Black Immigrant Daily News

Popular, veteran moderator and broadcast journalist David Ellis is chastising Barbadians for sitting quietly by instead of voicing their concerns to the powers that be in an attempt to bring about positive changes.

This kind of information is not available to the public. My question is, shouldn’t it?

“You all sit down in this country and go through all sorts of stuff and say ab-so-lute-ly nothing. You don’t question these things. Behave as though it is business as usual and therefore, does it get better? No! Keeping quiet doesn’t make it any better. It gets worse.

“So is it worth it to just remain silent when you paying all of these taxes and you expect that these systems are going to work for you? And if they’re failing, you have to draw them to the attention of those who have responsibility for them,” he urged.

Ellis made the comment after complimenting the organisers behind an Eye Clinic, being held at Sandals until August 11. He said that he received reports that over 300 people were in attendance for the free Eye Clinic. And he purported that someone told him the government should see this overwhelming response as proof that Barbados needs more eye clinics; at least four, were proposed.

This led him to say, “This is an area where, you hear Barbados is a place where you can get this and get that, but try to get it sometimes. The kind of stress that some people have to go through just to get that kind of public attention is immense. Because the system does not work as efficiently as it ought to. So, therefore, if there is this rush to see these ophthalmologists the question that we should be asking is, why this is happening? And what can be done to address it?

“But there is another question we need to ask, how many people can’t see because they can’t get to the ophthalmologist that would normally be available in the polyclinic and the public health system? Of course, we don’t get these details. This kind of information is not available to the public. My question is, shouldn’t it?”

He added that in today’s Barbados the predominant issues, not peculiar to Barbados, are the rise in fuel and cost of living, and most Bajans will say, “They expect that the government of Barbados to find the solutions because they elected the government of Barbados to find the solutions.”

But he challenged, “I don’t believe that that is the only way we should look at it because we are all in this together, and we have to be mindful of the fact that Barbados has limited resources and it requires more heads, more people putting their heads together to try to find the solutions to the problems. Do not buy into that narrative that comes from some that only the government has good ideas.

“The government promised you its Covenant of Hope, that there would be greater democracy, and that people should be able to participate, this is the time to put them to the test!”

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The teachers who stand proudly behind this year’s Barbados Secondary Schools’ Entrance Examination’s top performing girl and boy were “surprised but not surprised” with their results.

Loop delivered the news unknowingly to the principal and teacher of Renelle Best over at St Gabriel’s Primary School. But it was a joy to watch as J4 teacher Susanna Gall held her chest and congratulated her student saying that she deserves it.

Moving her hand between her chest and her mask as she seemingly fought to catch her breath with not only the fact that Renelle got a raw score of 100 in both Mathematics and English, it was a fresh set of breathlessness when she processed that Renelle is the overall top student on the island for this year’s sitting.

Gall said:

“The words are…not coming. I am indeed speechless in a positive way.

“I am extremely happy for her cause she has consistently worked at that excellent peak… So I’m excited but still not surprised!”

Meanwhile, over in St George at St George Primary, a quiet and more composed Kathy-Ann Spencer said, “I’m so proud of him…I did not expect this, but I’m not surprised because he has been working consistently well throughout the two years that I taught him and I know that he was working well even before he came to me in Class 3. Sometimes we tend to forget the teachers who taught these children when they are younger but that preparation and that standard of excellence began from way down in Infants.”

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Black Immigrant Daily News

LONDON (AP) — The coach who helped British track and field star Jessica Ennis-Hill to Olympic and world titles was effectively banned for life Tuesday for misconduct including “sexually physical behaviour” with unidentified athletes over a 15-year period.

Tony Minichiello was found guilty by a tribunal of four charges that amounted to “gross breaches of trust,” the UK Athletics governing body said.

Minichiello’s misconduct against athletes included unwanted touching, “inappropriate sexual references and gestures” and “aggressive behaviour, bullying and emotional abuse.”

“They constitute gross breaches of trust by Mr. Minichiello which have had severe consequences for the mental health and mental well-being of the athletes under his charge,” UK Athletics said.

UK Athletics thanked and praised athletes who gave evidence against the British coach, without naming them. It was unclear if Ennis-Hill had been a witness.

“I cannot fully express my disappointment with this decision and with UK.Athletics’ unfair handling of this process,” Minichiello said in a statement. “I have been a coach for over 30 years and while I have been robust and demanding, I have not behaved inappropriately towards any of my athletes as very many of them would confirm.”

Minichiello made his reputation guiding heptathlon star Ennis-Hill to three world titles from 2009 to 2015, and Olympic gold and silver medals.

Ennis-Hill’s gold-medal performance at her home 2012 London Games was completed on the so-called “Super Saturday” at the Olympic Stadium that became part of British sporting lore. She took silver when defending her title at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

Though the coach could not be sanctioned by track and field authorities because his license expired during the prosecution, he was effectively expelled by the sport.

“Therefore, UKA has decided that it will not entertain any future application made by Mr. Minichiello for a UKA coach license in perpetuity,” the British track body said.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

In my last letter, I had, among things, pointed out that the UPP had failed to attract a group of persons with intellect and political acumen and savvy, as political adversaries, capable of creating a strategic plan and policies which voters could find attractive; and perhaps begin to consider the UPP as a serious and viable political opposition. This would have moved it away from the policies of just cussing and hatred of Gaston Browne and political pandering by its policies of giving away everything including the proverbial “kitchen sink”.

I then decided to take a break and conserve my energy to observe and get ready to comment on the political landscape and campaign when the ABLP commenced its campaign by cranking up what its supporters refer to as “the Big Red Machine”, which I figured would be after the carnival festivities.

I have, however, had to change my mind when my attention was drawn to an advertisement by the UPP, that it was launching a publication of an 80-page report that it touted “would present its record of achievements while in office 2004-2014, and which would highlight the philosophy and extensive record of accomplishments in 2004-2014”.

The idea that the UPP hierarchy or “strategist” could think that this was a great idea is mind boggling and clearly shows its political naivete as a party, and the asinity of its political leaders and its neophyte candidates.

Editor, lest your readers think that my criticism is harsh, let me support my opinion with some relevant political facts. A Party seeking to be elected into office, must, in addition to presenting candidates of quality, also put forward policies and plans that they intend to implement if elected; and these plans must be set out with clarity, must make sense, be realistic, and capable of being implemented. Wild eyed promises and cutting all taxes are not plans and policies that are believable and are an insult to the intelligence of the Antiguan and Barbudan electorate.

That being said, I found myself struggling to understand, the whole point of the “report of major achievements 2004-2014”, until it finally dawned on me. The fact is that the UPP has no plans and policies on which to be elected. Its political strategy is “to demonize the government in general and the Prime Minister in particular. At best fully it hopes that it can be elected because of the shortage of water, which is mainly due to a ten-year-old drought, and which is now being addressed and would have already been solved were it not for the Covid pandemic. It also has failed to comprehend that the vast majority of the electorate are also not “anti-vaxxers”. The UPP, being stung by criticism that it has no policies or plans and a third eleven team, now says to the voters, “we did it before and we can do it again.”

So as an act of desperation, the UPP rolls out what it considers to be the great work done by its predecessors in its ten years in office. I have not yet been able to read “this manifesto in review”, but I think that most voters, other than the party base, have a pretty good idea what it contains, starting with school meals and school uniforms, but nothing about collapsing the economy and engaging the IMF.

My dear Harold, Giselle and company, parties are voted into power based on their plans and economic policies, and these plans and policies are contained in a document called a Manifesto. No one gives a damn or is interested in your party’s selective views of its predecessor’s terms in 2004-2014.

I suspect many of your readers like myself, are bewildered at the UPP’s decision to publish this “rear view mirror manifesto”.  In fact, I view this as an act of desperation, which notwithstanding its idle boast that it will form the next government, has realized that the issues which it thought would sweep the party into power, have all but disappeared.

The Covid pandemic which it thought would bring down the government, has, in fact, proved to be a resounding success story for the ABLP government and has been praised by PAHO and the WHO. Further, a big UPP supporter, who is a leading businessman, actually told me that he praised the Lord that Gaston Browne was Prime Minister during the pandemic as the country would have died under his party’s leadership.
The hard anti-vaccination campaign of the UPP has been rejected by the vast majority of the populace of which 64% elected to be vaccinated, which led to the control of the corona virus. This together with the State of Emergency and its protocols, helped to contain the spread of the virus. This enabled the government to reopen the country and reboot the economy many months before other Caribbean countries. The proof of the pudding is in the eating and our people were once again able to gather, to play mas, to party and to have fun in their thousands for carnival.
The issue of roads is long off the table. And water will soon follow. In fact, the government’s programme to solve the water issue was only delayed due to the Covid pandemic.
All that is left in the opposition’s arsenal are unsupported allegations of corruption carried on Facebook by UPP activists and supporters here and in the diaspora, with support from Observer and Newsco, nightly rants in the Snake Pit by the obnoxious Dane Knight and a series of “powder puff interviews” by Shawn Nicholas, the party’s General Secretary, and which are not capturing the electorate, let alone support.

Added to the above the UPP cannot be oblivious to the constant criticisms and skepticism by a majority of non UPP voters that they have failed to put forward the plans and policies upon which the public should vote; and, if elected does not have a team, capable of governing the country. Indeed, as far as I know, the UPP has not, even at this late stage, been able to name its shadow cabinet, and thus the idea of a “rear view manifesto” was born.

And so, the UPP has hit upon the idea to publish this document. I, personally, cannot fathom how the leaders of the UPP would think that this is a smart idea. Firstly, the UPP in its former configuration campaigned and touted these same achievements in the election of 2014 and WERE REJECTED. Again, they campaigned on these same self-professed achievements in 2018 and they WERE REJECTED AGAIN AND HUMILIATED at the polls.

How in God’s name can anyone with a modicum of political savvy think that this makes political sense? Further does the UPP not understand the fact that a stronger UPP with a much better team was soundly defeated in 2014 and 2018. How then will this 3rd 11 team fare?

Dear Harold et al: Voters cast their vote based on sensible and workable plans and policies, not for pie in the sky plans, policies and perceived past achievements.

WHEEL AND COME AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!

NOMAD

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