Local News News ‘Progress despite challenges’: PM toasts BLP victory amid recession, violent crime Barbados Today24/05/20210108 views Prime Minister Mottley marked three years since Labour’s unprecedented landslide victory by touting the administration’s “progress amidst challenges” during a period of turmoil marked by widespread unemployment, economic depression, rising crime and a viral pandemic that’s claimed nearly 50 lives. At a meeting Sunday to commemorate its 30-nil parliamentary shutout of the Democratic Labour Party in the May 24 2018 general election, she told the party faithful that despite uncertain times with the reduction in economic activity, substantial progress has been made in several sectors on the island, with the aim of turning Barbados into a flourishing and sustainable economy within the next few decades. The meeting, entitled Progress amidst the Challenges, saw several members of the current administration giving reports on the current status of their individual ministries and updates on future projects. In closing out the meeting, Mottley said that despite the several challenges being faced by her administration, Barbadians such as superstar Rihanna, track athlete Akela Jones and Formula 3 driver Zane Maloney and others have continued to demonstrate the ability of the nation to excel on the world stage even in the face of challenges. She declared: “Irrespective of where they have come from, they have found themselves competing to be the best of the best… and at the core of it that is why we have come to serve. That is why we take pride in the fact that at the turn of the century Kofi Annan found it possible to reflect that we were punching above our weight.” Among the administration’s achievements, the Prime Minister highlighted over the last three years were fixing the sewage problem that plagued the south coast and the reintroduction of free tuition for UWI students. Mottley then announced a new deal for vendors that will seek to decriminalize illegal vending, which she said is in keeping with her emphasis on improving the lives of small business owners who found it difficult to ply their trade around the country, “If you know me, the one thing that hurt me is the absence of the legislation in Parliament for the decriminalization of illegal vending,” Mottley declared.”I saw the bill last night when the Attorney General sent the bill for me to look at, and I expect that it will be at Parliament, not just to decriminalize illegal vending, but to create a new deal for vendors in this country. “You kind of should have known it would have come, because a government that puts its money where its mouth is and creates trust loans, to be able to ensure the very micro businesses, the smallest of the small, the person who no one would trust with nothing before, could get us as a Government to trust them, and to give them a trust loan which has made a difference to many thousands of people in this country already.” Apart from assisting small business owners, Mottley stressed that her administration is committed to bringing the island up to par with other nations in the digital arena. She expressed the hope of digitizing all governmental agencies in short order, suggesting that digitization is one particular area of interest for young people. She said: “Who are really involved in ICT and digitalization, it is the young people, and more often than not digitalization is also about not just putting something in a digital format, but deconstructing and reconstructing and seeing how we can do things better. We are about to undertake the most massive set of digitalization in this country’s history. Taking records from every department – we have started with the police, we have started with the Supreme Court registry, we are going at the QEH, ministry by ministry.” Despite her administration’s advances, Mottley told supporters that she intends to remain humble, with her attention fixed squarely on the tasks at hand. “I’ve come tonight to say to you, in a very special way and with a level of humility, that is the only way I know how to, we must stay the course,” she told the audience. Mottley’s term in office has been marred by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has so far killed 47 people and sickened nearly 4,000 more. The health emergency has triggered record job losses and a staggering unemployment insurance bill with lockdowns and the worst-ever crisis for the country’s economic engine, tourism. All the while, rising homicides, marked by increasingly brazen attacks as criminals amass lethal firepower has led to eight deaths including the first slaying of a police officer in the line of duty in more than 30 years. Last year’s death toll reached 42, slightly lower than 49 in 2019 which surpassed the figure in 2018. She said Sunday night: “There are some who would want us to be distracted, there are some who would want us to have extraneous arguments put before us, or who would want to say their rights are more important than protecting the public safety of this nation. We will have those discussions with them because this country cannot admit of that kind of slackness, or that kind of indiscipline, because on 166 square miles we don’t have a lot of buffer. “I ask Barbadians tonight, where ever you are, keep doing what you have done with us over the last three years because you have walked with us, you have talked with us, and given us the opportunity to work to solve your problems.”