BLP 52-page draft manifesto well-received by Barbadian public

It appears that the forthcoming manifesto from the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) will get even more input from the public.

Speaking at a political meeting on Thursday night at Four Roads, St. John in support of BLP candidate for St. John, Charles Griffith, Leader of the Opposition BLP, Mia Mottley said the draft manifesto which was reportedly leaked to the public, has been garnering a great deal of attention and comments from those who have had the opportunity to see it.

“I want to thank the many, many, many, many people who have texted, who have called, who have emailed and who have even come to see me and they have said that they are happy, they feel excited and that they feel that there is the opportunity to move Barbados to a different stage. They feel they too can make some changes and some of them have added and some of them have asked for some tweaks and some of them have asked for some new things,” she said.

Mottley’s comments came as she said that much of what in contained in that 52-page draft document was informed by Barbadians, through their Rubbing Shoulders initiative. She told the sizeable crowd that it was only through rubbing shoulders with them, that the Party could understand what they want, the things they are experiencing and what they want to see changed in this country.

“But we didn’t stop at the rubbing shoulders… We have been working hard and we have been meeting with hundreds of people for the last nine months across different sectors,” she added.

She added, “What we have shown you in the thing that is circulating, the aspects of our policy, is that this moment is not about patching the boat any more, not even with the real thing; this moment is about building a new boat and building it even with new materials.”

Mottley contended that from St. Lucy to St. Philip, from St. John to St. James the majority of Barbadians do not feel good about where their country is going. She went further, adamant that the majority feel the country is on the wrong track. Her comments came as she made reference to an article that appeared recently in The Telegraph newspaper in the United Kingdom. She said that commentary on Barbados, which is “so sad”, has made she and her colleagues “feel shame”.

“When they can talk about the foul stench it is not the stench on the South Coast; they were talking about foul economic stench; they were talking about corruption in government, they were talking about indiscipline in a society; they were talking about the decline of a society and a nation,” she lamented.

The Opposition Leader said efforts have to be made to ensure that no such story can be written about Barbados again.