A TRIP to Barbados by officials from an island in Europe looking for tips on how their parliament should be structured, is being harshly criticized by a senior politician there as a waste of money and time.
Although Barbados has the third oldest Parliament in the Commonwealth, Geoff Southern has suggested that Jersey – a British dependency off the coast of Normandy, France, with a population of less than 100 000 – could learn very little from a country “still in the clutches of recession, and so many unemployed”.
The controversy was sparked by an announcement from the States of Jersey Electoral Commission – which is tasked with devising a new form of government – that £6 700 (BDS$20 934) would be spent to send chairman Senator Sir Philip Bailhache, vice-chairman Colin Storm, and an officer of the commission to Barbados.
The three were scheduled to arrive yesterday.
The delegation plans to speak to politicians and Government officials here about the structure of Barbados’ 373-year-old Parliament.
Sir Philip said Barbados had been chosen because it was an island jurisdiction similar to Jersey, with a bicameral parliamentary system.
