MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE Dr David Estwick last night begged Barbadians not to be hoodwinked into buying bankrupt companies, or into giving Opposition Leader Owen Arthur the chance to privatize the country’s education and health sectors.
In a concise analysis of the economy, along with Government’s plans for new enterprises to stimulate it, Estwick urged Barbadians, many of whom packed The Alexandra School hall for the Democratic Labour Party’s meeting in support of St Peter candidate Haynesley Benn, not to “give this Barbados Labour Party an opportunity to destroy the educational sector and health in Barbados; please don’t do it”.
“Education is all that the average man in Barbados has to uplift himself. It was so when [National Hero Errol] Barrow introduced free education and it is still so in 2012. The average Barbadian family does not have the money to send children to the Polytechnic, Community College and University . . . . You’d undermine the development of the human resource that has served us so well over the years, domestically and internationally,” Estwick explained.
Speaking directly to the economic situation,the minister said when the recession began in 2008 Barbados had 22 weeks of foreign exchange cover,but had to introduce a small stimulus of $200 million which had led to a reduction in the cover to 16 weeks.
