LIZ THOMPSON BELIEVES her political legacy should be seen in the context of the way her policy initiatives “have transformed” Barbados and the platform on which she says “the present Government is now standing”.
The former government minister was dogged in office by controversy and was fired and rehired by the Prime Minister. She went on to make a name for herself through the same greening policy initiatives she introduced to Barbados. She was honoured in 2008 with the United Nations Environment Programme Champion of the Earth Award for her work in climate change and the environment and in a SUNDAY SUN interview last week she restated her efforts towards striving to build a green economy for Barbados.
“I developed a national green economy policy for Barbados, the first in the Americas. The first national sustainable energy policy, I did that and you also had the first national oil and gas policy. That is why I was able to get into the UN.”
Thompson, an attorney by profession, was selected for the position of an assistant secretary general of the United Nations at the end of her political career. But her journey has been fraught with painful experiences, some of which she has recorded in the motivational book she has just launched officially. She said it was “birthed in struggle”.
Make Yourself Happy was “largely personal and something which I thought could help others” and songs such as Don’t Worry and Pharrell Williams’ Happy were big influences in the decision to write it, she said.
“Some of the stories are funny. They deal with all issues – conflict in the workplace, conflict in marriages – issues that you encounter as a woman, things that you face generally in life – struggle, failure, pain, the break-up of relationships.”
She knows them all, which is why she encourages others to pursue the kind of happiness she found in the midst of her own struggle and pain. “I really wanted to write something more personal and something which I thought could help others”, she said.
Being a woman in politics was her greatest challenge, said the former politician. “I have a tremendous amount of empathy for Hillary Clinton and Mia Mottley because I think that part of the problem they encounter is the fact that they are female. Women have it really hard.
“I was under constant attack for everything – When I wore locks that were a problem . . . everything that I said was picked to pieces. If the (Queen Elizabeth Hospital) hospital supplies were sent up late, there was a feeding frenzy on the hospital . . . if garbage was not picked up for two days when I was the Minister (of Health) that became a national issue. Everything that I did became problematic and people would constantly vilify me.”
Men, she said, get “a free pass” and get away with their transgressions. “It has to do with the fact that they are men but as a woman you have to perform with excellence all the time,” Thompson argued.
However, she points to her achievements in office and claims credit for projects such as the west coast and south coast boardwalks, the greening of the highways, the new Harrison’s Cave, and the Caribbean’s first hostel for people living with HIV and AIDS.
“We were the first country in the world to give AZT to pregnant women which has reduced the incidence of mother-to-child transmission by 95 per cent, one of the best statistics in the world,” she said.
A life of public service was, however, not the initial goal of the former Queen’s College student. With a promising legal career ahead of her, she was persuaded to give politics a shot, spurred on by her own concerns for the state of affairs in Barbados in the early 90s.
“It was the state of the economy and the country and the extent to which people were feeling exasperated, that prompted me to move towards public service. But subsequently I realised that advocacy and dealing with people’s problems was really what makes me feel fulfilled.
“I had no idea at the time I would so greatly enjoy public service.”
Thompson’s ministerial portfolios over 12 years covered health, housing and lands, physical development, energy and environment. The photograph of her as Minister Health riding on the back of a garbage truck at the height of a garbage crisis is still etched in the minds of Barbadians and whenever the matter of the controversial Greenland Landfill project is raised, the name Liz Thompson is central in the conversation.
As minister of housing she became the subject of public criticism over what her critics said smacked of a conflict of interest.
“It was made to appear to the public of Barbados that I gave my husband a contract as housing minister when in reality he got the contract without my intervention long before I was minister, without my having anything to do with it,” she said.
“I had indicated (earlier) to the Prime Minister that I was involved with a man . . . who was a building contractor and therefore did work for government. I formally wrote to the Prime Minister to say ‘Prime Minister I want you to be aware and I don’t want a situation where there can be an appearance of conflict’.”
Thompson lay much of the blame for the “false” perceptions of her performance on the media and in her book she cites her “painful” experiences as examples of how the power and influence of happiness can override hurt and disappointment.
Her widely publicised firing from the post of minister of health by Prime Minister Owen Arthur in 1999 was “a very, very difficult period in my life” as she details it in the chapter Living Through The Long Dark Days. Though she was reappointed to Arthur’s Cabinet two years later, she admitted: “It was a difficult period but it was a lesson to me and I have tried to see if it could be a lesson to others.”
She wasted no time altering direction and today, on reflection, acknowledged a few personal regrets. “I feel that I have made errors but I am not perfect. I did not make my errors out of lack of effort, out of arrogance, indifference or negligence. They were made because I am human. I always gave my country my best so I am able to live without regret. I can look back and say if I knew better I may have done differently, but I did the best that could be done at the time.
“One of the things that I am extremely pleased about is that I acted with integrity in public office.
“I feel that you must live life without regret. You will make mistakes, bad things happen, you correct them as much and as far as you can. If you do somebody harm, you apologise.”
Thompson now commutes between Barbados and the United States where she returned last week after coming home for her book launch.
There was a hint of disappointment that she was not invited to attend any of the official activities planned for the celebrations. There was however no indication of rancour as she said: “I don’t have anything against the government at the personal level. If they win (the next elections) it would mean it would reduce my party’s chances of winning but the country would be doing well, and I can live with that.”