NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER Quintessential BLP, Barbados It bears repeating, as some seem to have forgotten - and particularly as most institutions seem to be lost in a fog about their purpose - the BLP was founded to defend and ameliorate the lives of suffering Barbadians. In 75 glorious years as the longest and most illustrious political institution in the region, that imperative has remained unassailable and sacred. Today, that mission is still the heart of the BLP. Incredibly, as a result of six years of DLP destruction, dismantling of all that Barbados was built on, and riding roughshod over citizens; this mission of the BLP is as vital now as it was in the darkest days of Barbados history in the 1930s. It is a duty from which the BLP will never resile. History will record, as it has thus far, that in their time of need, the BLP stood in the breech for the people of Barbados. The battering by the DLP has been so comprehensively unrelenting and noxious that with a mountain of stark evidence staring Barbadians in their faces; individuals and institutions traditionally relied on to maintain balance, punch drunk, have either been rendered irrelevant or cannot find the balls to face the facts, as politics trumps country and everyone scrambles to survive as the DLP end game plays on. In a nation turned upside down, unions cheery pick which of their members to represent and act in masquerade after massive terminations in which the Government may not only have broken the law, but, characteristically, cannibalised its own process for sending home public workers. The BLP, which started unionism in Barbados, as the rest of Barbados, is flabbergasted that a union could, in the face of plain violations of laws and protocols, be somersaulting to maintain a martyred stance of not a move against the Government, while its members are slaughtered. The anguished cries of Transport Board workers who have sought solace and recourse in the BLP, a fraction of the mourning of vicious job cuts; are enough an indictment of the unions approach to six years of eroding of peoples livelihoods and Governments final solution. The bluster by union leaders belittled and floundering having stood by while the DLP plundered Barbados. Meanwhile, as the orgy of inconsequential words desperately seeking relevance after the fact continues, the country under the DLP keeps on bleeding internally and rotting from the outside. The private sector makes clear it cannot assuage the hemorrhaging of a non performing economy by hiring; educationists like Pedro Welch warns of a return to the 1950s and education only for the privileged few. The BLP continues to expose the abject incompetence of the Government as so clinically dissected by Colonel Jeffrey Bostic in relation to the $30 million IDB loan which, only if the DLP were capable, would have transformed the lives of hundreds in depressed areas of the City of Bridgetown and one in St. Thomas. The Estimates will be yet another proving ground for DLP. Expect more of the same – fiction, confusion, illogical decisions, a lack of growth strategy and eventual failure. With thousands being terminated and the economy further depressed, Welfare is cut. No sense. Education, the staple of Barbados development, cut. Government continues to ignore the imperatives of investing in this area, even the foreign exchange earning capacity of UWI, Polytechnic and other aspects of education. This will set Barbados back further. More cuts to Health. That the DLP continues along this road is indicative of a group lacking in common sense, inhumane and immune to the most basic requirements of its citizens. Debt service goes up by $121 million. Are the taxpayers expected to pay for this? On the back-breaking combination of high cost of living, no raises for four years, hours and days cuts? Against this background, the BLP is even more convinced of its role, which it has never lost sight of in the onslaught of attacks against its leader Mia Mottley or DLP policy of threats, ignoring and wearing the people down. The BLP knows it has done its duty to Barbados by exposing of DLP incompetence, fighting for various sectors of society especially in the last year when the Government could no longer hold back the raging tide of its economic tidal wave, holding the hands of businesses and workers through Rubbing Shoulders and by providing forums for Barbadians to speak to the calamity of the DLP and offer solutions through the Peoples Assemblies. It will stand and be counted with those who have had the courage to speak against the many and continuing wrongs of the Government. Call it political. Well, thats our job. Say that we are in a hurry to see a change in approach and execution. The circumstances demand urgency. Say Mia Mottley is doing too much. She has to - no one in the DLP is doing anything. The BLP will not retreat from its position that sheer DLP politics and ineptitude caused the economic avalanche engulfing Barbados and that hard working Barbadians should not be slaughtered on the altar of DLP fatted calf politics; neither will the BLP surrender its job, what its members were elected to do, to fight for a better Barbados. The fight for right against might continues. FIGHTER FOR THE POOR, BLP, BDOS With the passing of BLP stalwart, Lionel Seymour Lammie Craig, the BLP and Barbados has lost one of the very few remaining members of The Great Combination, forged with steel in the politics of the 1960s and a member of the JMGM Tom Adams Cabinet, a watershed period in Barbados history. A dynamic personality, virtuoso speaker, dapper dresser and irrepressible personality, Lammie, as he was fondly called, was a no-holds barred BLP loyalist who represented what is now St. James North for 20 years. The virtuoso speaker and dapper dresser, an insurance executive before becoming a Cabinet Minister in the Tom Adams Government from 1976, Sir Lammie was an unshakable BLP force. A dynamic, platform speaker, in short time he racked up a superior record as Minister of Housing. During his tenure, the Plantation Tenantries Freehold Act was passed; today it remains one of the most significant pieces of social engineering legislation in Barbados history. Another major Craig initiative was the removal of residents from Springhead, St, James who were living without any of the basic amenities to Sion Hill in a sites and services programme that transformed their lives. Other projects included housing at Lammings, St. Joseph and Passage Road, St. Michael; Haynesville and Bagatelle extensions, St. James; Ferniehurst and Rosemont, St. Michael; Wotton, Christ Church and West Terrace and Oxnards, St. James. Lionel also served as Leader of Government Business and acted as Prime Minister. Outspoken and unshakable in his love of the BLP, up to the last election Lammies interest in, and support of, the BLP never wavered. He was accorded a national honour, the Companion of Honour of Barbados, (CHB), in 2010. With his passing, at 85, the BLP has lost another dedicated and defining personality, diehard supporter and important link with the past. Our deepest condolences are extended to his wife, Tracey, daughter and remaining son. RIP, Lammie Craig. Yours was a life of devotion to St. James North, the BLP and Barbados. HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND v The St James South branch invites you to a meeting this Saturday March 15, 2014 7.15 – 9.30 p.m at Tall Boy’s Shop, Haynesville, St James. Speakers Rev. Wayne Kirton and Sandra Husbands. v The Christ Church West Branch of the Barbados Labour Party will be holding a branch meeting this Sunday March 16, 2014 at Arthur Smith Primary School. The Guest Speaker will be Kerrie Symmonds, M.P and the meeting starts at 4.30 p.m. v The St. Michael West Branch of the Barbados Labour Party will be holding a branch meeting this Sunday March 16, 2014 at the Constituency Office, Advent House, Bank Hall, St. Michael at 4.30 p.m. v The St. Michael East Branch of the Barbados Labour Party will be holding a branch meeting this Sunday March 16, 2014 at the St. Giles Primary School. The Guest Speaker will be Fielding Bann and the meeting starts at 4.30 p.m.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 16:01:11 +0000
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