Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley says the driving force behind having suitable infrastructure for schools is not just for the safety, comfort, and care of the nation’s children, but to have infrastructure that is climate resilient.
Ms. Mottley was delivering an address at the awards ceremony of the Modern School Infrastructure Design Competition, which was held yesterday at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.
She continued: “The notion of sending our children into dreary, damp, and grey schools can no longer suffice when we know better. We are not about a concrete jungle. We believe that as long as our fiscal circumstances allow it, we will continue to ensure that our children are functioning in environments where everyone, not just the children, but the teachers, the ancillary staff, that parents, everyone will feel comfortable being a part of.”
Prime Minister Mottley further explained that given the horrific damage done to the coastal infrastructure and coastal assets by Hurricane Beryl, the country is in a new era with respect to construction and adaptation, and effort from every Barbadian is essential to redirecting our focus on climate resilience.
She stated that the process will take five to seven years and stressed that infrastructure throughout the country that is not fit for purpose will be rebuilt either by choice or by force within the next decade or two.
“This is not something for government alone, this is not something for schools alone. This is something for each and every Barbadian who has a relationship with a building. I talk about ‘many hands make light work’, to the point where people finish the sentence, but I want us to get accustomed to being able to understand every house, every building in this country must become climate resilient. If it isn’t, then you’re going to be forced to do it for the wrong reasons because the building will not withstand what will come,” she urged.