Prime Minister Mia Mottley has hinted that Barbadians can expect the announcement of new policies within the next two weeks, aimed at strengthening social and economic resilience.
Speaking on Sunday after a church service at the Church of God in Jackson, St Michael, Mottley said the measures would be national in scope and designed to give citizens “the best chance that they can get” in an increasingly uncertain global environment.
“I have some exciting new policies that we will announce over the course of the next two weeks that I hope will allow us as a people, not the [Barbados] Labour Party family, not the Dems, but us as a people to continue to be able to provide the resilience that we need in this world that is so uncertain now,” she said.
She explained that the focus would be on supporting Barbadians “whether it is babies, whether it is adults, or whether it is those in their senior years who deserve our support”.
The Prime Minister, who is also Member of Parliament for St Michael North East, also used the occasion to defend her administration’s record, arguing that despite the difficulty of national recovery, progress had been steady.
“When we came to the Barbados people, we said, ‘Look, we want an opportunity to be able to bring this country back on track.’ It has been hard, but I think that for the most part we’ve been able to do it,” she said.
Mottley pointed to efforts to stabilise essential services as part of that process. “We’ve been able to make sure that, for example, a lot of the things that were not done like the purchase of garbage trucks and buses and all of that, we started to stabilise. Is the provision of transport services or garbage services perfect yet? No, it isn’t,” she acknowledged, stressing that “this is a journey and on a journey you see progress, but you’re not yet at your final destination”.
She argued that a central feature of that journey had been easing cost-of-living pressures and increasing disposable income through tax reform and targeted relief. “That’s what we’re doing with respect to putting more money in people’s pockets. The first thing we did since 2019 was to be able to reform our tax system to put more money in people’s pockets,” she said.
Highlighting specific measures, Mottley noted changes to income tax thresholds and property taxes.
“Anybody who is earning less than $35 000 a year, which is just shy of $3 000 a month, effectively doesn’t pay taxes in this country anymore,” she said, adding that from April, homeowners with properties valued at $400 000 or less would not pay land tax. “That is just on the income side in terms of cost of living,” she added.
The Prime Minister said her administration had taken deliberate steps to shield households from rising prices by removing VAT and import duties on a wide range of goods, with additional items such as stewed beef and Horlicks added over the past year, while VAT on electricity had been capped at ten per cent.
She also encouraged Barbadians to make use of the Ask Dealia application to compare supermarket prices and secure better value.
Mottley said her government had also expanded social protection for vulnerable groups, noting that for the first time, children and adults with disabilities were receiving special needs grants, supported by a new legislative framework designed to protect their rights.
She further said efforts were under way to strengthen economic resilience and food security through support for small businesses and agro-processing, pointing to facilities such as the International Food Centre at Newton and the construction of a new tissue culture laboratory in St Philip, which she said would improve access to planting material and advance the country’s push towards greater food security.
While conceding that her administration had not been without shortcomings, Mottley maintained that the overall record justified continued public support.
“We’ve not been perfect. Every person has issues,” she said, citing roadworks as one area where progress was ongoing. “We’ve done hundreds of kilometres, but we have hundreds of kilometres still to do.”
Framing her appeal within a broader global context, the Prime Minister said instability caused by conflict, technological change and economic uncertainty had left many societies fatigued.
“I believe that the world is weary, not the country; the world is weary, and by extension it is seeping into all households across the world,” she said, urging Barbadians not to lose faith in the national project.
Referring to the Mission 2030 agenda, Mottley said development had to be measured over time rather than through short-term expectations.
“Let us do mission 2030 now, because this is not just taglines; this is basically setting a journey to tell people that I don’t expect things to change overnight,” she said, adding that by staying the course, Barbados could make major achievements.
“This is a journey. This is not a single event,” she said, expressing confidence that continued effort and resilience would carry the country forward. (SZB)
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