#BTColumn – What mirror image do we have?

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today.

by Michael Ray   

“Fit your own oxygen mask first. You’re no use to anyone if you’re running on empty. Caring for yourself first is often the best thing you can do in order to help others. It isn’t selfish or egoistic. Just really good advice.” – Anonymous

At the launch of Tourism Week last year, then Minister of Tourism Kerrie Symmonds made a bold statement, “Tourism simply cannot be about facilitating foreign investors to develop a business which will be run on behalf of foreigners by foreigners for the benefit of foreigners.”

If there is a turnaround of that profound statement, then the powers-that-be have a commitment and responsibility to tell native Barbadians what are the circumstances under which Harrison Cave is being handed over to be managed by foreign interests.

The Cabinet of Barbados – collectively or as individual members – does not make flippant statements to be taken lightly or ignored, but often makes credible and substantial statements to the extent that any contrariwise follow-up action runs the risk of disapprobation by a cross-section of the population.

Within months of such a strong and deliberate statement from Minister Symmonds, there is recent information published within the columns of the news media indicating that Jamaican tour operator Chukka Caribbean Adventures is likely to be the new managers of Harrison Cave.

If we can extract anything from the annals of our history, it seems as though Barbadians are not possessed with the requisite education and training to own and manage commercial banks, insurance companies, other private sector entities and now our premier tourist attraction and national asset.

It seems as though the current team of national policymakers and planners are unaware of what national hero and visionary Errol Barrow said when he warned Barbadians to be careful that one day we may wake up and find Barbados no longer belongs to us.

From this letter-writer’s perspective, it seems as though we are becoming renters, servants, beggars, borrowers and second-class citizens in our own land.

Our education system was not geared to only teach about the lowest common denominator, but we were taught the highest common factor, its use and value.

It seems as though after spending millions of dollars in education and training over the years,  recent governments have not taken a serious look at “return on investment” in order to determine where we are and what more we have to do in order to become economically sustainable.

Surely, Barbados, as a small island developing state, cannot reach any level of economic sustainability by disposing of our most valuable and worthwhile assets to foreigners.

Have our national economic planners fallen asleep and allowed foreign interests to take control of what is left of the once commanding heights of our economy?

For the maximum benefit of country Barbados and its citizenry, one would think that well educated and trained Barbadians are best suited to own and manage our indigenous resources and assets, but recent developments indicate that foreign interests take precedence.

Nowadays, we are quite happy to engage and have talks with foreigners whose focus is largely in their own best interest and hardly ever in sync with the aims, ambitions and aspirations of the local population.

What mirror image do we have of ourselves? Are we content to be merely hewers of wood and drawers of water?

I may be bold to say that we have progressed to a point where we are capable of managing our own affairs after more than a half century.

Our decision makers must be reminded that Barbados, unlike Guyana, is not blessed with wide expanses of natural resources such as gold, bauxite, forestry and waterfalls. Our most precious resources are our people.

Therefore, they should not be barricaded out of economic activity, which should be readily available for them to participate in.

Barbadians should be allowed to lift some of the heavy weight, as is often suggested, but there is little or no facilitation or opportunities owing to the double whammy of COVID-19
and emphasis on foreign direct investment.

Harrison Cave is only one of many examples of heritage that should not, and must not be exchanged for a pot of red lentil soup – a connotation of short sightedness and misplaced priorities.