Minister of Social Care, Constituency Empowerment, Urban and Rural Development, Christopher Sinckler??
The St. Peter Festival is the ideal vehicle to foster social cohesion.
This was the view of Minister of Social Care, Constituency Empowerment, Urban and Rural Development, Christopher Sinckler, as he addressed the opening ceremony of the 8th St. Peter Festival, last Saturday evening at the Speightstown Esplanade.
The Minister asserted: "Social cohesion is an important component to community building, and if one has any intention of building a society, it must be encouraged and promoted. A lack of social cohesion leads to chaos and conflict, and creates a breeding ground for the formation of gangs and other social ills."
He noted that although Barbados is facing the challenge of a lack of social cohesion in some quarters, there is a chance to "turn things around", citing the St. Peter Festival as a possible contributing mechanism for that change.
"When people are given the opportunity to come together to plan and discuss and generally get involved, there is less room for hatred and envy to flourish, and there are fewer idle hands waiting to get into mischief," Mr. Sinckler maintained.
The Social Care Minister welcomed participation of the various sectors of the community in the festival namely, the church, fisherfolk, farmers, craftsmen, sportsmen, senior citizens, the youth and the business community – as an important means of developing social cohesion.
He urged all Barbadians and visitors to support the festival. sharifa.medford@barbados.gov.bb