By Machela Osagboro
Member of Parliament (MP) Trevor Walker, called out the public for not chiding Prime Minister Gaston Browne when he insinuated that Barbudans are cross-fertilising.
Browne declared that this “issue” should be deemed a potential health threat worth investigating.
The MP who sounded wounded yesterday, spoke with OBSERVER media and decried the public nonchalance towards the comments that Browne made, and he questioned public morality towards the sister isle.
“Nobody cares; he makes these statements and nobody comments and this is how the public is nowadays?” questioned Walker.
The MP was flabbergasted at the fact that there are a myriad issues still affecting the redevelopment efforts of the sister isle, yet the leader of the country demeaned the character of the affected people in such an off-hand manner.
“With all the issues affecting Barbuda, people living in tents, the police station is still not occupied, the only thing the Prime Minister can speak about is that he thinks there is cross-fertilisation.”
There has been much public outcry from Barbudans surrounding the divisive comments. Many have said that, “It takes a very calculated and vile person to sit down and find ways of further segregating the people of Antigua and Barbuda for their own political and financial gain.”
Some have said that Browne meant to, “pit Antiguans against Barbudans by invalidating their critical thinking through these disparaging remarks.”
Others were more argumentative and tried to bring into question the Prime Minister’s own parentage.
The Barbudan MP lamented that certain, “organisations like the Christian Council should step up because we are human beings; we are not animals, and to use this type of language and come out in parliament and make this a health issue, is wrong.”
Walker recalled the reason why the contemptuous comments arose, stating that, “It started from the Minister of Health when he basically said that Barbudans are in-breeding, and then the Prime Minister used the statement that there is cross-fertilisation.”
Last Thursday, Prime Minister Gaston Browne made the unsupported claims that Barbudans were having consanguineal relations. Browne asserted that, “It is an inescapable fact that there are health issues in Barbuda because of relations, familial relations.”
Browne further addressed the cabinet saying that the country has a “potential health threat in Barbuda” and urged Barbudans to acknowledge the “fact,” then work with Minister Molwyn Joseph to begin to rectify this supposed problem.
Browne closed by proposing further public education around the issue as the first step to addressing the “health threat.”