Minister Jones: Much was done over past 8 years

Persons tend to be very critical of every move the Government makes without taking into account the whole picture, and if you look at the whole picture you will see that Government has done much over the past eight years with the little resources that were available.

These comments came from Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Ronald Jones, in a recent interview with the media. Jones said that the last eight years have been difficult and if persons took into account the scarce resources available, they will be able to see that much was achieved.

Addressing the issue of potholes in Barbados, Jones said that he believed that Barbadians have become too negative over the past couple of years and this has affected the way in which they perceive things. He said that the issue of potholes is not a new issue and explained that Barbados was not a volcanic island with hardened rock, rather a limestone-based island where the rock is soft. This results in some disruption of the road a few years after tar is laid down, which means that money has to be spent continuously to repair such issues.

Jones said that there is no problem with persons crying out or questioning things done by the Government. However, problems arise when persons do not listen to the response that they are given.

“I find that there is an absence of listening in Barbados,” he said.

He went on to say that if persons like the Prime Minister or himself spent every other day in front of the camera explaining and addressing every issue that Barbadians have, what time then, “unless he doesn’t sleep”, will they have to devote to solving these problems and getting resources to help propel the education and training of citizens and the development of the island?

Mentioning the rehabilitation of certain schools, Jones encouraged persons to be more mindful of the things that they were able to do over the past couple of years.