Cave blames poor representation for garbage pile up in St Michael West Central

A lack of proper representation has led to sustained garbage pile up and blocked drains in Clevedale, Democratic Labour Party candidate for St Michael West Central, Curtis Cave said on Sunday.

Speaking with Barbados TODAY, as he and his team toured parts of the constituency, Cave lamented what he said was a lack of representation since 2018. 

According to Cave, though the current MP for the area, Ian Gooding Edghill, has often been seen in the frequently travelled parts of the area in the past, it is the smaller communities like Clevedale and Plum Tree Road that have been left to suffer with drainage and garbage issues.

“We have problems with drainage. We have a three-month-old baby here and other children running up and down this constituency and this particular area in Clevedale, you can see this drainage has not been cleaned in a while,” Cave said.

“You can look across the road, and see the garbage that is continuously piling up there, and we do not have any relief or representation for these issues. This road itself, any real emergency vehicle coming through this gap will have no access.”

Cave said the rate of unemployment still remains worryingly high in the area, and though jobs are indeed returning as the economy rebounds, the lack of initiatives being offered to younger persons in the area to assist them in gaining employment, is near non-existent.

“Youth unemployment is high. A lot of persons outside of the youth are unemployed, even [though] jobs are picking back up, persons generally throughout the constituency cannot pay bills, living from paycheque to paycheque… there is no ease,” he stressed.

When asked if he was confident about his chances at the polls on January 19, Cave said his history within the community will speak for itself, as he is no stranger to interacting and giving back to residents, even from a young age.

“I’ve always had a presence in the constituency. From 11 years old I would have organized a cricket tournament in Bellefield, so community outreach is nothing new to me. When COVID first came, through my charity, we would have done 130-plus food hampers and this is even before the MP decided to do anything.

“We acknowledged 55 front-line workers for Independence, we have a Boys in the Hood programme where the young men in the constituency come together and we take part in wholesome activities … I plan to craft policy and work with the constituents to see how we can best make sure that every single person in the constituency can raise their standard of living.” (SB)