Armstrong set on engaging St. George South youth

POLITICAL newcomer Dawn Marie Armstrong is focused on creating a more enabling environment to support youth entrepreneurship in St. George South.
Speaking at the “mini-mega meeting” at Barrow Shop in Ellerton on Wednesday night, the DLP candidate divulged several plans for the constituency, which includes developing a small business network for young people.
“It is called the Youth Small Business Network and here in this constituency young people will have the opportunity to share ideas, discuss business, to liaise, to buy, to sell,” she told supporters.
“We have to think about diversifying thiseconomy.AndwithSt.GeorgeSouth being the centre of Barbados, we have to find a way to make it the centre of the economy in Barbados. And we have talented young people all across St. George South looking for a break – we have bakers, massage therapists, people selling clothing, hairdressers. I have collected so many business cards over the last seven months.”
Armstrong also highlighted plans to engage youth in agriculture, stating, “We have decided that we will attempt to acquire land. It is hoped that the Government will set aside some land for these young men to begin to build their chicken coops, and to begin to undertake their farming... So that they can start to feed their families.”
The candidate, who seeks to defeat Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment, Dwight Sutherland, also outlined plans for the community centre, aimed at creating a safe space for the children across the constituency. She said that the community centre should be a place of development, and promises if elected, to introduce an IT room as well as a parent playgroup for those parents working from home.
“The IT centre will function in such a way that you will book your slot ahead, so that you will have that computer for the entire day. And trained professionals will be there to ensure that our children are focused, to ensure that our children are doing their work, but most importantly, to ensure that our children are catered for.
“There are parents working from home raring two and three children, without any opportunity to get a break. They are asked to function at maximum capacity in their roles as a parent and as
employees. But I say that our parent playgroup, after heavy consultation, will allow parents to drop their children off for at least an hour to take a break, to run some errands, to have some space so that they can function adequately to take care of their children. And the children will benefit from it because they will be socialising with children of their age, and this is from one to three years old,” the DLP candidate said. (TL)