Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley called on all Barbadians to recognize what she deems as five key principles necessary to guide the island toward a sustainable, safe, and prosperous future, during her keynote speech at the Barbados Labour Party’s 85th annual conference at the Christ Church Foundation School, according to Barbados Today.
Mottley, the party chairman, expressed her hope that the five “beacons”— voices of accountability, guardians of cleanliness, agents of respect, creators of solutions and embracing global citizenship — will be soon seen as an updated policy direction for the government as it seeks to face mounting global and domestic challenges head-on.
“We may not have the power to prevent the challenges that are coming at us globally from the outside, but I say to you that we have the capacity to be able to do the things to be able to make us more resilient and to do deal with the domestic problems like violence, like becoming more resilient, like becoming more healthy, like becoming innovative, like becoming confident global citizens,” Mottley said.
According to the prime minister, the guardians of cleanliness principle is to promote pride in the environment [and] for Barbadians to keep their communities clean. This principle will also serve as a call to action to clean and beautify all of the island’s schools within the next 12 months.
“I want the schools beautified,” Mottley declared. “I ain’t talking about it no more. [Minister of Education Kay McConney] and [Minister of Environment Adrian Forde] have the responsibility in the next year to get every single school in this country looking as though children want to be there and want to be part of it.”
Barbados Labour Party recently celebrated Mottley in an Instagram post on her birthday.
“Your leadership is grounded in love and strength, and we look forward to a bright future under your continued guidance,” the party wrote.