Fellow Barbadians, residents and visitors, as the old year yields to the new, I join you with a full heart, steady faith and a simple message.
Just days ago, on Christmas morning, I reminded us that Barbados is held together by love; quiet, love, practical love, a love that shows up without needing applause. And I said to you then plainly, stay close, stay connected, stay loving.
Today, as we cross into 2026 I want that same thread to carry us forward, because the work continues. The purpose continues. I want to hold two strands in the same hand, gratitude for what we have achieved together, and resolve for what we must do next.
We’ve always found a way, not by luck, not by accident, but because we are, and have always been, Bajan strong; Bajan strong in how we rebuild after storms and pandemics. Bajan-strong in how we show up for each other when family is hurting. Bajan-strong in how we keep moving forward, even when the road feels steep. Bajan-strong in how we celebrate each other’s victories.
I say it again today with conviction. Barbados has never been a people who fold when times get hard. We bend, we brace, we build, and very often, yes, we do it together. Because one of the truest sayings we have is simple; one hand cannot clap. That is who we are. We share the burden, we share the weight. And when the time comes, my friends and we are doing well, we share that too.
Now, as we welcome 2026, we do so in a year that carries weight and meaning for our nation. This is the year Barbados begins the national Journey to 60, our Diamond Jubilee. This is also the year we enter our fifth year as a Parliamentary Republic. Sixty is maturity, sixty is memory, sixty is responsibility, and a diamond is not formed in comfort. A diamond is formed under pressure and it shines because it has endured.
But being five years old, also as a young republic, gives us the opportunity and the ability to continue to shape who we are and to rid ourselves of the baggage of history. It gives us the confidence to believe in ourselves without the validation of others, personally and as a nation, we do not need anyone to tell us we are good enough. We do what we do because it is the right thing to do for the right reasons. And that, my friends, is the meaning of Bajan-strong.
So this moment, January 1, 2026, yes, ought to be sobering but reassuring, not because we fear the road ahead, but because we respect what it demands of us.
But before I speak of what we must do in 2026, let me speak frankly about 2025. 2025 my friends, was not a gentle year for the world. We saw again how quickly nature can shift, and here at home, we did not have to imagine it. Just think back to a few weeks ago, how within hours I was attending the consecration of Bishop Ezra Paris at the Sharon Moravian Church, and just as I left, what felt like a simple set of showers became a flash flood warning and then suddenly turned deadly for one of our people. That is how quickly life can change, and that is why preparedness and resilience are not slogans or buzz words as others would have you believe. They are our survival.
This past year also saw us continue to live under the shadow of geopolitical fragmentation and uncertainty, the kind that unsettles markets and livelihoods far beyond where conflicts occur. We know the saying all too well when big countries sneeze, small countries catch the cold, and we are witnessing equally the acceleration of the AI revolution, moving from something we discussed in theory to something that is already shaping lives in practice, changing work, changing learning, and for many of our young people, changing their sense of identity and their stability.
We will and must embrace technology, because Barbados never fears progress. But let us equally be honest. One of the greatest threats we now face is not AI itself, but the misuse of AI to manufacture falsehood, to spread panic, to manipulate our young and to corrode trust. We must have guardrails and trust, my friends, you know, and I know, is the currency of any stable society. Without that, we will all descend into anarchy.
So when we measure Barbados, we must measure Barbados fairly within the context of the world that we are navigating. And when we look at 2025, we can say this honestly, Barbados still chose people first. Barbados still moved forward. We didn’t stop building the fundamentals of a stronger society, even as the noise around us grew louder. We increased the national minimum wage in 2025 by 24%, because work must come with dignity, not just survival. We introduced statutory paternity leave this year and strengthened maternity protection, because nation building starts at home. Strong families help to build strong societies. We expanded, yes, the categories of persons living with disabilities, children and adults now entitled to draw the special needs grant. And all of this while passing legislation to protect and empower persons living with disabilities. This government, my friends, understands that inclusion is practical and not poetic. We provided a one off solidarity allowance, because when we do better, no matter how big, no matter how small, everyone, every Bajan here over 18, must share in the pie.
We know that some households, however, have been feeling strained, and the government cannot pretend that pressure is not real. We maintained the targeted support for all households that we started in 2022 with the Prices Compact. And yes, in 2025 we expanded the range of goods that could benefit from tax free status, goods like stew beef, Horlicks, Saga. We developed, also, a price monitoring app that is called Ask Dealia, a free government platform where you can compare prices for basic everyday items across supermarkets, allowing you to plan your basket before you leave home, so that you get value for money. If you have not yet seen Delia, go and look for her and ask Delia every time before you need to shop. How many other governments have done this for their citizens?
We continue to expand the support for persons falling through the cracks in this country. Once we know, we try our best to help wherever there is need. And we continued, my friends, strengthening our national security capacity, including training, recruitment and advancement in the police service. Special constables with three years or more are no police constables. Over 217 police constables with 20 years or more are now senior constables, increasing the numbers that we have to keep Bajans safe by also having job fairs to be able to have others join the police service. My friends, no country can thrive if people do not feel safe.
And beyond these we have made progress that is easy to overlook if we only talk in headlines. We appointed 2095 public officers from today, January 1. And that is not just a statistic. That is 2095 people with families to support, children to raise, parents to help, bills to meet. It means more Bajans with steady incomes, greater security and greater purchasing power, people who can plan, who can now qualify for a loan, who can walk into a bank with confidence, and who can build a more stable home. Because when you stabilize a worker, you stabilize a household, and when you stabilize households, you stabilize communities, and when you stabilize communities, you stabilize our country. We continue to be guided by our commitment as well to enfranchise and empower our workers and ordinary Bajans across different public sector enterprises that we have and in creating other opportunities.
In 2025 we kept road works moving under the Focused Roads Programme, 60 roads were assessed for rehabilitation, with a number of them already completed, and others currently under work. We also completed paving on key stretches of the newly paved section, from the Darcy Scott Roundabout to the Welches roundabout, and we advanced reconstruction and priority areas, including the Scotland District, where another eight roads have already been reconstructed. Are there more to be done? Of course, there’s more to be done. And we know that we still have many of them, because during the lost decade, many were not done, and then again, during the period of shut down in the pandemic, we could not do many.
So that we all equally know that the extreme weather that we more regularly experience in Barbados today is taking its toll on all our roads and infrastructure, so backlog on the one hand, but challenging environments on a daily basis on the other hand, and that is what has made the effort seem even more complex. But I give you the assurance it will all be done, especially since we have stabilized our fiscal situation.
We imported buses and vehicles to help stabilize public transport and other essential services, including garbage collection. Just yesterday, you saw another 35 spanking new buses leave the Bridgetown Port for the people of Barbados to use Wi Fi and air conditioned. But guess what? There are still more to come in this year, 2026. We also advance serious legislative reforms to strengthen our fight against crime in this country, including legislation to provide witness anonymity and to reform our juries, and equally to support generally, the administration of justice. We continue to strengthen our fiscal position, as I said, to the point where it is much healthier than it has ever been.
And yes, we continue to strengthen our fiscal position, healthy as it is now. Why? Because we successfully completed our BERT 1 and BERT 2 programmes and our second IMF programme, the Extended Fund Facility, securing the final disbursements of it and closing that chapter of economic reform with greater policy space and greater confidence in the Barbados economy. Independent judgments by international markets and the credit rating agencies reflected that same confidence. We will now be introducing BERT 3.0 to enhance our competitiveness as a nation, as we know that visitors and investors have choices and as a small open economy, we cannot survive or thrive on our own resources alone. In these uncertain and challenging times internationally, as I’ve said before many times, we will seek to keep the IMF on speed dial, but we will equally be resting, as I said, on BERT 3.0.
With respect to tourism, we kept it moving forward through major modernization and expansion, with new and upgraded product coming on stream, including Hotel Indigo, opening in mid-January 2026, alongside other major projects that are now being built and in advanced planning.
Existing hotels took the opportunity to refurbish and to refresh in their look. I’ve been told that there’s never been more tourism construction at any one time in this country’s history.
As it relates to airlift, this too is showing that momentum. The Grantley Adams International Airport recently recorded its busiest commercial day, with 22 wide body flights and close to 10,000 people moving through it in a single day. And we have seen milestones like 54 flights in one day. And let us remember every extra flight means more jobs and more opportunity for Barbadians.
In October, we opened a new chapter — full free movement among four CARICOM states, because our people must be able to live, work and build across our region with dignity and order.
Now, I know that some people may say, people may feel that we are in a certain season, well, we have one year left before we go back to the people. But that does not mean that we distort the record or we distort facts.
Let me say this much.
These are not wins for any political party. These are wins for the people of Barbados. These are wins for the nation of Barbados, and we should be proud of them, not because any one group benefits alone, but because every Barbadian family is part of the national story that these decisions were designed to strengthen.
At the same time, I also know something else, as I say these things. Some of you listening, may be saying or thinking, “Mia, I hear you, but for some of us, life still hard”.
And I understand that. I do not dismiss it, and I don’t argue with it. I respect it, because two things can, in fact, be true. Pressure can be real, and progress, too, can equally and must also be real.
And real leadership, especially in challenging times, means we can hold both truths at the same time.
My government is not talking about diversification as a theory. We started to create instruments designed to back companies that can grow jobs and foreign exchange, because we need to accelerate what we are doing.
Equally with the new energy economy, including projects like Renewstable Barbados, that pair renewable generation with green hydrogen storage for stability, these things will make a difference to the kind of country and kind of energy stability that we have.
We’re modernizing our business environment with new digital tools and reforms to make it fast and more predictable to invest and expand here. Are we finished? No, we’re not. And therefore we’re very much in the process of this action.
We’ve equally acted to strengthen the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s operations, especially its Accident and Emergency Department, with practical changes.
We moved ahead, as you know, with the expansion of the A & E, but more importantly, in recent years, we’ve added, also, commitments to new staff, commitments to more money, and commitments to new equipment, some of which has already started to be delivered.
These new posts, almost 250 will cost us annually about $17 million. They’re not all filled yet, because we don’t have the skill set for all of them on island, but we are working assiduously to do so.
We strongly believe that emergency care must be faster, safer and indeed, more humane for every Bajan who walks through those doors.
And all of that matters, because policy is not paper. It’s what people feel.
So let me talk straight about what I know some Barbadians are weighing in their minds right now. Even when we go to the hospital, the most important thing with all the money that we are spending is accountability and communication. We have to communicate with each other, and if we are communicating, we need to make sure that that communication eases the worry and anxiety of the patient and the patient’s families, because without communication, stress and anxiety will rise and nobody wins in that situation.
Similarly, let me talk about a few other issues that I know are on our minds.
“Ease the squeeze”, people say. Well, government cannot control every price that comes into this island, and we said this over.
But we can, and we will use the tools within our reach, whether it is making goods tax free, as we’ve done for so many basic goods, for food and answer and personal hygiene. Or whether it will be equally, as we are having to do now, more of market disruption to reduce pressure where we can and to target support where it is needed most.
Why? Because a country that is serious about its people cannot watch hardship and call it somebody else’s problem. We have not done that at any stage, especially since 2022 when cost of living became a global problem.
Secondly, I’ve spoken to you before about the roads, and I’ve said to you, we hear you, and trust me, I feel it too.
We will continue in 2026 with more monetary allocations for the planning, design and construction, to build on top the Focused Roads Project and to look seriously not just at the repaving of our highways, but the widening of Highway 2A between Redman’s Village and Lancaster, and indeed, equally, looking at other key highways that are needed to be able to relieve the traffic backlog.
The Minister of Public Works, early in the new year, will make new announcements as well on how we can continue to have a sharper focus on reducing the burden of traffic that is now haunting so many of our people on our roads.
Thirdly, jobs and opportunities. Even with unemployment at a record low of 6.1% we are still not satisfied, because too many Bajans still need better pay, better opportunity and a clear path to get ahead. A young person still needs a path. A family still needs upward movement. And so our job in 2026 is not only to protect what has been built, but to unlock new ladders of opportunity, especially for our young people and for those who feel like they are working hard but not getting ahead.
That is why 2026 must be a year where the next horizon becomes visible — a horizon of work, a horizon of training, a horizon of enterprise and entrepreneurship, a horizon of modernization, a horizon of renewed confidence.
And my friends, I’m telling you that early in the new year, we will also speak to aspects of the new FinTech and digital scheme to see how best Bajans can work and integrate into that locally and internationally.
The message for 2026 my friends, however, cannot only be about what Government will do. It must also be what we as a people, we as Bajans and persons living in our country who love Barbados, must do.
Because, while we cannot control every external shock, we can confront the domestic issues that threaten our peace and our cohesion, and we must do it collectively as a people.
We must confront domestic abuse.
We must confront violence in any form.
We must confront dishonesty that breaks trust and tears at the fabric of our community.
And we must confront something else that is creeping in, regrettably; a culture of harshness, a culture of indifference, a culture of constant blame, as if somebody else must always carry the responsibility for how we behave as individuals.
Yes, your government has a duty, but yes, we as citizens in the highest office of the land, equally, have a duty too. And in this year of our Diamond Jubilee, in this the fifth year of our Parliamentary Republic, I want to remind us of the national values that we must choose deliberately every single day.
That is why we articulated the Beacons of Renewal, to call each of us to be voices of accountability, to be guardians of cleanliness in our communities, to be agents of respect to each other, to create solutions, not just to comment on problems.
And Barbadians who embrace global citizenship without losing local responsibility, because, as I said, as a small little island in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, we need equally to engage with the others across the planet.
As we do that, let us keep our national direction simple when we talk about Mission Barbados and what we must do by 2030 it’s just built around six practical missions. And I repeat again: What are they?
To keep our environment and communities clean and resilient, sea as well;
To improve safety and health of Bajans;
To deepen respect and strengthen our social cohesion as Bajans;
To empower and enfranchise workers, and ultimately, to drive digital transformation, because almost every one of you is walking about with a cell phone that is now a smartphone, so that this country can work better for people and for businesses;
And of course, to ensure that every Bajan has access to food and water.
Because Barbados, my friends, cannot become world class by 2030 and sustain that excellence Beyond 2030 if we do not equally, start beyond the missions with the simplest and most powerful thing we control, which is at the core of both the missions and the beacon.
It is how we treat to each other.
It is how we offer service to each other. Service doesn’t cost anybody anything.
It costs us nothing to be polite.
It costs us nothing to be caring and empathetic.
It costs us nothing to be decent.
It equally costs us nothing to be pleasant and smiling.
But you know what? It changes everything when we practice it consistently, and others before us knew it, and that is why they practiced us in that when we were growing up.
So let 2026, my friends, be the year that we renew our spirit and raise our standards. Be good first in spirit, and then, of course in action, not because it’s fashionable, but because it’s necessary.
And today I want to speak directly with families, because I can do my work and the Government can do its work and Parliament can pass its laws, but no government can raise children for you.
This new age will demand skills, yes, but it more than ever demands values and attitudes.
If our children have brilliance but no discipline, they will struggle.
If our children have access but no rootedness, they will drift.
If our children have devices but no direction, they will be vulnerable.
So we must continue to invest in training and opportunity in the small ways, in households, in churches, in communities. We must continue to prepare our people for a change in society and a change in economy.
And I ask today every parent, every guardian, every grandparent, every god parent, every community lead, every coach, every teacher, every one of us who loves this country and loves Bajans, help us to shape character.
And let me put it in the simplest language possible. Our children need love, but they also need guard rails. Firm love, guidance Love, a love that is Bajan-strong, the kind of love that says, I believe in you too much to let you destroy yourself and your life.
How many have heard others say that? And how many of us have said it? Correct when needed. Guide with love. Teach respect, teach responsibility, teach manners, teach kindness.
Let us talk with them, as I keep saying, and not at them. Let us walk with them, not ahead of them. Because all of the infrastructural gains, all of the social gains, all of the economic gains, will mean nothing if we do not produce a generation ready, ready to take the baton from us and to carry Barbados forward.
I’ve always said that we must make this country comfortable for our elderly, for our people who are vulnerable, but we must make it a place that our young people want to live and want to build.
And this brings me back, therefore, to that theme that must carry us into the Diamond Jubilee Year and the fifth year of the parliamentary republic —. into our 60 and five, as I call it.
And this brings me back to the theme that must carry us into our “60 and five”, our Diamond Jubilee, and yes, our fifth year as a parliamentary republic.
Challenges will continue, but resolve develops immediately on January 1, because that’s just how we are. New beginnings each year brings new resolutions. It means that the foundations laid through shared sacrifice and steady work must now translate for us into broader opportunity, stronger systems and a greater sense across Barbados that our people are not only enduring, but progressing.
I want Bajans to feel in 2026 that they’re not only surviving, that we’re building, that we’re stabilizing, that we’re strengthening. And as I said to you on Independence Day, when we get weary, we must see it as an opportunity to redouble our efforts to ensure that we continue because we have not yet reached the top of the hill.
I say simply, with a smile, because I know what many of you are thinking. I have a feeling 2026 can be a very, very, very good year for all of us if we keep doing the work, and if we keep choosing each other.
My friends, on our journey to 60 and five, let us remember what it truly asks of each of us. It asks us as a parent or as a godparent, as a grandmother or grandfather, as an uncle or aunt, a neighbour or a friend, to make that quiet but powerful commitment in this year, in this very year, to be able to make a defining difference in the lives of our young people.
Let us decide deliberately to be the steady hands that our children can lean on, the voices that guide them, the examples that shape them and the community that holds them.
Let us give them love, yes, but also the guard rails. And let us teach them all that have spoken about from respect to discipline, to kindness, to manners, to service, because as we celebrate at 60 and as we celebrate at five, the republic that we are shaping, we will be measured by what we place in the hands of our young people and by the kind of people we help them to become.
That is why the Chapman Challenge issued by our president is so important, and that is why during this year, we will ask so many of you to volunteer to help us ensure that we can have in our schools far more activity that supplements and complements what you do at home and what you do in church.
It also is necessary for us to honour those who built this nation, to protect those who have been there for us before. And I ask us also, as we do so, to let our children understand the world they are inheriting, and the journey that their elders did before them, ask them to be better, not in talk, but in action, day after day, neighbour by neighbour, parish by parish, household by household, and yes, Bajan by Bajan.
Let us reach out and touch life this year. Let us hold hands across households and across communities and be intentional, purposeful about the young people in our care, your own child, your grandchild, or your god child, your neighbour’s child.
Speak with them, guide them, correct them when we must. But always with love, always with love and with the necessary guardrails about their choices, because that is how we prepare them to take the wheel and to keep us going, to keep Barbados strong, steady and safe for generations to come.
May God bless each and every one of you in this new year of 2026. May God bless our families, may God bless our communities, and may God continue to bless our nation Barbados in this 60th and fifth year, as we have come to call it.
Happy New Year, my friends and a prosperous, prosperous, prosperous 2026.
The post Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s New Year message to the nation appeared first on Barbados Today.
