Gov’t did not consider the people

THE present Government of Barbados did not take into account the feelings or the situations of the citizens of this island when they instituted the structural adjustment measures.

This is according to General Secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU), Toni Moore, who delivered remarks at the conclusion of a joint Barbados Private Sector Association (BPSA) and trade union march yesterday at Queen’s Park.

Furthermore, this is nothing new to Barbados as similar measures were introduced back in the 1990’s and all persons have to do is to go and look at the website of the Ministry of Labour to find out for themselves whether or not what she is telling them is the truth or not.

“Firstly, on the matter of the Social Partnership. If you go to the website – don’t take my word, if you go to the website of the Ministry of Labour, you will find that there are some … references to the origins of our Social Partnership in Barbados as dating back to the 1990’s. You will read there that … and this is a quotation, ‘When during the crisis of the 1990’s Government introduced some structural adjustment measures, the Barbadian public rejected some of the measures proposed.’ You will read that they did not adequately take into account – that they being the Government of the day – they did not take into account the negative social consequences for the population nor did they equitably distribute the burden of the adjustment measures.”

The BWU general secretary stated that back then just as the situation is now, the people of this country felt that the ruling party did not consider that there would be negative social consequences coming out of these measures and she asked those gathered at the event to see if they noted these similarities.

“Now I want to repeat that because we are drawing all kinds of similarities with things that preceded us. The anxiousness and the frustration of the people of Barbados back in the 1990’s was because they felt that the Government did not adequately take into account the negative social consequences for the measures being introduced for the population nor did they equitably distribute the burdens of the adjustment measures. Can you draw any similarities to where we are now? And the next question: Can you draw any similarities with the 1990’s to where we are now?” (PJT)