The Parliamentary Representative for St Peter says people must be at the centre of any physical development plan for Barbados.
Colin Jordan told Tuesday’s debate in the Lower House, on a resolution to approve the Barbados Physical Development Plan (PDP) as amended in 2023, that the content of the over 500-page document has to manifest itself in a real way that benefits the people who live in this country.
“We understand this plan to have many principles, but these principles have to be translated into language and actions that represent something real,” Jordan stated.
The plan outlines the administration’s vision for nine areas – Bridgetown, Warrens and Wildey in St Michael; Speightstown, St Peter; Oistins, Christ Church; Six Roads, St Philip; Holetown, St James; Belleplaine, St Andrew; and Bathsheba, St Joseph.
“When we go into communities, we have to engage with the people in those communities. We have to make sure we take their perspectives into consideration because . . . a physical development plan does not stand on its own; it is within the context of the people that it impacts and the people that it impacts are the people who live in the space and the people who use the space, and so I expect that there will be continuing engagement,” Jordan said.
Zeroing in on some of the areas from his constituency mentioned in the plan, he proposed a national park village, as well as development in the areas of The Risk and Boscobelle, that would facilitate enfranchisement of residents. That, he said, would redound to the benefit of the economy.
“Even as we plan . . . we also have to look at the future, in maybe some areas that may not have been on the table at the time the plan was developed. Maybe we have to see and discern some little areas where there can be development that will be meaningful for the community around it but that will not do harm or damage to that community,” the MP said.
“The facilitation around that must come into play . . . facilitation that will allow for true enfranchisement. Because if enfranchisement is to mean what most of us expect it to mean, it must be within the reach of those persons we call the micro-entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs . . . . The legislative framework and the planning and development framework must accommodate those persons.”
For that infrastructure to be developed, he said, issues like roads and water also have to be addressed.
“Addressed first for the residents but also addressed to allow residents to be able to earn, to become entrepreneurs, and to assist in the development of our country. That is vitally important, and these things must work together so that we can develop our people, and our people will not feel as though we have forgotten those in the rural areas or those who have what they believe to be small ideas. We have to be able to facilitate them all,” Jordan said.
In the case of the Six Men’s, St Peter area, he insisted that it must remain an “authentic fishing village” but with 21st-century appeal.
He stressed: “I will oppose any fast food establishment coming even close to Six Men’s . . . because I have seen that their presence can dilute and disrupt a genuine experience, the genuine experience that many Barbadians and visitors want.”
The parliamentary representative said Six Men’s was not mentioned in the PDP “significantly enough”, due to “some issues that need to be addressed”.
Jordan said that in implementing the PDP, this island’s heritage must be protected at all costs, given “Barbados’ proclivity to destruction”.
“We have to mature in our approach to our physical infrastructure and our view about heritage, and if our views are not mature, if we don’t get some sense into our heads, then we will have a really, really nice physical development plan but there will be some rogues around who will be still walking about mashing up things that ought to be preserved.
“So there has to be a real connection between. .. [the] document and the persons who are charged with the various aspects of our development to ensure that the actions do not go counter to the physical development plan.”
(FW)
