DR?DAVID?ESTWICK was an apparent no-show yesterday afternoon at a meeting which he summoned with the executive of his St Philip West constituency branch.
The SUNDAY?SUN?got wind of the meeting which was supposed to take place at 2 p.m. at the Six Roads, St Philip branch office but the MP and Minister of Agriculture was nowhere in sight up to 90 minutes after the scheduled starting time.
Members of the Democratic Labour Party branch were on hand seated around a table at Estwick’s bar, Hoodies, which is next door to the office.
It is understood that Estwick had arranged the meeting to brief branch members on the public statement he gave last Wednesday saying he would no longer be keeping silent on the country’s economic future.
He told the members of the media at a ceremony for a renovated molasses storage facility at the Bridgetown Port: “It would be a dereliction of my duty as a Barbadian not to outline to Barbados my perspectives as a minister and citizen of this country on why the Barbados economy is having its present challenges, whether or not our present path is the right one or the wrong one and what is the path I think should be pursued.”
He vowed to make a statement “very soon”.
Branch member Vincent Bend, who is a former chairman, confirmed that Estwick had summoned them to a meeting for 2 p.m.
Asked if he had any idea what Estwick was going to speak to them about, Bend said: “I don’t know what is in the doc’s head so I can’t speak to that. When Dr David Estwick is ready to address his branch and the country, we all will know.
Pressed further, he added: “To the best of my knowledge he was supposed to meet with the executive. I don’t know what transpired between the time I last spoke to him and then but when he is ready to speak he will speak.”
He also said that he was not taken aback by Estwick’s terse statement last week.
“It came from his heart. I was only surprised seeing him read from a prepared speech but it came from his heart.” (MB)
