Govt’s burden

Article by Heather-Lynn Evanson

Government is trying to get out of the $100 million per annum contracts for the construction of new desalination plants, signed in the waning days of the Democratic Labour Party.

Speaking as the Barbados Labour Party marked its 100th day in office, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley revealed what she called “the true cost of Government” to a variety of labour and social partners at the Barbados Workers’ Union’s 77th Annual Delegates Conference at Solidarity House yesterday.

Admitting that Government owed $165 million for land that was compulsorily acquired from Barbadians and another $480 million in refunds to taxpayers, Mottley added that statutory corporations were being asked to survive on a fraction of the money that was necessary for the smooth running of the entities.

The Prime Minister told her audience, which included general secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union, Toni Moore; her counterpart in the National Union of Public Workers, Roslyn Smith; and Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union president Mary Redman, that statutory corporations were struggling to provide services like sewage treatment, garbage collection and housing solutions on reduced budgets. (HLE)

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