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Prime Minister, Owen Arthur[/align]
by Dawne Bennett
Caribbean Net News Barbados Correspondent
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Prime Minister, Owen Arthur has called on Barbadians to be more accepting of Guyanese nationals who come to Barbados looking for work.
Although stressing that he is not supporting Guyanese breaking immigration laws, Mr. Arthur called on fellow Barbadians to recognise that not only did a wave of black Barbadians migrate to Guyana in search of job opportunities in years gone by, but that Guyana has made a valuable contribution to this country's development.
He made specific reference to the 1960s when this country’s economy was very unstable and Guyanese investments not only came here, but continue to stay.
Mr. Arthur added that Banks Breweries, one of Barbados’ largest and most successful companies, was built on Guyanese capital and when our manufacturing sector was first established, it was mostly Guyanese.
The Barbados Prime Minister also alluded to the fact that Guyanese labour has kept agriculture alive in Barbados.
“If it were not for the Guyanese labourers in this country doing work that Barbadians no longer seem to want to do, agriculture would have suffered,� he said.
And with this in mind, Prime Minister Arthur spoke of developing a “decent wage� system where non-nationals and locals would have standard pay for the same work. He said if employers wanted the same quality of work from non-nationals as locals, they needed to pay them equal wages.
Mr. Arthur’s comments come on the heels of public debate both here and in Barbados about immigration officials here refusing entry to a group of Guyanese.
[align=left]The incident sparked outrage in some quarters and Barbados was accused of paying lip service to the free movement of people in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy. There were also calls for an investigation into how Guyanese are treated when trying to enter Barbados.[/align]