Throughout the election campaign Owen Arthur and the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) preached about the magnitude of the task as it related to the cost of living. The former Prime Minister made it clear that he was not prepared to play with the economy of Barbados, just to win an election.

The Democratic Labour Party (DLP), on the other hand, made a number of wild and reckless promises in an effort to win the elections. Now that their chickens have come home to roost, the Prime Minister is claiming ignorance of the situation.

It is also unbelievable that many people are now claiming that the Government can do nothing about the cost of living because the problem is worldwide, as a result of the rising cost of oil.

Under the BLP, the price of oil went from US$30 a barrel to US$100. Yet the media was bombarded with calls demanding that the then Government do something about the cost of living and there was a call for a change of Government. All of a sudden we are now saying that the Government can do nothing.

In my opinion, the present Government has made a fundamental error by removing the subsidy on oil. A subsidy on oil meant that the poor were shielded from the brunt of increases, which will now rain down on this nation. Heaven help us all.

– MARK SEALY