Local NewsNews Arthur faced it and fixed it: Mottley by Sandy Deane 28/07/2020 written by Sandy Deane Updated by Stefon Jordan 28/07/2020 6 min read A+A- Reset Prime Minister Mia Mottley Share FacebookTwitterLinkedinWhatsappEmail 314 The fluttering Barbadian flag at half-mast across the island signalled the sombre mood of a nation in mourning for its longest serving Prime Minister, who quietly made his exit after a transformative political career spanning close to four decades. In the early hours of Monday, Professor Owen Seymour Arthur, 70, passed away at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital where he had been admitted last week, said to be ailing from heart complications. Government immediately declared three days of national mourning and announced that Arthur’s successor in St Peter, the parish where he was born and represented in the House of Assembly for more than three unbroken decades, would coordinate the state funeral in conjunction with the Cabinet Office. The unwelcomed announcement of Arthur’s death, which came shortly after midnight, immediately triggered an avalanche of tributes, with many expressing equal sadness and praise for Barbados’ fifth leader who served for 14 years. In an emotional tribute, Prime Minister Mia Mottley said Arthur discharged his duty as Prime Minister of Barbados and as a Caribbean leader with distinction. “On looking back at the closing years of the last century and the early years of this century, there is no doubt, my friends, that Owen Seymour Arthur was the man for the times,” she said. You Might Be Interested In Crystal Beckles-Holder, 2nd runner up in regional competition GUYANA: Body of child found after gold mine collapses Barbadians asked to help with return tickets for Haitians “My friends, our country, Barbados, is the poorer for his passing. His intellect was larger than life, believe you, me. His love of country as constant as a northern star. The last title bestowed on him was the most fitting – Professor of Practice. For Owen was first and foremost a teacher, taking the most complex economic issues and stripping them down to be understood by the average man and average woman in the shop. His keen sense of history and of politics shared daily with an emerging class of politicians that he would claim responsibility for bringing to public life. “Owen, from the early 1990s, moulded a new class of politician in this country and changed in many ways, how those representatives would serve to better the chances and obligations of a politician as they serve their constituents. He worked assiduously in his own St Peter to make this the new standard for political mobilization and representation for all. And we all followed. I witnessed it firsthand as I managed four election campaigns for him: two general elections and two by-elections,” she added. Mottley, who succeeded Arthur as leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), recalled that the Arthur she knew was never overwhelmed by the task at hand, and applied the mantra, ‘face it and fix it’. “Indeed, his greatest domestic legacy will be considered by many as the wrestling of unemployment from the horrendous highs of the early 1990s to under seven per cent in 2008. It seems like an archaic economic achievement, but it meant real things to real Bajans in real ways. The promise that many doubted at the outset of his tenure was delivered over the three terms – the creation of 30,000 jobs,” she said. In later years, Mottley and Arthur parted ways politically but again united on efforts to chart a new path forward for the economy hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Mottley, who also asked Arthur to serve in other key areas, including the Jobs and Investment Advisory Council, assisting the Government in the forging a new industrial policy and in the review of the international trade options of Small Island Developing States as Barbados prepared to be the smallest country to host an UNCTAD Assembly, said “His work will continue as we continue those preparations and will be built upon.” Arthur, who took over the chairmanship of LIAT – one of his last assignments – before the board of the regional carrier recommended its liquidation, also distinguished himself as a Caribbean statesman who crafted the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, Mottley noted, and for that, she maintained, the champion of regional integration would ever rest in the “pantheon of Caribbean leaders”. His passing triggered a collective outpouring of condolences and accolades for his unparalleled contribution to Caribbean integration and development from Belize in the west to St Vincent in the south. Back home Opposition Leader Bishop Joseph Atherley who served in an Arthur cabinet between 1994 and 2008, described his former boss as a flawed genius who had a penchant for “political mischief”. “I can still hear the echo of his mantra ‘face it and fix it’. This he would often say to his ministers. “He possessed that facility essential to a successful political career which includes a rise to the top, that is, an ability and capacity for connecting with people at all levels. “Mr. Arthur had a penchant for ‘political mischief’. I use those terms in the mild sense of the word mischief. In a strange way I think it was a part of his appeal. Of course in a given circumstance the fierceness of his politics would manifest itself through use of his tongue or tactics and his opponents and detractors would know they were in a fight and up against it, “ Atherley said. In her tribute, president of the Democratic Labour Party Verla De Peiza said, “As the longest-serving leader, who presided over a period of expansion for Barbados, Arthur deserves his place rightfully alongside other noted nation-builders. Despite being associated with party politics, in the last two years he freely offered advice and direction across the political divide, she said. Apart from the tributes from officialdom, there were outpourings on social media, from ordinary citizens, for the man dubbed ‘the people’s Prime Minister’. “A brilliant and great man has passed,” said Karen Solomon. Zelma Bowen said: “A lot of great generals are having a glorious exit…. He has made a great contribution to the development of Barbados and will always be remembered.” “Owen Arthur inspired many persons here in Barbados and in the region to stand up for what we believe in and to fight and establish regional integration and regional institutions,” said Carl Samuel in his tribute. Arthur, the son of a shopkeeper, from early demonstrated his keen intellect after his schooling at the All Saints’ Boys’ School, the Coleridge and Parry School and Harrison College. That solid foundation led him to the University of the West Indies where he later emerged as a young, homegrown economist with a Master of Science degree in Economics. His early career took him to Jamaica in the 1970s where he cut his teeth at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies, the National Planning Agency of Jamaica, and the Jamaica Bauxite Agency. In the next decade, he returned home to serve his country and it wasn’t long before the then Prime Minister Tom Adams sought out the St Peter son. This led to his selection to the Barbados Senate in 1983 and a year later he was elected to the House of Assembly after narrowly winning the 1984 by-election against Sybil Leacock. For the next few years, he built a solid political career on the opposition benches in preparation for the highest office of the land which he would first secure in a decisive victory in the September 1994 elections and then again in resounding style in 1999 and 2003. His tenure has been described as one of most transformative for Barbados at both the economic and political levels. Arthur retired from active politics in February 2018. sandydeane@barbadostoday.bb Sandy Deane You may also like Update: Person of interest identified and charged 18/02/2025 Man remanded on firearm and ammunition charges 18/02/2025 Man charged with handling stolen property granted bail 18/02/2025