A FORMER PRIME Minister Mr Basdeo Panday once said that politics has a morality all of its own. That he may have been right is demonstrated by many of the things that take place daily in the political arena, both at home and abroad.
The outsourcing of aspects of garbage collection is being touted as necessary because of a massive build-up of uncollected waste in the run-up to the winter tourism season and the celebration of the 50th anniversary of our Independence in another month, when the eyes of the British press, from what is our prime tourism market, will be on this island.
The decision to deal with the garbage collection cannot therefore be faulted. But a primary reason must have been the welfare of the people of this island and the prevention of any breakout of communicable or other diseases. The impending celebrations would have added weight to what is clearly a sensible decision.
But there can be no denying that the entire project has a smell of partial privatisation, or that it seems to run counter to declarations of the present Government when suggestions of privatisation were raised by the Opposition Barbados Labour Party at the height of the close and heated election battle in 2013.
Now with very little explanation, and it would appear without prior discussion with the unions, the Government has moved full steam ahead and dealt with the problem in a manner which raises substantial questions about its policy on involving the private sector; as well as its policy on sustaining public sector employment, another major initiative it touted at election time.
The treatment of the workers of the National Conservation Commission after election time, may have been justified on financial and economic grounds and the groundswell of voices raised in opposition to the decisions made then, may have had a salutary impact on subsequent Government decisions.
Yet those who were dismissed and many others would have regarded those decisions as breaches of their expectations given the assurances of Government.
In celebrating 50 years of Independence our leaders must always be mindful of the foundations on which we have built this democracy. The unions and the people are two of the fundamental cornerstones of modern Barbados. In fact, there would hardly have been the substantial progress which we have enjoyed without these two institutions having walked hand in hand with all governments of both political stripes since 1966.
And however expedient it may seem; casual or dismissive treatment of these institutions cannot be supported. Such treatment runs the risk of shattering the constructive actions and ideas which have held this country together even in its darkest hours of economic and social turmoil.
We therefore hold to the view that the people and their unions are entitled to reasoned explanation of policy, especially when policy changes are based on changing events. Lack of trust may be the price of actions, perceived rightly or wrongly to be highhanded.
For example, in our current political atmosphere with unions pressing for wage increases in the public sector, there are many who will regard the fate that has befallen president of the NUPW Mr Akanni McDowall, as par for the political course, even if no political fingerprints are found in such decisions.
Mr Panday’s remarks may well be true, but in our opinion, there has to be a moral minimum in any democracy and that is, that those who govern must fully explain their decisions to the people.
