Many marvelled at the speed of the campaign. Posters were slapped onto utility poles quickly. Some appeared within hours of Prime Minister Mia Mottley announcing the February 11, 2026 general election. Yet weeks later, many of the now weather beaten posters still cling to the poles across the island. This is despite repeated calls from Barbados Light & Power. They are an eyesore in a country that relies on its beauty to entice tourists. The tourists that pay our bills.
Barbados has become an undisciplined society, and on its current trajectory appears to be in a race to the bottom.If anyone needs convincing, there is the litter that is casually tossed to the ground by children and adults alike, the minibuses and private cars that use the road as a racetrack and feed a negative sub culture, Auditor General reports ignored. Inability or refusal of successive government to lodge audited NISSS financial statements in parliament as required by law, The stinking smell of weed that offends the nostrils at every turn, since 2022 averaging over 40 murders with 2023 an outlier…
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” — Martin Luther King Jr
There has been a slow creep of decadence in recent years, these fault lines have now widened into gaping cracks. A case of what monkey see, monkey do. How can our society improve if leaders in government and NGOs are not leading by example?
The government promised that it was imperative to implement tint regulations as an aid to combat serious crime. After a few stops and starts the road traffic law was amended to take effect on December 1, 2025. Three months later there has been no visibility given this issue. Daily vehicles can be seen with very dark tint unperturbed that any law is being broken.
In less than a month after winning office for an unprecedented third time 30-0 the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2026 passed into law. A law designed to ensure any member of parliament who resigns from a policial party, is expelled from, or defects from the political party under which they were elected to vacate their seat, a by‑election must be called. In contrast the Integrity in Public Life Act (2023) is yet to be operationalised by a Mottley government after three terms in office. It should be noted that this type of transparency legislation was promised by BOTH main political parties going back over thirty years. It doesn’t matter the party colours, they all members of the club, ask Michael Lashley and Chris Sinckler.
These imperfections are not isolated failures; they are symptoms of a national drift. When laws are ignored, when a promise is simply a comfort for a fool, and when leaders fail to model the discipline they demand of others, the public is bound to follow suit. Either we reclaim the standards that once defined us and made us the envy of many, or we continue sliding into a culture where anything goes and nothing improves. The direction we choose will obviously decide the country we become.
Are we there yet?
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