GROWING UP, I WAS always at odds with my father’s blunt style. He would tell it like it is no matter who it offended or where he was. For him, the truth was the truth, and if you didn’t like it, tough.
I always preferred to be more diplomatic. Though I still called a spade a spade, I was less dogmatic than my dad. The problem with my approach was that I sometimes came over as indecisive. So, reluctantly, I adopted my dad’s approach and now no one misunderstands me. I too, tell it like it is and don’t sugar-coat anything.
I reflected on this aspect of my life as I thought about what is happening to our lovely country on several critical issues and how they are being dealt with. As far as I’m concerned, this country needs a strong dose of honest straight talk.
If you think about it, everyone knows what the problems afflicting Barbados and, in most cases, what needs to be done to rectify them. Yet, few effective decisions are being taken to deal with it.
It’s as if no one wants to bite the bullet and say, enough is enough, and make the necessary decisions to stop the rot.
The perfect example of this is our faltering economic and financial situation. The Caribbean Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, Moody’s Investment Services, Standard & Poor’s, the Barbados Economic Society and other economists, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados, Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Barbados Private Sector Association as well as experienced business people, and social commentators have in various ways all told Government the same thing – cut spending to bring down the fiscal deficit, and start living within your means as a first step to stop the haemorrhaging.
Most of them have basically said too, that Government’s Medium Term Fiscal Strategy (MTFS) – which it formulated in 2010 to reduce the fiscal deficit, generate a balanced budget by 2014 and a surplus by 2015 – was not aggressive enough if they seriously wanted to achieve these stated goals.
The response from Government has been to make the right noises like saying: “It can’t be business as usual”. They have also continued to reassure that they will keep the economy stable, keep essential services going, and public servants’ jobs intact. Yet, they continue to spend as if there is no crisis. In fact, they actually increased their spending causing the deficit to widen to 7.3 per cent at the end of 2012.
I may sound like a stuck record, but I cannot help but repeat the predicament of our economy and the need for Government to do the right thing to stop this country from spiralling out of control.
The proof that this is happening is there for all those without blinkered vision to see. And just last Tuesday, more evidence came from none other than the Governor of the Central Bank, Dr Delisle Worrell, in his report for the first three months of this year. He said the economy had contracted, the deficit had widened, unemployment was up, tourism arrivals were down, and major tax receipts had declined.
Could there be a more damning report on the economy than this? And when you realize that the first quarter encompasses the high point of the tourist season, so the most profitable time of year, then this report is even scarier.
But even more frightening than this was the response from the Government. Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler said Worrell’s news was not “new new”, and that he would be meeting with the tripartite Social Partnership and a range of economic stakeholders in time for a targeted August Budget “where the [overall] programme, together with a new programme to ignite growth, would be unveiled”.
From Sinckler’s statement, it would seem that Government, like a drowning man, is thrashing around looking for answers. This sad state of affairs is really not good enough. This Government needs to stop posturing, take Barbadians into their confidence, and talk straight to them about the serious challenges ahead.
• Sanka Price is an editor at THE NATION. Email him at sankaprice@nationnews.com.
