Submitted by Anthony Davis
“Nearly a month before a section of the road at White Hill, St. Andrew was extensively damaged by heavy rains, Government had already completed five houses at Farmers, St. Thomas, for relocation of residents whose houses had been threatened by soil slippage. Additionally, Government had plans to offer a grant of $25,000 to assist the affected home owners in relocating” – Barbados Today
Firstly, I would like to ask three simple questions.
1) How come “the matter was subject of an October 30 Cabinet Paper“, and Minister of Transport and Works, Michael Lashley, never mentioned it when he stated in an interview with Barbados TODAY on page 10 of that paper dated 26 November, 2014: “Certainly this road will have to be abandoned; it is dangerous”?
2) Why was the Cabinet Paper stuck in Cabinet for so long?
3) Was Cabinet waiting for a miracle?
I have always heard that a stitch in time saves nine, so Government has only itself to blame. It is all well and good to talk about relocation, but what about the logistics?
Will the residents be ferried out by helicopter?
Even if they were, what about the contents of their houses?
How near will furniture removal trucks be able to get to the residences?
Will you use sky crane helicopters to get out the furniture, or will you put it on the backs of donkeys or mules to get it to a safe place where the trucks can take over?
Don’t forget that Arlington Murray said that they are cut off from the rest of Barbados!
The problem is that you make plans, but many of them are not executed. I guess that the $25, 000 were the main problem, because the Minister of Finance has to sign off on that. He does not have any comment to make about the high-end SUVs that were recently bought, but he would balk at giving the residents of White Hill $25, 000 to help them with their relocation.
If it was for the always “soon ready to start again” “All Seasons” he would have found it – even if he “borrowed” it from the NIS Funds. That is our “people-centred” Government’s mantra. The poor, the needy and the vulnerable in our society can wait till the cows come home before they are looked after, whereas the rich, the famous, and the bigoted get what they want in a flash. Usually, in such a case, the head of the Government visits the area to assess the damage for himself, and to listen to the woes of the residents. In the mean time, the Prime Minister jets off once again!
As former Prime Minister, Owen Arthur, was wont to say: “That is unconscionable.”
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