Denis Kellman’s Column – THE DEBATE

February 5, 2006

The last week has caused me to reflect and to ponder on decisions taken against me. I have given serious consideration to the actions taken against me by officials of the party for whom I have given up so much. I was forced to ponder on the implications for the party was I a weak link and had broken ranks with the DLP, what would have happened to the party which the O’Neale family did so much to build.

The public of Barbados must ask some questions and seek answers on what really occurred in 2001. In 2001, I was accused of leaking information to the BLP because of my closeness to my cousin. The impression was given that I could not be trusted and that I had sold out my party. It is clear that they are persons who know that Lucy has given the DLP the first seat and seem bent on giving her the last. It is also clear that some persons still cherish their relationship with the Right Excellent Grantley Adams and still carry hatred for the O’Neale family.

I was relegated to the political dump as scrap iron, and a creature new to the party was elevated to a position that the Constitution did not allow. Attempts have been made twice to deselect me as a candidate. On one occasion the press was brought with TV cameras to capture the moment. I am still here fighting to uphold the Constitution and the philosophy of this great party and trying my best to keep it grounded in the O’Neale philosophy that has served this country so well.

I have seen men who judged me and said that the Prime Minister is my mentor, accepting contracts and asking favours from the same person.  These men stripped me naked and crucified me while forgiving the guilty ones and now we have the DNA results back, not even a sorry note. All sorts of excuses were used against me by persons who had to show respect to my parents, and the impression was given that I had no class by persons who should know better. I was left by the wayside to be defended by persons who should be attacking me, so fierce was the attack.

The past week has redeemed me, but I hope those who plotted to destroy can now live with their new bounty. All my life I have been plotted against, but one sure thing is that it has always made me a better person. I do not have to ask anybody to show me the people who made me their enemies, they do a good job at it. I carry no enemies, people make themselves enemies, because I do not see people as enemies but accept them.

A comrade said lately that some of my comrades have a problem with me speaking about my roots, but what is amazing that I do not hear the same said about the Mottleys, Millers, Adams, Symmonds and the Arthurs, so why the O’Neales must be a problem?

It is said in Lucy’s territory that we are good at being Deputies and that is why we had so many Deputies. Some have stated that we have a way of stopping our own from elevating.

The Democratic Labour Party must stop ignoring its true and tested servants at the expense of known BLP supporters, and when this is done, we will be able to accept difference of opinion again. It is not too late for us to solve the problem, because we do not have to match the BLP.  Mr. Arthur matched us in 1994 and won. The Public of Barbados wants the DLP and not the BLP and we should stop trying to be like them. The public of Barbados says that the BLP is for the rich and foreign people, but they see us as the party that will be for all. We are seen as the party which understands that workers create capital and that capital creates work for workers.

One week has elapsed since the delivery of the Budget and we have not seen any critical analysis of the Budget or the responses to the Budget. Every year after the Budget, we hear how good it is, only to hear later that the sectors are not performing even though they claim that everything is well.

Our country is being run on old policies and these policies are not productive. Should we continue to carry on these policies, this country will continue to mix up current expenditure with long term expenditure and there will be no continuity.

This country does not have a revenue problem, but a foreign exchange problem. The revenue problem can be solved over night by our control, but foreign exchange must be earned. Once foreign exchange is earned, then revenue is created.

Barbadians must be told that foreign exchange is needed to buy foreign goods and the only way we can solve our problems is by producing more. This country has a serious current account problem and a serious foreign debt problem and we must double our capacity to deal with this problem. We in this country have allowed economic policies to destroy our foreign exchange earning capacity, by believing that when we convert a hotel to condos, that we are increasing our foreign exchange earning capacity. If we are serious about one shot foreign exchange capacity, we must allocate virgin land for this. The savior of tourism is community tourism where people take vacant living space and convert to marketable space to increase foreign exchange without large foreign exchange outlays.

For years, I have asked this Government to buy in to the savings of returning nationals by giving them a rate higher that what they are receiving elsewhere. This idea, if it had been implemented would have seen a significant impact on our foreign reserves, because we would have had an inflow of foreign reserves without the matching expense of interest in foreign currency, but in local currency.

The believe that by giving returning nationals foreign currency accounts would encourage them to bring home their accounts is a big joke. The same way we go after foreign investment by providing incentives, we should be proud of doing it for our returning nationals. Returning nationals must be seen as more valuable than a return on a long term investment. They provide the cheapest form of foreign exchange. When this Government understands the true reason for Free Secondary Education, then this point will be appreciated and labour will finally be accepted as a necessary input in the development of the country. The DLP knows of Human Capital and what we regard as Real Capital, and that is why we have a comprehensive approach to development.

This country needs a serious dose of medicine and this medicine cannot be given on a piecemeal basis, but must be given in full dosage to the patient to revive the patient or by the time all the medicine has been given to the patient, the patient will still be sick and all the medicine would have been administered.

Recently, I have been able to talk to a man whom I have always admired, who has demonstrated how you can start small and still fight among the greatest. This gentleman knows that he is great, but he does not know how many people he has influenced. He should therefore stop, reflect and get to know who is best to live his dream. We in Barbados, who have fought hard to live the dream, must do everything to demonstrate that it is not a miss hit, but an opening of opportunities for like minds in other fields.

Love, peace, unity, humility, truth, wisdom and understanding.

(Denis Kellman is the Member of Parliament for St. Lucy, Barbados)