Firm stance

Attorney General Adriel Braithwaite has reassured Barbadians that the security of the country has never been compromised.

His comments came during a FACTS mission, which took place in the St. Michael East constituency yesterday afternoon.

“Despite our challenges, crime and security was one of the areas that we would not compromise. The police have gotten what they’ve asked for, for the last three years in this country, in terms of budgetary support,” he said.

The Attorney General also told the Barbados Advocate that it was not an accident that new police stations were being established, noting that a new one was set to open later this year. He expressed that the government recognises that without the sacrifice and positive contribution of police officers, the country would not be the way it is today.

“So when I see comments that say the problem [with crime]… is that the Government needs to put more resources into our Barbados Police Force, I think that they have no real connection with what is really going on. What they’re saying sounds good, but there is no connection there in terms of reality,” he said.

He believes that people should check what the Government said they would do against what they have done and judge for themselves.

George Pilgrim, General Secretary of the Democratic Labour Party, further noted that despite a picture being painted of a country that was broken – a perspective that is bringing brand ‘Barbados’ under threat – the country still ranked high in terms of education, health care and security, in terms of being one of the safest Caribbean destinations.

“I accept that we have a foreign exchange crisis, this is not a secret. We have been losing at least $200 million a year in terms of the offshore sector. A lot of it has to do with a lot of the offshore businesses going back to where they came from and others going to other jurisdictions,” he said.

Despite this loss, Pilgrim revealed that the Government did not compromise the education sector as they still spent BDS$500 million a year on its development. He also added that they did not compromise the health sector as they still spent over BDS$400 million BDS a year on that area.