Projects must reflect national objectives, says Barbados prime minister
ANY major development taking place in Barbados must represent national objectives.
This point was underscored Monday by Prime Minister David Thompson, following a tour of Portico apartments at Prospect, St James.
In expressing his satisfaction with the initiative and similar ones, the prime minister was of the view that the citizens of Barbados and developers shared a collective responsibility “to ensure that projects undertaken were consistent with national objectives, without spoiling our country, but rather, making it more attractive for investments of this type”.
Thompson stressed that he did not resent foreign direct investment. In fact, he said: “I think it is necessary and it is desirable. It needs to be consummate with our national objectives and goals and it needs to be done in such a way that it does not take away from what is quintessentially Barbados.”
The prime minister noted that the west coast in Barbados had become a prime location for upscale properties such as Portico and saw the project as important to Barbados’ development as a country.
“What is important is that we recognise that even the people who want to live with this kind of beauty surrounding them, also have concerns about our environment, the concerns we share about how we allocate our marine space, the concerns we share about the economy in Barbados, the quality of our physical infrastructure, about also having open spaces like the east coast, where they can take friends and family to visit,” Thompson maintained.
Speaking about what convinced government of the development’s viability, he stressed that it was not mainly promoting tax concessions and promoting competitiveness.
“What seals the deal for us is our standard of living and our quality of life, our pursuit of excellence and our ability to accommodate and work with others who share our national developmental goals and I think that this project, in every sense of the word, is consistent with those perspectives, the prime minister stressed.”
The newly constructed property features 10 ultra luxurious 3,500 sq ft penthouse and garden apartments. They range in price from nine to over 12 million dollars.
