Poor people make a large contribution

With the debate that raged over housing for low income workers prior to the production of the prototype by the Minister of housing, one must now wonder about those who sought to convince the whole of Barbados that low income housing is a myth; that it could not be done.

Further, out came Mr. Delisle Bradshaw to testify that he has been building at a comparable price since 2001. Even more enlightening is the fact that the Urban Development Commission has been engaging contractors to build three-bedroom for over ten thousand dollars less.

What does this say about the plight of poor people in Barbados when in the face of all the evidence such a campaign could be mounted against it? What does it say about the attitude we hold towards poor people; noting that not one of the contractors who were building three bedroom houses for $42,000.00 since 1999 came out to dispel the myth?

Not even the poor people who live in these same houses spoke out. Certainly this may very well be an indication of how deep-rooted the stigma of poverty runs in our society.

Part of our culture is what we call "sizing-up" people. We are very judgemental in our dealings with people. This phenomenon runs throughout our society. It is in the Civil Service and it is in the private sector.

If we perceive that a person does not have anybody to represent them we put this to the ultimate test by "stressing them out". Those who survive or surpass the stress get through, but woes to those who can't survive the test.

It is not a pleasant thing to experience senior citizens crying because of the way they were treated, especially by public servants because public servants control relief provided by the government.

They complain that they feel threatened and mentally and verbally abused many times over. They feel the anguish of being stripped of their pride and decency as human beings.

Professor Mickey Waldron in his feature address at the ceremony to welcome new doctors into the profession cautioned them that they should not hasten to exclude the poor who cannot pay their way; to quote him, "in this increasingly expensive craft of ours".

Who are these poor people and why is it necessary to make provision for them? It is the poor people that support businesses. It is because of poor people that some professions exist; such as Social Workers. More importantly, they are the majority.

Poor people support doctors, lawyers, banks, credit unions, supermarkets, shops, barbers, vendors, etc. by spending their last penny with them. Many businessmen will testify that the backbone of their business is the frequency with which poor people patronize them.

Many of the services that government offers come about as a result of the need to assist persons who are economically challenged in some way. Many of the fees set by Government take into account the fact that the service must be affordable to all and that includes the poorer citizens.

So many people benefit because of the poor that everybody ought to return something to their community. Without the poor, would we have a sense of social justice?

Poor is also a relative term. For example, a single parent earning BDS$3,000.00 with five children is relatively poor. Pensioners who own their own home but only get non-contributory pensions are poor people.

We in Barbados have a relatively small population and the essence of maintaining the economy rests with the ability of each and every citizen to spend. Empowering the poor means that more jobs will be available, more businesses will be successful and our economy will become competitive enough to hold its own in a global environment.

Many of our poor also make tremendous sacrifices for their community. Most volunteers are poor people; unemployed but yet devoted to helping people; alleviating poverty, developing our culture and tending to the sick and handicapped.

So that poor does not necessarily mean uneducated or ignorant or even useless, it simply means the lack of or inaccessibility to sufficient money or wealth. Poor people seek the basics; food, clothing and shelter and they deserve to be considered.

Roosevelt O. King
Secretary General - BANGO
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