Submitted Kemar Stuart – New National Party (NNP)
In 2017 the BLP top brass almost destroyed Economist Ryan Straughn’s career prematurely after he delivered the Eighth Tom Adams Memorial Lecture, his statements provoked a serious political spanking when both Jeffrey Bostic and Jerome Walcott publicly roasted and distanced the BLP from comments Straughn made surrounding the privatization of Transport board at this lecture.
They even stated clearly that he was not speaking on behalf of the party. This was followed by a press conference hosted by the BLP general secretary to reaffirm the distance between Straughn’s opinion and the BLP’s plan. In 2025 Straughn’s opinion is now the BLP’s plan.
To quote Straughn “When will we recognise that Government does not have to own a bus to deliver subsidised fares for any of its citizens? Furthermore, I suggest that Government’s role in the 21st century should be as a strong regulator which would provide a much higher value of money for you the taxpayer than if we continue to maintain the current system as is.” – Ryan Straughn, Economist.
Fast forward to 2025 the BLP is privatizing transport board. I wonder what is the BLP general secretary Jerome Walcott and Jeffrey Bostic’s opinion on the privatization of transport board in light of the memo being circulated. Will we have a press conference with any affirmations?
NOT SO FAST – The Opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) has all but thrown rookie candidate Ryan Straughn under the bus for suggesting privatization of the Transport Board. Mere days after Member of Parliament for The City Jeffrey Bostic made it clear Straughn did not speak for the BLP on the issue, General Secretary Dr Jerome Walcott went further by hinting that the party’s candidate in Christ Church East Central still had a lot to learn.
Privatization of the Transport Board is a rather touchy subject with both the BLP and the governing Democratic Labour Party (DLP) going to great lengths in the last election to distance themselves from any suggestion that they would sell the loss-making entity.
Political pundits credit a television advertisement by the DLP claiming that the BLP would make pensioners pay bus fare as part of a privatization of the country’s transportation system, for the DLP’s victory. In the advert, a Transport Board bus pulls up at a stop and a woman, depicting a pensioner, boards and presents her identification to the driver, who advises her that the new Government had privatized the Transport Board, therefore both students and pensioners were required to pay the fare. A voice then warns that this is what will happen if the BLP is voted into office.
Clearly determined to avoid a repeat, the BLP is going out of its way to explain that it has no plans to place the Transport Board in the hands of the private sector, contrary to Straughn’s recommendation. In fact, Walcott today insisted that Straughn never explicitly called for privatization of the Transport Board. Delivering the eighth Tom Adams Memorial Lecture last Tuesday to a gathering of largely BLP supporters at the Barbados Workers’ Union headquarters, Straughn suggested that privatization of the transport system was the way to go and that Government should leave ownership of public transportation in the hands of the private sector. It was a question that clearly left the BLP’s top brass uncomfortable, not wishing to hand the struggling DLP an election issue on a platter. And even though Walcott insisted the Opposition party would not muzzle Straughn or any of its candidates, the recurring theme was that the young economist did not speak for the party on this issue. (BT)
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