Prime Minister Mia Mottley has been reflecting on her first year as the country’s leader. She posted the following message on social media today:
One year ago, today, I accepted the responsibility of leading our great country. I did so with humility. I did so conscious that it is an awesome responsibility given what our country was facing. I did so conscious that we could only build the best Barbados we could if we did so together. But I was comforted that our country has been blessed to have risen to the occasion of wrestling down challenges and crises before, especially in the last 80 years.
If there is 1 word to describe the last year, it is the word intense. Intense in every respect. It has also been challenging but also rewarding as we see how we have stabilised and saved our Dollar.
Rewarding as we see what we have done to make many people’s lives better and their opportunities – pensioners, students, public servants, those living and working on the South Coast, persons earning at the bottom with expanded access to reverse tax credits, our companies who will now pay less corporate taxes; removing the stain and the cost of corruption from our landscape; restoring our name internationally so we may expand our country’s opportunities.
As we continue to wrestle down the challenges we found, we recommit as a Government to act always in the interest of the people of Barbados; to remain faithful to our values and our principles as expressed in our “Covenant of Hope” and to deliver on our programme as expressed in our Manifesto of 2018 “Building the Best Barbados Together”. Bajans must always know what to expect of its Government.
I have asked Barbadians to stay the course because we know it will take time to achieve this mammoth agenda and to transform our nation. We have passed all of the right road signs to date. But to transform, we must stay the course. And I am confident Bajans shall do so.
This next year we will start to see the signs of growth, the investment and jobs and the opportunities.
We will see Bajans benefitting more and more, moving to that point where they will be each given the chance to be the best that they can be; so that Barbados may soar once again!
For now today, I say thank you to God.
I say thank you to the Barbadian people for taking this journey with us.
I say thank you to my colleagues for walking this journey with me.
Together we shall make it!
Blessings always.
