Gibson defends statements about West Coast after minister’s chiding

Democratic Labour Party (DLP) St James Central candidate Paul Gibson has taken umbrage to suggestions that he deliberately created an atmosphere of panic in the constituency by spreading a “wicked and malicious lie” about the future of the fish market at Paynes Bay St James.

During the opening of the market on Monday, sitting Barbados Labour Party Member of Parliament Kerrie Symmonds took his opponent to task for suggesting that the market, which was closed for many months during the Highway 1 Rehabilitation Project, was being sold to foreign investors.

“Anybody who does business at this market must have felt a sense of dread to hear that a person seeking office would tell a wicked and malicious lie such as was told,” Symmonds declared in a clear dig at Gibson.

“As long as I have anything to do with it, this constituency will not be used as a cradle to nurture the ambitions of political three-card men and political confidence tricksters who feel that the way to win a foothold or toehold in public life is by telling wanton and disgraceful untruths.

“That represents an affront to the decency of the Barbadian way of doing things, that a Permanent Secretary of this Ministry [of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy] should be imputed by way of her integrity being called into question of getting into a collusion with somebody to participate in the sale of this fish market,” he added.

In early June, Gibson claimed that residents were hearing rumblings about the future of the beachfront property and called on the Government to clear the air.

“We want to make sure the fish market has not been disposed of because this area is the last remaining window to the sea in the St. James, west coast area,” Gibson told Barbados TODAY months ago.

“We are concerned that we are going to be losing another area, a window to the sea, to some building, some structure, some hotel [or] some restaurant,” he added.

On Monday however, a newly-refurbished market with all the trappings of a modern facility was unveiled.

Refusing to mince words, Symmonds declared that Gibson’s initial statement to the press was made after receiving assurances from Minister of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy, Kirk Humphrey that no such fire sale was on the cards.

The DLP candidate however strongly refuted suggestions that he lied to the people, contending that there was a clear difference between asking a question and stating a claim.

“If the gentleman did some level of research, he would see that a question was asked and that the Minister of the Blue Economy answered the question,” Gibson told Barbados TODAY.

“The question was whether or not the facility was being sold. The question was answered, and it was said that the facility is not being sold,” he added.

As the political climate in the country seemingly inches closer to some kind of boiling point, the DLP candidate declared it his pleasure to have represented constituents in this regard on a matter that was up in the air for an unjustifiably lengthy period.

“I want to say that over the next couple of weeks, there will be a number of critical concerns being expressed by the residents of St James Central,” Gibson promised.

Symmonds, who is also Minister of Small Business, Energy and Entrepreneurship, however maintained that throughout his 19-year relationship with the constituency and a “plurality of opponents”, the market scandal was perhaps the lowest.

“Sometimes we had robust disagreements, but it has never come to the point where we have sought to create an assault on the integrity of the public service of Barbados and it has never come to the point where we have sought to create a climate of panic affecting the livelihood and the certainty of the livelihood of the people that we must represent,” said Symmonds.

He added that the closure of the fish market was a matter of “common sense” and hygiene as fresh fish could not be sold in the middle of the construction zone that was Highway One at the time.

“People in this constituency are not pigs. They are not dogs and they should not be subjected to having to come and purchase provisions in circumstances that are unhygienic. Therefore the market was closed in order to facilitate the construction taking place without impacting in a negative way the public health of the people who live around here,” said the sitting MP. kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb