Clear and Present Danger

THE DECK CHAIRS have been rearranged, and we join the country, in the words of the Prime Minister’s political advisor Hartley Henry, in “commiserating with the Prime Minister for his inability to find the tools to do the job”. The fact that 67 per cent of the respondents in the NATION poll are in favour of the changes and the extent of the changes themselves bear testimony to our own observations that ten months into the job much of the Thompson Cabinet is still at sea and struggling to perform.

Indeed, if the present crop of ministers were paid on performance, most of them would be in the minus column. It is just as well that there is no formal probation period for the job. Lest you think this is a partisan view, it is an observation being made all across the country. Barbadians are now thoroughly disgusted with the blame game masquerading for Government business in Parliament on the sporadic occasions that the House meets. No matter how many coats of gloss are applied by the Government’s chief apologist, Peter Wickham, the people are wondering, to put it charitably, when the Government is going to get on with the job they elected them to do.

One victim of the Lowe-inspired reshuffle has made it clear that he intends to get done by January what was not done in ten months – specifically the Constituency Councils. Herein lies the problem.

No legislation governing the role or operations of the councils has been brought to Parliament, despite the fact that money has been voted for them. The new Minister of Constituency Empowerment, Chris Sinckler, when he is finished untangling the mess left by his predecessor at the Urban Commission, has a responsibility to ensure he acts within the four corners of the law by bringing down the legislation before he attempts to set up the six or more councils he promised within days of his new assignment.

The public is still concerned, and rightly so, about how they will be able to serve their communities. Will their peers elect them, or will the new minister handpick them? We have said before, and we reiterate once more, that in a country with such a proud record of adhering to the democratic process, we expect nothing less than our citizens being granted the right to elect those who will represent their interests.

There can be no double standards on this matter. There is a clear and present danger that the Government will use the councils as a tool to ensure its re-election, contrary to the best interest of the Barbadian public. Why else would the Prime Minister relocate his general secretary to this ministry?

And last but by no means least, we have heard the call from concerned citizens that to construct the councils on the basis of constituency delineations rather than by existing communities would be divisive and may well further polarise the country. They do not want a red and blue scenario in Barbados.

For the purpose of true community empowerment, it would be akin to the unnatural carving up of Africa by the colonial powers. Constituency boundaries, which serve a different purpose, cut across communities now. We can think of several such areas where two and sometimes three Members of Parliament serve what is essentially one community.

Councils based on community and not constituency empowerment will have the benefit of de-politicising large areas of urban Barbados in particular, which can only redound to the benefit of the country as we move into this new millennium with greater maturity.

So how about it, Mr Minister? Will you do the right thing for the country?

Economic Leadership Needed for this New Government

OUR POLITICAL LEADER Mia Mottley lives by the maxim that confidence is a critical ingredient of sound leadership. Taking the nation into one’s confidence has the effect of creating confidence in the nation. The fact that more and more Barbadians from all walks of life are growing increasingly nervous about their prospects in 2009 and beyond is a sad reflection of the Prime Minister’s apparent indifference to taking the country into his confidence.

He had another opportunity to do so in Parliament on Tuesday when piloting a resolution to raise $1 billion in Treasury bills, tax reserve certificates and tax refund certificates. He has adopted the practice of giving a perfunctory introduction followed by a scurrilous political attack in his wind-up that ignores legitimate questions asked on behalf of the people of this country. His political advisor would do well to tell him that given the perilous financial climate approaching the country, he has a higher duty to take the people of our beloved nation into his confidence.

When asked by Miss Mottley on Tuesday to give the Government’s figures on revenue and expenditure and the balance of payments at the start of December, the unemployment figures for the third quarter, which are now a month overdue, and some idea as to when he will address the country to announce the Government’s economic stimulus package and what he expects of the country, the Prime Minister declined to answer, preferring instead to ask Miss Mottley to release his Government’s unemployment statistics.

He was less than stimulating in identifying the $60 million for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, $10 million for road repairs and the repair of fencing at schools across the island as a stimulus package, particularly when he has said repeatedly that he is awaiting the report of the Cox Committee before announcing the Government’s response to the economic crisis.

Meanwhile, tick, tock, time is flying and his silence is deafening. The United States is sinking deeper into recession, with the Federal Reserve lowering its benchmark interest rate to an unprecedented 0.25 per cent. The governor of the Central Bank has raised the alarm that unemployment is expected to rise, tourist arrivals could decline by as much as four per cent next year if the global recession is prolonged, and our foreign reserves could be under threat.

Mr Thompson’s tardiness is in stark contrast to the action taken by the prime ministers of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, who both announced stimulus packages over the last few weeks. It is anyone’s guess what our Prime Minister is waiting for. We don’t know because he does not talk to us about these matters. Perhaps we should move to Miami. He seems to like to talk there.

When will he reassure the hundreds of artisans who face an uncertain 2009 with the deepening freeze in construction? Or the scores of small and large electrical, plumbing and painting sub-contractors, the landscapers, lighting designers and interior decorators who service the construction industry?

When will he give some comfort to the thousands of hotel workers, who are watching with fear the retrenchment of their colleagues in Jamaica, The Bahamas and Antigua? Or to the hundreds of self-employed taxi-drivers, water-sports operators, hair braiders, beach vendors and operators of ancillary attractions who depend on the tourist industry to feed their families? These are not small matters. The watch-and-wait game is a tightening noose on the national neck. The dream of owning a piece of the rock will remain just that for the unemployed and the working poor. The demands on social services will strain the Treasury. Tick, tock! Tick, tock!

Independence Message

FELLOW BARBADIANS, as we celebrate our country’s Independence, we have many achievements of which we can be proud. We have witnessed tremendous growth and development as a nation that far exceeds our physical size and natural resources. We have been richly blessed in these first 42 years with leaders under whose stewardship the country has recorded rapid progress.

Our lives today are far different from the lives of those Barbadians who gathered on the Garrison on that rainy November night in 1966. This has not

happened by chance and could only have been achieved by the hard work and dedication of Barbadians both at home and abroad.

As we celebrate Independence, the economies of many of the major industrial nations are in recession with disastrous consequences for much of the rest of the world. Coming swiftly on the heels of the international food and fuel crises, in conjunction with the effects of global warming and climate change, it makes this a perilous time indeed in the life

of a small island state.

This is, surely, a time for reflection. We now find ourselves faced with the distinct possibility of economic and social decline. We are at a critical juncture in our development. In these early years of the 21st century, we are laying the foundation of our country for the next 50 years. The kinds of choices we make now will either undermine or enable our efforts to create a just and equitable society where each and every Barbadian can realise their full potential.

The time is now upon us to take the next step

to true independence. To move to the independence

of self – we must know who we are and we must

like what we see.

We must build on the opportunities provided by education, universal health care, social mobility and wealth creation to build a new society. A society where every individual has the self-confidence to believe that all things are possible.

A society which not only allows people to dream, but to fulfil their dreams. A society where we are constrained only by our imaginations, and not by our circumstances. A society where materialism is not the standard by which success is measured, but instead we are judged by how we care for and nurture the less fortunate and how we respect our natural environment. A society where generosity of spirit suppresses self-interest and meanness.

The realisation of this new Barbadian society calls for non-traditional thinking, embracing change and viewing transformation as something good and

not to be feared.

Our ancestors have led us to the mountain top. It is now time for a new generation to lead us towards the Promised Land. I am confident that as a people we have it within us to reach our destination. It will not be without sacrifice, innovation and hard work. These are the qualities that brought us to where we are today and on which we must continue to rely if we are to build this new society.

However, as we move towards this new independence, we must be ever vigilant that we do not surrender the gains of the past through apathy, ineptitude or narrow self-interest. We have already shown that full employment is within our grasp. Should we lose our economic independence, individually and collectively, we will jeopardise what ought to be our mission – the mission of the children

of Independence – that of real change.

I give you the pledge that your Opposition will not allow narrow political considerations to prevent us from offering solutions to the challenges we face, especially if it will ease the burden that some Barbadians have to carry.

It is my hope that every Barbadian, both at home and abroad, will make it his or her business to strive for this transformation towards a new and truly independent Barbados. The real change that we seek is the change within each of us.

Let it start today.

Happy Independence and may God continue to bless you and our great nation Barbados!