CRITICISMS NOT WELL PLACED
BARBADOS ADVOCATE - DENIS KELLMAN’S COLUMN- THE DEBATE (15/05/04)
The decision to appoint a Deputy Leader of the Opposition came under criticism lately by Mr. Ezra Alleyne, who for some good reason ignored that there is no provision in the Constitution for a Deputy Prime Minister, far less the two persons the present Government is currently paying the salary commiserate with the duties of a Deputy.
His party might claim that they have a Deputy and a Senior Minister. The point must be made that these positions are not part of the Constitution but would have been done by the Statue.
We could have avoided this blunder if my letter dated January 14, 2004 was allowed to be discussed by the rank and file of the party. Furthermore, when the Parliament of Barbados sought to legitimize the position and salary scale of Senior Minister, I tried to use the occasion to legitimize the position of Deputy Leader of the Opposition by asking Parliament to account for the position of Deputy. The Government of the day took all the benefits for themselves and ignored the request for a Deputy for the Leader of Opposition.
Lately, I wrote about the power of the parliamentary Group and this power has been given by the framers of our new Constitution, which was severely criticized by persons who at the time did not read it fully.
The section I now refer to is section 50, which gives the Political Leader his power, which cannot be gotten from the constitution of the country, This section must be respected by all persons and once followed will make the Democratic Labour Party a superior party to others.
I have repeated said to other persons that this section allows our great party to have control over its parliamentary group and could only be diluted if members confused their constitutional authority with their political authority.
Criticism should be withdrawn
The criticism of the party by Ezra Alleyne needs to be withdrawn, because section 50 deals with the appointment of a Deputy Political Leader and it is not fair for him to lay blame at the feet of this great party.
This criticism of the party continued on Tuesday when the Prime Minister of Barbados, who happens to be the parliamentary representative for St. Peter and my only neighbor, accused the Democratic Labour Party of depriving his constituents of “Windows to the Sea”. Two areas were mentioned- one south of Speightstown and one north. This debate I was able to listen to while driving to Parliament and I realized that no one took on the Prime Minister.
When I arrived I heard the Prime Minister telling the members present that they were not guilty of the charge and they should not get involved in the discussion.
I kept asking myself if no one knew about the Port St. Charles debate where the residents of St. Lucy and St. Peter were denied of a long stretch of beach from Almond beach to Sir Oliver’s house to the north. The beach I speak of is the property of Port St. Charles, which was separated by a public road, as was the case of Almond Beach.
This right was replaced by a beach section to the north, the same thing that occurred when Almond Beach took control of the old road to make its property secure. This procedure was followed by Port St. Charles.
I must state that whenever I complained to the owners about any difficulty my constituents encountered, they readily sought to resolve the problem, even if it meant pushing back boulders 40 feet to gain greater access to the beach between Almond Beach and its property.
I have always said that owners of land, especially those who are foreign to the land, should accommodate customs of the land while at the same time seeking to protect their property rights.
During the same debate, I was accused by a member of the Government side of selling property in St. James to a “white man”, a complete untruth, since the only parishes in which I own land are St. Lucy and St. Thomas. I have no problem with “white people” and believed that they are entitled to own land too.
I have written lately about the neglect of the second town known to us in the north. This Government seemed interested in replacing it through the massive work occurring in the Warrens area. For years, I have been calling on Government to locate Government offices to the north at Speightstown, which has not occurred as yet, but they are able to build their biggest office complex some 23 years after building the Central Bank at a much higher cost.
What is needed in the Speightstown area is a large car park which should be located in the Sand Street area of land to be reclaimed. Speightstown is shared by us in the north and that is why when I called for the cricket complex in the north, it is not for St. Lucy, but for the development of the country.
Politicians must stop believing that the electorate is not capable of processing data after 43 years of free secondary education. They must understand that they are dealing with people who are not interested in negativity or how bright one is, but how that person relates to them understand their needs, and has a record of doing something about their plight.
The problem facing the electorate now is not whether they know the behavior of the Barbados Labour Party, but it is, if the Democratic Labour Party members understand the needs of the electorate and have the solutions to remove them from financial decay to prosperity.
(Denis Kellman is the Member of parliament for St. Lucy, Barbados)