Bridgetown.
The Chairman of Committees James Paul was forced to use his casting vote to break a deadlock between the Govenment and the Opposition benches in the House of Assembly last night.
The drama took place at the end Estimates Debate, as members of the House of Assembly discussed a series of supplementaries, including a resolution for $30 millions of dollars in support of the Barbados Water Authority (BWA).
During the debate on the resolution, Minister of Agriculture and Water Resource Management Dr David Estwick stated that the BWA had a cash flow problem due to 15,000 meters which were out of operation, and were losing over a million dollars a month.
Several questions were raised about the building of a new headquarters for the BWA by Leader of the Opposition Mia Mottley and MP for St James Central Kerrie Symmonds, forcing Estwick to reiterate that the consulting company Deloitle had found no substantial issues in the $70 million project.
After the resolution was read for the first time and the motion was called 14 Govenment MPs voted yes and 14 Opposition MPs voted no.
Moments later Paul told the House: “Honourable Members Section 41(6) is clear in which as soon as the votes have been collected the Chairman has the right to give a casting vote; mine is aye, and I think the ayes have it… The motion has been carried.”
