#BTEditorial – Stolen national treasures a disgrace!

It is difficult to reconcile our stated national emphasis to preserve our cultural and built heritage when our actions suggest that they are not priorities.

The recent disclosure that priceless Barbadian artefacts were stolen from the Museum of Parliament and the National Heroes Gallery can only be described as a national disgrace and a blot on our reputation as a people.

Reports in the local media indicate that the famed tuxedo jacket worn by the Father of Independence, National Hero and former Prime Minister Errol Walton Barrow on Independence Day 1966, and his musket, reportedly from his military service in the Royal Air Force during World War II, were also stolen are unbelievable.

We have also learned that other items belonging to the only Premier of the Caribbean Federation Sir Grantley Adams, as well as his son former Prime Minister Tom Adams are also missing. This development is shameful.

The break-in is still under investigation by law enforcement personnel; however, what we have been told about the circumstances surrounding the theft is nothing short of embarrassing.

To learn that the West Wing of our Parliament Buildings was condemned for environmental reasons more than two years ago but the museum’s prized exhibits were still in the centuries-old building is even more shocking.

This country spent many long hours, and significant human and financial resources to attain the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) designation for Bridgetown and its Garrison as a World Heritage Site in 2011.

To be frank, we are yet to see any tangible benefits from the designation. It is not from lack of financial and economic potential but simply because we have done very little to promote it, offer incentives to property owners to preserve the character and integrity of their properties, or even design new concepts around the prestigious designation. The lack of action comes across as a collective slap in the face to UNESCO. We fought for the designation then seemingly turned our backs on it.

This latest fiasco can be added to the sorry treatment we as a country have meted out to several pieces of tangible and intangible cultural and heritage representations.

Were the safety and security of these artefacts a priority, they would have been in the Barbados Museum and not in a condemned building for more than two years. That no one knew for sure when the treasured items were taken says a lot about our priorities as a nation.

Around the world, countries spend enormous amounts of money to protect and preserve their national treasures because they speak to national pride. Several African countries have launched vigorous fights with former colonising nations of Europe to regain possession of immeasurably valuable African artefacts that were stolen in violent raids. They included attacks by the British on the Benin kingdom in Nigeria, the Dahomey kingdom in Benin [Republic] and the Ashanti kingdom in Ghana. Masks, precious ornaments, and statues made of gold, bronze and other materials were taken and showcased in European museums.

What is most amusing about our stolen artefacts is the probability that the theft might have been carried out by a street character who aimlessly wandered throughout the West Wing of Parliament and was now likely sleeping on the streets of Bridgetown in the tuxedo jacket worn by late Prime Minister and National Hero Errol Walton Barrow.