Barbados will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) with a one-off national holiday on Monday, July 31.
Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley made the announcement during a press conference, to give an update on her recent overseas travels. She disclosed that the event will be marked with the hosting of a concert on the night.
Speaking to the significance of CARICOM, Ms. Mottley maintained that the moment was “worthy of celebration”, while pointing out that Barbados was not only a founder of CARICOM, but was also one of the main beneficiaries of the regional integration movement.
Further, Ms. Mottley explained that while some territories will celebrate the day on July 4 – the day of the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas, the Cabinet met and agreed to stage Barbados’ celebrations at the end of the month.
“The actual agreement for the Community was signed on the first of August 1973…. Barbados will celebrate 50 years of the Caribbean Community on the 31st of July, as a national public holiday, on the eve of the first of August, which remains still sacrosanct for us, as a former slave society, as Emancipation Day.
“And to that extent, therefore, we felt that to do it on July 4 would have been a little too early. It has not escaped us that from every which way we look at it as a Government, that the best time to allow our appreciation for the visionary leadership of those who went before, to make a difference to establish the Caribbean Community, that we do it then,” the Prime Minister stated.
The Prime Minister added that the event to be held on July 31 was not being done to “offset anyone who has already announced something”, and said she has asked the Division of Culture to advise Government on other activities planned for that day.
Additionally, Ms. Mottley asked media houses to show content that would “reinforce and reflect moments of the last 50 years of the movement”.
To the critics of CARICOM, Ms. Mottley said: “Barbados, more than most others has benefitted from a single market and single economy. We started to benefit when you could…freely [offer] more services…cameramen, pool technicians, lab technicians, [and the] fellows who do the safes for the banks….
“You only have to go on any flight to the Eastern Caribbean and see, on a daily basis, …the number of Bajans who travel to…supply services that cannot otherwise be accessed in those countries, without [the Bajans] having the harassment of…complex documents and processes to fill in…. [That] makes you know, do not take the Caribbean Community for granted.”
Barbados and other member states met in Nassau earlier this year and agreed that they would find a tangible way to allow the people of the region to celebrate the 50th anniversary.