Griffith calls for rebuilding of communities on Errol Barrow Day

Democratic Labour Party (DLP) candidate for St Lucy, Ian Griffith, is reminding constituents that the country is built from the community.

He was speaking this morning at The Garden, Checker Hall, St Lucy, where a wreath laying ceremony was held to mark Errol Barrow Day in honour of party founder and national leader Errol Walton Barrow.

Griffith, a first-time candidate in the February 11 General Election, said he was on the side of those who laboured to make the country better.

“I stand with those who put their hands to the plough, who clear land, cut bush, build playing fields and only ask one thing in return, that their communities can become vibrant again,” he said.

“I stand with the churches who are fighting not just for Sunday services on the morning or Saturdays, but for Sunday school and Sabbath school so that our children can have guidance, discipline and purpose because they are the future of this land.

“And I stand with the fishermen, the divers and the farmers who put food on our tables, in our plates often without recognition, often without applause but always with sacrifice.”

An undertaker by profession, he answered the question of why he was putting himself forward as a candidate.

“I am here because I understand something very important. You know what is that? A country cannot be built only in Parliament. A country is built in communities. A country is built in households. A country is built in the struggles that people carry silently every day.”

Leader of the Opposition Ralph Thorne later picked up the theme of the community, noting that something had gone wrong in the major institutions – the church, school and home – which were instrumental in building people and community.

He told the gathering, which included Rev. Hugh Sandiford of St Lucy Parish Church, that as the country moved away from faith-based organisations, “we lose much of who we are “.

He added: “We have to reintroduce our young people back to those three institutions that shaped us.”

Thorne said if the DLP formed the Government, the focus would be on strengthening those institutions.

“We have to make life affordable, but we have to inject values back into people’s lives. And that is where we pledge to be as a new government.”

He called on Barbadians to commemorate, celebrate and honour the life of Errol Walton Barrow, recognised not only as the father of Independence, but the father of this country. 

Errol Barrow Day is observed annually on January 21, the day of his birth.

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