Democratic Labour Party (DLP) candidate for St Philip West, Dr David Estwick has charged that the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) is solely responsible for driving up the cost of living through its tax policies, threatening citizens’ constitutional rights through proposed legislation, and undermining the agricultural sector.
The former member of parliament further maintained that Barbadians will continue to suffer if the Mia Mottley-led administration is returned to office.
While speaking at the DLP’s national rally at Independence Square on Sunday night, Estwick placed responsibility for rising prices squarely on government taxation, arguing that fiscal measures introduced since the BLP took office had placed a disproportionate burden on ordinary Barbadians.
He pointed to increases in land tax, fuel levies and utility charges, warning that these costs were inevitably passed on to consumers.
“That is why these prices are where they are. And it will continue,” Estwick told the crowd, as he described the cumulative effect of higher diesel prices, water rates and new levies as pressure on households and businesses.
He also raised strong objections to what he described as an expanding tax net affecting daily life, including overseas purchases and essential services.
Estwick contended that these measures had reduced people’s ability to meet basic needs.
“When they increase the taxes on the things that you buy, it means that your money that you make on a weekly or monthly basis cannot spread as far as it did before,” he explained.
Turning to legislation, Estwick criticised the Trident ID system, the Cybercrime Bill and wiretapping provisions, warning that they posed serious risks to constitutional rights and civil liberties.
On the Trident ID, he argued that citizens should not be required to obtain a new identification document to access rights they already possess.
“The Constitution of Barbados gives you rights as citizens. You can’t bring no legislation to give me what I had when I was born,” Estwick said.
He described the Cybercrime Bill as “a blatant and rude affront on the democratic rights of you”, claiming it threatened freedom of speech and expression.
Estwick was particularly critical of provisions allowing telephone interception without judicial oversight, saying, “There’s a spot in that legislation that you can tap people’s phone without a court order from a judge. We must not allow that to happen.”
The former Minister of Agriculture also took aim at policies he said were failing the sector.
He criticised increases in water rates for farmers under the land lease programme, which he said rose from 60 cents per cubic metre to $1.80 before being reduced to $1, and warned that the metering of plantation wells would further increase production costs.
Estwick argued that such measures forced farmers to raise prices on produce, while government support for importing cheaper food threatened local production.
He also criticised the handling of the sugar industry, saying it had been “brought on its deathbed” by the administration’s policies.
Estwick cited government decisions allowing the importation of foreign sugar, the termination of local production arrangements with Coop Energy arguing that these actions undermined local production and threatened the livelihoods of farmers.
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