Eustace, who was not in Parliament at the time of Gonsalves’ comment, sought to clarify the statement, saying he was merely using a common analogy. *Photo credit: repeatingislands.com

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent, CMC – Opposition Leader Arnhim Eustace on Monday defended comments he made alluding to the 2010 budget as akin to a building crumbling during the recent catastrophic earthquake in Haiti.

“Why would I make fun of Haiti,” said the New Democratic Party (NDP) leader said on a radio programme.

He had earlier said the financial estimates were “something like a pack of cards from which a building is built”.

“In terms of revenue, it is not there and it will collapse, much like the buildings in Haiti,” Eustace, a trained economist, told a sitting of Parliament last month.

Those comments drew the ire of Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves when he spoke in the House on Friday.

Gonsalves told legislators that Eustace’s comments hit “so hard in my heart and my bones” that he “internalised the shock” fearing that he would have said “something unparliamentarily at that particular point”.

“Imagine drawing an analogy, looking for a simile in relation to people’s monumental and painful suffering. What manner of man is this?” the Prime Minister said.

Eustace, who was not in Parliament at the time of Gonsalves’ comment, sought to clarify the statement, saying he was merely using a common analogy.

“I was not in any way trying to criticise Haiti. But you had the constant analogy being done that if the structures had been different you might not have had such damage,” the Opposition Leader said

“And all I was saying is that the structure of our budget is such that the slightest thing that happens, it is going to fall down. Why would I make fun of Haiti?”

The magnitude 7.0 earthquake on January 12 killed more than 150,000 people and left many more homeless as it devastated the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas.