I’m glad to see the hullabaloo about Days Of Our Lives followed the usual “nine-day wonder” pattern and the airwaves have now been freed up for discussion of more serious issues.
A detailed account of how to access the programme via the Internet came from a most unlikely source – Dr Leonard Shorey. I wonder whether he was himself a fan or whether he was just trying to arrest the wastage of time by providing a solution to grieving fans.
Days Of Our Lives started as a typical soap opera, filled with deceit, betrayal and so on, but had in recent years become totally absurd. On the positive side, a newspaper cartoon claimed that no robberies took place during Days Of Our Lives. I’m not sure whether it’s because the would-be robbers are fans or whether people are guaranteed to be home at that time. Whichever way, we hope the replacement will serve the same purpose.
The most serious issue for discussion is Barbados’ future – based on the recent Central Bank report, the possible effects of chikungunya and Ebola on tourism, and the “in limbo” sugar industry.
Two leading private sector groups, the Barbados Private Sector Association and the Chamber of Commerce & Industry, have expressed concern, with the head of the Private Sector Association reported as saying “years of negative or flat growth, negative investment grades, and a series of tough fiscal measures have taken the wind out of the sails of our confidence as a people . . . . This sagging confidence has resulted in an atmosphere of gloominess and uncertainty, both in the private sector business and the population at large”.
I would go so far as to say that even some of the most resilient have given up.
Leading economists claim Barbadian taxpayers are sacrificing in vain and that although the additional burdensome taxes are being paid and boosting revenue, Government expenditure is still not being contained. Furthermore, if these supposedly short-term measures are terminated in March 2015, revenue will then be cut and the expenditure will still be too high so the measures would’ve accomplished nothing but reducing disposable income and limiting growth.
While Government seems to feel the only way to reduce expenditure is by layoffs, there are many other areas where serious wastage has been happening for so many years that it’s now accepted as the norm. They need to tackle this.
No one is against taxes if you can see where they’re going, but as far as I can see, ours all go into the infamous consolidated tax pot, which has sprung a leak. Almost every area is a mess in spite of taxes being paid – the roads, the transport system, garbage collection, the hospital . . . .
Canadians pay high taxes, but they can see the benefits. I trust Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, on his recent private visit there, noted how well transport and garbage collection systems work, the condition of the roads and how clean the environment is, but maybe his mind might have been on other issues.
I hope, too, that he observed the handling of yet another potential health threat – enterovirus D68 – which seems to be causing paralysis in people there. We certainly can’t risk any more paralysis in our Government.
Another cause for concern is this turmoil in sport since it became a business. The cricket fiasco is the latest saga. These cricketers are an embarrassment to the Caribbean. Whatever the issues, it’s obvious matters should’ve been settled before the tour. And if the players had a grouse, they shouldn’t have started the tour at all, rather than wasting money to fly to India and be accommodated, and then striking. Someone proposed that the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) should’ve immediately cancelled their accommodation and, if possible, their return tickets.
What upsets me is that when we had excellent players like the 3Ws and Garry (now Sir Garry) Sobers, the game was played for the love of it with little financial reward. Now we have players whose performance leaves much to be desired and they’re being paid handsomely. Actually, if many of them were paid on performance, they might owe the WICB money.
Well, finally we know when to expect our tax refunds. An Inland Revenue officer told a lady she will get her refund when the postman delivers it!
• Dr Frances Chandler is a former independent senator.
