The first of what will be an ongoing series of meetings for BARP members was held by the Association’s Consumer Protection Committee (CPC) at BARP Headquarters in November 2007.

Chairman of the CPC, Jai Jebodhsingh, opened the well attended meeting with an overview of  his Committee’s assessment of the wide range of consumer realities currently confronting not only BARP members, but all those aged 50 and over in Barbados.

Jebodhsingh started by highlighting the recent CADRES survey, which indicated that the high cost of living was a major issue of concern identified by Barbadians.  He went on to point out that Government, one of the three major players in consumer affairs, encouraged commercial activity in order to generate revenue and as a result, had to perform a balancing act between the aims and objectives of the private sector and the needs of consumers.  Jebodhsingh felt that as the current Government did not support price controls, favoring a strategy to promote greater competition in the business sector, its present position seemed to favor the private sector over the consumer.  That said, Jebodhsingh acknowledged that goods and services providers, who were obviously interested primarily in profit-making, had been accused of predatory pricing recently by the Prime Minister.

One of the main problems explored at the meeting was the fact that whilst consumers were the largest of the three major groups of players, they were the weakest. Unlike in first world countries and in some Caribbean territories, private consumer organizations so far in Barbados had few active members and little impact on consumer affairs.

However, with over 15,000 members, BARP has both the desire and the potential to become a key player in consumer affairs, not only because it represents almost a third of the population of around 85,000 persons aged 50 and over in Barbados, but also because it represents that most vulnerable section of the community, the elderly and infirm who in many ways, are the most severely and drastically affected by the high cost of living.

It was agreed that the way forward is to dramatically increase the number of BARP members actively involved in dealing with consumer issues and for those persons to work together on individual and collective strategies and campaigns, which members can then utilize to transform the consumer culture in Barbados.

Amongst a number of specific plans to be put in place are a sub-committee which will focus on issues related to pricing and nutrition, with particular emphasis on the nutritional needs of the elderly, a programme of educational seminars to ensure greater awareness of consumer rights and the development of parish groups to boost BARP’s effectiveness in consumer affairs.

“I was greatly energized by the quality of the contributions made by our members, their sense of commitment and the dynamism which permeated the meeting,” said chairman Jai Jebodhsingh.  “I feel that BARP is well on the way to becoming a force to be reckoned with, in promoting consumer protection for its members and the wider Barbadian population.”