Issues plaguing farmers, crime and violence, and broken promises by the Barbados Labour Party (BLP)-led Government were the key issues brought up on the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) platform at Sion Hill on Sunday night.
Throwing her support behind the DLP candidate, Felicia Dujon, the first speaker of the night Amoy Gilding-Bourne heavily criticised MP for Christ Church East, Wilfred Abrahams in whose constituency she lives.
She accused him of neglect in relation to flooding and the poor state of the roads in that constituency but brought it back home to St James North, saying that the roads there too were in a deplorable state, with flooding during heavy rainfall, especially in Trents and Weston.
In endorsing Dujon for tomorrow’s by-election in the constituency, Gilding-Bourne told the crowd that besides being an educator and champion of women’s rights, Dujon was also a farmer, just like several of those in the constituency.
Dujon therefore understood and faced first-hand many of the issues plaguing farmers including access to water, and praedial larceny. Gilding-Bourne also said that she was a farmer herself and declared that Dujon, therefore, is “not afraid of getting her hands dirty.”
She lauded Dujon for her work and achievement in pushing the child protection bill, exposing the Inter-American Development Bank school survey which sparked national outcry a few years ago, and for her continued support on all education matters in the country.
She reminded the crowd that besides being a lecturer at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill campus, Dujon also has advisory roles at the British High Commission, the Organisation of American States, the Bureau of Gender Affairs, among others.
Ensley Grainger, the DLP candidate for St Michael East while also endorsing Dujon, called on constituents to vote for change saying Government neglected the constituency and gave Barbadians nothing but “broken promises”.
He reminded constituents, who cheered loudly at times during his speech, that citizens are burdened by the high cost of living, with only “friends and family” of the Government “getting a bounty”.
He charged that Barbados had become a Republic since 2021, yet there was no republic Constitution in place, that the country is still operating under a Westminster Constitution. He further charged that the Government had promised Barbadians transparency and accountability, but had not delivered.
Grainger asked the crowd, “[Where was transparency and accountability] when the Holetown Civic Centre was sold? When the Jemmotts Lane property was given away? When the HOPE project was designed?”
He said that taxi operators were “watching” coaches filled with tourists coming out of the Bridgetown Port daily, the residents of St Lucy were still “watching” brown water flow from their taps, and that the ordinary citizen is “watching” prices at the supermarket rise daily – with no relief as promised by the Government. (AN)
