Brand broken!

Leader of the Opposition, Mia Mottley has charged that the Barbados brand is broken.

 

She made the point while leading off the debate yesterday morning in the House of Assembly on a Motion of No Confidence in the Democratic Labour Party Administration, contending that under the current Government’s rule, everything is falling apart.

 

“It is not just our economy that is broken, it is the Barbados brand that is broken… Our pride is gone and it is now a case for many of diminishing returns. There is an absence of hope and there is an absence of pride in what Barbadians see and experience on a daily basis. There can be no pride in how our health system is functioning, there can be no pride in what is happening in education today and all of these Sir, emanate from Bay Street and indeed this Parliament, which ought to be the nerve centre for leading our nation forward,” she maintained.

 

Her comments came as she further contended that in spite of the abundance of issues to address, Government is doing little to rectify them. With that in mind, she insisted that Barbados is not working for the vast majority of Barbadians, suggesting that who you know and not what you know has become the new way of doing things.

 

The St. Michael North East Member of Parliament (MP) maintained that the last three years have been a “season of discontent”, as she indicated that every Caribbean island is outperforming Barbados, which is unfortunate on the eve of the country’s golden jubilee. She made the point while maintaining that the country should be further today and that it is not where it was expected to be when it celebrated its 20th and 40th anniversaries of Independence. To that end, the Opposition Leader said Barbadians must reach the stage where they question what will be the inheritance of this Government and what impact the actions of Government will have on present and future generations.

 

Moreover, Mottley used the opportunity to question how the Father of Independence, National Hero, the Right Excellent Errol Barrow would view the actions of the political party which he founded, particularly as it relates to tertiary education and the reduction of the middle class. Additionally, she queried if in fact, the Nationals Heroes would at all be proud of what Barbados is today.

 

“Would the stalwart of the labour movement in Barbados, the Right Excellent Sir Frank Walcott, be satisfied… with a Government which seeks to kick matters to a tribunal rather than to give a direction from Cabinet to do the right thing because the employer in question is the National Conservation Commission, a statutory board that is subject to the general policy direction of the Minister which is the subject to the direction of the Cabinet?” she asked.

 

Her comments came as she referred to the Barbados Labour Party’s Covenant of Hope, copies of which she brought to Parliament to distribute to the MPs on the Government’s side. She contended that while the document was produced by the BLP, it is non partisan, and reflects the concerns and aspirations of many Barbadians and is an attempt to return politics in this country to a values-based approach. (JRT)