New attractions to tell story of Barbados’ colonial past

Government is set to take full advantage of Barbados’ rich colonial past.

Prime Minister Mia Mottley today outlined plans for several initiatives, including the establishment of a slave memorial and museum as well as a Spiritual University, which she said would elevate Barbados to become a premier tourist destination.

Speaking in Parliament today, Mottley said Barbados’ storied history should not be forgotten as she outlined the initiatives to be explored.

“One is the establishment of the memorial at Newton plantation … for the 570 plus slaves that were buried there and that we are using the opportunity to take the fact that we have the second largest transatlantic slave records I’m told for this part of the world and the Western world and build a genealogical research center there that would allow people to come from all over the world and to know more about their lineage.

“But we also need a museum ensuring that slavery or forced migration does not become a part of the language of this hemisphere or this world again and Barbados is the place where racism in its modern form was forged in the 17th century. This is the Parliament regrettably that passed the 1661 slave code and we have to continue to pay penance for it because that was the code that informed other slave codes directly or indirectly in the Americas,” Mottley said.

She also observed that the establishment of a Spiritual University in Barbados would provide a “niche form of tourism” and attract visitors to our shores.

Mottley said she had already met with the Archbishop of the West Indies and the principal of Codrington College, who she said had taken a keen interest in the idea.

The prime minister said Codrington College was one of the oldest theological seminaries in the Americas while Barbados was also home to the oldest synagogue in the Americas.

“Secondly, the establishment of a Spiritual University at Codrington College because this world needs to know how people of different religions and faiths can live together and I’m not only talking about the Abrahamic faiths. We are not all of the same faith. The truth is that we are not all of the same gender, all of the same race, we are not all of the same anything and we have to learn to live with each other on this planet called earth,” she said.

Mottley said Government would also sign a MOU with Bollywood which would allow Barbados to become a site for on location video shoots while also developing an indigenous film industry.

The Prime Minister said the fourth and final goal would be working with the University of the West Indies to set up a policy for small island developing states (SIDS).

She said it would take the form of a School of Public Policy and it was being crafted by Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Hillary Beckles. (RB)