BLP promises new payment system to tackle chronic delays to contractors

A Barbados Labour Party (BLP) administration would introduce a new payment mechanism to reduce the long-standing delays experienced by contractors and service providers awaiting money owed by the government, according to St James Central candidate Kerrie Symmonds.

Symmonds acknowledged a chronic problem for businesses at a political meeting in Welchman Hall, St Thomas, on Wednesday night.

He said: “You know the problem when you do business with government, you don’t get paid in a timely manner. Nine times out of ten, you’re waiting a month, two months, three months in order to get what is due to you.”

The BLP intends to introduce a system known as factoring, which would allow businesses to receive faster payment by assigning government‑owed debts to approved financial institutions, he said.

Using a hypothetical example, Symmonds explained that a business owed $50 000 by the government could face months of delays while still having to meet payroll and other expenses.

“You got staff that you got to pay,” he said. “You got inputs to your business that you must go and buy, but you can’t get on because the same government… it’s holding you back because the cash flow is not what it should be.”

Under the proposed system, financial institutions such as Fortress and Signia could pay businesses upfront, with the government settling the debt with the financial institution at a later date.

“So if it’s $50 000 that government owe you, they will pay you the money and you assign the debt to them for government to pay them when government get around to it,” Symmonds said.

He acknowledged that businesses may receive slightly less than the full amount in exchange for quicker access to funds, but argued that the trade‑off would help keep operations running.

“You might go take a little haircut… so the 50 might come down to 48 or 47. But it is better for you to have that money in your hand… to pay the staff that you must pay to keep your business going.”