The Barbados Labour Party (BLP) has described a billboard blunder, in which its candidate for The City Jeffrey Bostic was wrongly presented as the candidate for St Michael South, as nothing but a simple mistake made under the cover of darkness.
“Even with the best intentions one can make typos. There was nothing nefarious,” General Secretary Dr Jerome Walcott said this morning, explaining that the misleading billboard had been taken down.
“The errors weren’t noticed because they were put up in the night and they immediately came down. Persons are trying to create a storm in a teacup while there are so many important issues facing the electorate in this country,” Dr Walcott said, echoing the sentiments of his political leader, Mia Mottley, who said the outdoor advertising board was a simple mistake.
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Opposition Leader Mia Mottley (centre) speaking to reporters as other members of the Barbados Labour Party, including BLP Chairman George Payne (left) and representative for St Michael South East Santia Bradshaw (right), look on.[/caption]
“There have been one or two slips and indeed the one with the billboard was one of them, but these things happen. In a campaign you do not get perfection, but you stay focused,” Mottley said.
The board, which Barbados TODAY was able to capture before it was removed, attracted the attention of Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, who is the candidate for the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) in St Michael South.
In poking fun at the error, Stuart yesterday said it was an example of the BLP’s unpreparedness for the May 24 general election.
“I learnt only today that they have not yet made up their minds as to whether Colonel Bostic would be the candidate for The City or the candidate for St Michael South. I hope that they resolve that issue as soon as possible for their sake and for his too,” Stuart told reporters after he and other DLP candidates paid in their $250 election deposits into the Treasury.
However, this morning the BLP questioned Stuart’s priorities, arguing that in the face of a report issued yesterday by the Central Bank of Barbados, which painted a bleak outlook for the local economy and foreign reserves, a more prudent Prime Minister would have had more pressing matters to deal with.
“In the light of a Central Bank report which spoke of Barbados’ dire economic situation, I am a little surprised that the Prime Minister would find the time, not to comment on that, but to comment on an error,” Dr Walcott said.
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