Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley is calling for greater support of government’s programmes and to give them a chance to work.
Ms. Mottley made the call last Friday as she addressed the official launch of the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs’ One Family Programme, under the theme Strengthening Families, Changing a Nation, in Golden Square, The City.
She told the audience that life was not a “straight road” and implored persons to support the One Family Programme. “Give the programme a chance. If we are trying to change that which existed for decades and centuries and God knows that it is not going to be easy. We will fall but we will give thanks and rise again,” she affirmed.
Pointing out that one in five Barbadians were living below the poverty line, or conversely, four in five Barbadians live above the poverty line, the Prime Minister insisted that this situation meant that the country had more people to mobilise in the fight against poverty.
“The philosophy that we have held firm to, ‘share your burden, share the bounty’, comes from that one share-pot mentality that all of us were exposed to… Every day don’t be sunny and every day don’t be cloudy either.
“Those who we think can at least give, when they give of their spirit, give us that which you cannot pay for, peace of mind, the smile, the gratitude, the grace… We can choose our pathways and we must do so consciously. Our pathways cannot be singular or selfish if we want to succeed, our pathways must be premised on partnership, seeing, feeling and hearing each other,” the Prime Minister underlined.
Meanwhile, Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Kirk Humphrey, underscored the importance of the programme and stated that the One Family Programme would “recognise the good in people”.
“The essence of what it will take to make this programme work is already embedded in the Barbadian DNA, and I know it will work because it’s not requiring us to go and learn new tools; we already have the tools.
“Regrettably, it seems that in some cases, we might have forgotten what is embedded in our DNA but it is on us to be able to do that. Why is it urgent for us to do it now? We must do it now because as the Prime Minister always say, there are things happening outside of Barbados. But as the Prime Minister reminded us at Cabinet [on Thursday], that is not the end of our story. The things that happen in these circumstances are difficult, but we as a people have what it takes to overcome and Barbados will overcome,” he stated.
The One Family Programme is a transformative initiative whose primary focus is to improve the economic standing of families on the lowest level of the socio-economic strata of Barbados.