Prime Minister Fruendel Stuart has defended the stewardship of his ruling Democratic Labor Party (DLP) as it prepares to face the electorate in a general election later this year.
Dealing with challenging economic situation
Stuart, who will lead the party into the second general election since taking over the leadership of the party following the death of former prime minister David Thompson in 2010, said the DLP has had to deal with a challenging global environment that has affected the socio-economic well-being of Barbadians. “For the last 10 years therefore we in Barbados have been running a country that has been in the heat of a global crisis,” he said as he brushed aside the promises being made by the main opposition Barbados Labor Party (BLP).
“The World Bank says the crisis is coming to an end for the first time,” the PM said, with a warning that “even though you are getting back to pre-crisis level for the first time in 2018, there’s no time for complacency because you could slip back into a low growth situation very easily.”
Stuart, who was speaking at a DLP meeting to endorse Labor Minister Dr. Esther Byer-Suckoo as the party’s candidate for the St. George South constituency, said it was necessary to invest more in physical and human resources.
DLP aiming to win all 30 seats
Stuart who said that the DLP would be going after all 30 seats in the general election, said contrary to what’s been suggested, his administration has been working assiduously to deal with the south coast sewage problem.
Last Friday, the government defended the island’s potable water supply after the United States Embassy here issued a statement indicating that recent tests at its residences “revealed bacteria at elevated levels in the tap water.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Maxine McClean and Minister of Health, John Boyce, speaking at a joint news conference insisted that water supply here is safe and meets the standards of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) drinking water guidelines.
In its statement, the US Embassy said as a precautionary measure, it is recommending to its staff to “boil their drinking water or use bottled water” and that it would continue to monitor the situation.
Speaking at a public meeting on the weekend, Housing and Lands Minister Denis Kellman thanked the Embassy for providing the “best ad” for the island’s drinking water supply.
“The best ad we ever received about our water was given by the American Embassy …You will never hear anybody say our water is bad anymore because they put out the advisory and we were able to produce the facts,” he told DLP supporters.
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