This forum is truly a wonderful idea, I hope people will use it enough so that it can make a difference in Paradise.
My issue is this; 4 Sundays ago, the re-paving of Shirley St. was in full swing. An ideal time (next to 3 am) because this is when there is the least amount of traffic. Needless to say, I was pleased. Had we finally adopted a productive mentality? My joy was short-lived however when I tried to get to work on Monday morning. Traffic was unusually heavy on Shirley st. Impossible, we just have a fresh no-pot-hole paved st. what could be wrong? The problem soon became visible. Apparently, when the contractors paved the rd. they paved over ALL THE MANHOLES- and there was now a crew with PICK-AXES digging up the fresh asphalt:hot: so traffic - in the middle of rush hour monday morning was reduced to 1 lane!!.
OK, that bothered me but the icing on the cake came later that week (Friday) when the same company was busy paving the rd. beside the 17 shop on collins avenue - during lunch hr. no less - and decided to drive the paving machine north along collins avenue. It took me 35 minutes to drive from rosetta St. to Atlantic house. So much for PRODUCTIVITY!!!!!
I was so :hot: that I called the Ministry of Works to find out why this sort of thing was not scheduled for off-peak hours. They quite politely put me through to the ministers office (Mr. Bradley Roberts) Of course I only got as far as his secretary who quite politely informed that the Minister was on vacation in Europe; but she would relay the message. This realy got me :hot::hot: . Why should I have to wait 1 yr at my pathetic job b4 I am eligeable for vacation and Mr. Minister - who has the important job of running this country- get to be on vacation after just 8 weeks in office? ARGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!...Thanks for your time

I am very sorry to hear that Sparkle.
Are the road works still going on in that area?

I only have one fair observation to make about “sparkle’s’ post!

Sparkle said

“Mr. Minister - who has the important job of running this country- get to be on vacation after just 8 weeks in office”

Why? The answer is simple Sparkle!

The minister applied for vacation before he was reelected back to parliament and coincidently his party won the government’s majority.

If you would like to confirm this make a call to the Department of Public Personnel.

Please know the facts ! ! !

bahres, While I appreciate your comment it is YOU who needs to "Know the Facts". the post of Minister is an appointed one. It has nothing to do with your being an MP - (Anyone can be appointed a Minister). So there is no way Mr. Roberts could have applied for vacation time from his job BEFORE he was ever appointed to the post of Minister. This slackness in Government Positions has to be addressed. The former Government was full of slackness so we asked for a "Fresh Wind" and here we go again with the same Bull as before!!! We are the ones paying these people their salaries, we need to DEMAND that they perform. Thank

**PS - I was travelling on Cumberland Street last night and it was a pleasure to see Batelco (I think) doing their 'digging up' at night. Great Job!! Now if only the road works crew would learn from this example......the saga continues

"sparkle"

I don’t know if you read my post;

If you would like to confirm what I said please make a call to the Department of Public Personnel.

Because he applied for vacation as a civil servant thus if he is a MP or Minister it still applies ! !

There is one category that Mr. Roberts does not fall under and that’s a (slacker)

Please call the Department of Public Personnel they will explain how it works to you because you obviously don’t understand.

P.S - You said "Batelco (I think)" if your not sure please don’t post what you don’t know! Like I said know the facts before you post.

OK OK - First of all, I did not call Mr. Roberts slacker, I think that he is an excellent MP. It was a general statement & I apologise if it came across as such.

The point I was trying to get across was that Mr. Roberts now has two jobs (1 as minister & 1 as MP) - OK he got approved for vacation as a civil servant, but then he got appointed an additional job. It is unfortunate that he chose to take his vacation so early in his new post when so much work was here to do. When I go on vacation from my job, I have to make sure that everything on my desk is in order. I am sure everything was in order in his constituency, but obviously it was not in order in his ministry. Am I to assume that you are happy sitting in traffic because of some road work that could have been done during the night being done during the day?

P.S. - Batelco, BEC, Water and Sewerage, Ministry of Works....It really doesn't matter which Public Service Company was digging up the road last night. The point is; whoever was doing it had the right idea about productivity, and everybody (all ministries & the private sector included)could use this as an example.

....and still we continue

I cannot let this misinformation go any further. MPs are not civil servants. They do not apply to anyone for vacation. If you want to defend Bradley Roberts, do it honestly and with knowledge = accurate knowledge.

MPs go on vacation when they feel like it. The Department of Public Personnel has nothing to do with them going or coming. If an MP goes on vacation for six months, he still gets paid. We had some who did go on leave for extended periods. They still got paid.

If you are going to moderate this forum you need to speak with knowledge.

Bradley Roberts did have his vacation planned for a long time before he was elected. I feel he should have his vacation. As a matter of fact I do not care if he stays on vacation as long as he gets the job done.

The poster talks about productivity but that has nothing to do with vacation. We need to watch the work and stop watching the worker. Many organized people spend a lot of time at recreation but get more done than those people who spend long hours on the job doing and achieving nothing.

We need to speak with knowledge and honesty. If you want the facts on the matter, call Bradley Roberts directly. There are several things I can assure you of

1. He will answer or return your call.
2. He will give it to you straight. He will not bull**** you.
3. If you have ideas on how to improve things, he will listen with an open mind and he will use your ideas.

I believe Bradley Roberts has the nation's best interests at heart. But we must not deify Bradley Roberts or any other politician. They are human. They have human frailties. They need help.

Poster, keep focused on your point. It is a good one. Whenever works are being planned some consideration should be given to the impact on our gross domestic product. How many people will the work make idle or delay for how long? We must remember that the way the world works is that to improve things we often have to take a step backward.

i havent taken a vacation in 7 years!@

Its now 2007, nuttin changed.

Its now 2007, nuttin changed.

You expected it to?

No, not really, I just wanted to the weepers and the nashers of teethers to know that what their are complaining is not nothing new.

Check out the rich folks in our Bahamas. While the po, hard, working class complaining, they getting contracts upon contracts.

Fnm lawyers and accountants are lining up for what they couldn't get in the last 5 years. PLP lawyers and accountants crying cos they didn't think it would end so quickly. Lesson learnt. Srike that iron while it is hot.

Same shat, different day.