WORKERS NEED TO brace themselves because job losses are inevitable at many of the country’s state-owned enterprises, Owen Arthur has said.
The former prime minister said he tried to introduce a mature discussion on the topic of privatisation in the last general election but now there was no running from the issue.
Arthur, who was the man behind the sale of the former state-owned Barbados National Bank and the Insurance Corporation of Barbados, told the House of Assembly yesterday during debate on the Estimates that rationalisation of the 63 state-owned enterprises had to occur and limits put on who could access services such as university education and health services free of cost.
“I am disappointed when I hear the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) coming out against privatisation because I seem to recall that as Prime Minister of Barbados, I met with the BWU and told them the Transport Board has to focus on its core business and it should not be running a mechanical workshop. . . (GE)
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