The year has started with the voice of the Leader of the Opposition trying to find some traction by responding to the impasse at Alexandra School. Oh, please!
The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) has inherited a basket of political woes, including the Jeff Broomes/Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union matter. The Opposition has no moral authority to speak on the issue now before the public. This affair has been of public concern since 2002 – when the DLP was in Opposition.
However, our focus is not on picking sides or scoring cheap political points but on resolving the issue in a manner that speaks to good governance.
This scenario is symptomatic of the political DNA of the Opposition. The facts illustrate that the Barbados Labour Party (BLP)?has left a trail of political wounds to which we had to apply bandages.
We came to office with close to $1 billion in off-the-books expenditure that we had to bring to book and we did.
We were asked to fix a number of things and one of the first was the contractual arrangements with 3S for the construction of the ABC Highway. We found and corrected a sordid mess between the taxpayers’ monies and 3S. The highway has been completed and taxpayers’ monies were saved.
Our Democratic Labour Party has on its plate the matter of the National Housing Corporation’s (NHC)?Warrens Complex.
We were asked, as a party with shrinking options, to find the resources to compensate a builder who, according to the court, was wronged. This ill conceived cost overrun project has placed a great stranglehold on the finances of this country.
We are also asked to find $30 million every January for the next 25 years to pay a company whose directors pleaded guilty to corruption and bribery.
The taxpayers of this country were committed to forking out close to $1 billion without public knowledge. This administration, once again, has to find these resources to plug the financial holes left by the BLP.
The polyclinic in St John was abandoned by the BLP despite times of plenty. This clinic could have been finished during the last three terms but the BLP sought to punish the people of St John, and by extension all citizens, by withdrawing financial support.
Yet again, the DLP had to find the resources to ensure that this project is completed and it will be by September, in the interest of the people at the centre.
There can be no doubt that this Democratic Labour Party has acted responsibly in the mandate given to it by the people of Barbados. We have not come to office on any witch-hunt and our near four-year record of service has spoken to that fact.
We remain committed to good governance in the interest of improved quality of life for all citizens.
