We have been amused in recent weeks at the amount of time spent by the Government’s Principal Political Advisor, Hartley Henry on Barbados Labour Party affairs.

He has morphed into the proverbial Meddlesome Mattie that our grandmothers warned us about. Latter day calypso enthusiasts would know him as Sousie.

What is his plan to appease the hundreds of Barbadians who are being hurt daily by his boss’ new immigration policy?

Have his ‘politics of distraction’ suffered an unexpected and nasty backfire both at home and abroad?

With our small country and vulnerable economy, made all the more so by his boss’ absence and absent policies, facing the most difficult time since Independence we thought he would have his own business to mind.

Why is he not crafting explanations for the Government’s failure to bring relief from the high cost of living? He spent several weeks boring the public with tales of his overseas shopping excursions in a lame attempt to justify the rise in prices everywhere.

What will you do now, Mr. Political Advisor, that your strategy of distracting attention from the real issues has been exposed?

What new ways will you devise to sugar coat the truth – that your government is failing and failing spectacularly?
More>>

What could be so sinister about a request to lay in Parliament the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Barbados and Clico Holdings Barbados that could provoke the ire of the Prime Minister?

What could be so “secret” about this Agreement between the people’s representatives and Clico that would cause the Prime Minister not to want to disclose it?

What are the Terms of Reference of the Oversight Committee established by the Government of Barbados to oversee the sale of the assets of the subsidiaries of Clico Holdings and their expenditure?

Where do the duties of Clico’s Directors begin and end?

Where do the duties of the Oversight Committee begin and end?

Will this Government appointed committee expose the Government to any further liability for decisions taken?

Have any sales of any of the assets taken place as yet? What were the assets of Clico that have been pledged to the Statutory Fund? Is it intended to sell any of them?

More>>

What is it about the Democratic Labour Party and the ABC Highway?

They were against it from the start.

The decision to abandon the overpass bridges or flyovers means that the traffic conflicts at peak hours between motorists on the highway and those intersecting the highway at the roundabouts, is still frustratingly present.

More>>

The Young Socialists feel strongly that the Barbados Labour Party has every right to be extremely concerned that people who have been working for years, for free as camp Directors - have been discarded and taken off the list, in order to accommodate DLP canvassers and supporters, who will now be paid.

It is unfortunate that the Barbados Youth Development Council (BYDC) does not want to understand the simple point that Miss Forde made. Camps Yes! Pork barrel politics and party tribalism, No!

We too are appalled that there will be no support for churches and other private organizations who have been and are still running summer camps and even more disappointed that unlike previous years, there will be no camp for Persons with Disabilities.

It is regrettable that the BYDC sees nothing wrong with the DLP’s plan to spend $4.1 million over six weeks on persons who have been specially chosen at the expense of Barbadians, who have over the years, proven themselves by giving freely of their services. Miss Forde's simple point is that why discard persons who have training or experience and who have worked for free.

But how could you have a fair system if DLP politicians were asked to hand-pick persons to operate as Camp Directors?

It is our fundamental belief that what the DLP purports to do with the camp programme - is not “change” nor “good government,” but trademark “old-style DLP pork barrel politics,” of using State resources for partisan purposes.

This is wrong!

We feel that having promised “good governance” and having described DLP politicians as: “squeaky clean,” the Prime Minister has a responsibility to all Barbadians to make sure that this happens and that our tax dollars are hereafter spent in a prudent manner.

It saddens us greatly that the BYDC does not share these values, which the majority of Barbadians hold dear.
More>>