Minister Ishmael: ‘Sick and tired’ of opposition claims

Minister of State in the Ministry of Health Davidson Ishmael on Wednesday staunchly defended his government’s use of consultants, its recruitment of non-nationals to fill senior posts and  travel schedule.

In his contribution to debate on the Budgetary Proposals and Financial Statement 2025, declared he  was “sick and tired” of the opposition’s persistent claims.

Regarding the employment of consultants, he asserted, “I’m sick and tired of hearing reference to the amount of consultants that are being employed by the government of Barbados. Mr Speaker, no government has all access to all wisdom within its ranks. No public office, whether it is the Ministry of Finance, Prime Minister’s Office, or any ministry, has a complete repertoire of all of the skill sets that is required for it to be able to function in the way that we will want it to function. And therefore, administrations, from the beginning till now, have utilised additional persons in the form of consultants.” He further emphasised that consultants “supported, aided and abetted” the public service, contributing to the government’s achievements.

Addressing Thorne’s concerns about ministerial travel, Ishmael clarified that many trips are funded by host countries, saying, “Whilst the honourable member wants to continue to cast aspersions and give people the impression that something nefarious is taking place, this is something that has been very normal and common…I am sick and tired of hearing about the honourable leader of the opposition raising this matter of travel as if somebody is doing something under the cover of darkness with cloak and daggers and doing something that will harm the people of Barbados.”

On the topic of recruitment, particularly the hiring of non-nationals, Ishmael highlighted the transparency of the process, using the Queen Elizabeth Hospital CEO position as an example.

“All 267 000 of us had the opportunity to apply for the post of CEO of the hospital. Everyone had the opportunity and the fair right, fair chance. Are we supposed to sit down and say, because we have this nationalistic thing going on, we must select somebody from Barbados to fill every single senior post in the country, even though they do not apply? It is a nonsense, Mr Speaker, sir, and I am sick and tired of hearing about it,” he concluded. (JB)