WHO ARE THE SHAREHOLDERS OF THE BARBADOS ELECTRIC UTILITY WHO RECEIVED $25m IN DIVIDENDS, WHEN NEW EQUIPMENT WAS NEVER PURCHASED ?

Shareholders' Lists

176. (1) Upon payment of a reasonable fee and sending to a public company or its transfer agent the affidavit referred to in subsection(4), any person may upon application require the company or its transfer agent to furnish him, within 15 days from the receipt of the affidavit, a list of shareholders of the company, in this section referred to as the "basic list", made up to a date not more than 30 days before the date of receipt of the affidavit, which must set out

1. (a)  the names of the shareholders of the company,

2. (b)  the number of shares held by each shareholder, and

3. (c)  the address of each shareholder as shown on the records of the company.

                                     ( The Companies Act Cap. 308 §176)

Readers who saw our recent article Read Letter Detailing Misconduct at Barbados Light and Power, learnt that the shareholders of BLP reportedly received distributions of dividends of $25m, alleged to be a sum higher than the net profits of the utility, which exists solely to serve the Bajan public. Whilst dividends, based upon profits, are expected, this extraordinary, and even obscene amount, was paid notwithstanding that BLP has reneged on its repeated promises to purchase new generation equipment with its revenue, which runs into the millions of dollars.

BLP is reportedly owned by a Canadian company, EMERA, through its subsidiary, EMERA (Caribbean) INCORPORATED, registered in Barbados.There are a number of directors listed, and will be discussing them in a future article. Did they breach their fiduciary responsibilities to the public ? We cannot say, but we will be looking into the issue. 

The question arises, who are these shareholders who received dividend payments, in the face of the BLP failure to upgrade to new, and more efficient, generating equipment ? Above you will see the relevant section of the Companies Act of Barbados, which requires that current records must be kept of shareholders, and made available to the public. We call upon the people of Barbados to go to the Registered Office of Emera Caribbean, and demand a copy of the shareholders' list, as required by law.

Whether the shareholders can be required to disgorge those dividends back to the company, so that needed generating equipment can be purchased, is a question for courts to decide, and given that the courts in Barbados are known to be corrupt, it is humbly suggested that the courts of Canada be employed for that purpose. this is just one more instance of the People Against the Corrupters.