Symmonds: Government needs to remove red tape
OPPOSITION Member of Parliament for St. James Central, Kerrie Symmonds has lambasted government for failure to act on matters impacting the island before it reached crisis stage, and for the red tape which he believes stopped the country from benefiting for extra-regional export opportunities.
He was speaking in the Lower Chamber on the third day of debate on the Appropriation Bill 2018 when he cited the challenges being faced at sewage treatment plant on the south of the island which he opined could have been addressed before it reached crisis levels.
Symmonds further contended that the Estimates do not treat to the problems facing the plant. “If a reasoned, sound and sensible proposal is put and could have been put in these estimates. Clearly these issues predate the Estimates with the view of dealing with the crisis of sewage problems of Barbados as a matter of urgency the BLP stands shoulder to shoulder with government.”
The St. James Central parliamentary representative told the Honourable Chamber that steps to improve Barbados’ ability to export have been hampered by not putting the necessary measures in place, since the Economic Partnership Agreement came into effect a decade ago.
“The country needs to have a National Health and Food Safety Authority, with its own laboratory. It is important because it allows us from a trade offensive perspective, that is, if we wish to penetrate other people’s markets, we need to demonstrate that we have a certain quality of export.”
The St. James Central MP said this would allow the country to export products such as ice-cream, milk, chicken, cheese and eggs.
“There are several other proteins that cannot be exported because of the fact that the authority that needs to be created and can only be created by the Government of Barbados has not been created. And the failure to have been created means that the opportunity to earn foreign exchange that should be in the hands of ordinary farmers and people associated with farming in his country cannot be earned.”
He said the same applies to fisheries noting that the European community is willing to take the fish the country has for sale. Symmonds lamented however that this is not yet a reality, because the necessary sanitary and phytosanitary legislation is not yet in place in Barbados.
Symmonds said there has been a problem in Barbados with the public finances for ten years and the newly introduced Sustainable Recovery Plan is testimony to the past failures.
“The requirement that we have is to deal with the shortfall of foreign exchange and to get Barbados into a situation where we stop speaking this language that we have talked when it comes to borrowing money and thinking of so many loans that have come before this House.
He challenged that the House needs to have a dialogue on how the country can get on a growth plan, and it should have been done a long time ago.
“We cannot come to the point if you do not understand first and foremost hat one of the greatest impediments to this country’s growth is in fact the red tape imposed on the country by the government like a stranglehold.
“Privately held savings in this country today amount to eight or nine billion. It can be unlocked. It can be used to the development of this country and the country’s well being.”
He also drew reference to the high debt being faced by the National Housing Corporation, the Ministry of Transport and Works and the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation, adding that nothing has been said on how the debts will be reduced. In fact, he charged that in spite of the challenges facing the NHC, there has been an increase in staff.
(JH)