The Caribbean Development Bank was recently downgraded by Moody, of interest is the fact that the President of CDB – Dr. Warren Smith lamented the paucity of implementation of projects by the various member countries. Dr. Smith revealed some startling statistics in his commentary of the bank’s performance for 2011. For Cletus and Thecla who engaged in an interesting debate on the way forward, I say time is running out and drastic and creative approaches have to be found to solve this regional crisis. GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands – The US based rating agency, Moody Investors Services has downgraded the credit ratings of the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) by one notch from Aaa to Aa1. CDB president Dr. Warren Smith told the bank’s annual board of governors meeting yesterday that the downgrade followed a routine examination of the region’s premier development...

On Tuesday 8th May 2012, the Hon. Prime Minister presented further details of the Budget for the year 2012-13. One must agree that it was an informative presentation with varied and incisive policy positions on the economy. As we say locally we can ‘ christen’ the budget as The Construction Budget, as the core policy is to use the construction sector as the avenue for economic growth. Before commentary is presented on the specifics, it is instructive to review some of the issues raised in the presentation. The Prime Minister presented four crucial matters facing the country: 1. Rising Debt levels 2. Recurrent expenditure outstripping revenue 3. Need to stimulate the economy 4. Job creation There is indeed an interrelationship among the above four matters. A stagnant economy will result in reduced revenue to the Government. There will be need to borrow to stimulate the economy,...

In the ongoing debate on the Gros Islet Highway, we have to be mindful that a young man with a bright future has lost his life, a group of children are now without a father and a young woman has lost her husband. I find it most distasteful that some have suggested that Matthew was a reckless driver who found his fate due to carelessness on the highway. I knew Matthew for over 16 yrs and had followed his development from high school to university into the work place. He was not such a person. I know of others who have had accidents at the median at Halycon. Some years ago a dear friend of mine, Mrs Louvet Louisy, crashed at the same place, fortunately she did not suffer major injuries. Louvet is certainly no reckless driver, but was a victim of a poor road design. The issue we are facing is poor road design. This is the primary cause of accidents along this stretch of the highway. There...

The winds that are causing political change in the Caribbean, have blown over Trinidad, St.Lucia, Turks and Caicos, Bahamas, Guyana ( to a limited extent), Jamaica, Nevis and soon to come Barbados and Grenada. Yet, in all the above the expected pace of change has not materialized. What was different in the 1960’s, that created a group of enterprising politicians on the political landscape, the likes of Barrow, Williams, Compton,Adams, Manley, Bird, and Burnham. These men were not afraid to try something new. Though some of their experimentation failed, the fact remains that they were bold to consider and implement these initiatives. The slippery slopes of debt cannot be walked by orthodox methods, there is need for bold and enterprising approaches to governance. Such leadership the Caribbean people are yearning for, and only such can take us out of the pits and into the palace....