Cabinet and social partners agree to one-off holiday this year

Barbados has declared a public holiday on July 31 to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

The actual agreement for the Community was signed on August 1, 1973, but the political executive of Barbados declared July 31, as a national public holiday, on the eve of August 1, which remains sacrosanct for Barbados and the rest of CARICOM as former slave societies, as Emancipation Day.

Barbados is among the four founding members of CARICOM with the others being Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana.

The Cabinet of Barbados has chosen the national holiday having consulted with the Social Partnership and indicated its preference for the one-off holiday to celebrate 50 years of the Caribbean Community. 

The heads of CARICOM are now meeting in Trinidad next week with different countries deciding on how they will honour CARICOM celebrating 50 years in different ways. 

Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who made the announcement said July 31 would best fit Barbados at this Crop Over time. 

According to her, “In every which way that we looked at it as a government that the best time to allow our appreciation for the visionary leadership of those who went before to make a difference to establish the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to do it then.”