Dear Editor,
There was a compelling reason why the overwhelming majority of the Barbadian people totally rejected the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) in the 2018 General Elections and gave the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) all 30 seats in the House of Assembly.
The fact is that the combined DLP Administrations of 2008 to 2018 – the Administrations of David Thompson and Freundel Stuart – had virtually demolished Barbados:
* causing the Barbados economy to be downgraded 23 times in a row by such international rating agencies as Moody’s and Standard and Poor;
*so depleting our foreign reserves that we only had enough US dollars to purchase 4 weeks of imports;
* bringing Government’s finances to a state of complete disarray and permanent crisis;
* turning Barbados into the 3rd most indebted country in the world, with a public debt of $16.6 billion;
* reducing Barbados to a terrible state of raw sewage running in the streets, garbage piling up all over the island, and extremely few Transport Board buses to transport our people;
* imposing tuition fees on Bajan students at UWI, thereby causing over 4,000 working class Barbadians to drop out of the Cave Hill campus;
* retrenching some 3,000 public servants;
* inflicting massive governmental and political corruption – to the extent that a leading DLP minister is now incarcerated in a US prison; and
* literally and figuratively offering our people no hope, no empathy, no sense of care, and no vision for a future.
The Mia Mottley-led BLP administration came into office in May 2018 and immediately took decisive steps to rescue Barbados and pull our country out of the dark hole into which the DLP had plunged it.
In an almost miraculous manner, the Mia Mottley administration managed to get the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to accept and back its homegrown Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) Programme, and to turn around the fortunes of Barbados in a mere 18 months:
* Government’s finances restructured and put in order;
* The debt owed to our foreign creditors so restructured as to save our country $1 billion, and our overall debt reduced to $12.7 billion after 18 months of effort;
* Our foreign reserves gradually built back up to some $2.8 billion;
* The sewage crisis solved;
* The country provided with new electric buses and garbage trucks;
* All public servants given a 5 per cent salary increase and non-contributory pensions increased;
* Free university education restored to the youth of Barbados and their families; and
* Positive upgrades being bestowed on our economy by the international rating agencies .
And then in the year 2020 COVID-19 came out of the blue, crippled world travel and tourism, and posed a life and death public health challenge to people all over the world.
Fortunately for us in Barbados, our Government had by then already stabilized its finances, substantially increased Barbados’ stock of foreign exchange, and restored the international credit worthiness of our economy
As a result, our government was able to finance all of the crucial COVID-19 pandemic response measures that were required to save Barbadian lives and to help Barbadians get through the very difficult economic situation that the pandemic placed our country in.
This required Government to engage in some borrowing, but in spite of this, the public debt of Barbados is currently $13.1 billion – way below the initial $16.6 billion that the Mottley administration inherited.
Without a doubt, the pandemic brought hardship and suffering to virtually every country of the world, but the truth is that Barbados has done better than the vast majority of countries in responding to the pandemic and protecting and assisting its people. And clearly, a lot of the credit for that achievement has to go to the Mia Mottley-led BLP administration.
Can any Barbadian really imagine the type of havoc that the COVID-19 pandemic would have inflicted on Barbados if – when the pandemic hit us in 2020 – the country had still been in the crippled and poverty-stricken state that the DLP had reduced it to in 2018?
And then, of course, there was also the magnificent way in which the Mottley administration rallied the country to overcome the challenges of Hurricane Elsa and the La Soufriere volcanic ash fall.
The only real issue in the January 19, 2022, general election is for the BLP to secure from the people of Barbados a new mandate to:
* Keep the country united and focused on seeing the COVID-19 pandemic through to its very end with as little loss of Bajan life as possible;
* Continue the mission of carrying the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) Programme through to a full and successful implementation;
* Prepare the country to meet the severe challenges that global warming has already started to send our way – challenges that will only intensify in the years ahead; and
* Carry forward our people’s historic mission of continuing to develop Barbados into the equal, socially just, humane, caring, progressive, dynamic, culturally advanced, prosperous, self-determining and self-respecting nation and society that our ancestors dreamt about and strived for.
David Comissiong
Citizen of Barbados
By Alvaro Sanchez Cordero
2021 was a good year for Venezuela. Our economy started to grow, political dialogue made impressive progress and free and fair elections were successfully held throughout Venezuela. However, there are two additional areas where Venezuela made major advancements last year. I am referring to sports and culture.
Venezuela succeeded in these two strategic areas like never before in recent history. Nonetheless, little has been said or reported, especially abroad, about our sporting and cultural achievements. This is why I feel compelled to share with our Caribbean friends some of our outstanding records in 2021.
Firstly, our beloved, charismatic and yet humble Yulimar Rojas broke both a world record and an Olympic record in Tokyo, thus becoming the first Venezuelan woman ever to win an Olympic gold medal. Rojas, 26, became triple jump champion in the Olympic Games and was awarded, along with Argentine football player Leonel Messi, best athlete of the Americas in 2021 by the International Association of Sports Journalists (AIPS).
However, Rojas was not the only Venezuelan medallist in Tokyo. Venezuela also won three silver medals: two in weightlifting (Julio Mayora and Keydomar Vallenilla) and one in BMX cycling (Daniel Dhers), as well as six Olympic diplomas. All in all, Tokyo has been so far the best ever Venezuelan Olympic performance.
Additionally, also in Tokyo, Venezuela exhibited the best ever Paralympic team, with a total of seven medals and 17 diplomas. Our most outstanding Paralympic athlete was Lisbeli Vera in track and field. Vera won two gold medals in 100 and 200 meters and one silver medal in 400 meters. Equally, Tokyo has been so far our best Paralympic performance.
In October, Venezuelan cyclist Lilibeth Chacón became the champion of the 2021 edition of the prestigious and rigorous Tour of Colombia, defeating long-established cycling teams from Europe, North America and South America.
Women’s football has developed tremendously in Venezuela. Our best football player, Deyna Castellanos, who plays forward for Atlético Madrid in Spain, was awarded the best female football player of the month (December) for scoring three goals with two assists.
Although baseball is not a big sport in several countries, I would like to mention two important Venezuelan achievements in 2021. Firstly, Venezuela won the Under-23 World Cup championship, held in Mexico. In addition, Venezuelan Miguel Cabrera from the Detroit Tigers reached the 500 home-run mark in the Major League Baseball of the US. Only 28 sluggers in more than a century of professional baseball in the US have batted more than 500 home-runs.
Dear Editor,
Over the years too often I have heard what I consider “those dreadful words”: “It’s a good idea, but I can’t bring that up now.” Coming from whom? Yes, from politicians and people in government.
Not too long ago I was on my way to Marigot when I saw a relative of mine standing at a bus stop. I stopped for her and had her sit in the back seat, which started a conversation about COVID. She had an appointment with the physiotherapist, whose office was by the swimming pool. When she mentioned the swimming pool it dawned on me that I had heard that there were some young ladies from St. Maarten taking part in international swimming competitions and that they were doing well.
Coincidentally a few weeks before that I had passed through Belvedere and saw children playing football. There is also a basketball/tennis court there and I thought all they need now is a swimming pool.
I had not read anything about those young ladies in the papers, but just the words “swimming pool” made me put on my thinking cap. I said to myself, if in almost every town in Holland there is a swimming pool, how is it that no one thought of putting a community swimming pool in Belvedere?
When I asked, I was told that there is money available for different community projects and developments, but none of our governments have had any interest in doing anything that will directly be of positive influence on the people in the communities. I have no proof of that, but can I impose on you.to encourage your investigative reporters to find out if there is money available for a community swimming pool and continue to possibly find out what is the reason for the delay?
I also think that an interview with those young ladies who attended the swimming competition is not too late and it could also be an exposure and/or catalyst for many others.
Russell A. Simmons
Dear Editor,
Wow! Oh my God, a parliamentarian been suspended. Who’s next? The public is asking who’s next? Although the St. Maarten people do not protest as they should.
(I quote) “St. Maarten people are monitoring their parliamentarians, Ministers, justice workers and civil servants 24/7 and are very accurate in doing so.”
Many times l said the minister for health should not have the labor portfolio. You all do not listen. Now see how hard a time Honourable Omar Ottley is going through.
(I quote) “There's a great need for nine ministers to better serve the people.”
Justice workers often blame parliamentarians and ministers for laws not in place and the function book should be properly monitored.
We are begging the ombudsman to keep up their good works. They have been doing very excellent because the people are suffering silently.
The two parliamentarians (from US Party) went independent – left the party without a seat in Parliament.
Will the next seat in Parliament belong to US Party? We want to know.
Or can the 16th seat go to any party within those parties that form the majority in Parliament after the calculation of the votes?
Will USP party be dead and resurrected after both of their parliamentarians went independent with their seats?
St. Maarten people be wise: take your vaccine. The vaccine – it works. Help put the world into good health.
Cuthbert Bannis
Dear Editor,
On Monday, January 3, 2022, there was a post of the Government of St. Maarten circulating on social media depicting the amount of active cases of the Coronavirus disease. I did not believe what I saw and, just like I expected, within hours the Minister of Health reacted by letting us know that that amount was fake. Good work.
But in the meantime there is also a post going around on social media stating that MCB has taken a decision that as of January 24, 2022, no one who is not vaccinated against the Coronavirus will be permitted to enter their premises. I believe – no, I know – that this is overstepping their bounds. Human rights, the Constitution, laws on personal decision making, etc., come in play here.
What I am actually concerned about is that up the time of writing this letter, what I deem conspicuously, there is no reaction from anyone who should be standing up for the people of St. Maarten. The Windward Islands Bank is included in the premises of MCB and I have not seen, read or heard any kind of reaction from neither government nor in the papers or news outlets nor even from the W.I.B.
I am sure that W.I.B. is a branch of MCB, because all phone calls to the W,I.B. from St. Maarten go via MCB with all the ensuing searching before one could get through to whichever department or person they need. Whether it is to speak to your spouse or not, you are asked about your account number and then you are asked if you have an e-mail address and you name it. In the meantime your data or minutes are being consumed. When you are put on hold, you have to listen to a commercial for the bank in Papiamento, etc.
The W.I.B. also knows which of their clients have an ATM card or not; weather it was used or not and where it was used. I would at least by now expect them to let those clients know about the decision taken for January 2022, so that they can at least get an ATM card should they choose not to get vaccinated. Because even though one does online banking, at some point in time one will need cash, to pay for transportation, to get a snack, to give a tip, etc. I do not play the numbers, but I do not think people use the ATM card to buy numbers.
By now we all know that all moneys from government due to the people go to one or the other bank. So is government going to permit MCB to decide what is going to happen with the moneys of those people of St. Maarten who choose not to be vaccinated?
This is all over social media, but why the conspicuous silence from W.I.B.? Is it silent consent?
And is St. Maarten government made to shut up about this? They can at least let the people know that they know about what is on the social media and that they would look into it. Did not they ask the people to elect them so that they can take care of the people?.
As yet, a safe and blessed 2022 to your readers.
Russell A. Simmons
