FOR MINISTER OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS DR DAVID ESTWICK, the Democratic Labour Party Government's way of handling the current recession is about what the party is doing, has always done, and will continue to do.

"It's about men at work. It's about women at work. We are an active Government, and will continue to be," the Member of Parliament for St Philip West said yesterday in a brief but spirited presentation in the House of Assembly.

Estwick made the comments during a debate to pass a resolution to grant $68 million from the Consolidated Fund and place it at the disposal of Government to supplement the 2009-10 Estimates.

He said he felt it necessary to explain certain things, since Leader of the Opposition Mia Mottley continued to give a false impression to the citizens of Barbados regarding what Government was doing in their interest as the country battles the current worldwide recession.

The MP said Government, by extending its capital works programme to build the Warrens Office Complex, complete the ABC Highway and start its Housing Every Last Person (HELP) Project, had done everything in its power to keep the economy performing and jobs going.

"We don't do things by putting them on the drawing board and leaving them and never doing them. We get them done. We are trying to maintain economic growth by spending money across the sectors, yet the Opposition is talking to Barbadians like nothing is happening," he told the Lower Chamber.

According to Estwick, Barbadians must understand fully that since Barbados' main economic partners such as the United States, European Union and Canada are seeing their economies decline, Barbados' economy would do the same and its performance would always be directly linked.

However, Estwick believes Government is on a good path regarding its proactive approach.

He noted that Mottley's criticism of Prime Minister David Thompson's last budget was quite unfair, since she criticised the fact that it cost Barbadians $104 million in new taxes and fees but did not mention that it also contained revenue-losing measures of $82 million, which left only $22 million.

In addition, Estwick claimed that international financial agencies such as Moody's and Standard & Poor's had warned Barbados about its public sector debt ten years ago when the Barbados Labour Party had been in Government. (BA)