Prime Minister cautions challenges ahead, but says growth depends on us

It will be a tough year ahead, says Prime Minister Mia Mottley. She has however assured Barbadians that Barbados is poised to push ahead of this “difficult point” in the country’s development.

In her New Year’s message, Mottley said the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war had presented significant challenges for Barbados in 2022.

However, she said Barbados’ success in 2023 depended on Barbadians’ ability to work together.

“The truth is that the headwinds are still out there internationally but we equally know that if we work carefully and are careful stewards in all that we do, we can in fact make it.

“Over the course of the last few months we have been engaging with different groups and sections in our society and the Social Partnership, recognizing that no matter how much a Government may want us to grow, no matter how much as Prime Minister I may want us to grow, that ultimately it depends on all of us working together and making that definable difference to help the needle move,” Mottley said in the statement posted on social media.

“We are at a difficult point in our country’s development largely because the world is at a difficult time in its development and what is required of us in 2023 is to build resilience, to build resilience at a personal level and a community level, to build resilience as a nation, to continue the structural reforms that we have been doing…”

The Prime Minister said even with the expected challenges, Government would continue to push forward with its planned reforms.

Additionally, she said Government’s housing programmes and renewable energy programmes would continue and the administration would also boost the tourism and international business sectors.

She promised that Government would also continue to look out for those living below the poverty line and those struggling to make ends meet.

“My friends we have made it partially but we can continue to do so by doing it together. I ask us to recognize that some of the restructuring which we started has to continue this year and we will do so, recognizing equally that as we ask people to share the burden wherever there is a bounty, we will also share it. We will ensure that the mission of enfranchisement and empowerment continues to be our guiding principle.

“But we are still sensitive to the fact that there are some of you who are feeling it harder than others. And to that extent, the Government will keep its eyes open and its arms wide in order to support you, just as we have done over the course of the last few years,” Mottley assured.

Mottley reiterated Government’s intention to deal with the rising crime on the island and appealed to Barbadians to assist the Barbados Police Service however they could.

“We recognize that there are some threats we have to confront. There is no gainsaying that the issue of violence and in particular gun violence has to be confronted by all of us as a nation. And it is to that that we have continued to speak. We’ve put resources behind being able to do more trials at a quicker rate, being able to give the police and law enforcement that which they need to keep the country safe.

“But you and I both know also that we need at the level of our families and communities to ensure that we can do what we have to do because guns don’t talk and guns don’t walk. It is people who do, who use guns. And to that extent, if we start by eliminating violence from our language, violence from our communities, –  one thing that we need to do is to help each other to understand how not to respond in a reprisal…

“We urge everyone to cooperate with the police as they seek to make us safe. Recognizing that they alone, however, cannot do it by themselves,” the Prime Minister added.

randybennett@barbadostoday.bb