Last night's budget debate finished at about 11:30. The Prime Minister wrapped it up with a relatively brief reply, responding only to the leader of the opposition - and focussing on Briceno's bashing of the UDP's infrastructure projects.
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow- Prime Minister
"Here he repeated that silly, fatuous, simple-minded mantra that people can't eat asphalt; that the UDP's spectacular and ongoing, as the budget bears abundant witness to, physical transformation of our country, creating jobs and pumping money into the economy is to be sneered at. To try to place this transparent nonsense on stilt, he went after the Caracol and Coastal Roads that are at long last going to be paved by the UDP, buffered and made climate resilient. Well, madam speaker, this is not just a blockheaded and concrete-for-brains, strain pun intended, absurdity, it is also the height of hypocrisy, and of course, the epitome of that, perhaps, most pernicious of all sin- envy, envy. The fact is, the development of these two roads, have for years now been the desire of both governments. That is why in 1998, shortly after being elected, the PUP government paid almost $4 million just for a design of the Caracol Road. Not to pave it, you know. $4 million for the design of the Caracol Road. They similarly spent millions on various designs for the Coastal Road. We the hypocrites walking see the hypocrites talking. Indeed, in February 1999- and I have it right here- then PM Musa emphasized to a visiting high level IDB delegation that the Caracol road was one of GOB's highest infrastructural priorities. So, madam speaker, all together almost $20 million was spent by various PUP administrations between 1998 and 2003 on designs and preliminary improvements of the Coastal and Caracol roads. This is the back story, madam speaker, that exposes as duplicitous, dishonorable and nakedly political there protest now against our exciting and properly funded plan to construct these two high impact road ways."
The meeting had some other business and finished close to midnight.
