Submitted by Heather Cole
I wrote an article which was carried in Barbados Today on October 2, 2015 entitled” Cahill Fiasco Catalyst for Change.” I had hoped back then that the momentum that was gaining strength daily would have been enough not only to cause the government to cancel the project but to announce a general election. However, that did not occur because the change that I was seeking was not swift. Although it has taken 8 months, I still believe that it is because of the public outcry against the Cahill Plant, as well as the fact the Plasma Gasification technology was rejected at the plant in Teesside, England that the Government of Barbados made a decision to cancel the project. The question that I am now seeking to answer is, what is the catalyst for the changes we are beginning to see?
Is it the weight of the No Confidence Motion against the Government by the Leader of the Opposition? Can we resolve that it has impacted the elected Democratic Labour Party more than they have allowed us to see? I have also thought that the catalyst for change may have had something to do with two clearly upset posts by Bizzy Williams as a respondent to an article on BU as well as the fact that he likes to spill his guts in lengthy discussions with the traditional media.
I do not believe that the spectacle we are currently witnessing regarding Mark Maloney has anything to do with the fore mentioned. He has constantly been in the public’s eyes from one scandal to the next. We all know too well the sins of Mark Maloney. He did not start flouting the Laws of Barbados last week. For seven long years he has been building an empire. We have watched him rise to become ruthless, vain and self-centered. He has even paraded his greatest sin right in front of our eyes. Amidst the agony of a mother’s grief, we watched him laugh when her child died due to his negligence. There has never been any remorse on his part and it is a clear indication that he does not care about any Barbadian.
Then we know of the sins of this government, too numerous to delve into as they would detract from the focus at hand except for one which is that the government has been the source of wealth for which Mr. Maloney claims as his success. Incidentally his success was funded by the taxpayers of Barbados. This attempt by the government to look good in the public’s eyes is by no means in the spirit of having an epiphany. One would expect that an epiphany would also bring the return of the finder fee for the Cahill Project, the renegotiation of the Coverley Agreement, Governments openness to upholding the law with regards to the tendering of contracts, the upholding of the laws and regulations of the Town and Country Planning Department as well as to providing information on the missing and unaccounted funds from the Treasury that were outlined in the just published 2015 Auditor General’s Report. Just as the Moyne Commission did not provide what the people really needed in the 1930’s, so too is the Government pacifying the people if it has indeed thrown Mr. Maloney under the bus.
This entire debacle has certainly given a new meaning to the adage “one day you are in and the next day you are out” It is hard to believe that after 5 years of doing nothing about the building on the Roundabout at Lears that the Chief Town Planner finally mustered the courage to get something done. What is perplexing, is that last year when a louder volume of public outcry about the cement plant being built next to the flour mill, nothing was done.
Perhaps it is the fact that he is constantly seen in a negative light in the public’s eye that the Government views him as a liability in the next election. Regardless to however one looks at what is unfolding now with Mark Maloney, it can only be labelled as bizarre. It is as though there has been a falling out between him and the DEMS or some other sinister matter that we will never get the details on but they have thrown him under the bus, leaving the Chief Town Planner to do the dirty work.
Mr. Maloney is no longer a happy camper. He is already spilling his guts in a rant claiming success by using the tax payers’ money and wanting the Chief Town Planner fired. Isn’t it on the Prime Minister’s request that Chief Town Planner acts? The only thing that seems clearer now is that the house of cards is now divided among itself is falling leaving one to wonder, when is election day?
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