As the world staggered through the financial crisis that began in 2008, Barbados made a choice to embrace austerity, cutting back on investment and capital works projects. As a result, the country’s infrastructure is badly in need of an overhaul, and the new government is taking this fact as an opportunity to go green. Minister of Transport, Works and Maintenance William F. Duguid explains how his department is boosting the economy by improving roads and bridges, revamping the public transport system with electric vehicles, and enhancing hurricane preparedness with stronger buildings and underground electric transmission lines

What is your ministry’s mission and its impact on the economy of Barbados?

This ministry is worth $190 million, which is a significant portion of the $10 billion representing the entire economy of Barbados. It’s very important that the ministry be able to spend money on capital works programs, as these are essential to pushing the economy forward. Over the last 10 years, under the previous administration, the economy was essentially stagnant in that it did not grow, and this was a tragedy for the country. So now we are trying to use capital works as a means to grow the economy, and, to this end, this ministry has become extremely important. Not only are we spending major amounts of money in capital works as a percentage of our GDP, but we are also improving our infrastructure, which had not been touched for 10 years. 

What kind of infrastructure are you focusing on?

Road infrastructure is my number one priority right now because without roads people cannot get to work or to school, there are traffic problems. We are working diligently on improving our roads with help from our friends at the Inter-American Development Bank. We are also focusing on bridges, improving them in anticipation of the higher volume of traffic that we are expecting. The next and most important part of my portfolio is public transport. The previous administration did not buy a single new bus in all of 10 years, and we are now in the process of fixing older buses and getting them back on the road. We also have a company in Barbados called Endless Electric that has just transformed one of our diesel engine buses into an electric vehicle.  We are now looking at a program to use the chassis of old Mercedes buses and convert them into an electric fleet. In addition to this, we have just purchased 33 electric buses from a Chinese company. So we are embarking on a drive to modernize our public transport system, monitor where buses are, manage the fleet efficiently, perform maintenance work appropriately, and keep a rolling stock as high as possible because the most important thing is to get people to where they need to be and encourage them to use public transport rather than relying on cars all the time.

Why are these projects so important for the country?

All these issues are interlinked, because once we have better roads, a better public transport system, better traffic management and less reliance on cars, then we expect to see an improvement in the economy.

Why was there no investment in road infrastructure for all of 10 years?

I was a member of parliament for 10 years before this, and then I left and came back when the new government called me. I was there from 1994 to 2008. At that time we had significant investment in Barbados and we had infrastructure that was booming. But in 2008 there was a financial crash. The prime minister at the time was David Thompson, and as part of the opposition, I told him in parliament that we were going to face a major economic crisis and that we should take steps to buttress ourselves. There are two things you can do in a crisis: stimulus or austerity. The government chose austerity, and that meant cutting back on projects, cutting back on spending, and borrowing nonstop to pay salaries and bills. By doing that, there was no money left for capital works because the government was borrowing just to meet its payments.

What about foreign direct investment (FDI)? Did that shrink as well?

As the pound went down, British people could no longer afford to buy condos and houses here as they had before. So that FDI of $1.5 billion a year dropped significantly. And companies started to leave the country, so our income was further reduced. Yet the expenses still had to be paid, which meant borrowing and paying interest on that, so that there was nothing left for capital works. So in short, for 10 years there was no investment and no growth, and there was a lot of borrowing. And this was a mistake.

How does this past lack of road maintenance affect your work today?

We have a huge problem on our hands, because for road maintenance you have a certain time frame, or else it becomes reconstruction, which is a lot more expensive. Roadwork is never-ending, but we want to get the main arteries done and then move on to the secondary roads, so I am looking at seven to nine years.

You have said that red tape was a factor holding things back. How does this government plan to reduce bureaucracy?

The main way that red tape has affected us is through the tendering process. The tendering system in Barbados goes back many years and we are hoping to fast track that process by using certain rules within the financial system. You may have to go to open tender if there are many people who can provide a service, but if there are only four or five of them in the country, then you can go by letter. We are using this system, which is faster. The next thing we are looking at is digitization and what I call radial output, so that when an issue comes into the ministry, it goes out to all five relevant departments at once in an email, rather than someone having to take a physical document from one department to the next.

What type of companies are you looking for through your tendering process?

It depends on the project, and we have many of them: buying equipment, building a road or a bridge, architectural services, and even doing a flyover, which we are considering in order to ease traffic. The companies do have to be registered in Barbados and demonstrate competence in their particular field.

What are your plans for green transport investment?

We are trying to electrify our transport system as much as possible, and encouraging taxis to do so as well. Barbados has one of the highest per capita percentages of electric vehicles in the world: 300 for a population of 300,000. And we are one of the only countries in the world with an electric fleet of transport vehicles. We are encouraging private citizens to go electric as well. I also favor natural gas, as the transition is easier. While we are not a main global contributor to greenhouse gases, it is symbolic that a small country such as ours is taking the step of reducing its carbon footprint.

What about plans to retrofit buildings to be more resilient?

We want buildings to withstand up to Category 3 hurricanes, even though we have not had a hurricane for a long time. As part of that preparedness, we are trying to take as much of the power grid as possible underground. We are about to embark on a major program to trench Highways 1 and 7 and take the electrical transmission network underground on those arteries. Whenever we start work on a road, as much as we can we are also changing the water mains, changing the natural gas mains, and taking the electrical transmission wires underground. A time frame for completion is difficult but we are planning to trench a highway in the coming four weeks, and I am hoping that it will take six months, and then we will start work on the second one.

There is a new Lufthansa flight route from Frankfurt to Barbados. What impact do you expect on the economy and the road system?
I don’t imagine it will have a major impact on our road system, because in one year we can accommodate 450,000 visitors to the country, and we could easily accommodate a higher numbers. What we do look forward to is the impact on the economy, on culture and on activities. There was a time when there were many German tourists in Barbados, and we look forward to welcoming them again. I find that they are more adventurous, and are willing to try surfing, kite surfing and other related activities, while Americans tend to stay in their resorts and go out to restaurants. The Germans are also more outgoing and more willing to get involved in the culture.

Are you expecting an impact on direct investment as well?
I hope so. Maybe they will choose to buy a condo and use it as a winter retreat. During the crisis, when the pound’s value fell, the houses here became more expensive and the British stopped buying, so the Germans could step into that void. I look forward to welcoming German tourists and I encourage them to take a look at the wide opportunities that we have here in Barbados. We are open for business.