Bill to ‘reverse the Middle Passage’ for Bdos’ survival

The need for Barbados to use its strategic location to become a modern logistics hub has become more urgent in the light of global supply chain disruptions and geopolitical tensions, says Minister of Energy and Business, Senator Lisa Cummins.

Speaking in the Senate ahead of the passage of the Seaport Industry (Management, Operations and Development) Bill, 2025, Cummins said the bill emphasises the government’s push to develop the logistics sector, which would be anchored by the Bridgetown Port and Grantley Adams International Airport.

“The creation and the establishment of Barbados as a logistics hub is a critical component captured in this legislation, but it is even more critical in an environment of geopolitical instability and challenges with where our goods are going to come from in different parts of the world,” she said.

The Seaport Industry (Management, Operations and Development) Bill, 2025, seeks to modernise and regulate the country’s seaport sector to make Barbados a leading transshipment and logistics hub in the Caribbean

Cummins said, initially, the government efforts focused on trade diversification and increasing the country’s sourcing options.

“There would have been no contemplation that we would have been the government to be leading a country at such a time as this. There would have been no contemplation that we would have been the government leading the country in an era of global instability almost continuously,” she said.

But the recent developments with regards to tariffs and global supply chains have led the government to upgrade its initial efforts and focus on building a resilient logistics network to ensure Barbados’ survival, the senator explained.

The minister also noted that the Government aims to transform the trade logistics centre contemplated for the Bridgetown Port and its surrounding areas into one that serves local needs, as well as regional and international markets.

Referencing recent remarks by Prime Minister Mia Mottley on the legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Senator Cummins said Barbados intends to symbolically “reverse the Middle Passage”.

“Using the Middle Passage in modern context for good, where we use the Middle Passage and Barbados’ geographical location to service the needs of countries in the north and in the south as a logistics hub,” the minister explained. (SB)