DR DAVID ESTWICK has been proven right. He contended that the medicine prescribed and administered to the ailing Barbados economy would do more harm than good, and that has happened.
But don’t expect him to be celebrating. In fact, from what Cou Cou has been hearing, he is one of the saddest men in Barbados today.
Based on what Cou Cou overheard, Estwick seems to be sorry he did not walk away from the Cabinet three years ago after his repeated warnings to his colleagues that the Chris Sinckler-crafted fiscal adjustment programmes would fail to grow the economy.
But being a die-hard Democratic Labour Party (DLP) stalwart, he continued in the Freundel Stuart-led Cabinet and is now tied to the economic failure he foresaw. He is said to be kicking himself for not sticking to his principles and walking away from the inevitable debacle.
Cou Cou had to go into the archives to recall precisely what those people were speaking about. We were astounded at what Estwick said back then, yet still remained with the Government. What was even more surprising was that he was not fired by Stuart for the position he took.
On February 13, 2014, Estwick presented an alternative plan to Cabinet to stop the sending home of 3 000 public servants, arguing this action was unnecessary, and that the International Monetary Fund also said as much.
In rejecting the layoffs as a method of saving the economy, he said: “Prime Minister, retrenchment is not a policy. It is an action of last resort because of failed policies.” He added it would not solve Barbados’ fiscal crisis and would make the situation worse in the long term.
The St Philip West MP said that back in 2009 when he was Minister of Economic Affairs, he advocated a public sector wage freeze and public sector natural attrition and divestment, but this proposal was not considered.
Estwick said too that the party’s pet social projects – free bus rides for schoolchildren, summer camps and the creation of Constituency Councils – “should not be introduced when your revenue is declining and you have no way of knowing the duration of the recession”.
Detailing the mistakes Government made, he said it was to blame for the economy’s non-performance and proposed a new path forward for Barbados. This included a debt-servicing low-cost sinking fund of US$3 billion created via a loan at a fixed rate of two per cent to four per cent over 30 years from the United Arab Emirates Dubai, and outlined long, medium and short-term strategies necessary to make it work.
Having read that, Cou Cou better understood the gloom of DLP political operatives. They recognise that despite the upbeat talk of positive growth and several projects starting this year, the truth of what the future really holds for Barbados was spelt out in the economic picture painted by the Central Bank Governor.
What is vendor Adamson really up to?
AT FIRST IT seemed like a gimmick to increase his sales as for several months vendor Mark Adamson held “a national flyer campaign” against Opposition Leader Mia Mottley becoming Prime Minister on The City street where he sells.
Adamson also took to social media denouncing Mottley, once listing 15 reasons why she should not be supported.
But his recent one-man placard-bearing protest on Broad Street against her has again raised questions about his motives.
Is he seeking to prevent Mottley’s election based on sound reasoning, or is he someone’s mouthpiece?
Adamson responded to such a suggestion last year on social media by saying the ruling Democratic Labour Party “is just as abhorrent as” Mottley’s Barbados Labour Party.
Yet his relentless campaign is against Mottley only. Why?
