New Year must bring change

From my family to yours, I hope you’ve had a very good and meaningful holiday season with your family and friends.

Christmas is a special time for reconnecting before we reset for the start of a brand new year.  As I look back on 2016, what was meant to be a Golden Jubilee year didn’t quite turn out the way most of us might have wanted.  I won’t rehash all the details here but you know what I mean.

As we approach 2017, there is always the hope of turning a new page but the pragmatist in me (that little cartoon devil, if you like) keeps nagging away asking why would you expect anything different for 2017?

The spectre of a pending election is sufficient motivation for us to hope that things would get better.  What we must be mindful of, is to meaningfully discern the difference between the temporary fixer upper which the Government will attempt and that which we know will benefit Barbados over the next 25 years.

Given the financial strain that most Barbadians are feeling, it is hard to ask people to be forward looking when the last nine years have been a complete disaster.  Nevertheless, this in my view on what the focus ought to be, lest we fall into the fixer upper trap, only to be left disappointed at the end of 2017, hoping that 2018 turns out better.

Economics is often referred to as the dismal science but we are in fact a very hopeful bunch because those of us not steeped in ideology, know that there is always a way to get out of any financial mess. The deeper the mess, the bolder the actions required to extricate oneself. People have said to me that the current Government intends to run out the clock and leave the mess for the Barbados Labour Party to deal with.

My response is not one of dismay but only to agree that the Barbados Labour Party, as it has done in the past, will deal with any situation should the country decide to once again put trust and faith in us.  In short, our boldness will define the next 50 years for Barbados.

Sometime tomorrow, the auditors will physically count the foreign reserves at the Central Bank which is not unusual by any stretch of the imagination.  I recall during my time at the bank, the disappointment of those assigned such duties on Old Year’s Night because everyone else is out enjoying themselves.

As lady luck may have it, those assigned the task of counting the reserves at the end of 2016 may still be able to make merry on Old Year’s night as, from what I heard, there isn’t much to count this year.  A bizarre turn of fate if there ever was one!

Another Central Bank related matter. If you were in town this week, you probably experienced some traffic delays and a heavy police presence on Spry Street and Roebuck Street. The heavy police presence might also have been somewhat alarming but don’t panic. This was to facilitate the Central Bank receiving some freshly printed money.

It seems the printing presses at De La Rue in Basingstoke, UK have gone into overdrive and seem to be never ending despite promises by the Central Bank to stop the presses.

The optics on display are quite telling.  If you have more local currency already in circulation and more to be put out in 2017 relative to the amount of foreign reserves in stock, then one might be tempted to assert that the Central Bank may not be able to defend the currency peg of $2 to one US dollar.

I can see the spin machine dismissing this as Opposition alarmists at work. For some that would be enough to dismiss the concerns, but when the Bank of Guyana says it is no longer has faith in the Barbados dollar as a means to do business in Guyana, then all of us ought to sit up and pay attention.

As far as I’m aware, the Barbados Labour Party has zero influence on the monetary of policy of the Bank of Guyana and with that I leave you reach your own conclusion. In all this, one may be tempted to think that things cannot possibly get any worse than they already are. Whilst I am hopeful of a brighter future, I know that hope alone is not a strategy.   

One must see concrete steps being taken that gives one the assurance that that future will come to fruition. So as we leave this old year and enter a new one, I am indeed hopeful of a brighter tomorrow but, from where I sit, none of those critical steps have been taken and with that the same ole will likely continue.

I have resolved that in the new year, irrespective of the action or inaction of the Government, I will take concrete steps to bring a better life for our people into fruition. It is my intention to restore hope on the one hand but it must be accompanied by providing opportunities for all.

From my family to yours, Happy New Year Barbados.

(Ryan Straughn is an UWI Cave Hill and Central Bank of Barbados trained economist and the endorsed BLP candidate for Christ Church East Central.
Email: straughn.ryan@gmail.com)

Read More

Alarming!

Concern that Govt is sinking deeper into debt (by BarbadosToday)

Government’s decision to raise the domestic debt ceiling under the Domestic Loans Act by $1 billion to $7.5 billion has been met with grave concern from the private sector, as well as at least one local economist who said it was a worrying signal that the Freundel Stuart administration had lost control of the financial situation.

Economist Ryan Straughn, a political candidate for the Opposition Barbados Labour Party, told Barbados TODAY the move was “quite alarming” and reflected “the level of financial desperation that we are in”.

Straughn said his biggest fear now was that as a result of Government’s big appetite for borrowing, the population could soon be made to pay even more taxes.

Economist Ryan Straughn

“The reality is that, from my standpoint, any time they go to Parliament and borrow more money it seems as if the conditions in Barbados deteriorate and to the extent now that Barbadians will be expected to experience tax increases sometime in the future,” Straughn said.

“If you are going to borrow $1 billion it has to be repaid. And in that context, if Barbadians are not seeing the money deployed in the areas that are productive and will generate revenue, the reality comes back to us then having to pay more taxes because of this increase in borrowing. That is really my primary concern,” he stressed.

In June 2014, Government had increased its borrowing limit from $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion under the Special Loans Act, which was to make way for the building of the country’s productive capacity in such areas as tourism and sugar.

However, Straughn said he was yet to see any real benefit from the 2014 move, and he charged that the island was still fraught with challenges.

“Unless this new borrowing is going to significantly improve the deliveries of social services, particularly when it comes to water and sewage . . . then I suspect that based on past behaviour that we won’t see the situation improve significantly and it again demonstrates that the Government has lost control of its financial circumstances,” the economist said.

He said the latest increase of the domestic borrowing limit was also a signal that the economy was “heading in the wrong direction”, explaining that if the economy were growing, there would be no need to borrow more.

“Don’t forget this is on top of the printing of money. So this is not in isolation,” added Straughn, a former president of the Barbados Economic Society.

In piloting the amendment to the Local Loans Act in Parliament this week, Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler said it was a reality of governing small countries with resource constraints that Government would at times be unable to meet commitments for demands, provision of goods and services and the orderly management of the country based on the resources it brings in from taxes and impositions.

“So it is a necessary requirement that facilities be put in place to allow for borrowing for various purposes,” Sinckler said.

“In this case, this is entirely domestic,” he added.

However, the Chairman of the Barbados Private Sector Association Charles Herbert told Barbados TODAY he was concerned that the country’s debt seemed to be going up.

“We are exceedingly concerned about the debt levels of the country. We have expressed those concerns to the Government repeatedly over the last four years and we believe that there is not sufficient dialogue at the Social Partnership on the strategy,” Herbert said.

He said while he understood Government’s intention to minimize the social effects over a long period rather than inflicting harsher measures on the population over a shorter term, the private sector’s concern was that Government’s medicine for the economy was perhaps “a little too late”.

“An increase in the debt ceiling just makes us more afraid that our debt is going to continue to rise and we think that the only thing we should be accepting at this stage is a reduction and not a continued increase,” warned Herbert.

Read More

No sense blaming the Bees

I am writing this article on Friday morning after a hectic week and my state of mind, at present, is quite frankly not a good one.

It is Christmas — a time for reflection and some merriment — but it is difficult to do so when it appears that our country Barbados, once known as the Gem of the Caribbean, is literally falling apart at the seams.

You are well aware that I am a member of a political party, and so there is an automatic filter that is applied to anything I may say or do. However, I want to invite you to go on a short journey with me and not let that be too significant a factor.

I don’t think there is anyone in Barbados who thinks that basic sanitation ought to be a political issue. As a matter of fact, basic sanitation was something we took for granted because we paid attention to it since we understood how important it was to everything we do. I digress.

In 2000, member countries of the United Nations set the target of halving global poverty by 2015. To achieve this, they established eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and set targets to achieve each one.  Goal 7 was to ensure environment sustainability under which Target 7.C was defined as “Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation”.

At that time, 16 per cent of Barbadian homes still had pit toilets which was reduced to six per cent in 2010 due to the construction of new homes across the island.  So, as a country, we improved basic sanitation in this category.

With respect to water closets linked to sewer, in 2000, some 428 occupied dwellings were linked to a sewerage system all of which were in St Michael.  By 2010, this number increased to 3,218 with nearly 2000 in St Michael (1,886) and 1332 in Christ Church.  This shows clear progress made under this target in the first decade of the 21st century.

On the surface, one may be tempted to give ourselves a pat on the back for making such strides but recent events have demonstrated that we must get back to the basics.  Simply put, water-borne toilets need a steady supply of water in order for the basic sanitation needs to be met.

When one upgrades from wells to sewerage systems, maintenance of such systems is essential to ensure basic sanitation needs are met.  Residents in rural Barbados have expressed pure frustration over the past year and a half about having to pay water bills but yet not receiving water on a consistent basis.

Residents on the south coast have to pay for connection to the sewer systems only to have faeces floating on their properties.  In both instances, the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) have failed the citizens of Barbados by not moving swiftly to alleviate their concerns.

It is a dereliction of duty on the part of the Government not to go to the affected residents and offer meaningful dialogue so that the affected persons can go about their business with some peace of mind.

It is a human right that people have access to clean water and basic sanitation and something that governments all over the world are required to provide for their citizens.  What is worse is that our citizens are continuing to pay for these services and their situation seems to be getting progressively worse day by day.

Earlier this week, someone asked me why the Barbados Labour Party didn’t fix the problem with the sewerage plant on the south coast when there was money to do it.  As we approach 2017 and closer to an election, I know we will start to hear all kinds of things from Government and about the BLP but that one nearly hit me for six.

Before I answered the question, I searched the person’s face to see whether they were being deliberately facetious.  When I saw that they were quite serious, I had to remind them that the Democratic Labour Party has been in office for over eight years now and that the Barbados Labour Party has been in Opposition for the same number of years.

Furthermore, the south coast sewerage plant was experiencing challenges for the past three years which have not been addressed.  Simple Mathematics and logic would suggest that the Barbados Labour Party could not possibly address a problem that was non-existent at the time it was in office.

The facial expression changed dramatically as the realization that attempting to blame the BLP does not make sense.  The person excused themselves when I asked how long will it take for the Democratic Labour Party to take responsibility for managing the affairs of the country?

As we close out the rest of 2016 and start looking at the year in review, it is difficult not to conclude that the DLP side has successfully secured their political pensions. Our Government, though, led by Freundel Stuart, has demonstrated incompetence infused with indifference.

(Ryan Straughn is an UWI Cave Hill and Central Bank of Barbados trained economist and endorsed Barbados Labour Party candidate for Christ Church East Central. Email: straughn.ryan@gmail.com)

Read More

Counting down to elections

I trust and hope that everyone enjoyed some aspect of the festivities put on for our recent 50th Anniversary of Independence celebrations. 

I don’t have the statistics immediately available but I think November 2016 has to be the wettest November I can remember for some time. If it was indeed the wettest, then perhaps that might also mean that there is no longer a drought facing Barbados. Therefore, the water issues that have plagued Barbados over the past year will quickly be resolved since there is now water in abundance. 

Whilst the pomp and pageantry at Government House, Ilaro Court, St Ann’s Fort and Kensington Oval were in full swing, communities like Wotton in Christ Church, especially Cherry Wood Circle, were busy assessing damage caused by pre-Independence Day flood waters, as was also the case last May Day.

It was clear for much of this year that the Government was focused only on the Independence celebrations and there was no issue that affected Barbadians that could have possibly made them lose sight of that focus.  In essence, no water, then buss luck.

Funnily enough, buses then buss luck too. Garbage piling up across the country then buss luck.  Roads literally deteriorating before our eyes, buss luck. Raw sewage flowing in the streets, buss luck.  However, every morning at sunrise, we all knew how many days were left until the 50th anniversary of Independence.

Over the course of the last week since Independence, a number of persons have been asking when elections are due.  When they are informed that the next elections actually are constitutionally due in 2018, there is an immediate expression of despair where almost man for man and woman for woman express the following:  “Cheese on bread! Yuh mean we have another year with these fellas”.

It is somewhat uncanny that these views are openly expressed in such a uniform manner.  I try to offer some solace by indicating that elections can be called anytime between now and when they are constitutionally due and so the torturous ride we’re currently on need not last as long as we think it might be. 

I must admit that this doesn’t seem to raise their spirits but the response usually IS that the Prime Minister “gine call um when he feel like it”. In the meantime, the rest of us grin and bear the neglect being meted out by Freundel Stuart and his government.

So, as we all start preparing for this Yuletide Season and we reflect on this past year and the things we’d like to do in 2017, I want you to focus on the following.

Do not lose heart or hope because of the inability of a few people who have betrayed the public trust.  We must resolve that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable and will not be tolerated any longer and that we, the people, will hold to account any person seeking to perpetuate such. 

We are all victims in this malaise, yet at the same time we have become willing participants by our lack of action.  Silence has always been consent and so our collective silence has given Freundel Stuart and the members of his administration the confidence to continue to look after their political interests at the expense of the people. 

Economic systems are by their nature quantifiable and so metrics are often used to show performance. Credibility and trust, however, are two key elements that significantly impact economic systems but are somewhat intangible and not easily measurable.  Without them, systems crumble and it appears as if things are literally falling apart right before our very eyes.

It is a difficult thing to ask people to hold strain but I would like for you over this holiday season to reflect on why you and yours deserve better representation and what that looks like.  We must first believe again that Barbados is worth fighting for and therefore we must fight for each other.  We must root out

mediocrity and incompetence and not accept them in any form.

As we move into 2017 with the expectations that a new year generally brings, let me remind you that the life of the 2013-2018 Parliament is coming to an end.  Its first session commenced on Wednesday March 6, 2013 and so its dissolution will be sometime between today and March 6, 2018.

With that, I am happy to inform you that there are at most 452 days before Barbadians get the opportunity to decide the fate of Freundel Stuart and his Democratic Labour Party government.

(Ryan Straughn is an UWI Cave Hill and Central Bank of Barbados trained economist and the endorsed Barbados Labour Party (BLP) candidate for Christ Church East Central.
Email: straughn.ryan@gmail.com)

Read More