Democratic Labour Party (DLP) candidate for St Michael East Ensley Grainger has slammed politicians for rushing to repair roads and install street lights during election time.
Speaking on DLP TV on Tuesday night, Grainger said this was exactly what was happening in the St James North constituency during the by-election.
“It is time that government, whichever government, or governments for that matter, and politicians, stop using things like roads and street lighting to hang it over the heads of constituents at election time. It is the duty of every government to fix roads, to put in infrastructure for street lighting, to look after the safety of the constituents, not to be used as any political carrot dangling in front of you for the sake of a vote,” he said.
He also condemned Government for the recent increase in the minimum wage as he charged it was also a
by-election gimmick.
“I am somewhat annoyed with the way this increase of the minimum wage rate came about, within the by-election, but prior to that you had your budget in March, and there was no mention of any minimum wage rate increase. So this was an afterthought, just seeking, in my opinion, to capture votes. But I want people to understand, those lower income earners, that though the minimum wage rate has been increased, your national insurance contributions have also been increased.
“So there, we are back to square one. And that being said, there is no reduction in the cost of living. The prices in supermarkets still remain high, so therefore your take home dollar still can’t stretch as far as they want you to believe. Do not be fooled, and especially you, the residents of St James North. St James North, you can send a signal to the Barbados Labour Party that is, to tell them, if you, feel so neglected after all these years, stand up on May the 21 and let your fingers do the talking for you.”
During the presentation of the Budget on March 10, Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn announced that there would be a two per cent automatic annual increase in the national minimum wage from January 1, 2026.
Pointing out that he had been canvassing the community with DLP candidate Felicia Dujon, Grainger, a former police officer now an attorney, said he was shocked at the state of the roads in the community.
“St James North has been more than good to the Barbados Labour Party. And they want to look to see what they got or what they’ll get in return for that loyalty. The Barbados Labour Party falls very short of what a government or a political party who has held a constituency for so long, what they have given to the residents in return.
“And in my canvas, when you look around the constituency, you see the deterioration of the roads, bad roads. I remember canvassing in Clarks Road, in Ashton Hall, and that road is deplorable and Clarks Road is a fairly big district and the road is deplorable, street lightings, many, many areas of overgrown bush.
“You look at the community centre in Weston being closed, lack of opportunities for the young people. And those resource centres are things that should be open and providing an avenue where not just the young but the elderly as well can come and perform some kind of useful activity, as it were. And that is not the case.”
He charged that it took this by-election for Government to do something about these matters.
“So it took this by-election and Felicia Dujon to light some fire under the backs of the government to bring them into reality, the stark neglect of the constituency. There you hear the Prime Minister now saying, oh, that Doughlin Road will be repaired shortly. Only because of the by-election, right? But Doughlin Road was bad all the time.”
