Arthur ‘top regionalist’ – political scientist

The late Owen Arthur was one of the most regionalist leaders Barbados has ever produced, a UWI political scientist, an expert in international relations, has declared.

But as she assessed his legacy, Dr Kristina Hinds said his most outstanding achievement was keeping the Barbadian economy on a growth trajectory for 14 years.

She told Barbados TODAY: “I think the support for CARICOM, the work in getting the CSME up and running really are commendable.

“Even after he was Prime Minister, we can look at the fact that he was willing to work with LIAT in the latter days of his life as well as the role that he played in the election in Guyana as an election monitor, shows that ongoing commitment to regionalism.”

She said Arthur’s efforts at promoting regional integration demonstrated that Barbados cannot do well without the rest of the Caribbean.

“For me as somebody is who very interested in regionalism, I think that that is one of the things I really would commend Owen Arthur for, not just for Barbados, but for the entire Caribbean region,” she added.

Dr Hinds said one can therefore understand why the late Prime Minister is receiving all the accolades from across the region.

At the domestic level, she said this country experienced significant recovery from an economic downturn under Arthur.

“We had a period of wonderful growth; recovery in employment. I don’t think this is something we should take lightly because this region is one in which stewardship is very important in helping to determine the fate of our economy,” the political scientist told Barbados TODAY.

“We are very small and precariously placed in a global environment. So stewardship is very important. I would not say I agreed with everything that happened under Owen Arthur tenure.

“But for me, I think there is more that could have been done perhaps on the social side. But in terms of driving the economy and ensuring that the unemployment rate remained low and that there was a lot of economic activity, this was certainly commendable.

“We could make the counter argument that perhaps one of the reasons that we fared relatively poorly in the global recession had to do with some of the decisions made under the Owen Arthur Government.”

But she gave Arthur high marks for raising this country’s living standards.

“Barbados has done quite well in terms of our living standards, our human development rankings which are global; and I do not think this would have been possible without his stewardship for those 14 years,” Dr Hinds told Barbados TODAY.

She however acknowledged that Arthur built on achievements from the previous Democratic Labour Party administration of Erskine Sandiford (now Sir Lloyd).

The UWI expert said : “But if we had 14 years of poor stewardship, we would not be where we are today. I don’t think we would be able to weather COVID as we are, if it were not for those 14 years of progress, infrastructural development, economic growth and these kinds of things.”

Dr Hinds also noted that aspects of Arthur’s vision and much of what he helped to craft have not yet borne fruit.  She is suggesting the leaders of today should work to fulfil his legacy.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb