Ideas bank ‘to attract citizens investment’

The government is set to create an inventory of ideas generated from a series of nationwide public forums held as part of its year-long We Gatherin’ celebrations, with the aim of incorporating citizens’ input into national development.

Launched on Wednesday in St Lucy by Prime Minister Mia Mottley, the initiative, dubbed Ideas Forum, gives Barbadians across the country a direct line to government decision-making and an avenue to turn their ideas into action.

Unlike traditional consultations, where officials outline policies, these forums flip the script, putting Barbadians at the centre of national development while government officials listen.

“This is our chance to be able to broaden the spectrum of who gets their say on how this country is built out,” Mottley said during the inaugural event held at the Darryl Jordan Secondary School.

“For the We Gatherin’ year, we wanted to give the average citizen the opportunity truly to pretend as if, or to be as if, they were the ones going into government and trying to make Barbados a better place.”

The initiative will span all 11 parishes during the course of the year, allowing citizens the opportunity to present ideas on improving public services, community life, and national governance.

These proposals will be logged in an official inventory, reviewed monthly, and assessed for feasibility and implementation.

“At the end of the day, what I am going to ask is that there be an inventory of the ideas that come forward every month, and those that need to move to the next stage, that we work with Future Barbados to be able to help move them to the next stage,” Mottley shared.

Ideas deemed viable will be passed to relevant ministries or incorporated into the government’s broader programming.

However, the prime minister acknowledged that financial constraints would play a role in determining what moves forward.

“If there are fiscal implications, we have to assess them and see whether they are affordable or not affordable,” she said. “And if they are, whether we can bring them now, or we bring them the next fiscal year, depending on the urgency or the balance of all of them.”

In a shift from the usual format of government consultations such as Parish Speaks, ministers and public servants sat among attendees rather than on a stage, reinforcing the spirit of open dialogue.

“You will notice that we are not sitting on the platform this time. We are very much in the audience with you, and that is deliberate,” Mottley noted. “This is your time, every Barbadian, in every parish for the next 11 months, to be able to tell us . . . what would you like to see, what would you want to do?”

During the forum, St Lucy residents voiced concerns over several pressing issues affecting the parish, ranging from public utilities such as persistent problems of discoloured water, transportation limitations and unreliable bus services to cowitch woes.

While acknowledging that public engagement of this kind may take time to gain traction, the prime minister expressed confidence in its long-term impact.

“Now I know we’re breaking new ground. And when we’re breaking new ground in a country that doesn’t like change, it takes a while for things to pick up,” she said. “But I have every confidence that this approach will give us a new conduit of ideas and participation and strengthen our democracy.”

Adding that the process is intended to produce real outcomes, Mottley said, “This is not foreplay.” “This is real. And this is intended to have a process thereafter that also can make people move from ideas to reality.”