Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly and Member of Parliament for St. George North, Gline Clarke (left), joined the staff of the Ministry of Small Business, Entrepreneurship and Commerce for yesterday’s service.
Minister of Small Business, Entrepreneurship and Commerce, Dwight Sutherland says Barbadians have an important role to play to the global drive towards sustainable consumption.
Minister Sutherland made the comments during a service at Love and Light Ministries, held at the St. George Secondary School, where representatives of his ministry joined the congregation to celebrate World Consumer Rights Day under this year’s theme ‘The Sustainable Consumer’. Sutherland told the congregation that Barbadians can play their part by consuming goods and services that promise minimal negative impact on our environment and that are socially equitable and economically viable while meeting our basic human needs.
“I therefore urge everyone to be carefully selective in choosing your consumption patterns. We must always remain cognisant of our reliance on the planet on which we live for our basic needs of air, food, water and shelter. This reinforces the need for the efforts of the Government, business community and the consumer to be coordinated and synchronised to protect the integrity of our planet. It has to be a combined effort and Government should not have to go the way of legislation to have it done,” he stated.
Nevertheless, he said government believes that consumers must be recognised as a valuable economic group with rights and responsibilities that need to be promoted and protected. To that end, he revealed that they are putting the necessary legislative framework and procedures in place to guarantee that dealings between consumers and businesses are built on the “fundamentals of fairness and transparency”, while at the same time, protecting consumers’ safety and the environment in which we live.
“While all is being done to ensure that we, as partners, are fashioning a sustainable consumer and sustainable economy, we are cognisant that there are circumstances beyond our control, which can destabilise and thwart those efforts. Issues such as Climate Change and COVID-19 are some of the most topical and burdensome concerns, which must be passionately ventilated within the context of sustainability,” the minister stated.
The Commerce Minister continued, “The occurrence of such phenomena across our globe mandates that governments must emphasise the importance and relevance of sustainable living as part of their resilience building efforts particularly for small economies such as ours.
He added that as part of the sustainable living effort being undertaken, the Control of Disposable Plastics Act, which prohibits the importation of petroleum-based, single-use plastics, and in turn reduces Barbados’ carbon footprint and assist in developing our blue and green economy sustainable initiatives, was introduced. He spoke to this while noting that such plastics have over the years, proven harmful to both the health of humans and the natural environment.
Sutherland made the point while stating that every effort will be taken to ensure that sustainable consumption and production become a priority for business and for policymaking in this country. He explained that central to those efforts will be the improvement of consumer awareness based on sustainable choices, and the call for the use/reuse and recycling of products to craft a circular economy.
“Let us on this World Consumer Rights Day embrace the concept of being a sustainable consumer to promote a sustainable economy. Let us in common effort, ensure that we work together to build a resilient Barbados that places sustainable production and consumption as the cornerstones of our development efforts,” he added. (JRT)