MANY YEARS AGO I attended the wedding of a friend. It was held at Sam Lord’s Castle, so you can understand how long ago that was.
While eating dinner with some friends, one, a Bajan, who had just set up a branch of his pretty successful tourism-related company in another Caribbean country, spoke of his experience with corruption.
A senior member of the government, he reported, met him at a social function and enquired of his immigration status and pointed out that with his investment he should have citizenship.
The Bajan said he had never even given it thought, but the official insisted and directed him to a specific person at the Immigration Office, instructing him to tell him who had sent him, and that he give him a “tip”. By the end of the week he would have all his documents.
So said, so done, he said.
At the time we were boasting about how “honest” and “corruption-free” we were in Bim.
I now venture to declare that if Barbados was ever free of corruption, it is no longer so. Corruption is endemic and no matter how much we pretend, it will not change the reality.
Here are just a few of the incidents of which I am aware that convinced me corruption is deep-seated, pervasive across the public and private sector and has been present for a long time. Perhaps now it is more crass:
Some years ago a member of my family went to the Barbados Licensing Authority (BLA) to take her test for a driver’s licence. She completed the course and when she got back to The Pine was told she had failed. She was disappointed to the point of tears. A few minutes later, however, her instructor returned with a message from the tester – pay him $250 and you will get your licence. She did and went home a qualified driver.
Did she fail the test, or was she failed in order to provide supplemental income for the BLA employee?
Some years ago a “very close personal friend” was preparing to build his home. It was his first experience with such a matter and he really did not know all the steps or the time frame within which he would be constrained to operate. What he knew was that he had the money and he was anxious to start.
He reported he was told it would take a few months to get his plans through the Town and Country Planning Department and could not help but show his disappointment. He was taken aside, he related to me, and told that for a small “fee” of $500 he could have his approved plans back by the end of the week.
So paid, so done!
Some years ago a Barbadian businessman with a heart decided he was going to donate some land to a charitable cause, and he made his intentions known publicly. He covered the cost of all the statutory requirements for subdivision of a large tract of land and took those associated with the donation to show them what he was giving. They were delighted.
Then it came time for the various civil servants to review the plans and give their approval – or denial. He reported that the process included a site visit, which went off without a hitch. At the end of the visit, however, one senior official pointed out to the businessman that with his wealth, it would not hurt him to “donate” the adjacent lot to him, the official.
The businessman, in his usual style, told him – with a number of colourful metaphors included for emphasis – that it was not going to happen.
Apparently, he did not know how right he was, because more than a decade later he is still awaiting word on his application and the charitable donation is still to take place.
Some years ago one local firm bought another and sought approval to expand its footprint for manufacturing purposes. It was to facilitate a regional project that would have created several jobs and earned foreign exchange for the country. The plan was not approved and the operator appealed for a review.
Site visit
As part of the process he was invited to a site visit with officials from several Government ministries and departments. By the end, he said, he was almost 100 per cent sure the multimillion-dollar venture would be approved.
At the end of the tour, he reported to me, he was asked by one of the officials with a background in financing for “a drop back to town” and he reluctantly agreed. When he got to the man’s office, he said, “he would not get out of my car and in the end he wanted to know if I did not have ‘something’ for him.
“I cuss he so stink you would not believe it,” the businessman told me, adding that when permission finally came years later, the project was already dead. Neither the jobs nor foreign exchange ever came to life.
I could offer a few more, like the BWA disconnection employee who some years ago told a customer whose water he was about to shut off, he would leave it running for a few more hours to give him time to go to the office and pay the bill – but first he had to give him “a little somet’ing”. But what’s the point of me quoting more stories. There are countless other Barbadians and non-nationals who do business here with stories to tell.
