I’LL ADMIT that at the beginning of The Estimates Debate, Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler’s approach seemed reasonable and I thought the MPs were going to make a liar out of me since I’d predicted the usual circus and platform speeches.
But this civility and “reasonableness” was short-lived and the debate soon plunged into the depths of what we’ve learned to expect from our politicians.
One would’ve expected that under the circumstances, speeches would’ve been serious and not fraught with the usual frivolity. I didn’t recognise Minister Steve Blackett’s voice at first and had to listen closely to identify the speaker.
Usually he appears as if “he can’t say prunes” but last week he was making all kinds of outrageous and uncalled for predictions about Barbados’ future. I honestly couldn’t believe it.
Comparing the speeches in Parliament and that of the 13-year-old student at the March Of Disgust, I’d say we have some hope for the future. The speech promoted harmony, peace, justice and truth while expressing disaffection with the country’s management. And the speaker’s fluent delivery put most of our politicians to shame.
Minister Blackett, why would you complain to the Child Care Board about that 13-year-old speaking at the march and rally, when that board has more than its fair share of serious issues to deal with? Did we ever receive the reports we were told to expect sometime ago?
And don’t we have a youth parliament? Furthermore, I seem to remember some very good debating by the late Prime Minister David Thompson when he was quite young. So where’s the problem? You also seemed to be berating the media, of which you were once very much a part.
Former Prime Minister Owen Arthur made a very useful contribution, offering several possible solutions to our problems. And true to form, Minister Donville Inniss said all the right things. But as I’ve commented many times before, he still has to convince us that he’s really genuine in his comments by making a full public disclosure on the so-called “illegal importation of chicken wings” issue.
The minister did call a radio programme sometime ago saying there was a lot of misinformation and that Customs did indicate to the public what its findings were and what action it took. On trying to confirm this from Customs, my understanding of the response I received was that the Customs Department is not aware of any such report on the matter.
So, Minister Inniss, we consumers are still awaiting full disclosure on the matter from you as minister responsible for consumer affairs. Perhaps the Minister of Agriculture might also like to add his piece.
On the other hand, I also heard some ridiculous statements during the debate – like “Barbados is in good hands” and “Barbados is doing well” – which brought to mind the reported response of the former Swedish president to a comment by President Trump: “What has he been smoking?” And apparently the fact that our buses are running, our schools are open and our hospital is operating is a better assessment of our position than that of Standard Poor’s or Moody’s.
We continue to hear our problems being blamed on the global recession, but while Godfrey Bloom, former member of the European Parliament, is a controversial figure and one may not agree with all he says, his speech in the debate on developments in the ongoing debt crisis and the EU response provides food for thought.
He said: “It always seems to be a complete surprise to politicians how countries get into debt . . . . It’s because politicians consistently spend more money than they can possibly raise in taxation, most of which in point of fact they actually waste. The reason we’re talking about these countries that are broke . . . is that their ridiculous, ineffective and ignorant politicians consistently spend more money than they can raise and then they borrow and they borrow and worse, they print money . . . .
“You do that as a private citizen and it’s a criminal offence and you would go to prison for doing that . . . . These countries are broke because of their own stupid leadership and politicians, and it’s immoral to ask ordinary taxpayers to pick up the tab for failed politicians and failed banks.”
• Dr Frances Chandler is a former Independent senator. Email: [email protected]
