IT TAKES a lot of guts and determination to go out there and fight issues on behalf of the public when very often, the only interest some of the people on whose behalf you take up a cause is in a positive outcome.
It is perhaps because of this lukewarm response from the public that community activists are not easily found across Barbados. Many people believe that politicians and big name trade unions are the only people that can get things done. Perhaps this is why consumer organisations have failed consistently.
So it takes a lot of guts to be a community activist in Barbados and some gumption to stay the course when fighting against the establishment and for causes which may bring little or no personal financial reward.
Yes, you may not always agree or like what David Comissiong does or support Malcolm Gibbs-Taitt, but you have to admire their stickability to their causes.
Ideally, we need more non-governmental organisations in Barbados to address all the wrongs that are done on a daily basis. We need entities that are going to become embroiled in controversy and run afoul of authority figures, whether in the private or public sector, and who will have their facts and stand their ground.
Yes, the Rotary Club, Kiwanis, Lions, Optimists, the YMCA and the YWCA, NOW, MESA and a host of other organisations all do good for the betterment of their fellow man and must be applauded. They have a role to play.
But we also need groups which will make the political elite angry, get tongues wagging when the Chamber of Commerce & Industry or the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association hold their meetings. We need voices who will challenge the academics at Cave Hill and mouthy church leaders. We honestly need to have those difficult and sometimes awkward discussions in Barbados.
This is why Comissiong and Gibbs-Taitt are such interesting people. In the eyes of many they are nothing other than irritants in society.
Unfortunately, both gentlemen have often played into the hands of their critics and this may also indicate why they do not attract national popular appeal.
The Clement Payne Movement, which Comissiong leads, is viewed largely as a one-man organisation. The same applies to Gibbs-Taitt and his Barbados Consumer Research Organisation.
Both gentlemen should seriously consider how to grow their organisations. They should also consider a succession plan.
The logical way is to open up the membership and try to get a large number of people on board. They both need to have annual elections and to get some other names and faces in key positions. In other words, make the organisations hold true to the Barbadian democratic traditions. Do as the Barbados Workers’ Union, the National Union of Public Workers, the Barbados Union of Teachers and the Barbados Secondary Teachers Union all do – hold an annual conference.
The Barbados Association of Retired Persons as well as the credit union movement – the two largest people-based institutions – can show the way. They have people with strong and clear political views in both BARP and the credit unions, but they are never seen other than being apolitical and very democratic.
To be credible, NGOs must promote good governance, transparency and accountability. Â
