BHTA head worried crime could cripple island’s economy

Barbados Hotel And Tourism Association’s (BHTA) chief executive officer senator Ryan Forde is worried that the island’s crime problem could cripple communities and the economy.

“I am no lawyer nor am I in any of our security forces. I, however, have a similar fright of many of us Barbadians, as I am generally scared. Crime is not a political yo-yo, so an Opposition nor a Government should not try to use it as political cheap shots,” the Independent Senator said recently on Day 2
of debate on the Appropriation Bill, 2026, in the Senate.

“Yes, we may be a great island to invest into and a great island to vacation, but I have had the pleasure of living in this island during two different phases, one of comfort and one of nervousness based on
the changing challenging times.

“The accessibility to guns, to drugs and the shortcomings of our judicial system have been a major problem. The problem is one that our governments have been attempting to improve over the last decade and change. However, the speed of the criminal is way faster than the Government system,” he added.

Forde acknowledged that crime and public safety are “set to receive significant funding . . . with an aim at combining enforcement, justice and prevention systems”.

He stressed the importance of finding a way “to address our young people and at the same time address the more senior individuals who control them, or try to, and who also control, possibly,
the illegal entry [of firearms] into Barbados because somebody has to control it, it doesn’t just show up”.

He told Senate colleagues: “I’m scared for myself, but so are our communities and our businesses, and I can say that for tourism as well. Surviving the COVID-19 to then face crime, at least one of them
we could try to control.

“In another setting, on crime prevention, I will speak further as it has the potential to cripple our communities and our economy. However, I hope that the estimated budget for crime prevention is spent wisely,” Forde said.

“And as outlined in the three strategic priorities of balanced crime strategy, which includes enforcement, prevention and rehabilitation, institutional strengthening, investing in forensic science services and legal systems as well as the human resources side of our security forces, as many of them are understaffed there, some of them are not motivated.”

This was in addition to “the social intervention linkages, the integration with youth and community programmes”.

During his hour-long contribution, the BHTA chief defended the tourism sector from criticisms and highlighted its importance. He recommended several areas of improvement to increase the industry’s contribution to the country’s overall success.

“September and October are our two weakest months of the year, and that is where we should
be angling right now to direct a lot of business from a Government perspective, as well as from a leisure perspective and private sector perspective,” Forde suggested.

“Another area that I wish for the Ministry of Tourism to push very heavy on is our reporting metrics, . . . working with the Immigration [Department] and our ports of entry to understand who the individuals are coming into our country.”

He also spoke about focusing on “how tourism can invest into another data platform for major festivals and events” like the Crop Over Festival.

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