Please get information on how Mississauga Ontario Canada a progressive fast growing city under the leadership of Mayor (Hurricane Hazel)accomplished it. Fees should be based on value and size of development so that qualified persons can be hired , simple plans can be approved in 30 days. Give all relevant departments, MTW, Drainage, Fire, Environmental  2 weeks to comment in writing. The applicant should have access to written comments which should be negotiable not obstructionist.

The aim of every department should be to facilitate , help, advise the applicants who are not skilled but just ordinary citizens. Requirements should be specified and not subject to the individual sometimes biased opinions of the person or persons responsible for the approvals. Foreign Exchange Earning, Tourism related, Developments beneficial to Barbados like Solar, Green Houses, Wind Power should have priority.  I have been told the following over the years that my already presold foreign exchange earning projects have the same priority as an outhouse, if I wanted the work done more efficiently have the then Prime Minister come down to do the work himself.

That I was a Gerrymanderer because I wanted a 4 th floor so that the foreign Purchasers could see the sea. The quickest way to employ people of all qualifications is Construction. The only way to sustain our standard of living is to build 5000 more tourist rooms . Hotels are not what people want today , they. Are the most difficult type of Real Estate to get Bank Financing anywhere in the world as they can be 100 percent full or 100 percent empty with the same fixed operating costs. In 2008,9,and 10 70 percent of the hotels in Barbados were in the non performing loan category and could not make their monthly loan payments. The best performing category was Condominiums owned by foreign owners and Villas as they have to keep sending in Foreign Exchange to pay staff, upkeep , Management fees, repairs .

The hotels went into disrepair as no quest means no income. The Barbados Tourism Act which forbids the sale of the rooms ,suites, or condo apartments to qualify for concessions is backward , and says that the units have to be in a rental pool for 9 months restricts development, cannot be purchased by the Silver Generation, (Baby Boomers) who want to spend 5 to 6 months here every winter as the agreement only allows personal usage of 1 month in the winter and 2 months in the summer. We keep saying we want Foreign long stay Visitors but we have so many road blocks. I am awaiting Town Planning Approval of a 33 all suite long stay Condominium  Development Phase 3 of Summerland Villas.

If I take the already approved Concessions even  I as owner cannot even reside in my own building as I split my time between Toronto and Barbados. The act as written does not promote the type of accommodation the country needs to attract the largest holders of the Worlds Wealth after the famous 1 percent. We should be encouraging the Worlds Aging Population to make Barbados their home all Winter not just a week in a hotel.

Submitted by J. Steinbok