IT’S THE DEMS’ turn to drop a political bombshell.
The Opposition Democratic Labour Party (DLP) has cancelled all meetings tonight except its national rally at which leader David Thompson has promised to reveal “some of the ammunition I have in storage” and which he was planning to use during the aborted live debates in the lead-up to next Tuesday’s general election.
Titled Campaign Eye-opener One, this meeting will be held at Haggatt Hall, St Michael, near the Emancipation [Bussa] Roundabout. “Some people in this country may not like what I will have to say, but in the public’s interest I believe I have got to say what I know,” Thompson declared.
It was only last Saturday night that the Barbados Labour Party hinted of a bombshell at its Bridgetown meeting when it accused the DLP of wanting to take Barbados into bed with Taiwan instead of the People’s Republic of China.
Thompson said yesterday he would use the opportunity of a single, national political rally to reveal “the latest and most stunning example of governmental mismanagement and squandermania”.
While not giving further insights into the precise nature of tonight’s “bombshell”, the DLP leader said the revelations involved the reckless spending of hundreds of millions of hard-earned taxpayers dollars in a “highly suspicious and certainly non-transparent manner”.
“Mr Arthur has said this election is about leadership and the economic management of this country,” Thompson said.
“I want Barbadians from all walks of life and of all partisan political persuasions to come to Bussa Roundabout tonight and determine for themselves whether Owen Arthur and his BLP Government are deserving of another term, given the hard, cold facts that I will make public at that meeting tonight.”
“The moment I said I wanted a debate on governance, the BLP retreated from the idea of debates. I suspect the Prime Minister feared that I might have been onto something and he did everything humanly possible to pre-empt disclosure.
Red herring
“Mr Arthur came with this red herring issue of Taiwanese involvement in this campaign to detract persons from examining the real charges that have been levelled against him, dating back to 2003. The time has come for me to give chapter and verse on that entire episode that again involved some very questionable financial transactions.
“This election is not about China or Taiwan. I repeat for the umpteenth time that this Democratic Labour Party has not benefited in any way from a single contribution from either China or Taiwan. This election is about governance and the manner in which we want as a people to be governed. I gave notice during the Hardwood debate that I would have been calling names such as the late Johnnie Cochran in my wrap-up to that debate.
“I do not know if that was the reason for the sudden curtailment of debate, but after tomorrow night (tonight), I expect that the voters of Barbados will be in a position to answer that question for themselves,” he concluded.
15 Comments
January 9, 2008 at 9:45 am
David,
To date you have out foxed Owen at every stage of this elections campaign. Owen is tired…too tired and drunk to fight back…to scared to debate…don’t want to expose Clyde who is now proving to be their biggest liability.
January 9, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Mr. Thompson,
I am looking forward to when, as PM, you raise the standard of Government accountability.
January 10, 2008 at 6:26 am
DLP
Could you please make this meeting available for us who were unable to make the meeting.
Also your old format on your site where the viewer had the choice to select the meeting and the speakers was so much better – could we have this back?
Please know Mr Thompson that the people of Barbados are expecting jail time for these corrupt politicians.
I trust you are up to the task.
January 10, 2008 at 8:46 am
Please keep this election about the issues. The main issue is healthcare. Our hospital is being trodden on and destroyed and we want to know why. We want to know why we pay through our teeth in taxes and it is being frittered away, and our questions to those we placed in authority are being dismissed ARROGANTLY. Please stop stooping to Arthur’s game and run your campaign the way you were before. If he wants to be nasty, come out plain, deny his allegations and get back to the issue at hand. I dont care if there are leadership issues in the BLP…I have already seen that there is corruption. THAT matters more to me.
By the way, please tell Mr. David Estwick that I like to hear what he has to say –but only when I can actually understand it. He needs to tone it down a bit so that people can understand what he is saying because he is talking sensibly!!
January 11, 2008 at 9:58 am
Can you imagine that Arthur’s defense in relation to the cheque is to raise the question of funding from taiwan once again? He is a bold faced liar
January 11, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Get ready this sunday at 11.am-1.pm barbados time to hear the only interview of this election between David Thompson and Owen Arthur one on one via the internet on http://www.onecaribbeanradio.com tell all your friends.
January 11, 2008 at 10:58 pm
In connection with this claim by PM Arthur that David Thompson is about to accept Taiwanese money; we need to search the available facts in order to be able to determine the truth, or which individual is likely to be more truthful.
At a recent political meeting as indicated by the Advocate News of January 9th, Mr Arthur is on record as saying that 20 visas were issued to Taiwanese persons who came to this country on December 9th last year.
Clearly, Mr Thompson as Opposition Leader is not in a position to issue any visas; so why would Arthur’s BLP Government issue 20 visas to persons looking to bribe Mr Thompson into switching allegiance from the People’s Republic of China to Taiwan? It doesn’t make any kind of sense to me. Maybe Mr Arthur is the intended recipient and he is trying to deflect the attention away from himself.
In tonight’s XTrail, Chris Sinckler, who gave a very impressive showing, unlike his opponent Mr Tyrone Barker. Chris stated categorically that it was a lie and he being the General Secretary would have to be aware of it because he signs all the cheques.
Mr Arthur, irrespective of all the excuses given by CBC to disallow the political debates, has refused to confront Mr Thompson face to face to deal with such issues. Instead he prefers to make these unchallenged allegations at political meetings whereby he is able to pass them off unscrutinized or untested.
In the prevailing circumstances, I believe Mr Arthur is lying or at the very least is trying to distort the facts in order to make Thompson look bad or dishonest. This feeling is further reinforced by a recent statement by Arthur where he is reported to have said that as from now, the gloves are off.
Anyone familiar with the term will clearly understand what the phrase means: (from here on expect a dirty fight).
January 12, 2008 at 1:04 pm
DAVID THOMPSON’S BOMBSHELL SPEECH!
I have invited Barbadians here tonight to emphasize my worry and disgust at the direction in which our country is headed. The Barbados Labour Party has given us every reason to vote them out of office and, after tonight, it would be preposterous for this country to say that notwithstanding the myriad reasons and the mounting evidence of corruption, squander mania and mal-administration, that it is still “moving with Owen.”
I wish first to address the lame excuse of those who say “I agree we need change, but the Dems ain’t ready yet”. What are you looking for? What are you waiting for?
We must stop the contradiction and the intellectual dishonesty in this country. The DLP is today far more prepared, equipped and ready to assume the reins of government than was the Barbados Labour Party of 1976 and more so of 2003.
In 1976, the BLP did not even have a leader. There was still infighting over whether Bree had been un-faired, whether Henry Forde was the natural leader of the Under Forty’s Group or whether Tom Adams, the son of Grantley Adams, was deserving of this mantle. In 1976 Tom Adams said he wanted a larger Opposition and you went out and gave him the government.
The DLP administration of that day did not lie, cheat or steal but you said it was time for them to go and you voted in an untried and unproven BLP.
In 1994, I would be the first to admit that the DLP gave the voters of Barbados good reason to vote them out of office, but you, the electorate, never batted an eyelid. You voted into office a party made up of a drunken captain and a band of unknown, inexperienced and incompetent sailors. In 1994 Owen Arthur had never sat in a Cabinet before…but you made him Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of this country. Half of his Cabinet had never even sat in the Parliament of Barbados before. But you voted them into office, because you recognized and determined the need for change.
You did not put the BLP under the microscope then, but some armchair critics in Barbados are persisting with this BLP nonsense of the DLP not ready to govern.
There is no party in Barbados more divided than the Barbados Labour Party. It is not in George Street that leaders are being body slammed and police are being called in to part fights. I did not name any ‘just-come’ member my Co-leader. Nobody on this side has made clear that they will not serve in my Cabinet if I do not name them sole Deputy Prime Minister.
The fighting is going on over there…but there are those who wish to persist with this nonsense of the Democratic Labour Party not being ready to govern.
Let us examine for a moment the team and the state of readiness of the DLP. Our team was selected, ratified and presented to the people of this country over 15 months ago. The credentials of our members are second to none that was presented by any party for the past 25 years.
I am a Parliamentarian of some 20 years standing with more than 4 years of Cabinet experience, including serving between 1992 and 1994 as Minister of Finance. Owen Arthur was nowhere near as qualified to lead Barbados in 1994.
This DLP team of 2008 comprises personal and professional successes. There is not a single member of this team of candidates that has not made a success of his or her life or chosen career path. None is tonight in the job market. None is seeking to enter politics as a way of guaranteeing his or herself a decent salary. In 1993 Owen Arthur cried on national television that he could not get a job and he could not make ends meet. He said he could not live in Barbados, because he was less than a man in his own house.
Tonight, many rate him among the 10 top wealthiest men in Barbados…and certainly, the wealthiest leader in the Caribbean.
I allude to his wealth, because we are in the middle of a general election campaign and Owen Arthur appear to like general election campaigns. He has the temerity tonight to be engaging the Democratic Labour Party on the issue of campaign financing. When you look across this country you can see and sense that the Democratic Labour Party is running a high impact, visual campaign.
We have been able to attract certain funds and we have put those funds to good use. People who have given me money can see clearly what I have done with that money.
I use this opportunity once again to reiterate that this Democratic Labour Party has not received a single cent in funding from either China or Taiwan. Furthermore, we have not discussed the issue of diplomatic relations with China, Taiwan or any country…for that matter. I hope that his puts an end to this nonsensical issue once and for all.
But the same cannot be said of the Barbados Labour Party in this election and certainly not in the last general election. There are candidates of the BLP who are crying out for lack of funding. Some say they cannot even afford a public address system to advertise meetings. Yet, I am aware that the BLP has collected significantly more money than has the DLP. Most of the persons who have contributed to our campaign have made clear that they have also contributed to the campaign of the BLP…but looking around Barbados and on their campaign in particular, you cannot see or imagine where that money has gone.
I know where the contributions of 2003 went! I even know how those contributions were masterminded.
(Document 1) breakdown of cheques
$40,000.00 Friends of Ch. Ch. East
(Document 2) $400,000.00 Bowie Cross
(Document 3) Bowie Cross Bill
(Document 4) $40,000.00 Friends of St. Michael NW
(Document 5) Rommell Marshall’s signature
(Document 6) $200,000.00 to BLP
(Document 7) Authorisation for $200,000.00
(Document
(Document 9) Farley’s signature
(Document 10) $75,000.00 Owen Arthur
(Document 11) Signature of OA
On a personal level, Owen Arthur has sought to portray every single candidate of the Democratic Labour Party and other leading persons associated with this party as a rogue, a vagabond and a thief. As far as Owen Arthur is concerned, if Our Lord and Saviour were to return tonight, he alone would go to heaven and all others, including the full slate of candidates of the Democratic Labour Party, would go directly to hell.
The DLP has cited numerous examples in recent years of questionable financial dealings on the part of this government. We have all heard of the more than $750 million in cost overruns racked up by this government. Those of us close enough to Owen Arthur can draw the connection between his perceived astronomical increase in wealth and the procurement policies of this government.
It is not well known that 90 per cent of the major procurement of this government is undertaken by a single company…more to the point, a single individual. Almost every piece of heavy-duty equipment, every large vehicle, almost every major acquisition of this government is channeled to and through an individual who was one of the few known faces at Owen Arthur’s wedding.
Owen Arthur did not invite any of his Ministers and even some of his relatives to his wedding, but he invited Hallam Nicholls and you must ask yourself if there is any coincidence with the fact that Hallam Nicholls and associate companies have been at the receiving end of a significant amount of governmental contracts to import items for and on behalf of this government.
I would believe that Hallam Nicholls, a frighteningly close friend of Owen Arthur, has benefited directly from in excess of $30 million of government procurement business over the last decade. Yet, you wonder why so many small businessmen have gone out of business. They have gone out of business because 90 per cent of the procurement business has been gobbled up by a single individual, who happens to be the bosom-pal of the Prime Minister.
The name Hallam Nicholls was also mentioned by the late Johnny Cochrane as we flew on a flight from the Caribbean to Miami a few years ago. Johnnie Cochrane was a major shareholder and director in the now defunct Eastern Caribbean Lottery. That lottery was forced upon the Barbados Cricket Association by senior members of this Barbados Labour Party government.
Johnnie Cochrane, in recalling his business exploits and experiences in the Caribbean, recalled how he was introduced to other Caribbean countries and Caribbean leaders and found it a pleasure doing business elsewhere.
But, he said to me, he had never encountered such shrewd negotiators as Barbadians. Cochrane spoke of a near six-hour meeting that took place in a hotel room in Washington where the failure of his company to agree to a demanded commission on all ticket sales in Barbados, would have led to the East Caribbean Lottery not being granted a license to set up business in Barbados.
In other words, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am saying tonight that someone in Barbados benefited to the tune of 4.25 per cent or, in practical terms, eight cents from every ticket bought by Barbadians during the time that the East Caribbean lottery was operating in Barbados.
I am saying further tonight that it is known to the person who has benefited that at least one member of this party is in possession of that information and that is why that person is the target of abuse on a nightly basis from the platform of the Barbados Labour Party.
All I would say at this point is that East Caribbean Lottery was started first in Antigua and Barbuda and many of the meetings of directors of that company took place in Antigua and Barbuda and someone close to this party was in on many of the meetings that took place, including those at restaurants in and around King’s Casino.
Tonight, therefore, I am calling on Owen Arthur to state whether he or any individual or organization to which he is associated, benefited in any material way from the operation of East Caribbean Lotteries in Barbados?
Furthermore, I call on Owen Arthur to state whether licenses have been granted for the successor company to East Caribbean Lotteries to operate in excess of 400 for-profit video game machines at venues across Barbados and whether these machines are already in Barbados and are about to be installed?
I want to know who are the local affiliates of the company and whether any of them is Hallam Nicholls or his offspring acting for or on behalf of any public official?
While the Barbados Labour Party on one side of their mouth criticize gambling, I want them to tell the country about the 4.25 per cent commission that was made a standing order to the secret account of a high flying official of the Barbados Labour Party.
But tonight, my focus is not only on the appropriation and misappropriation of private funds. Even though persons in public life should not be demanding commissions or other favors in return for favorable consideration of applications and requests, I recognize that private money is private money and you cannot tell a private individual or entity what to do with or how to spend their money. But that equation changes when it comes to the management of public funds.
We have spoken in recent years about the inordinate spending of money. Persons have asked for a breakdown of cost overruns and tonight I will share some of these, before I move to what I consider the scandal of the century.
The projected cost of the Gems project was $130 million – the estimated final cost is $390 million. Greenland Landfill was projected at $30 million – the estimated final cost now stands at $90 million. The Government building at Warrens was projected to cost $50 million, the estimated final cost is more like $120 million. Beach bathroom facilities at Silver Sands were put at $80, 000.
That project ended up costing $400 000. Cricket World Cup was projected at $130 million, it ended up costing $420 million. The new prison was projected at $120 million Barbados dollars, it ended up costing $120 million United States dollars. In addition to these you had the cutting down of a tree for $11, 000 and lobbying to secure a fishing agreement with Trinidad costing in excess of $12 million, with still no license in place to prevent our fishermen from being arrested.
But tonight, I have invited you here to Bussa Roundabout to join me in taking a look down this section of the ABC Highway. Here you will see visible evidence of work being carried out by the two Barbadian firms of CO Williams and Rayside Concrete Works.
I want tonight to slow my pace so that you can listen and understand clearly what I am saying.
Barbadians have been given dribs and drabs, in recent times, about what is commonly referred to as “The ABC Highway Road Widening and Flyovers Project” but precious little information has been shared by the government of Barbados on exactly what is going, as it unfold before your eyes. Tonight…I want you to stand up straight and listen to what I have to say.
As is the case in Parliament, I wish to make the primary source of my information to you tonight…a document of this meeting. In my hands is a copy of the most recent submission of the technical people in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport concerning the expansion of the ABC Highway. It’s a document entitled Barbados Road Network Infrastructure Improvement Project. (Document Number 12)
It’s a report on construction costs assessment of Section II Steel overpass Bridges. I wish tonight to make this a document of this meeting and to make clear that it is from this document that I have drawn a significant amount of the info that I will share with you tonight. I also leaned very heavily on a cadre of professional patriots who simply could take no more abuse by the political directorate of this country. Tonight – I salute those professionals who have made the compilation of this investigative report possible!
Back in 2005, local civil engineering consulting firms were asked to submit proposals for the engagement of services with respect to road widening of the ABC Highway.
Proposals were submitted to the Ministry of Public Works and were in the process of being evaluated, when, even before the selection of a consultant was ratified by Cabinet, a “mystery” firm called 3S was brought into the picture through local connections.
3S, of which very little was and still is known, merely presented a graphic presentation of a flyover scheme and all normal and accepted procedures went through the window. This video or graphic presentation was never properly scrutinized by engineers in the Ministry of Public Works. Nevertheless, the government soon announced that it was entering into a BOLT (Build, Operate, Lease, Transfer) agreement to have EIGHT flyovers constructed before the final of Cricket World Cup. The proposals that were invited for road widening by local consultants were suddenly abandoned.
Government and 3S appeared to have been motoring along their merry way with their newly minted agreement, when suddenly someone whispered that there needed to be the semblance of transparency. So in January 2006, Public Works wrote to several local consulting firms requesting a “BOLT” proposal for road widening and flyovers.
A BOLT proposal would normally require more than three months to prepare. It requires the consultant to locate financiers who would be willing to inject more than $100 million into a project of that magnitude. Many other considerations are necessary for the proposal, such as repayment schedules, how the lease would be operated and agreement of contractors to participate in the team effort.
Amazingly, the period for response was only about one month, on the pretext that the work would be expected to be complete for the World Cup – what a lame excuse!!!
The Democratic labour Party does not know if any of the local consultants was able to respond with a proposal, but soon thereafter, and without any explanations to the consultants, it was announced that 3S was engaged by the government to undertake a BOLT arrangement.
Imagine government agreeing to millions of dollars in expenditure, without any drawings that could properly be used for evaluation. In other words, a man comes and tells you he will build you a house and you sign the contract for him to start without any architectural or engineering drawings. You don’t even know his capabilities because you have not seen any work that he has done. Yet you give him the go ahead to start work!
This normally would raise eyebrows, but in the Cabinet of Owen Arthur, there is one encyclopedia and 16 copybooks. The matter is taken to Cabinet and is rubber-stamped by the dummies that Arthur has sitting around that table.
Events further revealed that before any work could commence, such time had elapsed that it was impossible for any meaningful, albeit partial, completion to be realized before Cricket World Cup.
THERE WAS THEREFORE NO NEED TO START THE PROJECT BEFORE COST COULD BE EVALUATED AND WITHOUT ADEQUATE DRAWINGS, SPECIFICATIONS AND BILL OF QUANTITIES.
ALSO, THERE WAS NOW TIME FOR PROPER CONTRACTS TO BE ENTERED INTO!
Nevertheless, the Owen Arthur administration disregarded its duty for due diligence. Due diligence means an examination of the bona fides of the company. This should always be part of the legal governmental framework.
The public of Barbados was not apprised of what was going on, but in July of 2006, 3S started the construction based on road widening in the sum of BDS$40, 232, 432 and eight flyovers for BDS$$79, 517, 659…which gave an overall sum of $119, 750 000.
Please note that work started and no contract was signed. Please note also that there were no construction drawings that were to be submitted by 3S, so that work could be properly supervised by Public Works. In layman’s language, the Government gave 3S a signed, blank cheque to start work on the road with no clear drawings of what needed to be done.
The Democratic Labour Party understands that senior engineers with the Public Works Ministry were appalled. Things were in turmoil and the minister was advised that it was the wrong way to go about this project.
Advice by competent engineers both in the public and private sectors was for the most part ignored and it was the executive arm of government that got the work off the ground.
Now, cast your memory back and recall that when work started on the widening, the public did not see any equipment with the labels 3S. Instead, it saw only COW Williams and Rayside Equipment. The question that one is therefore forced to ask is whether the government could not have engaged directly with local contractors?
The supervisors from Public Works were unfairly expected to supervise the construction without approved contract prices and no adequate drawings. Work was just determined on the side by the contractors. IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, SOMEONE WOULD HAVE BEEN SENT TO JAIL FOR THIS. THIS WAS AND STILL IS A MOST APPALING SITUATION!!!
Mysteriously, no one was hearing about flyovers except every now and then when Gline Clarke had nothing else to talk about he would mention the subject.
The absence of working drawings, specifications and bills of quantities and a signed contract has given 3S a complete opening to do as it likes, both in terms of the physical work and in terms of how much will be charged for the works.
This whole project started merely with an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding). You imagine a project at its initial estimate of $119,000,000.00 could start without any specifications, Bill of Quantities, working drawings or contract? But that is not the worst! That is not the worst example of the fine leadership that Owen Arthur is offering this country.
From an original understanding – not a contract – of a figure of $119, 750 000 in November 2005, Cabinet on 6th May, 2006, just prior to World Cup, when he was considering calling the election, agreed that construction would begin on 24th July, 2006 at a new price of $143, 614, 460.23 for road widening and 8 flyovers.
Just understand that in less than six months the figure went up by $25 million and still there were no specifications, working drawings and bill of quantities to determine the basis for the increase. But Cabinet, made up of one encyclopedia and 16 copy- books, approved the increase.
The flyovers were always the primary focus and, all of a sudden, Public Works only saw Rayside and COW Williams working on the road widening. 3S, without a contract, is allowed to make adjustments to its price for the road widening.
Out of the figures I quoted for the combination of road widening and flyovers, the portion for road widening started at $40,232,432.00 jumped to $70,231,220.23 by cabinet decision of May 6th, 2006 and amazingly has now jumped at December 2007 to a staggering $117,000,000.00 for widening only.
This is an increase of an astronomical $46,768,780.77 on the May, 2006 revised cost and a more than $75 million increase on the original price. And note: up to December 2007 when general elections were called, there was still no binding contract in place.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have engineers as members of the Democratic Labour Party and I have spoken to them as well as other private sector engineers. They all unanimously agreed that the Road Widening of the ABC Highway does not involve house relocations, setting back of fences, repairs to houses, Also, the shaping of the road is already determined. In other words, the road widening is a simpler operation than say Highway 2A.
Yet, this road widening involves some five kilometers. In all fairness they are adding two lanes, so technically the total length would be 10 kilometres. Therefore you the taxpayers are being asked to pay $11.7 million dollars for each kilometer of road that is merely being added to an existing road.
To better understand the royal rip off and bare-faced thiefing that is taking place, you must consider the following:
In Barbados today a highway is being widened at a cost of $11.7 million per kilometer. The same companies working on this job are being paid no more than $2 million a kilometer in neighboring Caribbean islands.
There is no country in the region paying more than $2 million for a kilometer of straight road, but the Barbados Government, under the astute leadership of Owen Arthur is paying $11.7 million a kilometer. And for this, he must be honored, revered and returned to office?
I invite you tonight to compare this extravagant price to Highway 6 – Searles to Six Roads – a six kilometer stretch of road, that included extensive house relocation and set backs. Highway 6 was completed at a cost of $20 million, which translates to $3.6 million per kilometer.
Compare this also to Highway 2A – which involved very deep cuttings due to hard rock, soil conditions and several major bridges. Also many house acquisitions and relocations. Highway 2A was a total of $60 million which is $7.5 million per kilometer.
The road widening should therefore not be expected to cost more than $4 million per kilometer – but we are talking of government and governance under the great economist – King Owen Arthur. Do you see why certain business people in Barbados are saying we need Owen now more than ever before?
I am saying tonight that before general elections on Tuesday, Owen Arthur must explain to the people of Barbados the exorbitant costs and the bungled manner in which this Highway Widening programme has been pursued.
THIS IS A RIDICULOUS AND SCANDALOUS SITUATION THAT DEMANDS ANSWERS BEFORE TUESDAY.
Do you know that it is only recently that drawings marked for construction were submitted for the road widening? This is some 12 months after construction was started and the contract period is only 22 months. That means that you only have working drawings for the last 10 months of such a vital project. For the first 12 months they were merely winging it.
The engineers in Public Works identified several instances of wastage and ridiculous charges but were told by the political leadership to butt out.
Preliminaries, which are for office accommodation, various types of insurances, mobilization of plant, usually are around 10 per cent of the contract sum.
However, if the contract figure rises, the percentage for preliminaries usually drops. If it is 10 per cent for a $50 million project, it doesn’t mean you require any larger office for a $100 million project.
We however understand that 3S is charging a whopping 35 per cent of construction cost as preliminaries.
THAT IS PREPOSTEROUS!! NEVER BEFORE HEARD OF IN MODERN, CIVILISED SOCIETY!! BUT AGAIN, ONLY IN BARBADOS, UNDER KING ARTHUR, DO SUCH THINGS TAKE PLACE!
Because they have engaged two local contractors, they cannot add on preliminaries willy-nilly. If there were a contract prior to construction start this would never have happened.
If you think it was total madness with the road widening, just listen to this with respect to the flyovers. Flyovers were regarded, by the Government, as the answer to alleviation of traffic congestion. They were to be completed before the World Cup. And yet, up to now have not started.
Now, the initial component for the flyovers by Cabinet decision of May 6th was $73, 383, 240. This was for eight flyovers. My engineers have advised that the cost for the flyovers should be easily determined once working drawings are submitted. The superstructure consisting of steel and concrete can be accurately calculated. Prices of steel are almost fixed worldwide at any given time and so only the profit margins may vary. The labour component is usually identifiable – such as say $1,000 per ton or the going rate at time of estimate. Some small variation may take place in completing the erection.
Therefore, how in hell’s name that a figure of $73, 383, 240 could be agreed (note agreed to and not contracted) by Government on May 6th, 2006 for, I stress EIGHT (8) FLYOVERS, and then the number of needed flyovers is revised downwards to six and in December 2007, 3S is requesting a sum of $145, 022, 162. 42 for – I stress – SIX (6) FLYOVERS?
I am calling on the voters of Barbados to demand a full explanation of this raw abuse of power and naked rape of the treasury of Barbados before a vote is cast on Tuesday morning.
This revelation tonight explains why Owen Arthur did not want to debate me on financial management and governance. It explains why this election was called three days before Christmas and why they wanted to short circuit public debate and discussion.
It explains why newspaper columns critical of the government were cancelled and why certain key public officers were sent on leave.
I am saying to Barbados tonight that this rot has got to stop. If you put this corrupt group of bastards back in office, there will be nothing left for your children and your grand children.
This is the most thiefing and corrupt government in the history of the Caribbean. They make the Bird Government in Antigua look like a class of Sunday School teachers.
The cost overruns, already incurred and anticipated on this ABC Road widening and flyover project, will carry the value of cost overruns by this government in less than 10 years to well over the one billion dollar mark. (Document Number 13 and 14)
The combined total of widening and flyovers at the start of the project was $119,750,000. Today, less than two years later and with more than half of the work still to be done, we are told that to complete that project the bill to taxpayers of this country will now move from $120 million to a whopping, a staggering $262, 022, 162. 42. If this is not highway robbery…tell me what is??
The most scandalous aspect of all of this is the option of a BOLT agreement is normally preferred when a country is seeking to import external funds. Again, on the strange paradoxes of King Arthur’s arrangement is that, not surprisingly, this money could not be raised by 3S in the international market. And do you know where in the final analysis and with the full approval of government the money was sourced? The Barbados National Bank.
Do you know essentially whose money is deposited in BNB? Both public and private sector money? Your money!
So, in other words, King Arthur – the great economist and great leader of this country – flew around the world and came back with a company called 3S, flew back around the world looking for money and came back borrowing money from himself!
The danger in all this is that if this project is not completed, or if there is anything structurally wrong with this project because of the absence of specifications, it is the taxpayer of Barbados who will be left holding the bag. The only risk as of now being carried by 3S is the ability of its officials to make a safe trip to the Airport and get out of Barbados.
When this is added to other overruns chalked up in the last 15 months and that figure is added to the $750 million that we had already calculated and which, to date, the Government has not denied – because it can’t – you realize that a total of not less than one billion dollars of hard-earned taxpayers money has gone through the eddoes and that those who are responsible are asking you to put them back in there again.
Do you know how many houses could have been built with $1 billion? Do you know the number of schools, police and fire stations that could have been repaired? Do you know that with that cash in hand we could have removed the VAT from all food items in this country? Do you know that that would have brought down you food bill and the overall cost of living by a considerable percentage?
Yet, many of you are saying you are not sure whether you are going to vote? Not voting in this election is almost treasonous. IF YOU HAVE A VOTE, YOU NEED TO USE IT NOW…MORE THAN EVER BEFORE.
I am saying tonight that the Democratic labour Party is ready to rescue this country from the hands of Owen Arthur, Clyde Mascoll, Mia Mottley and that bunch. I am saying tonight that this project in particular will be fully investigated through the medium of a Commission of Inquiry.
I am saying tonight that this election is henceforth about whether we want to get back that $1 billion stolen from the public’s purse or whether we want to give the perpetrators of that crime a further opportunity to steal another $1 billion.
I am saying this election is, among other things, about whether we are going to investigate the naked rape of the treasury of Barbados by this bunch of political interlopers or whether we shall sweep all this under the carpet and put them back in there to start stealing afresh.
The time for nick-picking is over. This is your country. You are either going to save it or let it slide to total destruction. This economy cannot afford such reckless spending.
This country cannot afford such squandermania and mismanagement. I am saying tonight before God and Man…we need the DEMS again. Voters of Barbados you need to vote now…more than ever!
January 12, 2008 at 1:45 pm
In about forty eight hours or so, Barbadians will be electing a Government. One of the main issues, is the type of government Barbadians wish to govern them, in a way, that is acceptable and beneficial to the majority of its population.
The Barbados Labour Party, has made much of their “experience”, but experience as an attribute, is only of worth, if it can be shown, that that experience has enabled you to make intelligent decisions. I therefore put it to you, that negligent acceptance of tenders, without a proper tendering process, which resulted in massive cost over runs does not appear to be decisions made by an experienced team. If these over runs had occurred a couple of times, one one would be likely to forgive, but they are the rule, rather than an exception to the rule. A catalogue of costly mistakes by this administration, signifies experience of the worst kind, experience with no learning behaviour attached, or the inability to learn from mistakes made. This is incompetence.
Much has been made of leadership, but Owen Arthur is the Prime Minister, it is under his stewardship that the displeasure and grievances of the electorate have become manifest. Competent leadership, would not have made the BLP rely on what the DLP cannot do, but what they in Government have done. A leader of any worth can only do what is in his remit to do, even the most partial of observers, cannot dispute a claim that David Thompson has led the DLP, with a strategy and intellectual thinking, seen only rarely in Barbados politics. This is effective leadership of a team at its most brilliant best. My use of the word “team” is not by accident.
Long before the election was called, on September 22nd 2007, I wrote on this blog:
…” there has been talk that David Thompson should do all manner of things, and these call are on a regular basis, and change frequency daily – this is understandable – but at this juncture – which is being done – the Government should be kept off balance, and let them wonder on what, from where, and when will come the final assault.”
…” you must always time the push when the electorate is in election mode, and therefore “receptive” to opinions and ideas that can change mindsets, it is that change which will win the election”…
David Thompson has displayed leadership skills of the highest quality, and he has not been in the gutter to do so.
A commentator of some repute, recently wrote, integrity is not a pre requisite for a Prime Minister of Barbados. I believe integrity is: adherence to moral principles; honesty, the quality of being unimpaired; soundness, unity wholeness. There can be a variation of the words, but I am sure you have the picture. I always thought it was the case that Barbados had a Prime Minister with those qualities. I cannot agree with that commentator . I am delighted that David Thompson can be bracketed as such. That someone of imminence could make such a statement, indicates how far we have fallen from grace.
When fear stalks the land, when people are afraid to add their names to opinions on political issues, that are at variance with those of the Government. I ask of you, can the democratic process be advanced by this climate of fear?
There are “allegations” of corruption, on a scale which is mind boggling, the veracity of those “allegations”, I know not. Readers will have to make up their own minds, from their own experiences – I am sure they will.
The time for the electorate, to have their say is almost here, and from every hill, the people will turn to the “Dems, for deliverance,” and surely they will not be dissapointed. We Barbadians, have always been a patient people – some say too patient – we have waited for this day a long time, let freedom ring! every DLP candidate deserves our support, for only by a collective effort can we have the kind of Barbados we deserve. Time for a change, with David Thompson and the DLP team. God bless Barbados.
January 12, 2008 at 7:19 pm
All I keep saying is that you guys better win. I am rooting for this beautiful team.
January 13, 2008 at 4:52 am
In the 1970s – the first Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica – Patrick John was thrown in jail for ten years affter being found guilty of criminal activity in political and governmental business.
The then sitting Prime Minister Mary Eugenia Charles, made sure that the book was thrown fully at the bastard. That was the sad end to John’s political life … and the poor fellow later died in disgrace, although he was the man who had the initiative to lead his nation into independence.
Unfortunately, he was a ‘low-life’ and he ended up getting the treatment he deserved.
Similarly, Owen Arthur (soon-to-be-former PM of Barbados) was bankrupt in 1992; and in 2008, he could boast of ‘being one of the third richest men in Barbados’. Think about that, all!
It is the sincere wish of each and every conscious Bajan taxpayer that Prime Minister-elect David John Howard Thompson will have the strength and insight to conduct a thorough Inquiry into the money dealings of Arthur for the period 1994-2008.
We, the people, are not saying that he is a crook, because we don’t know that for sure. All we want is for the courts to investigate the matter of his ‘quick and unusual climb’ to billionaire status (and that’s by his own admission to friends).
Perhaps, we may see yet another ex-Caribbean PM thrown into the slammer for gross misdeeds. Can David aid in pulling this one off
on the man who once authorized the legal authorities to serve a sapoena on him (David).
The Hon. Branford Taitt may beg for his forgiveness, although he was the man (along with Sir Clifford Husbands) who nailed BT and tried very hard to destroy his political life. But, as they say “God don’t sleep”; and look and see who the great Lord helped to orchestrate and win the Election … handily?
Now the name Branford is going to haunt them all the way to their graves.
It’s known as true and fair justice! Ask Patirck John!
January 13, 2008 at 5:19 am
MIA IS GOING TO WALK: IT’S IN THE JEANS, STUPID!
Why do you believe that Ms. Mottley is NOT going to ‘walk’ after the January 15 Election?
Well, her granddad Ernest Deighton “Rugged” Mottley walked out on the late Sir Grantley; and made sure he never surfaced again to any political prominence in Barbados.
Her beloved dad Elliott Deighton “L’il Rugged” Mottley, QC later walked out on Tom Adams and the Barbados Labour Party and became Consul General at New York in an Errol Barrow-Democratic Labour Party administration.
The former Barbados Labour Party Deputy PM, ex-Attorney General, ex-Minister of Education, and ex-Minister of Economic Affairs have not been on very good terms with Arthur, of late.
Imagine, she was the one who, virtually singlehandedly won the last three elections for the BLP, yet he took away that prestigious ‘portfolio’ from her and gave it to a political non-strategist when it comes to sharpness and acumen in that area.
Arthur may not know it but he will pay dearly for placing Mia under heavy manners; and for pushing Clyde “Milik” Mascoll ahead of her on many occasions.
It’s only a matter of time before Ms. Mottley walks … like grandpa and Pa!
It’s in the jeans, stupid.
January 14, 2008 at 8:27 am
TO MR David Thompson and his team i wish u luck and god’s blessing on the15 u have work really hard whatever the out come i still will rate u as my primeminister
January 14, 2008 at 10:31 am
WELL WELL BARBADOS DICTATOR have no answer to MR David Thompson he cant dispute what was said last week in haggatt hall so at the last minute he ducks out of the only debate on http://www.onecaribbeanradio.com yesterday and sent dame billie miller to speak for him but as you and i know the writing is on the wall may be his cousin at c.b.c the low life spin doctor c.g tell him what to do you can fool some of the people some of the time but you cant fool them all the time DAVID spoke on the issues at hand and that is why you have to vote for the d.l.p tomorrow and dont wait until the last minute do it by 1.pm please remember you are not only voting for your self you are voting for your chrildren and grand chrildren you know where to put that X
February 10, 2009 at 8:30 am
the duke
January 14, 2008 at 8:27 am
TO MR David Thompson and his team i wish u luck and god’s blessing on the15 u have work really hard whatever the out come i still will rate u as my primeminister