Only 13 more days to go.
Well, Cat Piss never voted for those DLP liars, so David Thompson can take his 100 days promises and stick them up his red ass.
Cat Piss
http://www.nationnews.com/editorial/319109878692286.php
First 100 days almost up
Published on: 4/12/08.
WHAT CAN BE ACHIEVED in 12 days?
That’s the big question many Barbadians are asking as the clock ticks down on the first 100 days since the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) won the January 15 general election.
The DLP was swept to power on a platform of change and promised, among other things, to tackle the high cost of living and the lack of affordable housing in the lower- and middle-income brackets.
In his maiden speech in Parliament back in February, Minister of Foreign Affairs Chris Sinckler promised the DLP Government would live up to its manifesto promise of making certain changes within its first 100 days of office, and could live up to its word.
“There will be no stepping back from the 100-day policy. Forward ever, backward never,” Sinckler declared.
He noted that Government fully intended to implement all the policies in the manifesto circulated prior to the January 15 general election.
“We will deliver on the promise to have housing delivered to Barbadians,” Sinckler stressed.
Government, he added, had already commissioned a special unit under Senator Maxine McClean, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, to “shepherd” the 100-day plan to a “successful conclusion”, and a blueprint would soon be completed.
Realistically though, what can Barbadians reasonably expect the Thompson Government to report?
On the issue of rising food prices, it is clear that Government has been unable to contain this in spite of its best efforts. It is a global problem, and has always been one despite the rhetoric during the election campaign.
As for housing, the $60 million Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loan which was negotiated by the Owen Arthur Administration, but approved by the IDB two days after the January 15 general election, will ensure the aims of the DLP’s housing programme can be realised.
Prime Minister David Thompson, on signing the loan agreement this week in Miami, pointed out the funds would be used to boost affordable housing for at least 2 000 Bajan families, mostly first-time owners or low-income workers. At the same time, some of the loan funds would be used to help reduce poverty and improve housing and land management.
With this money his regime’s pledge to provide 500 lots of land within five months at $5 per square foot for first-time homeowners is distinctly plausible.
But the reality is, even if Government does not have much to report, the fact that it has stuck its necks out to address issues with some degree of urgency is commendable.
What Barbadians must realise is that there is a big difference between talking about what you will do when you win Government, and being able to achieve those goals when you actually have power. This is the reality with which the DLP is battling.