Sealy: Beware of the spin – economic growth must be tourism-led

Former Cabinet Minister Richard Sealy described the messaging coming from the ruling Barbados Labour Party government as “optics, public relations and spin”.

“People are getting a little frustrated and they are finding out that social media is a very effective sword but is not such a good shield,” he said.

His comments came during a Democratic Labour Party joint meeting for St. Philip branches held over the weekend. Sealy charged that the full picture is not being painted by the government and predicted that there will be a very bleak period ahead for Barbados and Barbadians when the Extended Fund Facility calls for the six percent deficit to GDP ratio to not only be attained but maintained.

“I see some very ambitious targets in terms of revenue et cetera it looks to me like if we haven’t seen the end of these taxes and it looks to me like if we are going to continue on this vein of ‘we are simply appealing to those who are setting targets for us and forgetting about the ordinary Barbadians,’” he added.

The former Minister told the audience that if there is to be economic growth it has to be tourism-led. He pointed out that Barbados does not have a competitive or comparative advantage as it relates to the marijuana industry. He noted that the Creative Industries has the potential but it will take some time for those seeds to grow.

The former Minister said the crime situation must be tackled expeditiously.

“What is the number one thing our visitors say they’re like about this country the people over and over again? It is not the submarine or the cave as nice as they may be, or the wonderful food they speak about, it is the interactions they have with Barbadians. If Barbadians are in a state where they can’t make ends meet when there is chronic social decay we have a problem with our country, we have a problem with our tourism,” he warned.

“The truth is that you don’t really need to be tourism expert to understand that the first thing that is required if you’re going to have a tourism industry or if you were going to offer tourism services to the world is that you have to have a product,” he added.

“That simply means people simply want to come to your country. We could get into academic terms, but the simple reality is that nobody is going to visit a country that people don’t want to be in. So the first thing that is required in order to have a successful tourism industry is you have to create a country where people want to live.”

“If Barbados is not a great place to live in, it will never be a great place to visit. And I have some legitimate concerns in that regard, there is a time to be political and there is a time not to be political.”

The former Tourism Minister also expressed concern about the level of crime and anger being seen in the country and the level of restlessness and anger currently being seen in the school system.

He charged that the current administration appears to be contented to just look at macroeconomic indicators.

“When we look at this issue of our environment, we look at this issue of what is going on with garbage collection and the wider issue of what you are doing with solid waste and appearing not to have a clue on how to handle it, that has implications on your tourism industry because it has implications on all of us.”

Sealy charged that there are two ministers in the Housing Ministry yet little has been done with the NHC units, recognising that there is a housing crisis, saying that government could work with private sector partners if the fiscal space is not available. (JH)