Attorney General Freundel Stuart has called upon Barbadians to fight “foreign influences that are upon us” and “local influences that have embraced the values of these foreign influences”.
Speaking Saturday near the scene of Friday night’s Tudor Street fire which resulted in the death of six young women, Stuart warned: “We have something to fight for. If we don’t fight for it, we will lose it.”
He emphasised it was “not simply an issue of a place getting burnt down”.
“It is that, yes, and I condole with those who have lost their lives and I feel the pain. But when we get beyond the broad facts of this issue, we are dealing with an attack on Barbados’ traditional values.
“What is required of those of us who support those traditional values is to fight for their preservation with every bit of energy we possess.
“Certainly the Government of which I am a part intends that the values that have made Barbados what it is today will not be overturned by lawless elements committed to replacing freedom and fairness.”
The Attorney General said it was natural on these occasions “to lapse into a kind of panic-stricken surrender when it appears as though evil is triumphing in the society”.
“Clearly, there are elements in the society that have determined that they want to be exceptions to the compact that has held Barbados together over the years”, he said.
“This criminal element of course is using tactics of terror, and they seem determined to bear any burden and pay any price to institutionalise the evil to which they are committed.”
However, Stuart cautioned that Barbados would not remain a free society if Barbadians did not “with determination and indignant resolve” commit themselves to the defence of the values that had made the island strong over the years.
“Those values are under threat . . . We have to understand that we have values to fight for and we must fight for them fearlessly because the battle between right and wrong, good and bad is on in Barbados”, the Attorney General said. (GC)
