BLP legacy: (1994-2003) Gave almost 10 000 public servants permanent appointments; introduced a policy granting beneficiaries of public officers killed in the line of duty, compensation equal to five times the annual salaries of deceased officers; and started payment to part-time teachers for bank holidays falling during the school week.
Four years ago on January 15, the people of Barbados made the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) their Government with great expectations based on the grandiose promises made by David Thompson and his team, especially with their adamant pledge to reduce and control the cost of living as their top three priorities.
But as far as most Barbadians are concerned, this coming anniversary will simply serve as a traumatic reminder of the great betrayal they have suffered at the hands of the DLP, whose shocking record of poor, pathetic and pitiable “performance” over the last four years is now making people refer to it as the “Do Little Party”.
Such a label is accurate and appropriate given that free bus fares for schoolchildren, free summer camps and the failed DLP-controlled Constituency Councils are the only achievements the DLP has been proclaiming.
That is why we have not heard of any of its customary glamorous fetes to mark this milestone, unlike what took place recently with the 50th anniversary of its first election to government in 1961.
So while the DLP is clearly ashamed of its 2008-2012 record, Barbadians are understandably angry at being let down by the party, particularly as their daily lives are affected by the rapid and drastic reduction of a once thriving country’s credit rating to near junk bond status.
People fondly remember that at December 2007, under the BLP, unemployment was at an all-time 6.9 per cent low; inflation was restricted to four per cent; economic growth had been good for seven years; foreign reserves were at record levels; foreign direct investment was high; people were hopeful and confident and optimistic was the nation’s mood.
Still, in the midst of this hope, Prime Minister Owen Arthur acted very responsibly during the 2008 campaign by warning the country that economic troubles were ahead.
But this did not stop the Thompson team ignoring, oversimplifying and distorting matters to entice the electorate, only for the DLP to stubbornly implement economic policies that raised unemployment to 12.1 per cent at June 2011; lost or gave up control of prices; raised value added tax and numerous fees and licences; doubled inflation to eight per cent; raised fuel prices; and allowed the state-owned Barbados National Oil Company to make a one-year $50 million profit that imposed brutally high electricity prices on consumers and businesses.
And while the majority of Barbadians have been suffering in a way not felt for generations, the DLP has been generating great wealth for the very few with privileged access to the “DLP’s fatted calf”, as vowed by Thompson.
Meanwhile, the rest of the nation under Freundel Stuart continues to sink in the Dems’ self-created sea of paralyzed economic and social inertia along with the public spectacle of an orgy of political cannibalism.
Fortunately, the BLP team is ready for another Rescue, Rebuild, Restore tour of duty under the trained, experienced and proven Arthur, whose record of generating enduring jobs, progress and prosperity for the many is unmatched.
