Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler advised Barbadians one of the reasons government introduced the controversial solid waste tax was to repay several millions owed to Sustainable Barbados Recycling Centre (SBRC). The man behind SBRC is Bizzy Williams recently confirmed on national radio government still owes about 30 million dollars. BU is forced to ask government how much revenue has the solid waste tax generated so far Minister?
At the mention of solid waste tax BU must also ask the government what is the status of the Cahill Waste to Energy project. It is unbelievable our government has publicly voiced its commitment to a major project which will use ‘young’ technology and feel no pressure to satisfactorily apprise the citizenry of pertinent details about the project, for example, environmental impact assessment, the capacity of the country to sustain an adequate garbage supply and the list goes on.
The docility of Barbadians given the lack of outrage to government’s veil of secrecy and lack of transparency makes one question if we live in a democracy. In contrast we read about officials in a Southern Chinese town last week forced to cancelled plans to build an incinerator after mass protests. Bear in mind China is a communist country where public protests are more often than not forcefully suppressed.
Here is a quote from the BBC report China incinerator plan cancelled after protests :
The BBC’s Martin Patience in Beijing says China’s middle class is increasingly aware of the huge environmental cost of breakneck development, and authorities are facing growing opposition when they propose to build industrial plants close to cities or towns. According to reports, Luoding officials had planned to build an incinerator that would burn 300 tonnes of rubbish a day in Langtang town, which comes under the city’s jurisdiction.
If Donville Inniss and cohorts can piously demand from the citizenry the need to observe a moral code that is respectful of fellow citizens, the citizenry can also demand from our politicians they tell the TRUTH. In fact the voice of the people who elected politicians to serve should have greater currency.
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