Adrian Loveridge is a rasshole idiot

The stupidity of this foreign idiot called Adrian Loveridge is amazing. Following on the heels of his idiotic statement about 25 hotels in Barbados closing over the past 15 years, he now comes out with the following crap posted by the shallow-minded cretins at Barbados Free Press and Barbados Underground:

Problems With Barbados Hotel Registry and Tourism Statistics - Adrian Loveridge

Barbados Hotel Room Stock

While visiting the offices of the Barbados Tourism Authority recently, I collected a copy of what I assume is the latest list of all registered accommodation on Barbados.

The brochure is entitled Rates – Hotels, Guest Houses and Apartments – Winter 2007 -2008 December 16th 2007-2008 To April 15th 2008 and Summer 2008 April 16th, 2008 to December 15th, 2008.

Adrian Loveridge you are a brainless foreign white idiot. Why should you ASSUME that the brochure is a list of ALL registered accommodation in Barbados when the brochure itself makes no such claim?

You mean that you can’t even UNDERSTAND a simple title?

You rasshole idiot!

BFPE

2 comments Monday, 28 April 2008, 11:40 am

Aimé Césaire, Martinique poet, has died

The sun has set on the life of a great Caribbean man.

Aimé Césaire was a true Caribbean son. May he rest in peace.

BFPE

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/17/europe/EU-GEN-France-Obit-Cesaire.php

OBITUARY

Aimé Césaire, Martinique poet, has died


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PARIS: The esteemed Martinique poet and politician Aimé Césaire, a leading figure in the movement for black consciousness, died Thursday, the French president’s office and a hospital said. He was 94.

Césaire died in Fort-de-France on the French Caribbean island of Martinique, the hospital that was treating him said.

Césaire was involved in the fight for French West Indian rights, and he also served as a lawmaker in the lower house of France’s parliament for nearly 50 years. French President Nicolas Sarkozy successfully led a campaign last year to change the name of Martinique’s airport in honor of Césaire.

Sarkozy on Thursday praised Césaire as “a great poet” and a “great humanist.”

“As a free and independent spirit, throughout his whole life he embodied the fight for the recognition of his identity and the richness of his African roots,” Sarkozy said. “Through his universal call for the respect of human dignity, consciousness and responsibility, he will remain a symbol of hope for all oppressed peoples.”

Césaire’s 1950 “Discourse on Colonialism” has become a classic of French political literature and helped develop the concept of negritude, which urges blacks to cultivate pride in their heritage.

Born June 26, 1913, in Basse-Pointe, Martinique, Césaire moved to mainland France for high school and university studies, and finished one of the country’s most elite institutes, the Ecole Normale Superieure.

He and Senegal’s Leopold Sedar Senghor founded the journal “Black Student” in the 1930s, which gave birth to the idea of negritude.

Césaire returned to Martinique during World War II and taught at a high school in Fort-de-France.

Césaire served as mayor of Fort-de-France from 1945 to his retirement in 2001, except for a blip in 1983-84.

“I accomplished the work I had to do,” Césaire said in his surprise announcement in 2000 that that he wouldn’t seek another mayoral term.

Césaire’s essays included “Negro I am, Negro I Will Remain.” His poems, written in French, included “Notes From a Return to the Native Land.” He also wrote plays.

Add comment Thursday, 17 April 2008, 8:52 pm

Blog Reader KK attacks Barbados Free Press

Blog reader KK submitted these comments to us in response to an article posted by the deranged idiot at BFP, who obviously can’t stand criticism and blocked him from posting them on the BFP blog.

BFPE

http://barbadosfreepress.wordpress.com/2008/04/17/barbados-opposition-co-leader-mia-mottley-electronic-international-media-is-dangerous/

This article was obviously written by an intoxicated idiot.

You don’t establish credibility on these blogs by quoting what someone says and adding your own grotesquely twisted version of what you would have wanted them to say.

“political class” means exactly that… people in the school (or profession) of politics.

Uneducated morons like you need to avail yourselves of free education and basic common sense.

Idiots like you are not mobilising anything. You are simply swell-headed and misguided fools who believe that you can control political power simply by hiding like cowards behind an internet blog. You fail to realise that you only produce words for your own meagre consumption. Barbados Free Press remains a fringe element even among Barbadians who use the internet for political and national discussions… and for the vast majority of Barbadians who fall outside that class, Barbados Free Press is a non-entity.

Add comment Thursday, 17 April 2008, 7:08 am

Barbados Free Press LIES about ABC News interview request

This is another LIE from Barbados Free Press.

http://barbadosfreepress.wordpress.com/2008/04/09/dear-abc-news/

ABC News did NOT make any request to interview Barbados Free Press.

BFPE

1 comment Wednesday, 9 April 2008, 7:25 pm

Carlos Chase makes mincemeat of stupid Adrian Loveridge

It was hilarious!
Stupid Adrian Loveridge the pompous white English foreigner receiving bitch-slaps from Carlos Chase the patriotic black Bajan. That list of 87 hotels was a masterstroke!
BFPE
http://barbadosfreepress.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/closed-barbados-hotels/ 
April 4, 2008…11:47 am

Closed Barbados Hotels

Jump to Comments

Dear Barbados Free Press

Mr Carlos Chase doesn’t seem to believe me, so perhaps you could post the list.

Many Thanks
Adrian Loveridge

A List of Closed Barbados Hotels

1. Tropicana Beach Hotel
2. Kings Beach
3. The Regent
4. Glitter Bay
5. Paradise Beach
6. Sierra Beach
7. Apple Experience
8. Oasis
9. St. Lawrence Apartments
10. Eastry House
11. Sam Lords
12. Windsurf Beach
13. Club Rockley
14. Caribbee
15. Inn of the Beach
16. Coconut Creek
17. Little Paradise
18. Sunshine Beach Hotel
19. Fairholme Apartments
20. Sunhaven Beach Hotel
21. Ginger Bay
22. Smugglers Cove
23. Villa Nova
24. Rainbow Beach
25. Ocean View Hotel
26. Saltash Apartments
27. Long Beach Club
28. Sandridge Beach Hotel (later this year)

7 Comments

  • A friend of mine who is a senior manager in one of the largest tour operators serving the Caribbean says the closure of so many hotels in Barbados over the years is presenting them with big headaches as they cannot sell packages without hotels. It is also logistically impossible to sell packages using condos or apartments as they would have to deal with many owners in the same development or complex, who each have furnished their units to their own style and to different levels of quality.
  • Your comment is awaiting moderation.
  • More tricks and gimmickry from Adrian Loveridge.

    That is merely a list of the NAMES. I asked you for much more information than that. You only want to present a skewed picture to suit your political motives. Below are the four key questions I asked you, along with a few additional ones. You know very well that any time you and I engage, it is always you who runs away.

    1. What were the NAMES of each of those hotels, the locations and the room stock?

    2. What was the total number of hotels and rooms in Barbados 15 years ago and what are the numbers today?

    3. What were the total number of visitor arrivals to Barbados 15 years ago and what are the numbers today?

    4. And why have you singled out only the past 15 years?

    NEW QUESTIONS

    5. What is the total number of new hotels and room stock OPENED in Barbados over the past 15 years?

    6. What is the total number of hotels and room stock in operation in Barbados at the end of each year over the past 15 years?

    7. If you dare, take the politics out of it, forget the past 15 years and present everything from 1966 to 2008?

    I am 100% confident that you Adrian Loveridge will NEVER answer those questions!

  • Bajanboy,

    “A friend of mine who is a senior manager in one of the largest tour operators serving the Caribbean says the closure of so many hotels in Barbados over the years is presenting them with big headaches as they cannot sell packages without hotels. It is also logistically impossible to sell packages using condos or apartments as they would have to deal with many owners in the same development or complex, who each have furnished their units to their own style and to different levels of quality.”

    Nonsense.

    Why do tourists keep coming here in even greater numbers then?

  • Carlos Chase said,
    “Why do tourists keep coming here in even greater numbers then?”

    A question for you.
    Where did you get the tourist arrival figures on which you based this question? Do you include the one day cruise passengers?

    This has already been covered on this very blog.

  • Why does Mr Chase expect Mr Loveridge to provide him with these statistics? Should not the Government Tourism Authority, or Minister of Tourism have these numbers at hand?..What is his next request of Mr Loveridge, the names of the Guests that stayed at those closed Hotels? The names and national insurance numbers of the ex employees of those Hotels? When does it stop?And if Mr Chase is trying to make a case …let him go to the trouble of digging up the stats he wants.
    The list of Hotels closed during that time frame is quite an eye opener and nothing Mr Chase can present will deny that they are gone. Gone!
  • Adrian Loveridge should know that tourism is about more than just hotels.

    Here is the list of 87 hotels listed in the Cable and Wireless Barbados Yellow Pages 2007-2008.

    1. Accra Beach Hotel

    2. Allamanda Beach Hotel

    3. Almond Beach Village

    4. Almond Casuarina Resort

    5. Amaryllis Beach Resort

    6. Anthurium Suites

    7. Atlantis Hotel

    8. Barbados Beach Club

    9. Blue Horizon Hotel

    10. Blue Orchids Beach Hotel

    11. Bougainvillea Beach Resort

    12. Broome’s Vacation Home

    13. Butterfly Beach Hotel

    14. Casa Grande Airport Hotel

    15. Cobblers Cove Hotel

    16. Coconut Court Beach Hotel

    17. Colony Club Hotel

    18. Coral Lane Beach Apartments

    19. Coral Mist Beach Hotel

    20. Coral Reef Club

    21. Coral Sands Beach Resort

    22. The Crane Resort

    23. Crystal Cove Hotel

    24. Discovery Bay Beach Hotel

    25. Divi Southwinds Beach Resort

    26. Dover Beach Hotel

    27. Escape At The Gap

    28. Fairmont Hotel

    29. Fairmont Royal Pavilion

    30. Gems Of Barbados

    31. Golden Sands Apartment Hotel

    32. Grand Barbados Beach Resort

    33. Hilton Barbados

    34. Island Inn Hotel

    35. Kings Beach Village

    36. Little Arches Hotel

    37. Little Bay Hotel

    38. Little Good Harbour

    39. Long Beach Club Hotel

    40. Lush Life Nature Resort

    41. Mango Bay

    42. Melbourne Apartments

    43. Melbourne Inn

    44. Melrose Beach Apartments

    45. Meridian Inn

    46. Monteray Apartment Hotel

    47. Montrowe Apartments

    48. Nautilus Beach Apartments

    49. The Newedgewater Hotel

    50. Ocen 11 Hotel Apartments

    51. Osterley Vacation Home

    52. Palm Garden Apartment Hotel

    53. Peach And Quiet Hotel

    54. Pirate’s Inn

    55. Pommarine Hotel

    56. Port St. Charles

    57. Regency Cove Hotels

    58. Rostrevor Apartment Hotel

    59. St. James Apartment Hotel

    60. The Sandpiper

    61. Sandridge Beach Hotel

    62. Sandy Bay Beach Club

    63. Sandy Ground Holiday Accommodation

    64. Sandy Lane Hotel

    65. Santosha Retreat

    66. The Savannah Hotel

    67. Sea Breeze Beach Hotel

    68. Settlers Beach Villa Hotel

    69. Shonlan Airport Hotel

    70. Silver Point Hotel

    71. Silver Sands Resort

    72. South Beach Resort

    73. South Gap Hotel

    74. Southern Palms Beach Club

    75. Southern Surf Beach Apartment

    76. Sugar Cane Club Hotel

    77. Sunshine Beach Apartments

    78. Sunswept Beach Hotel

    79. Tamarind Beach Hotel

    80. The House

    81. Time Out At The Gap

    82. Treasure Beach Hotel

    83. Tropical Escape Hotel

    84. Tropical Winds Hotel

    85. Turtle Beach Resort

    86. Worthing Court Apartment Hotel

    87. Yellow Bird Apartment Hotel

  • 27 (or 2 8) hotels closing over a period of 15 years is an average of less than 2 hotels per year.

    Hotels, like any other business, will have to face competition and several other factors affecting their operation.

    Old businesses close and new businesses open all the time, whether it is supermarkets, airlines or fruit vendors on Swan St.

    Adrian Loveridge is a FOOL!

6 comments Friday, 4 April 2008, 9:26 am

BFP Idiot Says: Sale Of Holetown Chefette For “$40 Million Plus” Highlights The Killing Impact Of Condos Upon Tourism And Local Businesses

The idiot at Barbados Free Press says: Sale Of Holetown Chefette For “$40 Million Plus” Highlights The Killing Impact Of Condos Upon Tourism And Local Businesses

BFPE says…

Once again we have a typical idiotic and brainless response from the clueless and naive moron at Barbados Free Press who could never in his life start, manage or operate either a chain of fast food restaurants or a block of condominiums.

Condominiums do not kill tourism and neither do they kill local businesses. Anyone who makes that claim is spouting nonsense. Both are businesses. Condominiums require the services of construction, maintenance, cleaning and utility companies just as restaurants and other businesses do. Condominium owners have to pay taxes just like restaurant owners do. They both generate direct and indirect employment. Visitors to our island (and locals too) require food just as much as shelter.

And then there is his foolish remark “Are we content to have our coastal views and beach access blocked by walls of foreign-owned concrete?”Anyone with a working brain will tell you that Chefette’s restaurants are not 100% see through. Swapping a restaurant for a condominium block has practically no impact whatsoever on any “window to the sea” in Barbados. Our beaches are all public and according to our laws anyone who wants to see the sea can go to the beach to do so… including ordinary black Bajans living at Inch Marlowe, Christ Church whose beach access is blocked by walls of foreign-owned concrete erected by one Adrian Loveridge.

BFPE

What is a condominium?

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-condominium.htm

A condominium is a form of home ownership in which individual units of a larger complex are sold, not rented. These units may be renovated apartments, townhouses or even commercial warehouses. Contrary to popular belief, the word ‘condominium‘ does not apply to the type of unit itself, but the legal ownership arrangement. Any multi-unit structure can ‘go condominium’, meaning occupants must either vacate the premises or purchase their apartments outright.Those who purchase units in a condominium technically own everything from their walls inward. All of the individual homeowners have shared rights to most common areas, such as the elevators, hallways, pools and club houses. Maintenance of these areas becomes the responsibility of a condominium association. Every owner owns a share of interest in the condominium association, plus an obligation to pay monthly dues or special assessment fees for larger maintenance problems.

A condominium arrangement is not the best option for every potential homeowner. There can be a noticeable lack of privacy in the common areas–the pool must be shared with every other condominium owner, for example. Those who would prefer to own all of their amenities and maintain their own lawn and garden may want to pursue single home ownership options instead of a condominium. It can also be more difficult to sell a condominium unit as opposed to a home with acreage. Condo owners only own their units, not the ground beneath them.

Those who may benefit the most from condominium living are veteran apartment renters who don’t mind having close neighbors. Others may not want to be bothered with external maintenance or the responsibility of lawn care. The overall price of a condominium townhouse may be much lower than an equivalent single-unit home. Buying a condominium does allow equity to build, unlike paying monthly rent in an apartment complex.

One thing to be aware of when living in a condominium setting is the political reality of an owners’ association. Decisions may be made in monthly meetings which will cost individual owners more money, but not necessarily deliver equal benefits for all. It can be nearly impossible to avoid being affected by at least one condo board decision, so active participation in meetings and discussions may be more compulsory than you might expect. Condominium living may be more advantageous financially than apartment rentals, but it does require more active participation in community events.

4 comments Wednesday, 2 April 2008, 7:52 pm

Operation Backdoor has been launched

Operation Backdoor has been launched.

Status: Phase One In Progress

B~F~P~E

1 comment Wednesday, 2 April 2008, 12:00 am

One Imaginary Container Load of Free Shoes from China… compliments retarded BFP asshole

The idiot Adrian Loveridge at Barbados Free Press has done it again.

Only a retarded asshole would post such crap as this on the internet and expect to be taken seriously: Barbados DLP Government Insider: Chinese Provided Container-Load Of Free Shoes For People Of Barbados, But Corrupt BLP Insiders Sold Them!

No date. No documents. No news report from the Chinese government. No facts. No evidence. No investigative reporting.

Just the same stupid lies spewing out of Adrian Loveridge’s BFP’s shit-filled brain. Invent the most far-fetched, bird-brained crap, post it on his blog and expect gullible Bajans to swallow it.

Why would China send a free container load of shoes to Barbados? If any of it was true, why would the Chinese government, through its embassy in Barbados, say NOTHING about it? Surely if such a donation was made, there would have been a representative of the Chinese government appearing at a public presentation ceremony.

Adrian Loveridge BFP is a sick, stupid moron and pathetic idiot and liar.

Contact the Chinese embassy in Barbados and see for yourself how easily the LIES of Adrian Loveridge Barbados Free Press are exposed.

BFPE

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/embassy/barbados.htm

Ambassador: Mr. Liu Huanxing
Address: No.17 Golfview Terrace, Rockley, Christ Church, Barbados
Tel: +1-246-4356890
Fax: +1-246-4358300
Office Hours: 08:30-12:00, 14:00-16:30, Monday-Friday (except holidays)
Email: chineseembbds@caribsurf.com
Website:
http://bb.china-embassy.org/eng/
http://bb.chineseembassy.org/eng/

Consular Office
Tel: +1-246-4356890, 2305344
Office Hours: 08:30-11:30, 14:00-16:00, Monday-Friday (except holidays)

Add comment Monday, 31 March 2008, 3:26 pm

Welcome to Barbados, Jah Cure… Barbados Free Press can fuck off.

Jah Cure (real name Siccaturie Alcock) is most welcome in Barbados. He is a black Caribbean man and he has paid his debt to society. We at BFPE will never remain silent and allow the filthy-minded white dog at Barbados Free Press to continue to vilify black people in Barbados, black people in the Caribbean and black people in general.

It is not without reason that BFP is always promoting anything and anyone white, especially white foreigners and moreso white British.

It is not without reason that BFP is always denigrating black people, especially black Caribbean people.

It is not without reason that BFP pays little or no regard to the successes of black Bajan calypsonians.

It is not without reason that BFP has a policy of whites first, mulattoes second and blacks last.

We at BFPE will never sit idly by and allow BFP to fool anyone into thinking that their racist worldview and plantocracy mindset represents Barbados of today. Study the messages being put out by BFP and you will see nothing but a sinister attempt to malign, attack, subjugate and assault the free will and political power of the BLACK MAJORITY in Barbados.

Jah Cure, as a black Caribbean man,  you are most welcome to Barbados and we are happy to have you here.

As far as we are concerned, the lone racist lunatic who runs Barbados Free Press can fuck off.

BFPE

http://www.nationnews.com/story/291339724091922.php

Jah Cure on new track

by MICHELLE SPRINGER

The time is here

The Cure is here . . . .

NO LONGER “behind prison walls spending restless nights”, Siccaturie Alcock, known by his fans as Jah Cure, is exploring a new beginning in the free world and, in the process, “visioning” faces that cry out with sheer delight at his performances.

He sat and shared some “true reflections” with the SUNDAY SUN on a recent trip to Barbados.

“Life is good. As long as you nah feel nuh pain, yuh feel yuh hand, yuh toes and yuh hand. Yuh give thanks ’cause life is good,” he smiled shyly.

Since his July 28 release last year in Jamaica from Town Street Adult Correctional Centre, Kingston’s maximum security penal institution, where he spent seven years on rape, robbery and gun possession charges, he has been adjusting to his new life.

“I’ve been busier than busy . . . everything going good so far. All of my shows dem work out nice, sold off and ting,” he beamed.

From globetrotting, to studio recordings, social networking websites and performing to jampacked stage-shows in his own island, Jah Cure is cultivating the career he said he carefully sowed and nurtured while in prison. From there he maintained an aural rapport with fans, with hits such as Long For, True Reflections and Love Is.

During the time he spent on the inside, Jah Cure invested heavily in his career.

“When I was locked up I decide not to just sit down and waste time. Me and the other inmates tried to perfect-up. Whatever they do best, we had all the time . . . . I said to myself I could do some good with all this time. So, I just use the time to ‘perfect-up’ my sound and keep my music up and going, so when I’m out it won’t be hard.

“I sing about three albums and that is a lot of song. Three albums can speak for me.”

Those albums – Free Jah Cure (2000), Ghetto Life (2003) and Freedom Blues (2005) – were released while in prison. They totalled 44 tracks of which saw collaboration with the likes of Sizzla, Morgan Heritage, Beres Hammond, Jah Mason and Phillip Fattis Burrell, arguably some heavyweights in the industry.

And today, Jah Cure is keeping positive about his future. He told the SUNDAY SUN he was able to transform his experience into an uplifting and enriching one.

“I’ve been doing that before I was out and for the rest of my life that is what I’ll be doing. And if any other negative comes I’ll just use the positive and turn it around. Take the negative and get positive. That’s what I do and it works for me. This is the free world.”

His fourth album, True Reflections – A New Beginning, is also testimony of this.

Mikey Bennett, director of Grafton Studio in Kingston, where the album was recorded, spoke highly of the quality of Jah Cure’s music, stating that even though recording under the prison situation was not ideal, his appeal was indistinguishable.

“He have something real special in his voice, still,” he said during a telephone interview.

Local reggae and groovy soca artist Geoffrey Biggie Irie Cordle agreed.

“He is a great singer. Some people say he can’t perform. I don’t agree, he doesn’t have to jump and dance around the stage. He just lets his voice work for him,” he said, speaking from Jamaica where he was scheduled to perform at that island’s carnival.

Responding to queries on lessons he learnt while in jail, he was unequivocally clear on his long-standing, spiritual integrity.

“There wasn’t much to learn. I was always conscious,” he said.

Unlike in previous interviews he didn’t promote any notion of innocence. Instead, he chose silence on the issue, suggesting only he had already “paid his pound of flesh”.

“That’s too much pain for me. I’ve come out of it and I’m in the free world. I can’t take up so much pain in my life. I don’t intend to carry that cross all my life. I gotta leave it somewhere,” he said

Jah Cure is slated to perform in Barbados at the upcoming Reggae On The Hill concert taking place at the Farley Hill National Park.

1 comment Sunday, 30 March 2008, 2:36 pm

Racism at Hotels in Barbados

BFPE thanks Bob Verdun (who is ironically a white Canadian) for his article below on the racism which is so often practiced at our hotels in Barbados. Barbados is a funny place, because the same sentiments if expressed by a black Barbadian might not have gotten the same public reception. Too often in this country we quietly dismiss the voices of the loyal sons and daughters of this island because they are too “local”.

Bob Verdun is to be commended… his writings over time have proven that he has Barbados’ interest at heart. On the other extreme, we have other white foreigners such as a lowlife scum and fraud who suddenly, a few days before the January election, pretended to be championing the cause of the Southern Farmers at Gibbons in their fight against Shell. Having beguiled those black Bajan farmers as props in his cheap election publicity gimmick, he has just as suddenly abandoned them and is now busy enjoying his share of the fatted calf. The unfortunate thing is, at no stage would such “grimy black folk” ever be welcome past the gates of his south coast hotel, and that is exactly the racism in our hotels which Bob Verdun is fighting against.

BFPE.

http://www.nationnews.com/editorial/328442168355334.php 

THE HUMAN RACE: Racism in our hotels

by BOB VERDUN

HOTEL: noun (derived from Old French: hostel): a house that provides lodging, and usually meals, entertainment, and personal services for the public; synonym: inn

Note that key phrase: “for the public”. A legitimate hotel is readily accessible to everyone.

I’ve travelled the world, and entered freely into virtually any property that proclaims itself to be a hotel. The lobbies of many of the world’s finest hotels are such public places that it is easy to conduct informal business in them without even being an overnight guest or a customer of the bars or restaurants.

In Barbados, most hotels are reached by driving, and many of them have gates and guards to control access to the parking areas.

I have never had a problem driving into any of the walled and gated resorts on this island. Indeed, at one large hotel where I dine periodically, the guard starts opening the massive gate as soon as I turn off the main road.

So what’s the problem? My easy access happens only because I am white.

Black leader snubbed

A very important public official told me recently that she was refused permission to drive inside a walled and gated hotel property. She had been inside previously to attend events at the hotel’s restaurant – but this time she simply wanted to look at the architecture of the villas, as personal research for her own new home.

The guard flatly refused to allow her in – even though she’s an elegant lady driving a stylish car with a green licence plate.

As a matter of principle, she declined to identify herself – because the real issue is accessibility for all Bajans, not only VIPs.

One of our new Cabinet ministers had a similar experience. He was showing off this blessed island to two visitors, and they wanted to stop at a well known West Coast hostelry for a drink at the bar.

Flatly refused

He drove up to the gate, explained his intentions, and was flatly refused the right to enter a place that provides “services for the public”.

Almost every black Bajan has similar stories to tell. Racial discrimination is rampant at many of the hotels in Barbados.

If challenged, the managements deny they intentionally keep black people out. They say they are simply maintaining a high level of security for their guests.

That is utter nonsense. Walls and gates keep out only the honest people. There isn’t a wall on this island that could not be scaled or circumvented by a criminal.

Blocked from beaches

I attended a recent public meeting on sustainable tourism. I heard many passionate complaints about the manner in which West Coast hotels are restricting or even closing traditional access points to the beaches.

I also heard about many cases where boulders and other barriers have been erected to make it impossible to enjoy continuous walks along the beaches.

The message is very clear: many hotel owners don’t want black people close to their white guests.

A dangerous policy

This is a very dangerous policy, because it undermines the social peace that is this island’s best asset as it competes with other tropical vacation destinations. I am not alone in choosing Barbados as my place in the sun precisely because the majority population is well educated, sophisticated, and friendly.

How long will that friendliness last when the degree of welcome a person receives at a hotel is directly related to skin colour?

Racial discrimination and foreign control of too much beach access are serious problems in Barbados – but there are practical solutions that are easy to implement.

I will go into detail on some of these solutions at another time.

Bob Verdun is a hotel and land development consultant: bobverdun@rogers.com.

1 comment Sunday, 30 March 2008, 10:59 am

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