National award parameters outlined in House of Assembly

Worthy groups of people, and not just individuals, will be eligible for one of the island’s top honours, the Gold Award of Achievement, under legislation introduced in the House of Assembly on Tuesday.

And while he supported the move, Opposition Leader Bishop Joseph Atherley urged that strict parameters be set and a monetary prize be attached to the award for group winners.

Introducing the Gold Award of Achievement (Amendment) Bill, 2021, Attorney General Dale Marshall explained that the change to the legislation provides for the award, which is conferred on persons who have performed meritorious service to the community or country, will allow the honour to go to groups, and for the awards to be conferred on either Independence Day or National Heroes Day and not just the latter, as currently obtains.

Marshall noted that while individual achievements are usually recognized in national honours, very often, success in any human endeavour is not an individual achievement. “It is an achievement by a group of people,” he said.

“I do not have any notion of what is to come [in the awards] either this year or next year or in the years after that, but if it’s one thing that the COVID pandemic has made clear to me, and perhaps made clear to members of this Chamber if not all of Barbados, is that teamwork is what it will take to get us out of our challenges,” he said.

“We have Barbadians who, especially in the last year, have laboured not individually but laboured together in the proverbial vineyard, to lift all of Barbados out.”

The Attorney General made specific mention of law enforcement officers who have had to go “above and beyond what you would consider normal law enforcement duty” and lend their shoulders to the health professionals who were struggling with COVID; Barbados Defence Force officers who, together, “shored up the ambulance capacity – something that is an adjunct to what they do as soldiers”; as well as Transport Board drivers and prison officers.

However, the Opposition Leader Atherley contended: “I don’t think that is a net that should be cast liberally widely.”

“I do think careful thought should be given to that.  You very much need to set some very carefully thought through parameters to the numbers that are involved,” he said.

“I also think that if you do give the Gold Award to a group that there should be some consideration given to a monetary attachment.”

Bishop Atherley added that government needs to be “disciplined and . . . diligent” about the awards

Under the amended legislation, the award will be conferred by the President, on the advice of the Prime Minister.

Those eligible for the Gold Award of Achievement are individuals or groups who during the year preceding Independence Day or National Heroes Day, through diligence, sacrifice, dedication to service and commitment to excellence, have made an outstanding contribution to community life in Barbados, or the improvement of the economic and social conditions of Barbados, or the health and welfare of the people of Barbados.

The Gold Award of Achievement (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was passed in committee but subsequently postponed for further consideration. (DP)