HIST 3030 The Evolution of Social Policy in Barbados -- N. Harris on Low-Income Housing in Barbados

By, Nicki Harris

A Brief Evaluation of Low-Income Housing In Barbados

In Barbados, housing remains as a hyper visible reminder of the legacies of plantocracy and tenure insecurity. From the timber chattel houses to the manufactured concrete residences, these dwellings represent the responses from individuals and the government to the lack of affordable and accessible housing on the island since emancipation. Beginning from the era of apprenticeship, as planters secured their labor force, working-class Barbadians have been afforded little to no opportunities for land ownership. The Master and Servants Act of 1840 established the “located labor” system as former slaves became bound to their master’s estate as tenant and laborer (Potter & Conway, 1997, p.34). Here is an instance of a freed population experiencing a legal reframing of slave labor that continued to constrict access to resources and prevent upward social mobility. The solution was the chattel house, easily dismantled structures located on impermanent house spots rented out in return for labor.

            This coercive strategy began to decline with the sugar industry into the 20th century. Although the influx of Panama money began to assist the working class in obtaining land, the government had yet to actualize the struggle for low-cost housing for those Barbadians emerging from the end of the tenantry system. As employment moved from plantations to the urban areas of Bridgetown, laborers sought access to land and housing through the development of slums. With the Bridgetown Housing Act in 1936, government officials established legislation to address livable and affordable housing conditions. It addressed several issues and facilitated the formation of the Housing Board to specifically handle the task of upkeep amongst urban housing. This act did not suffice as next year, neglected housing conditions were further investigated after the 1937 Riots. This served as the impetus for the British government to send a royal commission (The Royal West India or Moyne Commission) and report on the source of tension and create further instructions for settling civic unrest. Outlined in the section on Government Housing Schemes in Towns, recommendations including slum clearance, construction of housing for rental, balances between public and private ownership, and equal government concentration on urban and rural housing served as the alternative strategy to account for high rates of movement to urban areas (Moyne, 1945, p. 181). This is arguably the first policy step toward establishing a formal government program for housing. However, Hurricane Janet, which struck in 1955 and took a toll on the island’s housing stock, also spurred public commentary and Vestry inquiry into the status of government rehousing policy (Barbados Advocate, 1955, p.16). The Barbadian National Housing Authority, later to become the National Housing Corporation (NHC), took on the task of short-term housing for hurricane relief and the construction of long-term housing units for those displaced (Potter & Conway, 1997, p.34).

            The origins of low-cost housing in Barbados deal with the matter of controlling the slum proliferation and adverse effects on the town’s congestion and sanitation. A report identified the land of Pine Plantation to be cleared of slum-dwellers and to be used for the rehousing of tenants in congested areas of Bridgetown (De Syllas, 1946, p.1). Developed in 1947, the Pine Housing Area became one of the island’s largest estates, experiencing notable development in the 1950s as residents took it upon themselves to build upon prefabricated units and add additional bedrooms and bathrooms. The need for recreational spaces generated the implementation of recreational facilities such as parks, daycares, fields, and community centers (Grant, 2014). This estate achieved high community engagement and managed to uplift the moral of the community. While these characteristics are noteworthy, this estate is still working to recreate the narrative of most low-cost housing in Barbados. Experiences of neighborhood violence, poverty, crime, and unemployment have circulated through the media and prompted government’s further attention of these housing programs. Pineland estate may be the exception to the majority of government housing as planners continue to view estates as incapable of rising above these social problems even with government support, and the public has begun to internalize such detrimental rhetoric.

            Residents of a very different estate in St. Andrew become an example of this as the opinion that “only certain people end up at Belleplaine” circulated amongst NHC officials (Watson & Potter, 2001, p. 290). Tenants also combat deteriorating living conditions and have expressed grievances surrounding the foundation of the estate as it employed substandard design and assigned uneven ratios of family members to bedrooms, as well as encountering a continual lack of maintenance. Other estates with similar problems have fallen victim to the same conditions that distinguish government estates from other housing and further adds to the complexities of the modern housing climate in Barbados.

            From the tenantry system to present-day housing conditions, tenure insecurity remains. The NHC’s matter of rent default gives insight into the current atmosphere surrounding the reach of government intervention. “In December 1992, NHC announced that the arrears of tenants stood at over Bds $3,000,000, with 69 percent of all tenants being involved” (Watson & Potter, 2001). Currently, residents are facing a series of eviction notices by the NHC across estates. One Pinelands Estate resident, aged 73 years, received an eviction notice after living there since the 1950’s. The letter stated he was ~$25,000 in arrears and had 7 days to vacate the premises (Agard, 2018). Barbadians seeking low cost housing are experiencing a crisis precipitated by colonial premonitions of housing that have yet to be addressed. Should the Barbadian government possess the right to evict residents in this manner? The future of government housing will need to address the current quasi-self help environment. Further evaluation is needed to explore whether the NHC should provide housing or be a facilitator in the process. The latter suggests providing resources and establishing frameworks to assist in promoting the control of resources back to those who are in most need of assistance with acquiring and managing quality housing. This may do well in reconciling for the institutional barriers from the legacy of plantocracy carried into the socio-economic conditions of modern Barbados.

REFERENCE LIST

Agard, R. (2018, September 7). Pensioner facing eviction. Nation News. Retrieved from

http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/193281/pensioner-facing-eviction.

De Syllas, L. M. (1944). Report on the Utilisation of the Pine Estate for Housing and Slum

Clearance. Bridgetown, Barbados.

Grant, R. (2014, November 19). Our Roots. Pinelands Creative Workshop. Retrieved from:

https://www.pinelandscreativeworkshop.org/where-we-came-from/.

Moyne, L., Stubbs, R., Crowdy, R. E., Citrine, W., Mackinnon, P., & Blacklock, M. G. (1945).

West India royal commission report. London: HM Stationery.

Potter, R. B., & Conway, D. (Eds.). (1997). Self-Help Housing, the Poor, and the State in the

Caribbean. Knoxville, Tennessee: Univ. of Tennessee Press.

Watson, M. R., & Potter, R. B. (2001). Low-cost housing in Barbados: Evolution or social

revolution?. University of West Indies Press.

(1955, October 20). Gov’t Reveals Housing Plans. Barbados Advocate, p. 16.

HIST 3030: The Evolution of Social Policy in Barbados -- Kelsey Scott on The Effectiveness of the Old Age Pension Scheme after 1937

By, Kelsey Scott

Social security policy in Barbados was the first of its kind in the British West Indies. The accounts of the creation of welfare policy for the elderly, disabled, the injured, pregnant women, and the dependents of recently deceased insured persons were often woven into the goals of political entities balancing the delicate task of catering to the planter-merchant elite and black Barbadian citizens in need of certain social provisions. This brief account will describe the political climate before and after the creation of the Old Age Pension Scheme and the subsequent Social Security policies and revisions from 1937 into the 21^st century, with a primary focus on evaluating how the effectiveness of these policies have increased with revisions over the years.1

Barbadian society has changed drastically since the days preceding emancipation. Plantation holders provided social services, however menial and conditional, to formerly enslaved persons on plantations. After emancipation, due to the few jobs available within Barbadian society, individuals remained under the employment of their former masters. Social services, no longer provided by plantation owners, were supplemented by parochial

organizations, Friendly Societies, and churches, and were dependent upon the parish wherein one resided.2  The limited labor options in Barbados due to the ownership of vast tracts of land by plantation owners and the domination of local and national government and the economy by the planter merchant elite left poor, formerly enslaved Barbadian citizens destitute and desperate for social and political transformation.3

The Old Age Pension Scheme was drawn up by the colonial government of Barbados in

1936. It was influenced by the 1908 Old Age Pensions Legislation proposed by Herbert Henry Asquith in Britain. Asquith’s proposal was slightly more generous in comparison to the proposal of the Barbadian government, offering a pension of $1.20 weekly for a maximum income of $1.92 with the same minimum age requirement of 70 years old.4  Within Barbados, the preliminary Old Age Pension Scheme offered $0.36 of pension for a weekly approximate income of $1.50. A clause included just before its passing in 1938 provided Social Security benefits in the form of a pension to blind and disabled individuals; however, the minimum age requirement for claiming these benefits was 40 years.5 

Although the Workmen’s Compensation Act had been established in 1943, the delegation of British Caribbean Labour Officers in 1950 provided evidence that there were numerous restrictions and limitations on who had access to these benefits. It was stated quite conclusively that insurance was compulsory; however, there were no provisions for medical treatment or “Occupational Diseases”, and “Domestic servants” could not qualify for these benefits.6

Between the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) and the Democratic Liberal Party (DLP), the BLP focused primarily on Old Age Pension Scheme legislation, while the DLP focused on implementing a formal Social Security System. The BLP during the Grantley Adams era increased the Old Age Pension by 233 percent between 1939 and 1949, and 79 percent between 1950 and 1961.7  Before the DLP dominated during the Errol Barrows era, the policies in place were the Workmen’s Compensation Act, Old Age pensions, and other specific industry and provident funds (i.e. Sugar Workers’ Provident Fund 1968, 1971).8  The DLP in their 1966 Manifesto set out to “bring into operation in April 1967, the National Insurance and Social Security Scheme.”9  They also pledged to introduce legislation for Holidays with Pay and Severance Payments, and make the Provident Fund available to all sugar workers.

As labor diversified, and development programmes expanded, social security policies began to take into account larger subsets of the population within a variety of fields, specialties, and demographics. According to the 1970 Annual Reports of the Department of Labour, after

1970, the population of individuals working in the production of sugar declined and aged significantly. Investment in development programmes contributed to the construction of the tourism industry and thus the creation new jobs. Provisions were made within the expanding social security scheme to account also for the influx of expatriates and government contracted workers to Barbados with the expansion of development prospects.10

Based on an essay of suggestions written by Frank Alleyne, the effectiveness of these policies should be measured by scope, coverage and the invention of new techniques for greater delivery of service. Since its conception in 1966, the scope and coverage of the National Insurance and Social Security Act has expanded to include sickness benefit, maternity benefit or grant, invalidity benefit or grant, funeral grant, old age contributory grant or pension,

non-contributory old age pension, employment injury benefit, survivors' benefit or pension, and an unemployment benefit scheme since 1981. Between 1967 and 1991 the number of persons registered with the Scheme rose from 72,252 to 230,000, while the number of active contributors rose from 72,250 to 95,435, respectively.11  During the transformative years of the National Insurance and Social Security Act, the Old Age Pension Scheme became contributory, thus the working population of Barbados was asked to contribute into the National Insurance Fund.12  In the present, the Barbados National Social Security and Insurance Scheme “covers all working people whether they are self-employed or engaged under a contract of service in Barbados.” 13

References

1 Hunte, Keith. “The Struggle for Political Democracy: Charles Duncan O’Neal and the Democratic League.” In The Empowering Impulse: The Nationalist Tradition of Barbados, edited by Glenford Howe and Don Marshall, 133-148. Barbados: Canoe Press,

2001.

2Fletcher, L.P. “The Evolution of Poor Relief in Barbados 1900-1969”. Paper presented to the

Caribbean Studies Association XVIIth Annual Conference at St. George’s Grenada May 26-29.

3Merritt, Brittany. Developing Little England: Public Health, Popular Protest and Colonial Policy in Barbados 1918-1940.2016.Thesis.Print.

4Phillips, Anthony de V. ‘Grantley Herbert Adams, Asquithian Liberalism and Socialism: Which Way Press, 1998. Forward for Barbados, from the 1920s to the 1940s?’. In The Empowering Impulse: The Nation- alist Tradition of Barbados, edited by Glenford D. Howe and Don D. Marshall. Kingston: Canoe Press of the University of the West Indies, 2001.

5Fletcher, L.P. “Old Age Pension Policy Barbados.” Presented to the 18th Annual Conference of the Caribbean Studies Association, Kingston and Ochio Rios, Jamaica, May 24-29, 1993.

6Report of the Third Conference of British Caribbean Labour Officers held in Barbados. Advocate Co., Ltd. 16th-19th May 1950.

7Fletcher, L.P. “Old Age Pension Policy Barbados.

8Frank Alleyne. “Investing in People: The Key to Strengthening Barbados Social Security Scheme.” Presented to the XVIII Meeting of the American Commission on Organization and Administrative Systems (CAGSA)...

9 Democratic Labour Party. “We Now Have a Country”. 1966. Manifesto Barbados General

Election.

10  Annual Reports. Department of Labour. 1970-78, 1982-86. Sections Titled “Social Welfare” or

“Labour Legislation”

11Frank Alleyne. “Investing in People”

12 Frank Alleyne. “Investing in People”.

13 A Guide to Benefits. 2008. The National Insurance and Social Security Scheme.

Bibliography

A Guide to Benefits. 2008. The National Insurance and Social Security Scheme.

A Plan for the Implementation and Administration of the Proposed Social Security Scheme For

Barbados. 1964. Stockman Report.

Alleyne, Frank. “Investing in People: The Key to Strengthening Barbados Social Security Scheme.” Presented to the XVIII Meeting of the American Commission on Organization and Administrative Systems (CAGSA), and the XXXVI Meeting of the Permanent

Inter-American Social Security Committee (CPISS). Acapulco, Mexico. 19-21

November, 1992.

Annual Report. Department of Labor. 1970-78.

Democratic Labour Party. “We Now Have a Country”. 1966. Manifesto Barbados General

Election.

Fletcher, L.P. “Old Age Pension Policy Barbados.” Presented to the 18th Annual Conference of the Caribbean Studies Association, Kingston and Ochio Rios, Jamaica, May 24-29, 1993.

Fletcher, L.P. “The Evolution of Poor Relief in Barbados 1900-1969”. Paper presented to the

Caribbean Studies Association XVIIth Annual Conference at St. George’s Grenada May

26-29.

Hunte, Keith. “The Struggle for Political Democracy: Charles Duncan O’Neal and the Democratic League.” In The Empowering Impulse: The Nationalist Tradition of Barbados, edited by Glenford Howe and Don Marshall, 133-148. Barbados: Canoe Press,

2001.

Merritt, Brittany. Developing Little England: Public Health, Popular Protest and Colonial Policy in Barbados 1918-1940.2016.Thesis.Print.

Phillips, Anthony de V. ‘Grantley Herbert Adams, Asquithian Liberalism and Socialism: Which Way Press, 1998. Forward for Barbados, from the 1920s to the 1940s?’. In The Empowering Impulse: The Nation- alist Tradition of Barbados, edited by Glenford D. Howe and Don D. Marshall. Kingston: Canoe Press of the University of the West Indies,

2001.

Report of the Third Conference of British Caribbean Labour Officers held in Barbados.

Advocate Co., Ltd. 16th-19th May 1950.

Seekings, Jeremy. “Pa's Pension’: The Origins of Non-contributory Old-age Pensions in Late Colonial Barbados”, The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 35:4, 529-547, DOI: 10.1080/03086530701667476

Matthew Forde on The History of Recycling in Barbados

By, Matthew Forde (Submitted as part of his HUMN 3099 Caribbean Studies Thesis on The History of Recycling Businesses in Barbados)

Barbados has had a long history of maintaining some principles of sustainable development in order to protect its fragile island environment and economy. As early as 300 years ago, planters sought to protect the environment from soil erosion and soil exhaustion by utilising dung generated by livestock to maintain soil fertility and introducing the cane-hole to adapt to environmental constraints. Barbados’s early sugar plantation development was characterized by the use of animal-powered mills, and then windmills utilising renewable energy. Later, steam-powered mills utilised recycled materials such as crushed cane stalks or bagasse as fuel. Due to their limited material circumstances, Barbadians have been reusing, reducing and recycling for generations. Barbadians accommodated recycling as a means of survival. For example, they used cuss-cuss grass for bedding, green trimmings for firewood and compost, or broom-making. Barbadians also reused plastic, metal and glass containers for storage of various items. However, since the development of sanitation policy with regular garbage collection and the creation of a landfill, Barbadians, like others all over the globe, are now engaged in a ‘throwaway’ culture that has led to an overflowing landfill and increasing concern over the sustainability of regular garbage collection.

To understand the development of recycling and sustainable development in Barbados, we must appreciate the local and international context, which would have influenced both areas. By the 1970s, efforts to modernize recycling in Barbados were developing partly to tackle Barbados’s growing garbage problem. In 1974, the W.B. Hutchinson Group of Companies, which manufactured plastics in the island, set up a subsidiary company, Industrial Fibres Limited to “cash in on the worldwide trend to make money out of garbage”.

Barbados’s recycling sector has grown over the last 25 years through entrepreneurship and innovation, and has contributed to the country’s economic, social and environmental sustainability. Early entrepreneurs created various businesses and programmes, which could confront the garbage problem in the island whilst provided other commercial services.

Patrick Blackman and later Andrew Simpson owned and operated Envirotech Inc., which began in 1993, collecting, crushing and exporting used glass to Trinidad for recycling.  Needing a larger collection point, their operations moved to the Belle Plantation. Envirotech then partnered with Barbados’s Tourism Development Corporation in the face of a rapidly increasing hotel sector which was generating plenty recyclable waste. To Stephen Medford, paper and cardboard, was to him what glass and plastic was to Blackman and Simpson. Medford, took some hard knocks in the scrap paper and recycling business in England before carving out an attractive niche for himself at Caribbean Waste Recycling Limited (CWRL) on Roebuck Street. Additionally, pioneers such as, Dr. Colin Hudson, was considered as one of the leading voices in the fight for sustainable development on the island. Under commission from then Governor General, Dame Nita Barrow in 1994, a low cost exposition of sustainable technologies was created eventually leading to the creation of the environmental charity, the Future Centre Trust.

Today, the escalating tonnage of garbage per day of highly compostable and recyclable, solid waste (SW) has become a critical concern. In Barbados efforts to create a successful sustainable development model has realised recycling as the “second most environmentally sound” strategy for dealing with SW following only the preventive strategy of source reduction and reuse. Despite several private and governmental challenges to recycling, well known players in the field today include; the largest privately owned Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) business in Barbados, Sustainable Barbados Recycling Centre (SBRC), which is contracted by Government to sort its waste.

 Barbados has also been addressing the safe disposal and recycling of e-waste with Caribbean E-waste Management Inc. owned and managed by Nadaline Cummings. A number of traders/ brokers in Barbados have succeeded in establishing businesses that generate interest in recycling. Examples such as Paul Bynoe of B’s Recycling and Stephen Foster of Dice-a-bed Barbados Ltd are two considerations. These companies provide unique, diverse and innovative solutions in waste collection, recovery and recycling to both public and private sector organisations. Notwithstanding these major players, several other small to medium sized recyclers have also embarked on providing recycling services in Barbados.