PM in mild push-back on COVID-19 critics

Amid criticism on multiple fronts over her administration’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis, Prime Minister Mia Mottley pushed back gently on her critics, saying she welcomed all criticism but declared there is no “perfect” plan for COVID.

Speaking Thursday during her address to the nation, Mottley said that Barbados, like other countries around the globe, are all handling the pandemic in the best way they can, and though mistakes will be made at points, countries are all striving to make their individual situations better for all their citizens.

Her latest, strongest criticism came from a France-based Barbadian molecular biologist, Dr Melissa Goddard. In an op-ed column for the non-profit Antillean Media Group. Dr Goddard, an expert in gene therapy research for rare diseases blasted the Government’s travel policies which appeared to run counter to prevailing public health science on the coronavirus.

Mottley has since offered to meet with Dr Goddard to discuss her concerns.

The Prime Minister told the nation: “While we strive constantly for the gold standard and for excellence, errors will be made and when they occur, we have of course corrected and will of course correct in the shortest possible time. The reality is, however, that no government has had to manage in these circumstances, so there are no perfect templates that one can follow. No matter what policy or other choices one makes, there will be a school of thought that is different.

“So it is difficult, and you and I know that this administration has never shied away from difficulties. When we took over the management of this country’s affairs, the country was in dire financial and economic circumstances. We took decisions and adopted an approach with which many did not agree and of which several experts were highly critical, and some are still critical. We never sought to drown out opposing voices then, or public debate then, and we shall not do so now. In the course of time, many of those voices were silenced because our approach worked, enabling this administration to dig the country out of a deep hole.”

In reference to past criticism she has faced around its debt restructuring initiative in 2018 and 2019, Mottley declared that if those steps had not been taken, the country would not be in the position now to handle COVID-19’s pressure on the economy.

The PM said: “If we did not do it, we would not have the physical space or the room now to be able to fight COVID. There were many who told us, we should not even go to the IMF (International Monetary Fund), but if we did not do it and agreed to do the adjustments that we were doing, in order to access, one, not only cheaper funding but importantly to unlock funding from other institutions like the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank), the CDB (Caribbean Development Bank) and the Latin America Development Bank, we could not now today reserve over 2.6 billion Barbados Dollars in gross international reserves.

“Thereby giving us the flexibility of continuing and expanding an aggressive public sector investment programme so that we can get on with the task of putting Bajans back to work, and trying to grow this economy.”

While the country is not out of the woods in the pandemic, Mottley said she was confident in the future prospects of the nation, as the number of vaccinations rises and the number of COVID patients falls.

“We believe we will take this country safely through this. Despite our detractors, despite the fake news [and] the false things,” she said.
(SB)