PM: Govt not into vengeance

Government will not be going after any of its predecessors for alleged wrongdoing.

Contrary to a commitment made by Attorney General Dale Marshall QC several weeks ago, Prime Minister Mia Mottley on Tuesday said her administration “will not be consumed by vengeance”.

However, she said if clear information and/or evidence is brought to prove corruption, her administration intends to investigate.

Indicating that some Barbadians may want “blood”, Mottley, who also serves as Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment, sympathised with those people whom she claimed felt aggrieved and angered by perceived plundering.

And while she said that she struggled with those feelings, for her it was not about vengeance but rather about setting a line in the sand for accountability.

Her comments were made in the House of Assembly during the debate of the Integrity In Public Life Bill, 2018.

“. . . And while we must make sure that there is accountability without doubt, this Government must never become so obsessed with anything that approaches a level of vengeance that it forgets to do what it has to do to move the people of this country forward in a way that is sustainable.

“And that is my job, I believe, as Prime Minister of this country: to ensure that even though we hold people accountable, that this Government must never become consumed with wanting only to achieve a level of vengeance or a level of we gine get yuh,” she said.

Noting that every individual was deserving of a second chance, Mottley iterated that whatever justice is pursued it has to be done on the basis of evidence.

“And if the evidence is there we will deal with it,” she stressed.

Mottley added: “I have no interest in vengeance but I have an interest in making sure that Barbadians receive the full opportunity for development.

“And this is not to be interpreted as the AG not going ahead with the ones for which there is clear evidence.

“ . . . . If there is clear evidence of malfeasance in public office, then he must act. If there is evidence for higher [than that], then he must equally act too, and there are instances that are still the subject of investigations.” (SDB Media)