#BTSpeakingOut – The numbing of Bajans

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

by D. Goddard

Barbadians are in a collectively self-induced coma. We just had the Auditor General highlight a whole series of questionable financial practices and monetary infelicities in Government, and those leaders who got all 30 seats in the last general election have said nothing. And Barbadians have not agitated and put pressure on the people they voted for to give them answers.

Leigh Trotman has to be the most frustrated man in government. He does an excellent job every year, tries his best to safeguard taxpayers’ money but when it comes time to make people account for their deeds, he can only highlight but he cannot prosecute. That is wrong. But that Barbadians say and do little in response to these situations is little surprise.

We are numb! Busy hero-worshipping self-serving politicians as though they are latter-day saints. We are descended from timid slaves who did as they were told and suffered in silence.

It is not surprising that over the past few years that the two main voices questioning governance and procedure in Barbados, such as the scenario with the appointment of senators and the COVID-19 protocols, have been those of a female attorney-at-law and another male counterpart who are both from Jamaica. Bajans know their place, it seems. Sad!