After numerous expressions of concern on Prime Minister Freundel Stuart’s lengthy silence on the growing plethora of issues confronting the country, news of his eight o’clock radio and TV national address Wednesday night was greeted with great expectation.
As an independent nation we have grown accustomed to our head of Government communicating regularly with the population, taking them into his confidence and establishing an open relationship. Democratic government at its best is a symbiotic bond between the governing political class and the governed, based on mutual respect, trust and shared interests.
Unfortunately, when Mr Stuart broke his silence, he left the country largely disappointed and underwhelmed, asking where is the beef and why it took so long and could not have been made public in a media release rather than a prime time national address.
Form trumped substance and it was hugely instructive that the state-owned Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) radio network, in its first newscast Thursday morning highlighting “major stories at five”, made no mention of anything the Prime Minister said. Ditto the CBC-TV six o’clock morning newscast, a sad commentary indeed.
We heard of the economic hurricane ravaging Britain and the United States, our major source markets. What Barbadians wanted to hear and did not was Government’s response to the hurricane, particularly the daily spiralling cost of living trampling the landscape like an angry elephant.
Having paraded the cost of living as top priority during the 2008 elections, battered and beleaguered Barbadians were offered neither solutions nor hope that better days are within the Prime Minister’s immediate purview. Nothing, nada, zilch!
Electorates everywhere always hold the government in power responsible for their economy and cost of living, external circumstances notwithstanding. They will be a burdensome albatross around the ruling party’s neck next polling day.
Outlining the changes making his Cabinet the largest ever, Mr Stuart, himself a former designated Deputy Prime Minister, failed to follow hallowed tradition. The population is left pondering why this established post remains vacant.
It is interesting that water management migrated from Dr Denis Lowe to Dr David Estwick and urban renewal is now with Mr Stuart.
There can be no denying the urgent and imperative need for urban renewal, which under its new portfolio invests it with an aura of new weight. Driving through Bridgetown and its environs, the need is stark and far more compelling than spending taxpayers’ $500 million on a marina for the rich and famous, logically a private sector venture.
Having rushed legislation through Parliament to facilitate appointment of a new Chief Justice, generating a torrent of broad-based concern and criticism, it is disappointing that our third highest office remains vacant after 18 months and the Prime Minister, well placed to understand the full implications, sheds no light.
Appointment inertia pervades the wider public service and now that he has assumed responsibility, we hope to see early substantive appointments smashing the Hollywood syndrome.
Also disappointing was the Prime Minister’s silence on recent changes in the health service wreaking havoc, particularly on the aged and indigent. While the Minister of Health promised a review during the next six months, the Prime Minister missed the opportunity to offer comfort and hope to two vulnerable cohorts in deep pain.
We heard of the litany of woes facing resident non-nationals who, for years observing their social and economic responsibilities, have suddenly found themselves disadvantaged by the new health dispensation. The immigration minister offered hope that their problems would be addressed, we trust expeditiously.
Stating that unemployment is 10.5 per cent, with a major exodus out of tertiary and secondary educational institutions imminent, unemployment will increase exponentially, and it would have been reassuring to hear what new job prospects are in the pipeline, and precisely how Government plans to foster the new spirit of youth entrepreneurship.
When Mr Stuart became Prime Minister, a school of thought posited that he should put his own stamp on the administration by reshuffling the Cabinet. After eight months and mature reflection, Wednesday night’s minor adjustments did nothing to disturb the reality that Mr Thompson’s inherited deathbed Cabinet remains intact.
The national address made it easier to understand Mr Stuart’s prolonged silence. It is a comfort zone in which he feels at home. Out of respect, buttressed by disappointment, I vow that this column will never again call for the Prime Minister to leave the consuming comfort of his silent zone.