Budget Presentation

Mr Speaker, I rise in support of the Financial Statement and Budgetary Proposals presented by Hon. David Thompson, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. These proposals Sir can be described as revolutionary in that for the first time in over 15 years we saw a concerted attempt by a government to bring relief and provide support to those sections of society unable to defend themselves. Furthermore, Mr Speaker there is a concerted attempt to ensure that we reposition the Barbados economy to provide more stability and resilience against the vagaries of the future. The government has to be commended for the bold new initiative in dealing with the difficult economic circumstances facing Barbados. In essence, the budget can be labelled as a people’s budget because it seeks to provide support to the disadvantaged in society. It will call for sacrifice but it seeks to redistribute the society’s wealth to assist those who are unable to defend themselves against the difficult economic circumstances.

Mr Speaker I am also expressing disappointment with the approach being taken by the opposition in this debate and it was no more personified than in the approach taken by the Leader of the Opposition in what was a failed, untidy and inept effort to reposition blame for the current and future difficulties that the country is likely to face. There is an attempt to scare the Barbadian public and make them believe that the Democratic Labour party is solely responsible for the current events taking place in our society. Instead of recognising and admitting that the inability of this country to effectively channel resources to deal with the current challenges is due to the squander mania engaged in by the Barbados Labour Party. The fact that this was done at the expense of the people does not make them shudder either because this is the kind of people who we had in charge of the affairs of Barbados. They pampered to the fancies of the rich at the expense of the legitimate rights and expectations of the poor.

Sir I also want to say that in the Honourable Member’s address constant reference was made to the EPA’s and the fact that the government is failing to prepare business for its onslaught. Mr Speaker, they are saying this because they know what they have done. They know that they have negotiated away under the EPAs some of the sovereign rights of the people of this country. One in particular is the right to determine the kind of policies that would further this country’s development and yet they come in here giving the impression that they are the most socialistic in orientation. Furthermore, sir they give the impression that the DLP is prepared to go along with whatever is there. Sir the Democratic labour Party is not the one who all through the negotiations seemed too enamoured and somewhat in love with the free market philosophy. Sir I want to refer to the issue of land here and it is not the Democratic Labour party that said that land should be sold at its highest economic value and then proceeded to put this country’s precious land space on the World Wide Web for whoever may come without the commensurate safeguards. Sir and note when we try to do something about it even now they are resistant because they are speaking for those interests who have benefitted in large measure from it.

I want Mr Speaker to address the issue of roads and would want to voice my support to the decision to terminate the services of SSS Inc. You only have to drive along the highway and observe the new arrangements for the movement of traffic and one must come to the conclusion that no attention was paid to the interests of those who live in the surrounding area and Barbadians in general. It would seem that every attempt was made to introduce the most expensive innovation because those responsible were given a virtual blank cheque. The clear proof of this is the concrete barriers which have been placed to separate the lanes moving in opposite directions along the highway when there could have been more aesthetically pleasing solutions. It would be interesting to know the cost of each of these ugly monstrosities. Sir, the taxpayers of this country deserve better than this and clearly the decision to conduct a full investigation of the &lquo;sordid mess&rquo; is validated based on the immense amount of money involved. And then they have the gall speak about the people’s interest sir, the people’s interest was betrayed by those responsible for the project.

Sir all this was done at a time when there are other roads in this country which were and still are suffering for lack of attention. In the constituency of St Michael West Central, Seclusion Gardens is crying out for attention sir, when you drive on that road it takes you back in time and I would want to encourage the relevant Minister to examine the possibility of using the money saved from ridding ourselves of SSS and provide the residents of Seclusion Gardens with a decent road. Sir it does not finish there, there are some sections of Fairfield Road that require the insertions of drains and also sidewalks, again the money saved from the wasteful and wanton expenditure could be utilised to address these issues. Sir these are the kind of projects that DLP intends to undertake to demonstrate the fact that it is interested in people centred initiatives.

In addition, I wish to applaud the initiative in relation to education, the decline in the standards of discipline in schools has been noted, hence, support must be given to the decision to place children on their way to their respective schools to be placed in a more disciplined environment. Sir, I would like to encourage the Prime Minister to go further and ensure that the standards of behaviour on even the Public Transport buses are of a high standard. The reason is that that we may be bringing a lawless element from the mini buses to the Transport Board buses. Hence the government may wish to consider introducing regulations to make sure that penalties for inappropriate behaviour on the buses are put into place if they are not already in place because discipline must be a hallmark of our society.

Sir I do not believe that the move to free transport of the buses is fully appreciated. Sir there are households in my constituency where children are unable to attend schools because they cannot afford to go. And if we can reduce the cost of educating a child for a parent what is wrong with that? Moreover, we know the damage to families that gambling and the consumption of alcohol is doing in our society so what is wrong with using the proceeds of these endeavours to uplift the moral fabric of our society. Sir the Democratic labour Party should make no apologies. The residents of SMWC would be grateful for the one child minimum benefit per year of $400 and two child benefit per year of $750.00.

The following proposals are worthy of support:

• Improvements in the physical plant are essential, sir vandalism is having an impact on schools like Lawrence T Gay and there should be stiffer measures introduced to deal with these. Sir there is some schools which cannot afford certain basic facilities and programs.
• Provision of more special teachers for special children, this is a crying need Mr Speaker. There are too many children slipping through the cracks that we need to give a leg up.
• Increasing the loan limit for the Student Revolving Loan Fund.
• The removal of the need for sureties, sir there is a student in my constituency who has been offered a partial football scholarship and he cannot obtain it because of the fact that he needs financial assistance. I am sure that the change which has been made by the Ministry of Finance would assist this young man, in respect of the need for a surety. This is one of the difficulties for many students who come from families with poor family backgrounds. Let us say thanks to the Minister of Finance and Prime Minister for that especially when we note that the terms and conditions on the loan have been made more generous. For instance, the extension of the repayment period and the extension for the repayment on interest. These are bold steps to assist the disadvantaged to acquire higher education.
• Bus fares are not going to be increased sir, can you believe it? Is this an uncaring government that is not cushioning Barbadians against the impact of fuel price increases?
• Increase in the rate from $25 to $35 for 3,000 children receiving grants from the welfare department.
• Severely disabled would receive $116 per week from September 1st, 2008 previously $96.
• The minimum contributory pension is being increased from $119 to $142 per week from Sep1.
• Non contributory old age pensions are being increased to $116.00 per week.

The provision of camps during the school vacations for school children is a positive step because those children who have parents that cannot afford the cost of camp fees are left to their own devices and can be lead astray. This, I believe can have positive benefits for children once the camps are properly organised and interesting activities can be found for the children. I would however, want to encourage the government to seek to incorporate persons in communities who have been offering summer courses. This sir could assist in ensuring that those persons who have special skills that they have been using over the years can continue to do so. In addition, it would be appropriate to encourage the ethic of self help in communities and assist in empowering individuals in communities. Hence, I am asking the National Summer Camp Programme to embrace those in the community who already provide such services because these programs can make a difference to our young people.

In the matter of the introduction of new enterprises to the food distributions sector in Barbados, I will appeal to the government to exercise much care in how we do it sir. We must be careful that in attempting to solve the problems of high prices that we do not compromise local businesses that are trying to do their best to keep prices down. I must add sir that many of these international market chains that want to come in to Barbados have no affinity with the local productive sectors and this can easily frustrate the legitimate aspirations of Barbadian businesses. These imported businesses merely serve as conduits for goods and services produced in their country of origin or utilise products and services which are produced by businesses in countries that utilise child labour. What we do not want for ourselves let us not ask of others. Sir, I now want to deal with the substantive topic of my presentation that is agriculture, to say that agriculture constitutes a pivotal element of the program for economic development in this country. This is unlike the previous administration where agriculture was literally disrespected, paid no attention and it would appear to be the verdict of most agriculturalists a concerted attempt was made to dismantle it. Sir, in my period of association with the agriculture sector the Minister from the other side who perhaps showed the greatest understanding of the sector was the Honourable Member for St James North however, it seems he was not doing the biddings of the master and he was soon shifted. He did not read the script. Since then, the sector has been visited by Ministers who have largely been out of touch with the sector; let it be clear the agricultural sector has not been well treated by the Barbados Labour Party. Under them, agricultural institutions closed, under the Democratic Labour Party, we are giving new life and new responsibilities to institutions such as the BADMC and BAMC. I therefore want to complement the government and also recognise that they are showing tangible financial support for agricultural institutions.

The following initiatives must be noted:

• Government will guarantee loans to a total amount of $15 million to BAMC and BADC to provide an additional 10 acres of greenhouse, shade house, tunnels, irrigation systems for modern agriculture and for packing houses and systems, cooling rooms and vehicles for transporting produce. This investment will provide the facilities for those interested and trained in modern agriculture and distribution of crops.
• Government will guarantee a loan for the financing of a $16 million project for Drainage and Irrigation Water Storage conducted at the River Plantation by the BADMC.

Sir, this clearly demonstrates that the agricultural sector is being taken seriously and not being dealt with in the same manner as the previous administration. I would want however, to encourage the government to examine and appreciate the role of Southern Meats abattoir in the development of the livestock industry. Sir under the Barbados labour party the livestock industry was seriously savaged when a decision was taken to jettison the government’s responsibility to provide an abattoir for the provision of adequate slaughtering facilities. Instead, following their free trade and neo liberal agenda they sought to involve the private sector in the provision of slaughtering facilities. Sir, it was a failure and they were eventually forced to take back up their responsibility. Sir, we should not make the same mistake as the Barbados labour Party did but recognise government’s role in the provision of adequate slaughtering facilities for our livestock industry.

There are other initiatives that are being done in the agricultural sector that cannot be dismissed.

An Agricultural Protection Bill is being drafted which will protect large areas of agricultural land and require the approval of parliament for the change of use of land areas of over 100 acres.

The agricultural information system will be re-established and improved to provide information at an early time on expected amounts of produce likely to be available from week to week.

The Government will be establishing a Pilot Project involving about thirty (30) farmers selected from among those in the BADMC’s irrigation districts across Barbados at a cost of $300,000.00.
The annual subvention currently provided to the 4-H organization will be increased from $100,000.00 to $200, 000.00 per year. The BAS has not been left out either.

The provision of farmers’ incentives up front.

Sir the previous administration did absolutely nothing to position the agricultural sector to be part of national economic strategy; the Democratic Labour Party is showing a difference.

The assistance of $4,000,000 to facilitate research into the use of cassava in animal feeds.

The assistance of $1,000,00 being given to the cotton industry for market research.

The increase in annual tax rates on vehicles will impact heavily on the agricultural sector in that the increase in the annual registration rates apply to both off road vehicles also such as tractors. Sir I would like to ask the Prime Minister to re-examine since it would blend well with the strategic approaches being undertaken by the government in respect of tractors.