An Opposition Member of Parliament says the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Government has not lived up to its goal to build a society.
St. James Central Member of Parliament, Kerrie Symmonds raised the issue Sunday night at a constituency meeting held at his constituency office, as he outlined a number of things that have deteriorated under the Government’s watch. Among the areas of concern, Symmonds said, is the lack of employment opportunities and the rising unemployment especially among the youth, the youth not being able to afford tertiary education, the now sporadic nature of garbage collection and the persistent water challenges which have several rural communities without water for weeks on end.
The Barbados Labour Party (BLP) MP explained that eight years ago the unemployment rate in Barbados stood at six per cent, putting the country on the “threshold of full and complete employment in this country”, but today that figure is said to be around 14 per cent. But, the BLP MP is arguing that the unemployment reality on the ground would suggest that figure is even much higher.
“They say they are building a society and not an economy. The society that they build we have to ask them what type of society is it, because when we left Government we knew, almost with certainty in this constituency, and I can say to you that in almost every part of this constituency there was garbage collection in a regular and systematic way… those days have come to an end and there are parts of this constituency that cannot get garbage collection for two and three weeks at a time,” he said.
Symmonds made the point as he spoke also about the water woes being experienced by some Barbadians and lamented that even where community tanks have been erected persons are still not getting the water they need. This, he explained is because the tanks are not big enough to adequately service everyone.
“In the 50th year of Independence, this Government that tells you they are building a society is taking us back to a point where we were not, in living memory of most of us who are sitting here before us today, and that can’t be right,” he contended. (JRT)
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