Death of an Illusion

During the economic disaster inflicted upon Barbados in the early 1990s by the then Sandiford led mal-administration with Thompson as Minister of Finance, Barbados became the laughing-stock of the region. Some countries mocked our currency and our foreign reserves were in deficit. We literally had no money to pay for the food we imported. We were facing a real case of political and economic bankruptcy.   

 

Thanks to former Prime Minister Owen S. Arthur and his competent team of social and political engineers, a great cloud of hope descended upon our nation in the general elections of 1994. It was an election that signaled the rebirth of our confidence in the ideals of our people and the independence of our nation. It was the victory of 1994 that afforded us the opportunity to recommit to the realization of our dreams and aspirations and strengthened our resolve to place Barbados among the nations of the first world.

 

Barbadians set their hands to the plough and their will to the task, sufficiently so, that this nation’s accomplishments between 1994 and 2007, in spite of its size and limited resources, became the envy and the approval of many. History will endorse our commendations.

 

Former Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan in his praises of the high quality of leadership provided by Barbados both regionally and internationally and the enviable standard of life in Barbados said words to the effect that Barbados was a country punching above its weight class.

 

It must therefore be painful and disappointing for Barbadians to see the current declining social and economic situation in their country today.  Every way you turn, Barbadians are expressing concerns about the economic future of the country and the fear of reliving the depressing years of the early 1990s. As if that is not bad enough, we are now facing the revolting spectacle of having this country’s competency to carry out its commitments within Caricom scoffed at by some of the region’s most noted academics.

 

The illusion created in the last General Election that Thompson was the answer to the challenges facing our country has now died a painful death.

 

The Stabroek News website carried an article published on January 21, 2009 entitled “More Caricom rumblings” in which for the first time in 14 years, Barbados’ leadership and competence to lead CSME is being seriously questioned. Clearly, the capacity of former Prime Minister Arthur in pursuing the work of CSME whilst building and expanding Barbados’ economy seem to have escaped Prime Minister Thompson. Barbados desperately needs CSME at this time if it is to escape the full impact of the global recession.

 

 

 

 

 

Dr Tennyson Joseph of the Cave Hill Campus dealt a serious body blow to David Thompson led administration when he said, “the enthusiasm and diligence in pursuing the implementation of the CSME which was apparent in former Prime Minister Owen Arthur’s handling of this matter, is not being seen in the new holder of the post, Prime Minister David Thompson”. Dr Joseph advances his argument even further and delivers what can only be described as the politically fatal knockout punch to Prime Minister Thompson when he said, “this suggest that an automaticity in the allocation of these post should not be the rule when one prime minister of a country loses an election and is followed by another. Both interest in the subject matter, and a certain competence in dealing with it, should be the criteria for selection”. 

 

Dr Joseph has now discovered what so many academics in the region are now discovering about David Thompson and what thousands of Barbadians who voted for the DLP in last general election are now regretting. They have now stumbled upon what every Barbados Labour Party member already knew.

 

“Nothing is more sad than the death of an illusion”. Arthur Koestler

 

   

 

 

2009

Remember that there is nothing stable in human affairs; therefore avoid undue elation in prosperity, or undue depression in adversity. – Socrates

SOCRATES COULD WELL have been describing the conservatism of Barbadians of a bygone era when he proffered this piece of advice to his fellow Greeks some 450 years before the birth of Christ.

It is a conservatism, particularly in financial matters, that we may be forced to resurrect in the months ahead. There is no easy way of saying that 2009 is going to be tough. It certainly gives us no joy in reminding Barbadians that we warned of these tough times exactly a year ago.

The fact that our current Prime Minister either knew better, or ought to have known better then, but failed to warn Barbadians in favour of winning an election, gives us even less pleasure. His mantra then was: “We can do it better.” Twelve months on, and he really has done very little to protect us from, or prepare us for, an economic maelstrom equalled only by the Great Depression.

There is a false sense of security emanating from Bay Street. It is true that we have not had the failure of large financial institutions. It is true that securing credit is not the problem that it is in North America. It is also true that joblessness is not yet endemic. But the spin-offs, like a rising tide, are slowly but surely coming to our shores. Our question is, what is the Prime Minister waiting for? A tsunami?

Already we are seeing a decline in visitors and a reduction in their spending power. We know that several large construction projects have been put on hold indefinitely. These things will translate into job losses for Barbadians. Job losses mean a reduction in spending power and a dampening in local demand for products and services, which in turn leads to more job losses. Lo and behold, the Government is sitting on its hands with an economic hurricane approaching.

Predictably, the talking and touring has started afresh with the reshuffling of the Cabinet. If we could count the man-hours expended by this Government on photo opportunities, Press conferences and headlines, they might be enough to justify a political advisor’s salary. Unhappily, form above substance is the stock-in-trade of the political advisors of this world.

If only the Prime Minster would use the power at his disposal to act. If only he would tell us how he intends to manage, in his words, the “changing circumstances of our times” – an understatement if ever there was one. As a country we need to go into 2009 with some confidence and assurance that the Government is doing all in its power to minimise the economic fallout.

We know that with the right mix of fiscal and developmental policies, there is much the Government can do to protect Bajan jobs, sustain local demand for products and services, protect our balance of payments and shore up our foreign reserves.

The Prime Minister must start by taking the nation into his confidence. He must engage Barbadians on the perils and opportunities that lie ahead and how every man and woman can contribute to weathering the storm. Surely this is not too much to ask of a man who preached the virtues of transparency and accountability just 12 months ago.

For our part, the Barbados Labour Party is willing to support any credible plan that safeguards the progress we have made as a country and protects the most vulnerable among us.

In extending heartfelt best wishes to all Barbadians for 2009, we urge you to be aware of what is happening in the world and its impact on our country. Preparedness and unity – as families, friends and neighbours, workers and employers and, indeed, Government and Opposition – are what will see us through. One love!

Proud Housing Record

LAST SUNDAY, Owen Arthur reminded Barbadians that the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) has a rich housing legacy. He was equally emphatic in his claim that what was now happening in the Ministry of Housing was started under the BLP. He is 100 per cent right on both counts.

No political party has done more to empower Barbadians through property ownership than the Barbados Labour Party. Arguably the greatest piece of social legislation brought before our Parliament since the Emancipation Act, the Tenantries Freehold Purchase Act 1980 remains one of Tom Adams’ most visionary social policies.

This was no evolution. It was a revolution in property ownership in Barbados. The free descendants of thousands of enslaved men and women were able to own the land on which their families lived, in some cases since slavery itself.

There was no bloodshed, no social dislocation, only empowerment. It led to an unprecedented wave of home construction and home improvement all across the country. This in turn led a subsequent Owen Arthur administration to provide subsidies for urban tenantries and to provide massive improvements in services and infrastructure surrounding the tenantries.

Together these two events have changed forever both the landscape and the quality of life for thousands of Barbadians.

With the construction of the first multi-storey dwelling at London Bourne Towers in Bridgetown the BLP continued to bring innovation to the solution of housing Barbadians. We brought the private sector on board to provide low-cost housing. We enabled Barbadians living in Government terrace units to own their units by heavily subsidising the sale prices. We identified over 1 000 lots for sale in a joint venture programme with the private sector to build low and middle-income housing.

More importantly, sound economic management, coupled with the introduction of 100 per cent mortgages by the Barbados Mortgage Finance Company and a competitive commercial banking sector, saw the investment in home ownership soar from $591 million in long-term residential mortgages in 1994, to over $2 billion at the end of 2007.

Very little of what the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) promised in its manifesto in relation to housing has been implemented. We are yet to see the removal of VAT from building materials on houses valued below $400 000 – promised in the first 100 days. Where is the $40 million for interest-free loans to first-time homeowners in the public sector? Where are the 2 000 homes promised in the first year of the DLP Government? How many first-time homeowners have been able to buy any of the 500 lots at $5 a square foot promised in the first five months?

When will the Prime Minister increase the tax deduction for mortgages to the promised $20 000 per year?

Were it not for the programmes left in place by the Barbados Labour Party, the Minister of Housing would be an abysmal failure. It is the BLP that acquired the lands at Coverley, Marchfield, Constant and French Village to which the minister flits from one to the other like Superman to the rescue.

It is stranger than fiction that in April of last year, on a tour of Bulkeley Meadows with his colleage Esther Byer-Suckoo, Minister Lashley said how pleased he was with the progress of the project, but by year-end he was advising homeowners to sever all ties with the contractor and seeking to imply some sort of blame on the BLP Government. Surely whatever may have gone wrong between April and December was on the minister’s watch, and he must now step up to the plate in the interest of the homeowners who are experiencing difficulties.