Ian Bourne interviews Rawdi Adams – the son of Barbados’ second Prime Minister: Tom Adams

Our old friend Ian Bourne cornered Rawdon Adams the other night for an exclusive interview and he asked him a few questions that the oldstream Barbados media wouldn’t dare.

The grandson of nation-builder Grantley Adams and the son of our second Prime Minister Tom Adams had much to say about Barbados and Bajan politics. I was, frankly, quite surprised by Rawdi’s candor – but not by Ian’s probing and opinions.

Barbados Journalist Ian Bourne

Ian Bourne is pretty good, you know. It’s a damned shame and to our nation’s loss that Ian is not financially independent enough to be the pit bull that he is capable of being. Not that we think he doesn’t do the best that can be done, you understand. It’s just that we’d just love to see Ian with about $US five million in an American bank and not having to be careful. Ian Bourne + US$5 million in the bank = nuclear bomb dropped on Bajan politics!

Okay… what did Ian ask Rawdon Adams the other night? Well… you’ll have to visit Ian’s Bajan Reporter to find out.

What didn’t Ian ask Rawdi Adams?

A simple question…

“Mr. Adams. Who’s in charge of the Barbados Labour Party at the moment: Mia Mottley or Owen Arthur?” 

Check out Ian’s story: Bajan Reporter – Tom’s son knocks Thompson

You can also check out Rawdi Adams’ blog too! Capital Chronicle even though Adams was dead wrong about shorting Apple stock!

Seven years ago, Lou Gibson of Langley was out for a morning bike ride when he heard a car pulling up behind him.

He could feel something wasn’t right and took a quick backward glance. That is all he had time for. He was hit.

He remained conscious through the blur that followed, lying on the side of the road, the ambulance arriving, the transport to hospital.

In that instant, his life was turned upside down. The para-Nordic skier in the 2010 Paralympic Games spent the next six months between hospital and rehabilitation at G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre.

Emerging in a wheelchair, the Barbados-born athlete then spent a number of years as an outpatient. He lost his job as a truck driver. He lost so much…

… continue reading this truly uplifting story at the Vancouver Sun: Langley sit-skier makes great strides since accident

“CIB’s accounts for the year ended December 31st 2007 were signed off on December 12th 2008 to be exact. PwC knew about CIBs predicament and still signed a clean audit report. We are a backward community if that firm is allowed to continue unscathed.”

… Above comments left by BFP reader “Trini Whistleblower“ on May 18, 2009 & June 7, 2009

What did PWC know about CL Financial & CLICO – and when did they know it?

I don’t know much about business, auditing or bookkeeping other than what I’ve read here and there – but I have the impression that a small business person could successfully hide many offside and questionable transactions from their employees, accountant, the tax people and their husband or wife.

At least, a business owner might be able to hide them for a while because, unlike a public company, small private businesses don’t usually get audited. The relatively small number of transactions is easier to juggle too. Also, a small business person can make some side deals for cash once in a while, maybe have some inventory “stolen” or “damaged beyond repair” while they sell it out the backdoor for cash.

Yes, a small business owner could probably pocket ten or twenty thousand dollars a year without raising too many red flags – and it could probably be done successfully for years if the owner doesn’t get too greedy.

Of course, if you’re a multi-national public company like CL Financial & CLICO that has to be audited every year it becomes much more difficult to hide missing cash, inventory and company value to the tune of, oh – for instance – say, 76.1 BILLION DOLLARS.

Yet that is exactly what happened…

One moment CL Financial was worth over 100 Billion dollars and a few days later it was worth only 23.9 Billion.

Now, like I say folks, I’m no accountant or auditor like the very prestigious firm of Price Waterhouse Coopers, but I can subtract 23.9 from 100 and determine that we seem to be missing 76.1 Billion dollars.

Just a minute – I’m going to check if any of those missing billions might be lying around in my desk drawer… Nope, not here. Maybe in the boot of Shona’s car? No, not under the bed either. I wonder where the 76.1 Billion dollars could be…?

I’d wager that right now there are a few Caribbean bankers, politicians and business people who don’t want shareholders and forensic auditors looking too closely in their desk drawers or in the boot of wifey’s car… or too closely at various financial transactions that happened over the last ten years.

It would be a good guess to assume that some folks at Price Waterhouse Coopers are making plans for early retirement.

Price Waterhouse Coopers and some of their associates have some serious explaining to do about where the MISSING 76.1 BILLION dollars might be and why they failed so miserably in their duties.

Hang ‘em High!

The elites, including Prime Minister David Thompson, are doing their best to protect Sylvia and Lawrence Duprey, Leroy Parris and other friends – but in the end a few sacrificial lambs will have to be offered to the public.

How will the Caribbean banks, politicians and business people retain public confidence if they don’t publicly hang a few bodies at the crossroads?

The question I have is: How many of the hanging bodies will be Price Waterhouse Coopers employees and associates?

Further Reading

Keltruth Blog: Forensic investigator Robert Lindquist Submits Report on CL Financial & CLICO. Government Silent.

Keltruth Blog: What is the Nature of the Relationship between Leroy Parris of CLICO and Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson?

About BFP’s use of the PWC logo: This logo only consists of typefaces, individual words, slogans, or simple geometric shapes. These are not eligible for copyright alone because they are not original enough, and thus the logo is considered to be in the public domain – so stick it where the sun doan shine if you be PWC comin’ after poor little BFP!

“Government is taking steps to develop a Mandatory Reporting Protocol to assist with the management of child abuse”... Government Press Release, March 3, 2010

“Child Care Board is in the process of developing a national reporting protocol for child abuse.” … Minister Esther Byer-Suckoo in The Nation, December  7, 2008

Child Protection in Barbados: The Need for a National Reporting Protocol… December, 2007 report published by United Nations Children’s Fund

“People wonder how come a 13-year-old girl is found to be pregnant and is taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and a report is made but nothing comes of it…” January 8, 2006 statement by Chairman of the Child Care Board, David Harper

Frustrated by legal loopholes that botch attempts to bring perpetrators of child abuse to justice, Chief Education Officer Wendy Griffith-Watson, is pleading with Government for “an established procedure that works”. June 12, 2005

“Government is taking steps to develop…” (BFP readers insert your chuckle or guffaw here)

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah - Byer-Suckoo is All Talk, Zero Action

Once or twice a year for the last decade or so the Barbados newpapers printed a few articles on child abuse – usually around the time of the government’s annual “look like we’re doing something” meeting on child abuse. The news articles read the same year after year: Government representatives make a few statements about how important it is to protect children and (insert name of current Minister) says the government is “developing” policy on the issue to “move forward”.

The Lord knows that the good people at the Child Care Board and other places have been doing the best they can for decades – but they are hamstrung because no Barbados BLP or DLP government has seen fit to pass the laws that are needed to ensure compulsory reporting and a coordinated, effective and mandatory response to the abuse of children. Over the years David “Joey” Harper and his colleagues marched, spoke, wrote letters, gave interviews, agitated and did everything they could to make government act – but unfortunately the DLP and BLP believe that holding a meeting is actually doing something.

Back in 2008 (and just like all those government Ministers before her over the last decade) Esther Byer-Suckoo told us that child abuse was a problem, but not to get our hopes up about child-abuse reporting legislation… (Hey Esther… don’t worry about “not getting our hopes up”, we’re Bajan)

In our December 9, 2008 article Barbados Government Minister Byer-Suckoo Cautions “Not To Get Our Hopes Up” Waiting For Child Abuse Reporting Legislation, we said…

Barbados Has No Law Requiring The Reporting Of Suspected Child Abuse – And The DLP Government Will Not Create Such A Law!

Byer-Suckoo is talking about creating a “protocol” which is another way of saying that she and the DLP government do not intend to create a law requiring professionals to report suspected child abuse. A “protocol” is without the force of law. Medical and teaching professionals who fail to report child abuse will not face legal sanctions for keeping quiet.

There are certain laws that are now a given in civilised countries. Laws dealing with drinking and driving, wife abuse and child abuse are foundational to protecting innocent people – but successive Barbados governments have failed miserably to enact and enforce these laws.

The Thompson government is no different.

2010’s Child Abuse Meeting: Anything new, any real action taken – or just more of the Same Old Talk?

Now we see in the Nation and the Barbados Advocate that it is once again time for the annual “concern for child abuse” stories. The government has had another annual meeting, doan ya know!

And it’s time to make it look like something is actually happening instead of pointing out the truth: that nothing has actually been done or accomplished since the December 2007 UN report.

The current Nation newspaper article Child abuse protocol ‘a must’ says that Attorney Jacqueline Sealy-Burke has delivered “a draft copy of a child abuse protocol” to the Barbados government.

I’d like to be corrected. I really would… but I believe The Nation newspaper is wrong again – just like they were wrong in 2008 when they proclaimed that Barbados had developed a child abuse protocol and it was ready to be implemented.

Attorney Sealy-Burke delivered her report Child Protection in Barbados: The Need for a National Reporting Protocol to government in December of 2007 – but it is not a “draft copy of a child abuse protocol”. Although her report gives an overview of what such a policy would contain, it is not a detailed draft by any means.

The articles in the Barbados Advocate indicate that the report Sealy-Burke was indeed referring to her December 2007 report and make no mention of any new draft policy being delivered to the government – so I’d like to see this “draft” that The Nation refers to. (See Barbados Advocate’s Going on Record where the article refers to the 2007 UN report and not a new document)

Once again folks, I’d like to be proven wrong about this latest “Consultation on a National Reporting Protocol on Child Abuse” meeting held at the Hilton Barbados last Wednesday. I’d like someone to send us the new draft protocol that the Nation says exists. I’d like to hear that the participants at the meeting were sent away with an actual draft protocol to comment upon and not just the old 2007 UN report.

I’d like to believe that this latest meeting wasn’t just the same old, same old – so if we’re wrong just say so and we’ll eat gull, apologise and publish the details.

Meanwhile though…

Think about this: If the Barbados news media refused to report government speeches about “going to do this” and “going to do that” – how many news articles could they print where a government minister showed that something had actually been done?