#BTEditorial – Homecoming of sorts for new ministers

A quartet of new ministers are set to receive their instruments of office on Wednesday in the Mia Mottley administration to “wrestle down” a series of challenges that are “within our capacity to fight”, as the Prime Minister told the party faithful over the weekend.

But this latest round of ministerial musical chairs seems more of a homecoming as the First Among Equals moves to match professional and political experience with ministerial portfolios.

Senior Minister Senator Jerome Walcott returns to the Ministry of Health, as the surgeon who became the nation’s chief diplomat expected to wield a deft scalpel in the nation’s largest and most notoriously difficult ministry.

His predecessor, Ian Gooding-Edghill MP, a former executive with some of the island’s leading hotels, also moves to a presumed “home” as he leaves the MOH for the Ministry of Tourism and International Transport.

Senator Lisa Cummins, a former diplomat and trade expert shifts from Tourism to the Ministry of Energy and Business Development with responsibility for International Business and Trade. Also returning to a presumed old stomping ground is Senior Minister Kerrie Symmonds as he takes control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he was apprenticed to former Senior Minister Billie Miller.

Public debate on the reshuffle has been predictably robust.  Most acknowledge that a reshuffle is the prerogative of the Prime Minister but the divide comes on whether it is really a political tactic to manage Labour’s internecine affairs or a strategy to deliver on promises of better governance and new policies.

It better be both. It most certainly ought to be latter, even as Mottley so avers.

She said: “The adjustments are intended to strengthen the Government’s hand to deal with the issues that are before us. I have confidence that we can do it and when you understand what the adjustments are you will understand the wisdom of the decisions that we are making today.”

Time will tell. But time is neither elastic nor abundant.

Barbados is facing serious challenges within and without.  Tough decisions have to be made as this new republic takes on an ever-changing world where small island states are virtually invisible.

After two tough years of navigating the COVID-19 pandemic and its wide-ranging impact on every facet of our life, Barbados is anxious to get on with the business of development.

Citizens want to recover much of what is lost and build for the future again. So the demands will be great on those we elected to guide our affairs for the next five years.

High on the agenda is a return to real economic growth. With another IMF deal secured and an upbeat rating from FITCH, Government has a foundation.  Most are now anxious for investment to pick up and for long-awaited projects to get off the ground to boost the creation of jobs and economic activity.

With warnings of a recession next year from leading economists and some business leaders, this country will need a steady hand on the ship, amid global supply chain challenges, rising inflation and the war in Ukraine.

But the economic issues are only the beginning.

Barbadians will no doubt look forward to strong action on several fronts. We await a new constitution that is central to steadying the democratic ship of state amid a turbulent sea. We yearn for action to wrestle crime to the ground. We look forward to a comprehensive plan to tackle the  burgeoning epidemic of non-communicable diseases and effective strategies to improve roads, provide housing, boost the public service, overhaul the failing education system, empower youth, provide for the elderly and uplift the vulnerable.

Admittedly, our success is not all up to the Government and the new-look ministerial squad. But to whom much is given, much is expected.

We expect all our ministers, those with new portfolios and those who maintained their ministries, to remember their commitment and the responsibilities entrusted to them by Barbadians — and work to improve the lives of the people.

There’s really no place for ministers who are big on ideas and rhetoric but short on implementation.

At this stage in our development, Barbados needs effective leaders who are able to combine good judgment with far-reaching vision. We need leaders on a mission to make a difference even in tough times and face the issues and fix them.

May the new ministers’ homecoming be brief. May familiarity breed competence. There is much work to be done.