Husbands: Take a regional approach

WITH projections that trillions of dollars are being generated from converting waste into new products, a Barbados Government Minister does not want this country to be left behind.

Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Sandra Husbands, believes that there is potential for gains from this for Barbados.

She has told the House of Assembly where debate on the Estimates continued, that the way this country manages waste disposal can lead to significant economic benefits.

Ms. Husbands said that changing how production is done and how waste is managed will lead to the development of enterprises, and new products and jobs across the world that can actually contribute trillions of new dollars to global gross domestic product.

Arguing that there ought to be a regional approach to the process, Ms. Husbands, who is the MP for St. James South, said that Barbados needs to go that route because it can generate significant jobs and change the course for a number of countries in the Caribbean.

She urged two of her Parliamentary colleagues – MPs for St. James Central and for Christ Church West Central – to continue on the theme of working together on their policy where waste is taken and converted into new products, and subsequently generating jobs for Barbadians.

According to Husbands, “Therefore, I would want to encourage that the dialogue with us in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade to look at dialoguing across the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) to see where as a region we can work together to identify potential production spots for taking the waste of the region.”

She reasoned that every small nation has that problem and that small countries like Barbados or St. Vincent and the Grenadines or Grenada will never have enough space that won’t be a problem to someone at some time.

“So I think we take a regional approach to this because it can generate jobs and significantly change the course for a number of countries, cause all of us would benefit from proper waste management and disposal,” Ms. Husbands added.