Weekly Column

Despite the announcement in their Manifesto, reaffirmation in the Throne Speech and a $4.5 million vote in the Estimates, the Dems still have no clue how to implement their much touted constituency councils.

They have hired not one, but two high-priced consultants and taken the show on the road to come back and tell us Bajans what they think we want to hear. Ironic is it not that these two consultants come highly recommended by another consultant who shares the same name as one of them and who has worked intimately with the other in Bermuda.

But then this is the modus operandi of this Government. No small wonder that they have failed so miserably to execute any of their election promises. They knew how to talk the talk in January, but it is now June and the only thing they have accomplished is a lot of walking about.

We cannot blame the Minister entirely. He is taking the lead from his boss who had a lot of talk about lowering the cost of living and whose only success so far has been to increase it and who had to reverse himself on his no fuel subsidy policy within six weeks of its implementation. Is his boss really in a position to provide guidance to his Cabinet?

The Barbados Labour Party wants to tell the public and the Government that whatever the final form of the constituency councils we will not abide the appointment of council members by the Minister. If the Democratic Labour Party is serious about “giving power back to the people” as they said in their Throne Speech then the people must choose their own council representatives. To do otherwise would be a low blow.

The Minister must be guided by the words of his own Manifesto: “It envisages a decentralizing of governmental structures that allows for real participatory democracy in Barbados where public policy is not imposed from the top but results from the full involvement of a wider society.”

Certainly it would not be outside of the competency of the Electoral Department to administer a simple voting process for qualified constituents, who had been nominated by two or more fellow constituents three weeks before voting on a Sunday afternoon at a centrally located polling station in each constituency. How much more democratic can we get than this?

Right now there are many more questions than answers facing the Minister. What is the role and function of the councils? How will they be structured? What are the parameters of their activities? Are they to be advisory or administrative? Who will be accountable for the spending of the $100,000? How will $100,000 solve “street lighting, sporting and recreational facilities, drainage, poverty alleviation and youth programmes” as enunciated in their Throne Speech? How long a term will a council member serve? What about duplication of the functions and services provided by central Government? Will their existence make Government Departments less responsive with a ‘pass the buck’ attitude? Why is the Government only prepared to start with six councils and which will be the first guinea pigs? And this is the Party that said they were ready! They clearly suffer from delusions of adequacy.

At the end of all the talk it is the Minister who must craft the policy and be responsible for it. We look forward to his answers before further comment.

One final tip to our fellow DLP columnist on an entirely different subject. A warm glass of milk just before bedtime does wonders to curb nightmares of unrequited front-page stories and that Vidal Sassoon look. Deal with it and sweet dreams!