ABSOLUTELY UNCONSCIONABLE. That’s how dental surgeon and former parliamentarian Dr William Duguid described Government’s $9 million slashing of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) budget in the 2016-17 Estimates of Expenditure and Revenue laid in the House of Assembly on Tuesday.
Duguid, who announced his return to active politics just a month ago, charged that the QEH cut is to make room for money to be allocated to the 50th anniversary Independence celebrations slated for November this year.
“It is absolutely ridiculous that you can put an expense – the health of the nation to the tune of$9 million to substitute and to pay for a $5 million celebrations for one day,” the former Christ Church West MP told the SATURDAY SUN yesterday.
Duguid, who was the Opposition Barbados Labour Party’s (BLP) shadow minister of health, added: “Everybody understands that the 50th anniversary of our independence is a great accomplishment but it cannot be at the expense of the health of the nation of some of our most vulnerable people.”
Please read the full story in today’s Saturday Sun, or in the eNATION edition.
