The Barbados Labour Party Government is about instant gratification as opposed to having a vision for the development of its people and the country.
This is an overarching theme which came out of a wide-ranging online Democratic Labour Party (DLP) TV panel discussion on Thursday night.
It featured host, Member of Parliament and Leader of the Opposition and DLP, Ralph Thorne, attorney and chairman of the DLP Commission on Crime, Verla De Peiza, former director, Urban Development Corporation, sociologist, Dr Derek Alleyne, and attorney Damien Fanus.
The focus was Crime and the Youth: The Government’s Responsibility.
Some of the issues addressed by the panellists included policing, attracting recruits and support services, solutions to youth crime, full free movement among Barbados, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, and Dominica and Barbados’ readiness to accept new residents, the Prime Minister’s Cup football tournament and its impact on youth development and the overall conditions of Barbados infrastructure.
De Peiza, in expanding on some of the issues and questions raised by Thorne, Alleyne and Fanus noted that, “any nation that is building itself – and I am satisfied that we are still under construction, has to keep a critical eye on what is the next step of development.
“This is my main criticism of the present administration. They are very much into the now. You will have a fete because that gives us instant euphoria. They are interested in popularity. It does not have anything to do with what the country needs to set itself for in the future.”
She said Barbados’ education system should become responsive and open minded as to what is education and that it did not mean removing academic achievement.
“We need to be [credited for] achievement . . . someone should be entitled to a Barbados scholarship/exhibition on their skill,” she added.
Addressing the recent launch of the free movement initiative, De Peiza said
the suggestion by Minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams to Bajans if they can’t get work locally they could go to the other member states was more like exiling Barbadians.
“Whilst Barbados entered that free movement agreement in order to say whosoever will come, the other three territories have made it very clear that is not their aim. If you can’t show that you can support yourself . . . and not be a burden on their social services, they have articulated in no uncertain terms that they are not for prospecting,” she said, adding there was no assurance the migrants would participate in the National Insurance Scheme.
“A sign saying ‘go to the Labour Department’ is cute but not effective,” said De Peiza.
She also said Government was trying to align Barbados’ local reality to what takes place internationally.
“The leadership should be spending the time fixing the issues at home. You cannot be flaming on the outside, driving a fantastic sports car and parking it next to a shack. That is where Barbados is at. The props on the house called Barbados are sagging. Our social framework needs shoring up. Our society is showing all the cracks; they are not being pulled together by anything anymore. Look at our roads, our transport system, our health, our social safety net. With those in tatters, we invite others in and tell our own to go somewhere else.”
De Peiza said a priority should be on programmes that support young people to give them a place in the society. (JS)
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