Late Prime Minister Owen Arthur is remembered for his erudite missives on the limited economic options available to small, open, developing economies like Barbados’.
One philosophical position which he espoused was using the island’s scarce land resource for its highest economic value. Though viewed as controversial in some quarters, it was a contention in which Arthur pushed the sale of state properties in desirable locations such as those along the coastline.
It may have been the pragmatics of being prime minister of a resource scarce island.
The late leader, though praised for taking the country through several years of economic growth, was also criticised during the lean years around 2006-2007 when the economy slowed and the world was experiencing the early stages of the global financial crisis.
Arthur touted the sale of state lands along the picturesque Bay Street strip and was also a big proponent of divesting public assets to secure vital foreign currency.
The circumstances today for Barbados are not too dissimilar. The global economic picture is one of turbulence with the possibility of escalating wars in the Middle East and in Europe where Ukraine is still battling the invading Russian forces.
On the international stage, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley continues her fight to disrupt the global financial status quo and seek “breathing room” for developing states through more favourable terms from global financial lenders.
Her advocacy, which highlights the intersection between economics and the effects of climate change, has paved the way for the vaunted Bridgetown Initiative.
The initiative includes a call to raise US$100 billion more for the multilateral development banks and the creation of new instruments and reform of existing institutions to finance climate resilience and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The prime minister is also famously associated with another cause – reparations for the Atlantic slave trade, which is arguably the greatest atrocity inflicted on a people anywhere in the world.
In fact, so strongly are Barbados and the region committed to the cause that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has established the CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC). The Commission argues that European governments were owners and traders of enslaved Africans, that they instructed genocidal actions on indigenous communities, and created the legal, financial and fiscal policies that supported the enslavement of Africans.
For this, CARICOM seeks reparations because European governments have “refused to acknowledge such crimes or to compensate victims and their descendants”.
With much work and advocacy undertaken by historian and University of the West Indies Vice Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Barbadians and people across the region have backed the reparations call as a righteous cause.
Against this backdrop, it was not surprising the widespread backlash to news that the government was in negotiations with the British owner of the Drax Hall Plantation in St George to compulsorily acquire the 50-acre property for $8 million.
Many people, including the Prime Minister’s own Special Envoy and MP Trevor Prescod, are offended by the idea of paying a wealthy member of the Drax family in Britain. But there is also widespread concern that the prime agricultural lands would be designated for housing.
Many Barbadians viewed the acquisition and payment to Tory MP Richard Drax, who is said to be among the richest Members of the British Parliament, as an affront and contradiction to the fight being waged for reparations.
On the other hand, those who prioritise the value of agriculture to the island’s aim of attaining food security were also upset by the plan.
Wisely, Prime Minister Mottley has read the room, acknowledged the temperature of Barbadians, and has put a hold on the plan.
“I understand the concerns of many Barbadians who may feel that they have been robbed of the opportunity of having an appropriate settlement for the reparations that ought to be made as a result of the blood, sweat and tears of Barbadians over centuries. I want to make it clear this is not a matter that we take lightly,” she said in a pre-recorded statement on Tuesday night.
Though some believe Barbados “has a right” to take hold of the St George property, Ms. Mottley has made it clear that the Barbados government will not be so blinded by its fight for reparatory justice that it would use unlawful means to balance the scale.
