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This maxim sprang to mind when this writer's intelligence was assaulted by the puerile arguments being presented by DLP spokesmen and scribes suggesting that after three terms, the Owen Arthur administration should be booted out of office.

The argument is being presented even though there are precedents in the region -Jamaica for example-where ruling parties have benefited from four terms in office. Even as far afield as Australia, the John Howard administration was able to retain the confidence of the electorate on four occasions until it suffered a crushing defeat earlier this month.

Americans are wont to say that if a thing is not broken you do not change it. Over the past 13 years Prime Minister Owen Arthur and his talented team of ministers have introduced innovative programmes which have propelled the country into the category of the number one developing in the world. The question must be asked:"Do you change an administration that made this a reality for a party which brought the country to its knees in 1994 when unemployment rose to the unprecedented level of 22 per cent?"

Barbadians will recall that under the the leadership of Arthur the ship of state was steadied, and economic prosperity restored. When he assumed office in 1994, the country's foreign reserves were negligible; the salaries of the island's 28 000 civil servants were slashed by 8 per cent; the level of unemployment had risen to 22 per cent ; 3000 government workers were severed; many Barbadians lost their homes and several Caribbean countries were refusing to take our currency.

Today, however, there has been a dramatic turn-around in the country's fortunes. Foreign reserves have now reached the record level of $2 billion; unemployment has dropped to a new low of 7 per cent; the 8 per cent salary cut has been restored and there has been a return of investor confidence in the country's economy. One only has to take a drive along the West and South coasts to witness the evidence of the return of investor confidence.

The Owen Arthur administration has also sought to enhance the quality of the vulnerable members of the society with the establishment of the Urban Development Commission and the Rural Development Commission.

Addressing a recent nomination meeting, Deputy Prime Minister, Mia Mottley ,told her audience that 3000 persons living in urban tenantries will soon have the titles to their lots transferred at a cost of $2.50 per sq. ft. In addition, she disclosed that that over 1000 poor people's homes have been repaired or built under this administration.

According to Mottley, government had commited itself to the removal of pit toilets from the landscape by the year 2017. The Minister of Economic Affairs pointed out that under progressive tax reform, workers earning $25 000 per annum have been removed from the income tax roll.

Small businessmen have also been given a new lease on life through the UDC, the RDC and the Enterprise Growth Fund Ltd. Recognising the critical role venture capital funding plays in the development of of small and medium -sized businesses, government established the Enterprise Growth Fund Ltd with a mandate to provide funding with a ceiling of $1.5 million. Farmers, barbers and hair stylists can now access funds for their projcts from the UDC and the RDC.

Common sense dictates that people change a government when they recognise that it has lost direction or its relevance. You change an appliance if it is broken or not working well.This cannot be said about the current administration.

The current pleas being made by the DLP for a change of government are born out of fear of extinction. Over the past 13 years Arthur has skillfully made the BLP the party of first choice for most Barbadians, a status once held by the DLP under the Right Excellent Errol Barrow.

An insightful political observer once said that the party which rules the streets, rules the country. BLP members and supporters now rule the streets of Barbados armed with the proud record of achievements under Arthur.
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