Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley isn’t fooling herself.
The Barbados Labour Party leader on Sunday night boasted of many things her administration had been able to achieve in the first three years in office, but said there was still plenty to be done.
Mottley, addressing the Stan’ Home Political Mass Rally, said while the COVID-19 pandemic will only make it harder, she believes the manifesto the Bees sold to the country back in 2018 is a social contract, and one they plan to honour.
In a 90-minute presentation during the Report To The Nation, she prioritised work to come in the ‘Mission Critical’ areas of water provision, housing for the poor and the eventual target of COVID-19 herd immunity through vaccination, so Barbados could return to a sense of normalcy.
The Prime Minister also promised that in a few weeks, other important issues such as the the decriminalisation of illegal vending, challenges at the Barbados Licensing Authority and Barbados Revenue Authority, and a better run public transportation system would garner the attention of her Cabinet ministers.
Mottley thanked her Cabinet for the work done in the past 14 months as the country dealt with the COVID-19 crisis. She singled out Minister of Health and Wellness, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic, for special praise, noting the toll battling the pandemic had taken on him.
“This is the hardest working Cabinet I’ve ever worked with,” she said. “They have gone beyond the call of duty to serve Barbados. I’ve never sat in a Cabinet that has had to meet so much, and for so long.”
She said that in spite of the gains, they were not covering their eyes.
“There have been challenges. I’m not here to fool you. I reflect the good, the bad and sometimes the ugly,” Mottley said in reference to her team’s tenure since the 30-0 romp at the polls on May 24, 2018.
She repeated her now common refrain that Barbados would return to a state of normalcy because many hands made light work.
The Prime Minister said that for the next two years, Government’s main aim, along with overcoming the pandemic, would be creating more opportunities for those affected by COVID-19.
“This has not been an easy journey but we’ve come to serve the people of Barbados,” she said, mentioning on a personal note she had not had a comfortable night’s sleep since March last year when the virus reached these shores.
Mottley said there were some areas which Government would attempt to put on the front burner, such as water zone protection for thousands of Barbadians living in trouble areas like The Belle in St Michael, the continued digitisation of the Public Service, renewable energy and medicinal cannabis. (BA)
