Thorne unveils vision for change in marathon speech

In a marathon budget reply, thought to be the longest in living memory, stretching over two sittings of the House of Assembly, the sole opposition voice delivered a scathing critique of the current administration, promising a Democratic Labour Party (DLP)  administration would tackle pressing issues head-on.

Those issues included soaring electricity rates, sports development, and police reform, said Leader of the Opposition Ralph Thorne in a wide-ranging condemnation of the Barbados Labour Party’s handling of electricity prices.

He argued that high electricity rates were exacerbating inflation and affecting economic growth.

Thorne said: “The Democratic Labour Party in government would seek to establish a policy relationship with the Barbados Light and Power company, with the endeavour of lowering the price of electricity in this country. The Barbados Light and Power must not be treated as a sacred cow on this commercial landscape.”

He continued: “If the Barbados Labour Party government is afraid of the Barbados Light and Power, or if the Barbados Labour Party government is in an unwholesome relationship with the Barbados Light and Power, which deprives it of the opportunity to bargain as an equal partner… then the Barbados Labour Party government has forfeited its position as being representative of the people of this country who are suffering. Industry is suffering from high electricity rates… it is untenable.”

According to Thorne, reducing electricity costs, whether through renewable energy or fossil fuels, must be a priority in order to alleviate inflationary pressures and reduce the cost of living for Barbadians.

“Electricity rates are driving inflation in this country, and one of the ways to tackle inflation in this country is not to tackle it with hostility, but to enter into a relationship with the Barbados Light and Power in which it must recognise its corporate responsibility to the people of this country,” he said. “The people of this country believe, based on the evidence, that electricity rates are too high. If they must be reduced in relation to renewable energy, they must be reduced. If they must be reduced in relation to fossil fuels, they must be reduced.”

The opposition leader also called for a greater need to provide more support for professional sports development and took issue with what he described as the government’s dismantling of the Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme.

“Why has this government seen fit to dismantle or destroy the Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme? That defeats the aspirations of athletes in this country.

The absence of a national stadium is one thing… then you exacerbate the problem by suspending the Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme. A Democratic Labour Party would attend to that and re-establish that sports programme in association with a larger sports academy. So that when young athletes in this country, when a person discovers their athletic potential in NAPSAC, they know that at some point in time they will find themselves in a structured and highly disciplined environment in which their athletic prowess would be taken seriously,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Thorne criticised the structure of The Barbados Police Service as being outdated, stating that urgent attention was needed to address both salary concerns and the fairness of promotions.

He said: “The police service is presently weighed down by its colonial structure, and attention needs to be paid urgently to two aspects of the police service. This country must not proceed into a future in which salaries paid to police officers remain as modest as they are… police officers in this country are woefully underpaid.”

He added: “It goes beyond salaries; promotion in The Barbados Police Service is subject to personal favour. Promotion ought to be guaranteed as the Public Service Act seeks to guarantee promotion. The police officers in this country must be under a new system.”

(SB)