Weekly Column

The Dems believe that the supreme strategist Hartley and his clueless sidekick “Thompy” have much to answer for. Those two crafted the philosophy of the fatted calf and so they must now explain why they are the only ones holding tickets to the buffet.

To make matters worse, the ship of state has started to leak from the top and so, last Thursday after yet another acrimonious cabinet meeting, some folks headed straight to the phones to complain of being undermined. Their vexation is about a letter bearing the signature of the distinguished mother of the Prime Minister which was sent to the executive council of the DLP complaining that the ministers are neglecting the people.

While there is no doubt that the ministers are guilty as charged, our concern is that this constant quarrelling in the governing party is becoming a sorry mess in which the people of Barbados are being neglected.

We had hoped that in the absence of delivery the Dems would have at least offered the public some explanations for their glaring failures. Thus far, nothing of the sort has been forth coming and all we expect is more long talk as Thompy desperately flounders around, while waiting on his strategist to provide him with leadership ideas.

The DLP must understand that on January 15th it was empowered by Barbadians who are legitimately expecting that the Dems will honour their electoral commitments. The Dems spent the last six months demonising and trivialising the Barbados Labour Party’s record in office, but as we have said before, the people have spoken and all eyes are now on them.

No amount of idle threats about special audits at the NHC can convince the public for example, that Michael Lashley has not betrayed their confidence on the matter of delivering housing units to persons who have resided in them for 20 years or more.

Minister Lashley has been challenged in both houses of parliament and on the radio stations of this island. He has been unable to deny that this policy of giving away the units came to a sudden and unexplained halt within ninety days of its commencement and he has yet to point to one unit that has been actually conveyed.

To date the minister’s mounting arrogance is equalled only by his contempt for Barbadians who paid down on the National Housing Units but have been refused refunds of the money deposited.

To make matters worse, the government has spurned many more of its commitments in the housing sector. Some of these were time bound and therefore required at the very least, the decency of a ministerial explanation. For example, despite the empty talk about the cost of living being job #1, 2 and 3, the government has presented both its budget and its estimates of expenditure but has still failed to remove VAT on building materials on houses valued up to $400,000.00 despite having promised to do so within 100 days of being elected.

Nor has this administration been able to establish the much touted “Home Ownership Revolving Fund” to give interest free mortgages to public servants as it pledged to do as a first priority.

Worse still, is the fact that despite having inherited developments with all the services installed at Marchfield, Coverley, Rices, Constant and Greens, Minister Lashley and his new team of implementation consultants have not constructed a single house in the last six months. It is a sorry mess indeed. The country is disappointed and the Dems membership is blue vex. With one voice they sing “feet don’t fail me now I have to give David Thompson a piece of my mind.”
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