Government advised to expand social safety net

Former Minister of Social Transformation Hamilton Lashley has urged the Government to expand the social safety net to protect Barbadians from the increasing cost of living.

He said given the developments related to the unrest in Russia and Ukraine, Barbados must move swiftly to prepare itself for the external shocks that will impact negatively on the economy and the country’s way of life.

“One of the things that I know for sure is that this Ukraine-Russia war will seriously impact the poor and the most vulnerable. And it is against that background that I believe that Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Kirk Humphrey’s ministry should be given more resources to deal with the incoming requests and demands that obviously will be made on his ministry.

“So that vulnerability and safety net must be further tightened and strengthened at this critical time. Government would have so far done its best to protect the most vulnerable, but that vulnerability net will certainly need to be expanded as long as this Russia-Ukraine war continues because it exposes the vulnerability of Barbadians. There will be a substantial increase in oil prices although the Government is putting a cap on it because that cap can’t last forever.”

Lashley added that residents needed to help each other as well.

“Barbadians now must come together, or we will suffer as one on a fool’s paradise. People now have to become their own brother’s keeper,” he said.

Lashley said Barbadians should also pay attention to the rising costs of petroleum products and the potential increase in the price of goods and services, and get back to their kitchen gardens to mitigate that.

The former minister said authorities must also encourage consumers to buy local and the agricultural sector should be diversified to meet local demands.

“We have to get back to things like backyard farming. We got to diversify, grow eddoes, grow local ground provisions, so that our food import bill will be dramatically and drastically cut, so that we can manage our own affairs without having to spend too much of our foreign currency through the importation of foreign goods,” Lashley said.

“Obviously, we can talk about tourists, but when the tourists come here the tourists want to eat local and they want to buy local, they want to use a lot of our indigenous products here in Barbados.

“So, if there is ever – and I see it – a national recovery of our economy, we need to use the resources of our people and our cultural indigenous food and products, while at the same time protecting the most vulnerable and strengthening that safety net across Barbados, particularly protecting single women of large households,” he added. (AH)