BLP marks 1st anniversary of 30-0 victory

There was a warm family atmosphere at the National Botanical Gardens on Saturday for Errol Barrow Day, as Barbados Labour Party supporters descended onto the green space in recognition of the 1st anniversary of the party’s 30-0 victory at the polls in 2022.

When a team from Barbados TODAY visited the site during the late afternoon, hundreds of Barbadians were seen setting up their individual tents and serving a variety of food, as they prepared for the promised line of entertainment scheduled for later in the day.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kerrie Symmonds, who was seen mingling with several supporters, told Barbados TODAY that the day was an important one for all Barbadians to enjoy.

“It is a good day, I am very happy that we are able to do two things today. One, commemorate and celebrate the life and contribution of the National Hero Errol Barrow, and then obviously celebrate that wonderful victory that the people of Barbados were so good to give us only a year ago, but still close to his – Errol Barrow – birthday.

“I think a lot of people are seeing in the current leader – Prime Minister Mia Mottley – those wonderful things that we saw in Mr Barrow many years ago … commitment to national development and regional development.”

Symmonds, however, stated that though there have been many successes for the party over the last 12 months, Barbadians understood that there are some testing times ahead.

“The truth of the matter is people understand that we are obviously making a serious effort to do a number of things in Barbados in very difficult circumstances. There have been some I think obvious successes,and there are obviously some challenges that we are trying to grapple with.

“Barbados has now come out of a pandemic set of circumstances, and I should use this opportunity to urge Barbadians to bear with government.”

He added: “I think sometimes we forget because we managed the pandemic so well, what a challenge that period has been not only for this country, but for all the countries of this region. We obviously would have list revenue at government level, and we obviously would have had to spend more money in order to secure the livelihoods of people.

“So, we are now in the rebuilding phase, and it means therefore that you don’t just fly high immediately, it takes a while to get where you want to get.”

Senior Minister in the Prime Minister’s office, Dr William Duguid, also gave similar remarks, and said the growth was one of the party’s number one priorities going forward into 2023.

“Of course the big issues we have to tackle, and the greatest thing we have to do is get growth in the country. I, together with the government, are singularly focused to be able to get growth. You would have seen this year that for the first time in decades the government and the Barbados Labour Party was able to steer this country to double digit growth.

“Ten per cent growth, and we want to maintain that growth even though there is an international forecast with a decline in economies of the countries of the world, we want to continue that growth path.”

The Senior Minister stressed that the government intends to push through with its multiple capital works projects, and foreign investment initiatives, which are intended to keep the island on its stable rise in its economic trajectory.

St Thomas Member of Parliament and Deputy Speaker Cynthia Forde, was also seen during the course of the day interacting with her St Thomas contingent, and told Barbados TODAY, that despite the many challenges facing the country, it was important for the party to come out on a day with such national significance to remind citizens that the party is listening and working on behalf of the people of the nation.

“We are here to have a grand time and help to let others know we still care for you.” (SB)