Governor General Dame Sandra Mason (fourth left)
is flanked by Prime Minister Mia Mottley, President of the Senate Sir Richard Cheltenham
(foreground) and Speaker of the House Arthur Holder (second left)
and other members of the Cabinet listening to Sherwood McCaskie pay tribute to a number of Bajan
icons during last night’s launch of the Vision 2020 event at Parliament Buildings. (Picture by Reco Moore.)
Prime Minister Mia Mottley last night made a rallying call to Barbadians in every nook and cranny of the planet to stand up and be counted to make the country the best it can be by 2020.
Moments after making the call, she stood and made the victory sign after another West Indies victory over England.
Standing in front the West Wing of Parliament Buildings in Bridgetown, Mottley launched Vision 2020, which is aimed at attracting the very best the island has to offer from both home and away, within the next 12 months.
Bigger mission
We Gathering Barbados 2020 was the theme of yesterday’s event, which is expected to ramp up attraction to the overall vision.
“We have a bigger mission ahead of us,” Mottley reminded those gathered in Parliament yard. “However small we are, we remain committed to excellence,” she said to a gathering that included Governor General Dame Sandra Mason and the island’s lone living National Hero Sir Garfield Sobers.
“This is a process of building a nation from north to south, to the world and back,” the Prime Minister said, again calling on more than 600 000 Bajans overseas to play a part in ensuring the country’s resurgence as the Gem of the Caribbean.
The launch saw Mottley and other members of her administration rubbing shoulders with Bajans from all walks of life, from sno-cone vendors to elderly domino players, who were all invited into Parliament yard to be part of the programme.
The choir of the Blackman and Gollop Primary School also performed a number of Bajan folk classics.
In addition to paying tribute to Sir Garry and a number of other icons like Father of Independence Errol Barrow, Sir Grantley Adams and other National Heroes, there were also special “live” greetings from Minister of Foreign Affairs Senator Jerome Walcott in Beijing, China, and Ambassador Chad Blackman in Geneva, Switzerland.
Vision 2020 will kick off in January in all 11 parishes, starting with St Lucy, showing off everything positive it has to offer. Celebrations will culminate with a showcase in November, the month of Barbados’ Independence. ( BA)
