A bank holiday is not necessary, but DLP not letting Barrow be erased Loop Barbados

Black Immigrant Daily News

Whether the Mia Mottley-led administration adds another bank holiday to the calendar of public holidays or not in order to commemorate both Independence Day and Republic Day is neither here nor there to the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), once both days get their due dates.

In a press conference held at their George Street headquarters on November 23, DLP Chairman Steven Blackett told media personnel, both Independence Day and Republic Day “don’t have to be celebrated with a bank holiday.

“If you have a day for Independence, which is a bank holiday, we’ve acknowledged it since 1966, celebrating Republic Day does not have to be a public holiday.”

And though he posited that “we can eliminate one of the other holidays” he was adamant that the solution to this problem should not come from the Opposition…

“There are two distinct days. Independence Day is the 30th of November, and it was so from the 30th of November 1966, and it should remain that way. Republic Day is a separate and distinct day, but if you start wrong, you’re going to end wrong, and therefore we believe as a party, that Republic Day should be a separate and distinct day completely from Independence Day. If the mistake was made a year ago that it coincided with Independence Day, then we should go the very next day, which is the first of December, or the day before the 29th of November, but certainly it should not be celebrated on the same day as Independence. There are two distinct days and they should be celebrated in two distinct ways…

“But it is not for us as a party. We are the opposition party, not even having a seat in government. The government has been given the car to drive and they should drive the car. Drive the car and find the solutions. Don’t complain to us about the wipers not working and the back leg not working and the trunk not functioning. That is their job.”

Meanwhile, Democratic Labour Party executive member Irene Sandiford-Garner added, “We’re not setting a precedent there either because… there are other countries throughout the world who have decided that they no longer wish to have the the Queen as Head of State and they have their Republic Day and they have the Independence.

“Independence Day is the signal achievement of Errol Walton Barrow and the signal achievement of the Democratic Labour Party. So to remove the name Independence Day speaks volumes, because there are alternatives.”

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