Former St James Central parliamentary representative Kerrie Symmonds says Minister of Housing and Lands Michael Lashley has been “weighed on the scales and found wanting”.
Symmonds cited this Biblical passage from Daniel 5:25 to bear out his argument that Lashley’s neglect of small businessmen merited his removal from office.
He was addressing a large crowd on Sunday at Haggatt Hall, St Michael, as a number of Barbados Labour Party (BLP) speakers presented their case for the removal of Lashley from the Cabinet.
Noting that like himself, Lashley had reached political maturity at a time when Sir Hilary Beckles was presenting a strong case for the economic enfranchisement of black people across Barbados, Symmonds charged that Lashley had betrayed the trust of their generation by stunting the growth of economic democracy, thereby widening the gap between the rich and the poor.
Symmonds said that while the principals of Jada Construction would most likely die from “financial obesity”, small black businessmen would die from “financial undernourishment”.
Symmonds noted that during the BLP administration, Jada Construction had “locked off” construction on the West Coast and lamented the fact that they were now having access to small contracts at Four Hills, St Peter.
He asked: “What manner of man art thou, Michael Lashley? The principals of Jada Construction and Housing Concepts SRL never pitched marbles with black Barbadians, Lashley; they never caught the bus with you in St Philip either, Lashley. They got work at Greens, St George and Coverley, Christ Church. Don’t you know that black businessmen want something to eat?”
Symmonds said that under a BLP administration, houses in Phase 1 at Coverley, Christ Church, were being sold to prospective homeowners at $106 000.
Symmonds pointed out that the current administration was selling a house with the same floor space of 800 square feet for $300 000.
Symmonds said: “The developer at Coverley stands to gain a profit of $250 million. This developer does not look like Lashley and he did not go to school with him. The DLP’s former lover, CLICO, is now bankrupt, so love is being made to the Jada Group of companies.” (WG)
