Barbados moved more than 21,000 stranded cruise ship workers and some passengers over the past three to four months of the COVID-19 pandemic through the Bridgetown Port and the Grantley Adams International Airport.
And according to Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Mia Mottley, the humanitarian effort simply represented the nature of Barbadians to support those in need. Speaking yesterday as she led debate on the Remote Employment Bill 2020 in the House of Assembly, Mottley said Barbados could not turn its back on those people who were desperately trying to get back home.
Saying her Government was asked to serve not only in good times but bad times as well, she told the House: “When asked in March what would be our stance to people who were helpless and voiceless, this country made a determination . . . We said to the people who were stranded on cruise ships and when they had nowhere to turn to and no one to turn to, and when they showed up and showed us all the ports that said ‘no entry’, we said ‘come’.”
The Prime Minister, who has been praised by cruise ship operators for the bold move, told the Lower House: “We know better, we are not that kind of person. We put arrangements in place to guarantee their safety but to guarantee the safety equally of our citizens. And over the course of the last few months, I am happy to lead a nation that has been responsible for the repatriation of more than 21,000 human beings from cruise ships.
“And if you know what it is to move 21,000 people, you will understand why I want to strongly commend the Bridgetown Port, the Minister of Maritime Affairs, chairman and all the others who worked with the port and ship agents, the people at Immigration, Port Health, Customs Guards, Air Traffic Control and the nurses and port health doctors who had to take samples. I want to thank and commend all of you because we have shown what it is to be mature and to do the right thing by ourselves . . . and to do the right thing by those with whom we have a relationship.”
According to the political leader, “People will judge us not by what we do in good times alone but the decisions that we make in difficult times.”
Moreover, Mottley said she was “heartened” by the overwhelming response that the global community has given Barbados and the Barbadians on the launch of the 12-month welcome stamp.
“It was almost as if they were waiting for somebody to say something,” she added.
