Barbados at 50

The island has a full range of events planned for the occasion (the visits of Prince Harry and Rihanna last week were a part of the festivities).

Barbados has been independent since 30 November 1966. It functions as a parliamentary democracy modelled on the British Westminster system. However, Queen Elizabeth II — is still head of state and is represented locally by the Governor- General of Barbados — presently Elliott Belgrave. Both are advised on matters of the Barbadian state by the Prime Minister of Barbados, who is head of government. There are 30 representatives within the House of Assembly. The Prime Minister is Freundel Stuart and the Leader of the Opposition is Mia Mottley QC.

While much is often made of the animus between Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, Barbados is one of our closet neighbours literally and figuratively.

Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning once attempted a political union with the island and Guyana. This project, undertaken in the1990s, stalled after the then prime minister of Barbados, Lloyd Erskine Sandiford, became ill. His Democratic Labour Party lost the next general election.

Such a political union would have brought to an end perennial tensions between the two countries in relation to maritime boundaries and the question of flying fish stock.

Though its population and economy are smaller, Barbados as a nation has much to be proud of. Unlike Trinidad and Tobago, it has consistently ranked in the top 20 of countries with the lowest perceptions of corruption, according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index.

Though it is not a Republic, in 2005 the Parliament of Barbados voted on a measure replacing the UK’s Judicial Committee of the Privy Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice based in Port of Spain. Trinidad and Tobago has not done the same.

Barbados has a proud tradition of peaceful and stable democratic governance. It plays an active role in Caricom and has important trade pacts with organizations such as the World Trade Organisation, the European Commission and the subgroup of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP).

The economy of Barbados was previously dependent on sugarcane cultivation, however since the late 1970s and early 1980s it has diversified into the manufacturing and tourism. Offshore finance and information services have become important, there is a light manufacturing sector. The island saw a construction boom in recent years, but this slowed post 2008 global crisis.

As a model of a diverse economy, Trinidad and Tobago could learn a lot.Barbadian trade policy has also sought to protect a small number of domestic activities, mostly food production, from foreign competition, while recognising that most domestic needs are best met by imports.

The island is open for business.

Culturally, Barbados has produced several great cricketers, including Sir Garfield Sobers and Sir Frank Worrell. It’s Crop Over festival is an important annual event. It has produced international popstar Rihanna, who has often used her celebrity to back important causes, such as the need to increase HIV/ AIDS awareness. Its list of poets and writers includes names like Edward Kamau Brathwaite, Austin Clarke, Frank Collymore, George Lamming, and Karen Lord—to name a few.

The island has also produced world-class sprinters such as Obadale Thompson. All of which is impressive for an island of just 291,495.

Barbados has in many ways served as an example to the world and we congratulate it on achieving its golden jubilee.