

Even so, the BWA had begun to dig a number of injection wells to facilitate repairs to the compromised sewer lines, Charles Leslie, the BWA’s director of engineering had said the wells would have been ready by the middle of this year.

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The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) needs “a cleansing and a purge” to rid itself of the old boys’ club who have kept it back, a member of the old guard has said.

In a frank assessment of the state of the party, former Minister of Social Transformation Hamilton Hammie La Lashley charged that too many of the old guard were determined to hang on despite the embarrassing loss in last Thursday’s general election.

“I know I am going to get cursed for it but I am accustomed to it. The party needs a cleansing and a purge,” Lashley told journalists at a news conference at the Marcus Garvey Resource Centre in The Pine, St Michael.

The social activist, who held the St Michael South East seat for both the DLP and the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) between 1994 and 2013, said the time had come for a complete overhaul of the party, along with a change in thinking from “the old traditional way of doing things”.

He called on those who hold positions of power in the DLP to put country before party and step aside, even as he expressed scepticism that they would willingly relinquish control.

“There would be a number of the older members who have already resigned their official position and it gives us a pathway forward into the future. However, you would meet up on the old heads who believe that they have a God-given right to make the final decision,” he said.

“It is quite obvious to me that a number of the old boys and girls have to sit back in an advisory capacity and let younger, brighter persons take the lead. The Democratic Labour Party has to be very serious. It can’t be the old boys club anymore. We need a new dynamic force going forward in the future,” he stressed.

Joining Lashley at the news conference was his protégé Rodney Grant, the losing DLP candidate in St Michael South East.

Grant suggested that his party had lost its soul, claiming it had moved away from the principles established by its founding father, Errol Barrow.

Grant was seen as one of the DLP’s brightest prospects after he was hand-picked by the hierarchy to contest the seat which the BLP’s Santia Bradshaw had won by only ten votes in 2013 over  Patrick Tannis, who since switched allegiance to the Bees.

However, he became a victim of the near 30 per cent swing against the DLP, suffering a massive loss by 2,704 votes. He attracted just 1,099 votes, or 21.84 per cent, to 3,803 by Bradshaw, who garnered 75.56 per cent of the votes cast. The smaller parties, Solution Barbados and United Progressive Party (UPP) polled 131 votes between them.

Today, Grant argued that the party needed to return to its core principles of people-centred politics if it wished to become relevant again.

“There has to be a return to the social democratic stance on which Barrow built the Democratic Labour Party,” he told journalists at a news conference at the Marcus Garvey Resource Centre in The Pine, St Michael.

“We have to find a way to get back there and the party has to find a way to get back to that point on how it engages with people going forward into the future. This is the key thing that must engage the party going forward, it can’t be anything but people-centred,” Grant stressed.

In a stinging commentary of the DLP’s performance in the election, in which it polled just 33, 985 votes, or 22 per cent of the 153,745 ballots cast, Grant suggested that the Dees had been relegated to virtually third party status.

“This defeat almost puts the Democratic Labour Party on the same platform as the UPP, BIM [Barbados Integrity Movement] and some of the other parties. The thing that sets the Democratic Labour Party apart from the others is its history,” he said.

It was only yesterday that the man in charge of the DLP’s disastrous election campaign, Robert Bobby Morris, said the party would do some introspection, while pointing out that defeated Prime Minister Freundel Stuart had already served notice of his intention to quit.

Morris said party officials would therefore put their heads together and bring about a transition of leadership to take the DLP into the next poll.

The party took the initial step toward preparing for the future when the various organs met yesterday to review the outcome of last Thursday’s general election.

“Agencies of the party were discussing and getting views on the experiences of what happened in the election,” General Secretary George Pilgrim told Barbados TODAY.

He added that the executive council would meet tomorrow to set a date for a post mortem which would involve DLP members who sat in the last Parliament.

colvillemounsey@barbadostoday.bb

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A member of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) old guard and his protégé have stopped just short of ridiculing stalwart Robert Bobby Morris’ advise to the party to reject any offers to take up seats in the Senate.

Former Minister of Social Transformation Hamilton Lashley and the man who sought to mimic his every political move, Rodney Grant, today said it would be a dereliction of duty if the DLP does not accept the seats, which would open up through a proposed constitutional amendment.

As matter of fact Lashley identified Grant, the losing DLP candidate in St Michael South East, and Henderson Williams, who was whipped in The City, as his picks to take the offer extended by Prime Minister Mia Mottley.

Lashley, who assisted the campaigns of both Grant and Williams, argued that to reject the offer would be an insult to voters who maintained their faith in the DLP despite the massive nationwide shift in support.

“There are obviously persons who had faith in the DLP and put their support behind them and to miss this opportunity would be to dismiss those persons who went out to the polls and this would make us guilty of the same old behaviour of which we have been accused,” Lashley said as he offered his views on the way forward for the DLP after Thursday’s humiliating loss to the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) in the general election in which it mustered just 22 per cent of the approximately 153,745 votes cast, compared by 72.63 per cent by the BLP.

At a news conference at the Marcus Garvey Resource Centre in The Pine, St Michael, Lashley, who jumped from the DLP to the BLP and back to the DLP before he retired from active politics, told reporters the DLP must focus on rebuilding the party through young talent.

Therefore, he said, it was only fitting that the newcomers be given the opportunity to serve in Opposition, albeit in the Senate.

“The Democratic Labour Party has to be very serious now. It can no longer be an old boys club, and it is a new dimension. I know the old boys and old girls club would like to pick from among themselves. I strongly believe that one of those persons has to be Rodney Grant. The other should be a young person like Henderson Williams,” the former representative for The Pine said.

Like Lashley, Grant jumped from the DLP to the BLP and back to the DLP in order to contest the recent poll in the seat which Lashley first won in 1994 while still a member of the Dees, before jumping ship to join the then Owen Arthur administration during the period of Arthur’s so-called politics of inclusion. He held onto the seat until his retirement in 2013, but returned home to the DLP after it defeated Arthur in 2008.

Grant, who has been a Lashley disciple, today shared his mentor’s position on the Senate issue, as he admonished his party to grab the opportunity with both hands.

“If there is an opportunity to represent the country I believe that they [DLP] should take it. Although the electorate dismissed the entire DLP candidacy, I believe that any opportunity to speak on behalf of the people is good for democracy. I think democracy would be weakened without any opposing voice,” Grant said, while going on to state that he would also respect the DLP’s decision to fight on behalf of the people outside of Parliament.

With just 33, 985 votes, the Dems suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the BLP, failing to win a single seat in the 30-member House of Assembly, meekly surrendering even its bedrock, St John, in the process.

Had it won at least one seat, it would have had the opportunity to name two senators as provided for in the Constitution, which makes provision for the Opposition to appoint two senators in the 21-member Upper Chamber.

However, in the absence of an official opposition, newly-appointed Prime Minister Mia Mottley revealed on Saturday she had discussed a proposed amendment with Governor General Dame Sandra Mason, which would allow the party securing the second largest number of votes in the election to name the two Opposition senators.

However, Morris quickly shot down the idea telling Barbados TODAY in a interview yesterday, such an arrangement was unnecessary since his party would prefer to earn its place in Parliament.

“My view is the Democratic Labour Party would be getting back their seats and claiming rightfully by that action, their place in the legislature in due course. I think that is going to happen. So I don’t think there is any necessity to create a position specially at this point in time. The Opposition in Parliament is not the only type of opposition that is possible. But I don’t think the Democratic Labour Party wants to be compromised in terms of their participation,” the former campaign manager said.

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A week ago, he was the minister in charge of the transport ministry and it was under his watch that an ugly incident occurred on May 3 in the River Terminal that led police to bring criminal charges against two public service vehicle (PSV) workers.

However, as fate would have it, Michael Lashley’s Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Government was swept from office in the May 24 election in which the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) was catapulted into office.

Immediately, the Queen’s Counsel sought solace in his legal practice, and today made his first court appearance on behalf of the two embattled PSV employees.

In fact, while in the past Lashley would have had reason as minister to complain about the behaviour of these private transport operators, today he stood solemnly in defence of 34-year-old PSV driver James Anthony Andrews, of No 236, Apple Hall Terrace, St Philip, and 30-year-old conductor Travis Tremaine Brathwaite, of Sealy Hall, St Philip, who are facing separate charges following the recent incident with police, which was caught on video and made the rounds on social media.

[caption id="attachment_244566" align="aligncenter" width="433"] Queen’s Counsel Michael Lashley (right) was all smiles today after he secured bail for his clients James Anthony Andrews (back) and Travis Tremaine Brathwaite (front). (Picture by Gregory Waldron.)[/caption]

It is alleged that on May 3 around 8:45 a.m. Andrews, the driver of ZR42, loitered in the area of the Nursery Drive Road for the purpose of soliciting passengers and was not properly attired with boots, shoes or sandals and such apparel approved by the Licensing Authority.

He is also accused of assaulting Police Constable Donette Cadogan, as well as threatening to rob and kill her. Andrews pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Brathwaite also denied obstructing, assaulting and resisting Police Constable Denis Murray in the execution of his duties on the aforementioned date, as well as damaging a shirt belonging to the Crown.

The duo was remanded to HMP Dodds on May 4 when they first appeared before Magistrate Graveney Bannister who had deemed the allegations against them to be “serious”, given that they were reportedly committed against officers in the line of duty.

However, today the two accused were granted $2,000 bail each when they appeared before Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant, with Lashley stating he was not ruling out filing a charge against one of the  officers involved in a violent clash with his clients.

“I believe given the instructions from my clients I certainly will have to look at bringing a cross charge against the police officer,” he revealed, adding that he was concerned about the current trend of accused persons being tried on social media.

“I find that a lot of matters that are sub judice are being tried on social media. Accused men are being tried and convicted on social media and even with this matter there was a lot of hue and cry and persons making conclusionary statements about the matter and I think it is wrong,” he said.

The former Minister of Transport and Works said presiding judicial officers “should really send a warning to people on social media to really leave these cases out.

“Because some of them could be indictable matters that have to go before judge and jury and if you are out there on social media and you are influencing persons who likely will make up a jury, the question is whether this person will have a fair trial under the Constitution,” he added.

The matter is due to come back up in court on June 7.

In the meantime, following last week’s humiliating general election defeat, Lashley, the former Member of Parliament for St Philip North, said he was currently concentrating on his law practice and not his political future.

Lashley, who lost his St Philip North seat by just about 1,600 votes to BLP first-timer Dr Sonia Browne, said it was early days yet.

“But I am back in the courtroom now, so I feel good. I am not ready to talk [about the election] I am concentrating on my practice. I spent years in here before Parliament so it is a natural step back for me. I appeared in many criminal assizes so it’s just a natural transition,” he told reporters on the precincts of the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court.

He thanked the people of his constituency for their confidence in him for the past three election cycles.

“I am concentrating on my practice . . . . All I can say is that it will continue to help the people in St Philip, particularly in my practice of law, and assist those who need help, particularly the needy and of course the schools and other organizations.

“I just want to thank the people of St Philip North for reposing their confidence in me from since 2003 and want to thank them for their support,” he said.

fernellawedderburn@barbadostoday.bb

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The island’s private sector is warning consumers not to expect an immediate fall in prices after Government removes the hated National Social Responsibility Levy (NSRL) on imported and locally produced goods.

President of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Eddy Abed, who yesterday joined the Social Partners in talks with Prime Minister Mia Mottley, said he was confident the newly-appointed leader would keep her campaign promise to repeal the onerous tax.

[caption id="attachment_244579" align="aligncenter" width="500"] President of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry Eddy Abed (right) and BIDC CEO Sonja Trotman signing the MOU today.[/caption]

However, Abed cautioned that it could be up to five months following the repeal before prices begin to fall.

“Therein lies the problem because although the NSRL may be repealed today the adjustment of the prices would only occur when the inventory is replaced. One must be realistic,” he told a news conference at the offices of the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC) where the private sector body signed a memorandum of understanding with the BIDC to increase collaboration over the next two years.

It was in his 2017 Budget presentation that then Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler announced a 400 per cent rise to the NSRL introduced the previous September – from two per cent to ten per cent of the customs value of imported and locally produced goods  - as part of an austerity package as the administration sought to curb a burgeoning deficit problem.

During the campaign for the May 24 general election the BLP pledged to repeal the tax, a decision Abed said would cost the Treasury $141 million which “will have to be made up somehow”.

The BCCI head said the private sector and the labour movement had been tasked to come up with a means of making up for the shortfall.

“We have been asked as part of the private sector association and the trade unions, to give suggestions as to how the shortfall in revenue will be made up,” said Abed, who refused to give details, only adding that “surely it will be made up”.

Asked how businesses would be kept in check once the tax was removed, Abed suggested that competition would take care of that.

“There is nothing more wonderful than competition, frankly. If you are prepared to lose market share or if you are prepared to get the wrath of irate customers going on social media then I say to you, carry on,” he said.

The BCCI head said now that the general election was out the way there was a general “feel good” atmosphere within the business community with some indicating that the “dark clouds have cleared”, despite the continuing economic problems.

“The reality is that we are still in the same mess we were in before. We may have a new driver driving the bus but quoting from our new Prime Minister ‘many hands make light work’. This is a job that will require all of us to participate in,” Abed said while describing the economic situation as sad, and calling for urgent implementation of the necessary corrective steps.

“So from that point of view I think people are a little resistant. They would like to get a greater sense of the short-term measures that will be implemented and the medium and long-term measures as well, and that causes a bit of hesitance.”

However, he said many businesses had made it clear they intended to proceed with some of the plans they had placed on hold for at least the last six months.

“I fully expect not necessarily within a day or week, but within three to six months, you will see activity. I am absolutely certain that we will see activity,” he insisted.

The business executive said that in addition to the struggling economy the lengthy wait for the general election to be called was a main reason for the lack of confidence and uncertainty which led to little or no investment.

However, he said with a new Government in office, confidence was returning.

“People want to have a greater sense of how things will be solved. We are all aware that there will be some pain but it must be gain with that pain. It can’t just be pain,” he said, adding that businesses were aware that a lot of work had to be done in order to turn things around and protect the value of the Barbados dollar.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb

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