Minister John Boyce is to be commended for his willingness to report on the progress of his Ministry. As Minister of Transport and Works, he has outlined the Government’s roadworks programme. He does this against the background of the ongoing political hooliganism that took place over the awarding of the expansion contract for the ABC Highway.

The most recent political hooliganism to have revealed itself comes in the announcement of corruption charges against Mabey and Johnson,  a leading UK bridge-building company which appeared in court to plead guilty to charges of overseas corruption and breaching United Nations sanctions. Mabey is charged with offences relating to activities in Jamaica and Ghana between 1993 and 2001. Mabey and Johnson are the former employers of Janathan Danos, a former top executive who left the company to form 3S Barbados months before the multimillion highway expansion contract was issued. We are now reading in the Times Online of this development.

 

While in Opposition, the Democratic Labour Party warned Barbadians of the shenanigans that were involved in the expansion project and the folly of entering into open-ended contractual arrangements. (See previous dlpbarbados.org articles dating back to August 2006, September 2007, October 2007)

 

The Auditor General has already expressed dissatisfaction with the persons charged with the project and the tendering process.

The matter of 145 million-dollar flyovers has been declared a national goal of the next Barbados Labour Party’s Administration. The current leader of the Opposition has already stated that her party will build these flyovers. In the face of the hard evidence, they continue to fly in the face of the Barbadian voter.

Minister Boyce has equally committed his Ministry to the publication of the Auditor General’s Report on the ABC Highway. The political bedfellows who were able to find comfort in the belly of the Barbados Labour Party continue to be exposed by the truths of the present. We will not run from our responsibility as a new Government to right the wrongs of the past administration. We are pushing ahead with our capital works programme as an integral part of the overall 40 million-dollar stimulus package.

The roadworks programme design is very much a part of our intention to reduce the traffic congestion. Motorists will be receiving good news as we seek to deal with the issues at Lancaster junction, Redman’s Village and the Combermere/ Waterford junction, to mention a few. The inherited traffic mayhem will be addressed, according to Minister Boyce.

The Minister was also quick to point out that solutions to some of the current problems have had documented responses within the Ministry’s filing cabinets for years. These matters were never deemed important by the Arthur administration. The Lancaster junction and the Wildey Triangle are but two of the troubled areas that have had solutions catching dust ... Shame. We wonder if the delay in locating a roundabout at Lancaster had anything to with the ongoing rift between Payne and Arthur ... Shame

The lack of interest in the public was clearly a motivating factor that informed the former administration’s policy agenda. The Minister and his Ministry are to be encouraged in their furtherance of the agenda in the interest of this country. We continue to congratulate the staff and the Ministry for their response to date as they roll out Pathways to Progress

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