BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – The ruling Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Friday night unveiled its 56-page manifesto with Prime Minister Freundel Stuart telling supporters that he wants to create a Barbados that is “socially balanced, economically viable, environmentally sound and in which there is good and honest governance”.

The DLP is seeking another five-year term when it faces the electorate in the February 21 general election. Its main challenger is the Barbados labour Party (BLP), which it defeated in the 2008 general election by a 20-10 margin.

Stuart, who took over the leadership of the DLP following the death of then Prime Minister David Thompson in 2011, said that the party has prepared a manifesto that has the capacity to ensure the political, social, economic and environmental liberation of all citizens.

He said the manifesto with the theme “ Continuing on the Pathways to Progress” is a realistic document that “does not call on you to walk by faith, it calls on you to walk by sight, because you have seen how the Democratic Labour Party has performed between January 2008 and the present.

“We want to create a Barbados that is socially balanced, economically viable, environmentally sound and in which there is good and honest governance,” he said, noting that these are the four pillars oin which the policies of a future DLP government will be based upon.

The manifesto outlines measures for restructuring the energy sector, converting it from a lopsided dependence on fossil fuel to the use of more renewable sources of energy.

“We have to import oil, but we don’t have to import sunshine; we don’t have to import wind; and we don’t have to import the waters around Barbados – understand that.

“We therefore have to appropriate the energies that we can get from those resources, those renewable resources to reduce our lopsided dependence on the use of fossil fuels and that is what this manifesto is about,” Stuart said.

He told supporters that the government had already entered into agreements with the Inter-American Development Bank to introduce the use of photovoltaic panels.

“So this is not pie in the sky talk, we are on the way already and we have committed ourselves to leading by example,” he said.

Earlier, Finance Minister Chris Sinckler told supporters that the restructuring of the Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA) would form part of the government’s future economic strategy.

“We now have a tourism white paper, a strategic plan for tourism. The Master Plan is being done which speaks to both traditional and non-traditional markets,” Sinckler said outlining plans for the industry that is a vital contributor to the island’s economy.

The manifesto which outlines policies to deal with the agriculture and fisheries sector, health, education, good governance, and the environment also indicates the move by the DLP government for the permanent employment of 1, 000 people as it seeks an arrangement to have the Almond Beach Village rebuilt.