Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne believes Government is treating wealthy villa owners more favourably than it is responding to “the pleas of fisherfolk” whose livelihoods were hit by Hurricane Beryl.
His position has been challenged by Deputy Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw, who asserted that Thorne was “comparing apples and oranges” at a time when Government had so far provided nearly $3 million in assistance to the fishing industry.
The two clashed on the issue recently in the House of Assembly as the Opposition Leader contributed to debate on the Tourism Development (Amendment) Bill, 2024. This was to “make provision for the extension of the definition of a tourism project to include the renovation of a villa”.
“Recently, I took this Parliament among the unglamorous, among the despised, the dispossessed, the disrespected, the fisherfolk. But this afternoon . . . we applaud concessions given to those persons who . . . in many cases, [are] already millionaires,” Thorne told the House.
“We associate that language of villa with very luxurious, opulent properties. Some of those properties are valued in multi millions of dollars, seafront, posh, well located, well appointed, well established, valuing in excess of $30 million.”
His view was that the amendment “has to do with the Government’s enthusiasm when it comes to catering to those who have much, as opposed to those who have little, and in many cases, like the fisherfolk, those who have nothing and are still awaiting to receive something”.
Thorne noted that the tourism sector “has always received favourable treatment . . . because it is regarded as our number one industry, so one does not wish to decry it, and one does not wish to say that it is not deserving of protection”.
“But if it is deserving of protection, the fisherfolk will say we are deserving of some protection too. This is called comparative analysis,” he said.
“This is one debate on one piece of legislation which reveals Government’s unequal treatment of the citizens of this country and . . . some of those who receive favourable treatment are not even citizens of this country. But this is not a statement in xenophobia. This is a statement in justice.”
However, Bradshaw reiterated Government “has tried its best to be able to restore the fishing industry, which was affected recently by Hurricane Beryl [and] we have spent over $2 million, almost $3 million now, to be able to assist many persons”.
The Leader of Government Business reminded that this was against the backdrop of the fact that “a number of these fishing boat owners were persons who, in some cases, did not have insurance”.
“In many cases, we have set up structures to allow individual boat owners who did not have the insurance to be able to now benefit from assistance to get their boats back into the water,” she stated.
Bradshaw said the villa market was one “where there is tremendous investment for the country, where persons invest their own monies . . . to allow us to benefit from tourism”.
Her view was that for Thorne to compare it with the support Government had given to the fishing industry, “and to create confusion in the public domain that this administration is in some way unfairing the fishing vendors is certainly disingenuous”.
“It is sickening to sit on this side and hear the honourable member speak in that way and to compare [the] two things; it is like apples and oranges,” Bradshaw said. (SC)
