Weekly Column

Well the 100 days have come and gone without so much as a whimper from the Democratic Labour Party Government. Prior to January 15th they had a lot to say and knew all the answers. Never before have we seen the shine come off the new ball quite so quickly.

Having bowled Bajans behind their backs with a well flighted fuel increase that left them scrambling and knocked the stuffing out of the productive sector, our Prime Minister hit the runway yet again to explain his financial policies to the Wall Street set.

It would be helpful if he would explain them to those of us who live here. Everybody knows where we came from, but very few Bajans seem to know where we are going, only that we are getting there very fast.

All through the election campaign Mr. Thompson said that the Cost of Living was too high and his party knew how to solve the problems. What a sick joke. The reality today is that fishermen and fish vendors are at war over the price of fish; the Minister of Agriculture is quarrelling with Sir Charles Williams for not planting more food while the Prime Minster grants Sir Charles another 80 acres of agricultural land for housing development at Lakes. PSV owners are begging to meet with the Minister of Transport. Fishermen are pleading for a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture who fobs them off with the lame excuse of having to discuss the problem at Cabinet. Sir Roy Trotman is calling for double digit wage increases. Dick Stoute of the Chamber of Commerce is warning about tough times ahead and Harry Husbands of the Barbados Employers Confederation is predicting retrenchment.

Barbados is beginning to look like it did in early 1991. Already Bajans are beginning to tire of the excuses thrown across the trail by the Dems that they did not know what they would find. In the words of Rihanna it is now time for the Prime Minister and his Cabinet to “Shut up and drive!” (while we can still afford it.)

It is still not too late for the dynamic duo in the Ministry of Finance to revisit their taxation policy on petroleum prices. They could still reduce the amount of VAT levied on diesel and gasoline to bring prices down and raise a bond for the debt incurred by BNOC instead of charging consumers more money to repay it. They still have that choice, but apparently they prefer to make Bajans pull in their belts to the point of suffocation. Where are we going?

We had really wanted to report on the 100-day promises made by the Dems in their Manifesto this week. Sadly, this column would be almost empty. Apart from a rash of letters handed out to NHC tenants in the full glare of the television cameras by the Minister of Housing there is nothing else to report. Of course a letter does not a title deed make, but we do hope the expectant tenants will be receiving their deeds sooner than the hundred days it took to get the letter.

What we will do instead is give a report card on their first 100 days in office:

• Execution of their promises - D.
• Inspiring confidence in the economy – D.
• Lowering the Cost of Living – E.
• Causing unnecessary suffering to Bajans – A-
• Liberal use of excuses for poor performance – A+.
• Guest appearances on television – A+.
• Overseas trips by the P.M. – A++
• Conduct/Behaviour - Easily distracted, needs to pay attention in class. Not living up to expectations.

Perhaps Peter Wickham was right to sound the alarm and they will be the first one-term government in our history.