Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today.
Whenever I read about the Harrison’s Cave being contracted to be managed by a Jamaican tour company, it brings pain to my heart and at the same time, inflicts wounds to my mental faculties.
Why?
1) It is highly likely that the policy and decision makers were not faced with Hobson’s choice, but were possessed with other choices that would be in the better interest of Barbadian taxpayers, investors and workers.
2) The powers-that-be saw it fit to dispense with local management after the 2019 report of the Auditor General contained a statement to the effect:
“The auditors however did not offer an opinion on the statements as adjustments to balances totaling $1.594 million could not be confirmed or verified as accurate.”
3) There were other courses of action that could have been taken other than to contract out the management of the Cave to foreign investors, thankfully not Chinese, Mexicans or any others waiting in the wings to manage our ports of entry.
As per the AG’s 2019 report, Cave of Barbados was ripe for an investigation of sorts and no less than a forensic audit with necessary follow-up action by the relevant authorities. Within a three-year period (2006-2009), the Cave was a beneficiary of approximately $61.4 million dollars, yet continued to fall below the type of earnings to keep going as the island’s premier tourist attraction.
So yes, there was a need for a change of management, but with so many Barbadians out of work owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, why not a Barbadian company?
To my mind, the powers-that-be have taken severe and extreme curative measures to address the maladies that plagued that State Enterprise.
Apparently, after placing a strip of band-aid to heal the wound, the next step was to perform surgery in the form of an amputation.
With no improvement after the band-aid of additional funding, the government of the day should have prescribed a course of medication in the form of the much talked-about public-private-partnership.
This surgical cut has removed a number of families from a standard of living they once knew, in contrast to a new way of life for non-nationals aided and comforted by arrangements of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, now further buttressed by an officially declared position for the importation of thousands of migrant workers.
It seems as though “the die has been cast” and we have crossed the Rubicon. Nevertheless, it would do well for the promised transparency and openness to come forth and allow light to be shed on the following:
Was there a tendering process for the management services of the Cave?
Did any Barbadian companies submit a tender?
What is the nature of the contract with the Jamaican company?
For what period of time is the length of the contract?
To whom will the management of the Cave report?
In the new management of the Cave, who will represent the interests of Barbados and Barbadians?
Will there be training programs in order for Barbadians to resume future management of the Cave?
Co-incidentally, Dr Axel Kravatsky and Dr Chris Pierce co-authored an article recently published in the Barbados Business Authority and emphasized the point that “International corporate governance standards recommend high levels of disclosure and transparency.”
Michael Ray
