Chairman of the Pan African Coalition of Organisations (PACO), Reverend Wayne Onkphra Wells.
The head of one organisation believes greater attention needs to be paid to preserving the built heritage within the country.
Referring in particular to the birthplace of Barbados’ first Prime Minister, Errol Barrow and that of this island’s lone living National Hero, Sir Garfield Sobers, Chairman of the Pan African Coalition of Organisations (PACO), Reverend Wayne “Onkphra” Wells, said these places should become locations of national significance where future generations could visit.
“There are other buildings, including Errol Barrow’s former home, that we must pay attention to. Sir Garfield Sobers’ home or wherever the houses are, these things we must pay attention to. When an artist writes something in a book, it is preserved for years. When artists build something, it is just left to fall into disrepair. Why? It carries the same amount of weight in our national memory to simulate, to motivate and to incentivise our young people.”
Turning his attention to speak about the former official residence of the Father of Independence, Wells said if it will be leased to the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Barbados Charity, when the renovations are completed an area inside should be dedicated to honouring Barrow’s memory.
“There must be a point of compromise whereby if they so decide that the legislation is plastered in stone…, they must be a space in this building dedicated because this building is where the major policies of Independence, of Caribbean unity, of sovereignty, of identity, this is the place where those ideas were crafted. So in a spirit of compromise, there should be a space etched for the memory of the Skipper. There must be that space.”