Blame ‘Dem’ for sub-human living – Forde

Barbados – Member of Parliament for St Thomas Cynthia Forde Tuesday charged that the Freundel Stuart Government was to blame for the sub-human conditions many Barbadians were living in.
Speaking in the House of Assembly during debate on a resolution for the compulsory acquisition of land at Brighton, St George for the public purpose of housing, the Opposition Barbados Labour Party representative again highlighted sum of $47 million which was said to have been “repatriated” by the ruling Democratic Labour Party to Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington.
The monies, which were approved by the IDB back in 2008 to improve the living conditions of hundreds of Barbadians in areas such as Greenfield, Garden Land, Cats Castle, and Allen View.
Under the arrangement, the Bank was to provide $60 million and the Government of Barbados $20 million in counterpart funding. The Ministry of Housing and Lands was the named executing agency.
However, it was later reported that only $13 million of its money was used and the remaining $47 million was cancelled.
“To this day those people remain living in the same conditions. No proper roads leading to their houses, no upgrades to the properties they’re in, no kiosks and other projects that would have helped them to generate employment,” Forde said.
Following a recent visit to Greenfield, she also reported that residents there did not even have a “sewerage project to help them to dispose of their waste”.
Yet, the Opposition spokeswoman complained that “$47 million was repatriated to the IDB in Washington”.