Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley says Barbadians must prepare to become owners in key national projects as Government moves deeper into a new phase of economic transformation centred on inclusive growth and wider wealth creation.
Speaking at Ilaro Court during yesterday’s announcement that Barbados had reached a stafflevel agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a precautionary standby arrangement, she outlined a vision that could see ordinary Barbadians investing directly in major State-linked ventures, ranging from desalination and bottling plants to large-scale battery storage infrastructure.
“This is the term when inclusive growth is necessary for us to sustain it, which means carrying on people who would not normally be carrying on, which means making sure that people have access to ownership opportunities that would not otherwise be there,” Mottley said.
She added that Barbados had moved beyond the stabilisation phase which dominated the early years of the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) initiative, and was now seeking to create broader participation in national development.
The Prime Minister explained that the first BERT programme focused on stopping the country’s economic decline, while the second phase sought to restart growth following the COVID-19 pandemic. The next phase, she said, would place greater emphasis on productivity, competitiveness and ownership opportunities for ordinary citizens.
“You heard me say so when the new Government was sworn in . . . . This is the term when inclusive growth is necessary for us to sustain it,” she stressed.
Mottley suggested that Barbadians who already paid utility bills should also have opportunities to benefit financially from those same services through investment instruments linked to public infrastructure projects.
“I want Bajans who pay water rates to know that if you pay a water rate, you should be able to get a water dividend if you invest in the desal plant or the bottling plant,” she said.
Push for expansion
The Prime Minister also used the occasion to reveal details of Government’s push to expand national battery storage capacity as Barbados continues its transition towards renewable energy.
She reminded that the country had encountered difficulties sourcing battery systems at the scale currently required, noting that Barbados was often viewed internationally as being too large for small residential solutions but too small for major industrial suppliers.
“The FTC (Fair Trading Commission) gave [Barbados] Light & Power the right to buy 15 megawatts of batteries and in 18 months, Light & Power can’t find a boy to sell them 15 megawatts,” Mottley said.
As a result, Government was now considering the establishment of a single national special purpose vehicle to own and manage industrial-scale battery infrastructure for the island.
“We should have one national special purpose vehicle company that owns it,” she stated, adding that building 100 megawatts of battery storage could cost “hundreds of millions of dollars”.
She suggested that Barbadians with savings sitting in commercial banks could instead consider investing in essential infrastructure projects capable of generating stable returns over time. (CLM)
