Budget 2019: PM vows to tackle crime

Prime Minister Mia Mottley this evening appealed to Barbadians to stay the course as she presented her first national budget this afternoon.

Laying the foundation for the fiscal package, she detailed the progress made, citing Government’s domestic debt restructuring process and the International Monetary Fund’s approval of the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan among other things.

She however acknowledged that where major challenges along the way, including the spike in gun-related violence.

“Guns poured into Barbados over the past five years and we now have a problem of gun crime not previously seen. Barbadians are naturally wary.

“It is a scourge we will not ignore or tolerate and we have already begun taking steps to counter. We must and we will do all in our power to save or young people,” she stressed.