Former Prime Minister Owen Arthur yesterday presented two "mystery" documents at a Barbados Labour Party Northern Zonal Conference, terming them "dangerous" proposals purportedly made to Government by Peter Wickham.

But Wickham, head of CADRES (Caribbean Development Research Services), said last night he knew nothing about the proposals, he was at a loss as to their origin, and would be calling on Government to launch an investigation.

Unsigned

The unsigned documents, carrying CADRES' letterhead, propose that Government hire Wickham as a consultant for two projects at a salary of $10 000 each monthly, to:

* research voter participation and electoral reform, and

* review the methodology used to calculate the level of unemployment in Barbados.

Arthur, who received the documents at St James Secondary School during the conference's opening remarks by Opposition Leader Mia Mottley, described them as serious and dangerous, while Mottley expressed alarm.

Arthur, saying the documents were "before the Government" said Barbados' electoral process didn't require investigation since the country had a bipartisan Electoral & Boundaries Commission (EBC), and therefore the voting system must be "free of interference and the involvement of political operatives".

"If there is to be any electoral reform in this country, it has to be led by and under the auspices of the EBC on which the Labour Party is represented. This is a dangerous, dangerous proposal which we must head off, because among the various things Wickham wants to investigate is the feasibility of overseas voting in this country," he told those at the BLP's first zonal conference.

Arthur said the second document, dated April 3, 2008, sought to take over a responsibility performed from 1975 by the Department of Statistics.

Prime Minister David Thompson, however, said last night that his Government had solicited no proposals from anyone relative to either voter participation and electoral reform or the level of unemployment in Barbados.

"I have made no request for any such proposals," he said.

Wickham also said he would be "calling on Government to launch an investigation into the manner in which Owen Arthur is able to get a hold of images associated with my organisation and introduce them into public discussion as documents that are clearly a figment of his imagination".

Concerned

He said his letterhead had also appeared on documents in St Kitts four years ago, and he was "concerned that this is the level of desperation and depravity politics is stooping to now in the Caribbean".

Thompson said he now had on his desk a report from the EBC of the January general election, which he hadonly just received.

"I have not even fully studied it yet. So how could I be requesting a consultancy? That is ludicrous.

"I want to remind the former Prime Minister that the election is over, and all of this reminds me of how deeply damaged his credibilty was in the last election by allegations relating to Taiwan and China and casino gambling, made night after night by him," the Prime Minister said.

* rickyjordan@nationnews.com