Weir focused on ‘the people’ despite unfolding saga

Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir appears to be unaffected by the comments levelled against him by his former ally, Anthony Wood amid a messy political breakup currently unfolding.

But rather than address the issue head-on, Weir on Tuesday declared that his energy is focused on assisting hundreds of residents in his St Philip South constituency struggling to make ends meet.

He was responding to numerous questions from Barbados TODAY about the nature of the ongoing issues, which spilled into the public domain when Wood “disassociated” himself from the Agriculture Minister in a recent newspaper advertisement.

Wood, who was appointed Chairman of the Barbados Agricultural Development Management Company (BAMC) shortly after the Barbados Labour Party’s 2018 election victory recently resigned from the post before publicly withdrawing his support for the St Philip South representative.

Particularly significant about the development is the fact that in 2018, Wood played a significant role in Weir’s handsome defeat of Democratic Labour Party candidate Adriel Brathwaite.

While promising to explain his reasons at a later date, Wood, who previously served two terms as MP for the area apologised for supporting Weir and expressed confidence that constituents would also withdraw their support in due course.

Minister Weir has however refused to directly answer questions on the unfolding public drama opting instead to focus on over 250 care packages being distributed weekly to his constituents who have no income and are in need.

“I just want to get on with the people’s work. That is my angst right now, just getting the people’s work done,” Weir told Barbados TODAY.

“My focus is on the people of St Philip South and from the time the COVID-19 crisis started, I have been giving out packages to people who became unemployed. There are several people in the tourism sector who are without work today simply because there are no tourists coming into Barbados because the ports are closed and people are unemployed.

“Their concerns and fears are real and I am focused with my team on staying with my people every step of the way to make sure I give them the assistance they need,” the parliamentary representative declared.

In fact, he promised that a housing solution was being made available for 39-year-old Katura Luke whose deplorable living conditions were highlighted by social media influencer, Jordan English on Monday.

“So this is our focus and this is what we are doing. I was elected to represent people and to care about people and that is what I am going to demonstrate to my constituents going forward. Our next programme is Saturday and we will again be giving out over 100 care packages. These are the things that I’m focused on,” he added.

When pressed further, Weir indicated he had a busy day ahead and would address any other issues at a later date. Efforts to contact Anthony Wood were unsuccessful.
kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb