The National Honours Committee will be tasked with the responsibility of renaming public buildings and facilities thereby removing that function from those “in the corridors of political power”.
Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley made the announcement recently while delivering the feature address at a dedication ceremony for The Leroy Trotman Customs House, University Row, Bridgetown.
The facility was named after Sir Roy Trotman, a stalwart in the trade union movement, who was employed with the Barbados Workers’ Union’ (BWU) from July 15, 1971. He was the BWU’s General Secretary from August 29, 1992, until August 30, 2014.
The Prime Minister told the gathering that Cabinet had decided that the naming of facilities and institutions should not be an arbitrary exercise or in “the province of those who happen to occupy the corridors of political power”.
Ms. Mottley stated: “We therefore ask the National Honours Committee that exists and may act only on the eve of Honours conferred at Independence or with ‘We Gatherin’ Pride of Barbados next year…that it also takes responsibility for consideration and recommendation to Cabinet for the naming of facilities and grounds.”
The Prime Minister stressed that over the last six to eight weeks “two sets of letters” from communities recommending persons had been received, and she believed that the process should be encouraged but in a more structured arrangement.
“We believe this is something that ought to be encouraged rather than just left as an ad-hoc arrangement. It allows the country to own and consume pride and to reward appropriately people outside of the immediate vision of the newspapers . . . and to give appreciation and due honour where it is deserved.
“This is important because that little girl or that little boy watching you and listening to you, Sir Roy…must come to understand your name adorns this building, not simply because we love you but because you put in the effort, stood for something and that made a difference in the lives of tens of thousands of Barbadians and tens of millions of workers across the globe,” Ms. Mottley underlined.
During the ceremony, Sir Roy accompanied by his daughters Dr. Paula Trotman-Hastings, Lesley Trotman-Edwards and grand daughters Amber and Michaela Hastings, thanked his immediate family, his trade union family and well wishers.
“I want to thank all those dear souls from either side who have dared to stand with us in difficult times and have now joined with us in these blessed times,” he said.