“We’re encouraging people to look for opportunities beyond Barbados and there are Caribbean territories that require that skilled labour. A lot of skilled labour from Barbados come here (to T&T). They go back and forth, and we are encouraging them to look for those opportunities.”
Barbados Finance Minister Christopher Sinckler speaking to T&T bankers
We’ve seen the cycle repeated for a long, long time. Barbados has way more people than this little rock can accommodate in space, resources and economy – so anytime in our history when there is a pull-back in the economy (as there is now), thousands of Bajans leave for better circumstances.
That happened when the Panama Canal was being carved from the jungle at the cost of 500 dead Bajans per mile, and it happened in the 1950’s and 1960’s when the lure of working in the UK took thousands of our best and brightest people away – most never to return.
Who leaves Barbados during these migrations? Continue reading