#BTColumn – A most dangerous secret

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today.

by Grenville Phillips II

Candidates for political office normally identify problems in the constituency and describe their capacity to address them. All candidates identified housing, roads, road repairs, transportation, drainage, and high unemployment as major problems in St George North.

These problems have persisted through repeated BLP and DLP administrations. If those administrations were serious about addressing them, they would have assembled the following team of professionals to quickly design and implement sustainable solutions.

1. A Structural Engineer to strengthen weak houses.

2.  A Highway Engineer to properly repair roads and address transportation issues.

3. An Environmental Engineer to improve drainage and sewerage problems.

4. A Land-use Planner to address residents living in ground water restricted areas.

5.   An Adjudicator to address home-owner disputes with building contractors.

6.  A Trainer to facilitate business start-ups.

7.  sAn Educator to finish secondary school graduates to become responsible adults.

8. Project Manager to make sure that all the projects are completed safely, timely, economically, and to a high quality.

A miracle

By some miraculous coincidence, I happen to be highly qualified in every one of these disciplines that St George North desperately needs at this time. Yet, whenever I mention my qualifications, I am accused of self-promotion, and they are not published.

Are all candidates not competing for the same privilege of serving the people of St George North? Don’t voters have a right to know the qualifications of all candidates to help them decide with whom to trust their concerns over the next 30 months? Does keeping my qualifications an unpublished secret not unfairly raise doubt about my capacity to implement our plans?

A right to know

Why are voters allowed to know all about Toni’s experience as a trade unionist, but are not allowed to know that I am a chartered structural engineer, chartered highway engineer, environmental engineer, project manager, planner, and chartered arbitrator?

Why are voters allowed to know about Ambrose’s qualifications as a banker and consultant, but are not allowed to know that I have earned: two Bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and civil engineering, two Masters degrees in environmental engineering and planning, and am currently pursuing a Doctorate in Structural Engineering?

Why are voters allowed to know all about David’s experience as a teacher and farmer, but are not allowed to know that I am a: musician, singer, composer, inventor, author, publisher, teacher, and the President of Walbrent College, which is a regional institution specialising in construction?

Why are voters allowed to know all about Floyd’s experience as a cricketer and coach in various countries, but are not allowed to know that I have worked in: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Panama, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos Islands, to improve the built environment for their residents?

Why are voters allowed to know of Alex’s 20 years in the US marine corps, but are not allowed to know that I have 30 years in the construction industry, am the 2014 winner of the National Innovation Competition, and received the Visionary award from the Barbados Coalition of Service Industries?

The wall of media silence about my qualifications has finally cracked.

For the first time since 2015 when I founded Solutions Barbados, I was able to mention some of them without them being edited out.

In response, those tasked with keeping this dangerous information secret are in full attack mode. But I cannot be intimidated, because I am not ashamed of my qualifications to represent the people of St George North.

Grenville Phillips II is a Chartered Structural Engineer, and the Solutions Barbados’ candidate for St George North. He can be reached at NextParty246@gmail.com.