Address on the Opening of the Branch Office of St Michael West Central

Good Evening Constituents of St Michael West Central and visitors, it is indeed a pleasure to address you this evening on the occasion of the formal opening of my modest but strategically important branch office. I remember that on the first occasion that I spoke to you at one of the branch meetings I then outlined what I thought to be the critical issues for the constituency. This branch office presents a tangible opportunity to be used in their fulfilment and will be so used. In addition, it is the means to the concretization of the initiatives which I intend to advance in a very deliberate way as a candidate and eventually as the elected representative for the people of St Michael West Central. In this regard I would wish to ask God for the strength to do his will in serving the people, because the road I know would be challenging.

The Democratic Labour Party has always put people at the centre of its development initiatives. It is important that we remind ourselves that our strides as a people were accomplished as a result of the strategies pursued under previous Democratic Labour party administrations. Let us examine two initiatives and the extent to which they have influenced the development of this country. The first one is education and this was done ensuring that each child was able to acquire education free. The second one is the health services where every effort was made to ensure that every Barbadian had access to health care. These two initiatives were revolutionary in their time and represented the bedrock upon which this country was launched into a growth path.

Today we see very subtle attempts to undermine free education and health services in this country and this existing administration must accept the blame for the deterioration in this country’s health care. The current situation at the University of the West Indies should not be ignored, because while we hear a graduate for every household, the cost of a university education is being jacked up. In this way we are reducing the likelihood of poor people being able to afford a University Education.

In addition, the deterioration in the education plant is also glaring. The many children leaving school with poor language skills must be a matter of concern to many parents and we are hearing too much the familiar phrase that this child is a slow learner. There are too many instances of children coming through the primary school system without a basic foundation in respect of the three r’s. The education system has failed these children who are dropping through the cracks. It is our job to save them from this present administration which seems bent on perpetuating a system which has outlived its time.

One of the greatest precursors to progress is change because in human history it is inevitable. There are those who would want to stand in its way but I assure you that it is not possible to resist it. Change yes can and will bring progress in respect of St Michael West Central and we must not be afraid to embrace it. We must manage it in a manner to ensure that we derive benefits from the change. As I go through the constituency listening to the various concerns of residents it is obvious that we need to move people to the point where they feel empowered to do things to ameliorate the conditions under which they live. People do not need to settle for anything and be treated as if they have no choice. Empowerment of communities must therefore be an important initiative in the Democratic Labour Party’s strategy to develop them.

Empowerment means providing people in communities with the necessary skills and resources to enable them to deal with life’s challenges. My own definition if you please. This would therefore require the development of special programs like for instance a READ program which I intend to launch as a means of enhancing the skills of young children of primary school age. This program would target the very young in the first instance and progressively work its way to persons of more advanced ages. Reading must become the national pastime if we are to equip ourselves with the skills to cope with the challenges of the 21st century. In this regard, I would be counting on the cooperation of the parents in the constituency to move the program forward. Ladies and gentlemen, help us to help you and give credence to the notion that "no child must be left behind".

I truly believe that we are giving too many of our kids reason to believe that they cannot succeed and achieve the good things in life by dint of effort. Too many of them are prepared to believe that things would fall into their lap or their parents might get lucky and win the lotto. This present administration is encouraging a culture of mendicancy that is permeating every single fibre of our society. The days when we were our brother’s keeper seems to be resembling a distinct notion of the past. Instead we have the grab grab culture which seems to have become entrenched and is part of the modus operandi of this present administration and their satellites.

Ladies and gentlemen St Michael West Central deservedly is a community which has a long and distinguished tradition of Democratic Labour Party representatives that have been the epitomy of good virtues. In this regard I remember the now deceased Hon. Lawson Weekes who was a giant of a man and had a very humble nature serving the people. In contrast it seems that the other side always throw up those who are so steeped in the mores of the grab grab culture that they gorge themselves and indulge in excesses. The problem that the other side face is that they are beginning to feed upon themselves all in the effort to preserve the status quo at the expense of the people.

An area that is of critical importance to the residents of St Michael Central is health. This constituency has aging residents who are in need of affordable and accessible health care. Ladies and gentlemen the representative has failed in ensuring that the government provides residents in this constituency with adequate health care. I see people in this constituency who have been waiting on operations for one reason or another, some over one year while we take this country’s scarce financial resources and waste it on pet projects designed to enrich those who can well look after themselves. Ladies and gentlemen the primary objective of a government should be to look after those who are least able to look after themselves. It seems that today we are committed to and more interested in satisfying the expectations of foreign investors and big business through a neo liberal approach than ensuring the interests of Barbadians are looked after.

In this regard, I wish to state emphatically that if it is the desire of the present government to utilise our land to satisfy the short term objectives of big business and foreign investors say so. Do not come with the ridiculous suggestion that Barbadians should feel enamoured and enthused when you are told that you can go to Guyana and get farmland at $5.00 an acre. I did not know that Barbadians expressed a wish to be resettled. Furthermore, I would strongly advise government not to use this as a pretext to continue the systematic alienation of agricultural land. This latest nonsense is an admission on the part of government that they have a failed land policy.

Ladies and gentlemen since being nominated as a candidate I must tell you that I have been doing my work in earnest to recapture this seat for the Democratic labour party. The report card is good I have been able to make contact with at least 85% of the households in the area but the work continues. We shall not slacken, let us all commit ourselves to providing the people of Barbados with a viable alternative. Let us dare to think that we are masters of our own destiny and servants of no one let us believe in ourselves and in our abilities to resolve in our own fashion our problems. Ladies and gentlemen, the column by Richard Hoad in this weekend’s nation makes compulsory reading for every Barbadian who wants to promote good values to carry our country forward.

Let us not waver because there is a lot to be done, we must win back the government not for ourselves but for our children. The future is in our hands, let us make those decisions now. Ladies and gentlemen do not be afraid of change because the Democratic Labour Party has the talent, skills and leadership to carry the ship of state. Do not be intimidated by the naysayers those who say it can be done, we do not have to settle for the crumbs that fall off their table.

I thank you.