In his 2024 New Year Address to the nation, Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre said: “The pressing social needs of the population will remain a priority” as his administration “will continue to pursue people-centered policies to ensure that no one is left behind in our developmental thrust.”
In that regard, he added, “We will continue to create more educational opportunities for our students, remain deeply committed to creating opportunities for all Saint Lucians to realize their full potential and protect the less fortunate and marginalized…”
The PM reiterated that his administration is also “strongly committed to preserving and protecting our national patrimony and the environment for the enjoyment of the present and future generations.”
He disclosed the Minimum & Equal Wage Committee “has submitted a draft report to the Cabinet of Ministers” and government will now have “further consultations with the private sector…”
But he expects that a livable wage for workers across sectors in Saint Lucia will fructify later this year.
Ensuring food and nutrition security for all citizens, he said, “will continue to be an important priority for this government” and it “will intensify the import substitution strategy through the expansion of vegetable and livestock production.”
He also said new sectors like sea moss and cocoa production will be encouraged while exploration of opportunities in the Blue Economy will be enhanced.
In 2023, the nation witnessed an alarming increase in gun-related homicides, particularly among some young males, fueled by an imported gang culture.
The PM said, “We are committed to attacking that problem with all available resources and call on the support of the public, and all social and Non-Government Organizations.”
It will also “continue to empower the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force with the technical, physical, and human resources they need to detect and solve criminal activity.”
The timely dispensation of Justice will be improved, the PM said, “with the commencement of the construction of the new Halls of Justice during this fiscal year providing a suitable working environment for Judicial Officers.”
The society, as a whole, he said, “must encourage values that will steer our youth from the false hope and gains of a life of crime to productive pursuits that will redound to the benefit of everyone.”
He said his government “pledges its support and availability to constructive dialogue on the improvement of citizen security in our country.”
He promised the elusive goal of Universal Health Coverage, intended to provide affordable, accessible, and equality in health coverage for the population “will be intensified in 2024” and in the meantime, called on “all Saint Lucians to observe healthy lifestyles to reduce the alarming increases in Non-Communicable Diseases plaguing the country.”
Addressing his ‘Fellow Saint Lucians’, Prime Minister Pierre recalled that since being elected with more than a simple two-thirds majority in July 2021, his government “has focused on critical issues of poverty reduction, crime and security, social justice, economic empowerment, education, health care, food security, and infrastructure,” and assured that it “will continue to address those pressing issues of great importance to our people.”
However, he reminded the nation (as in his opening remarks) that “In 2024, we need to broaden our national discourse to include financial literacy, global economic events, national pride and identity, healthy lifestyles, reparations, and climate change,” the latter now-viewed “as an existential threat to human existence.”
The Prime Minister also noted the “need to adopt mitigation and adaptation policies to reduce the risks to our population, even if it has been accepted that Small Island Developing States are not the cause of these destructive weather changes.”
According to PM Pierre, “Society must keep these issues in the national focus as they are vital and impact the individual aspirations and overall national development goals.”
He concluded with a call for Saint Lucians to “have confidence and trust in ourselves and our ability as a people,” and to be “positive and disciplined, and move forward with pride and dignity.”
The Prime Minister’s address ended with an appropriate quote of an excerpt from a poem by Hon. Derek Walcott, that urged Saint Lucian citizens on what to Ring-in and Ring-out:
‘Ring out false pride in place and blood, The civic slander and the spite; Ring in the love of truth and right, Ring in the common love of good.
‘Ring out old shapes of foul disease, Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; Ring out the thousand wars of old, Ring in the thousand years of peace.
‘Ring in the valiant man and free, the larger heart, the kindlier hand; Ring out the darkness of the land, Ring in the Christ that is to be…’
And then came the following Press Release from the Communications Unit of the Prime Minister’s Office yesterday, indicating that “Global financial monitoring agencies like the World Bank, ECLAC and the International Monetary Fund point to continued economic gains for Saint Lucia in 2024 – and they all project positive GDP growth.”
According to the statement, “This encouraging economic outlook means better-paying jobs will open-up for more Saint Lucians. More businesses will have the confidence to expand operations and hire more people.”
The release pointed out that “Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre delivered consecutive years of double-digit GDP growth in 2022 and 2023. The national unemployment rate fell to 16.5% by the end of 2022, the lowest rate since 2013.”
But it also warned, “There’s still work to be done…”
According to the statement, “Prime Minister Pierre’s strategic business development policies have unleashed the entrepreneurial spirit of our nation. The government disbursed millions in grants and soft loans to hundreds of Saint Lucians, who took advantage of the MSME Loan-Grant Facility and the Youth Economy Agency.
“The Prime Minister’s management of the economy secured a BBB+ (Adequate) for Income and Economic Structure from the Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Limited (CariCRIS).”
According to the statement, “Under Prime Minister Pierre’s leadership, the Chamber of Commerce is reporting improved profitability for 2023 and Foreign Direct Investment is set to exceed $2.5 billion.”
It continued, “The Pierre Administration continues to shape the fiscal policies that will create the enabling environment to facilitate investment, accelerate job creation and keep Saint Lucia on course for sustained economic growth.”
But, as per usual, none of that will even be read by the Permanent Opposition Critics who will spend more time in 2024 dreaming of finding ways to return to office before 2026, than trying to understand why Saint Lucian voters gave them such a rude awakening on July 26, 2021.
Clearly, most are still nursing hangovers from the morning after the night before, when they were dealt the second-most-lethal general-election-blow in the (almost) 45 years since Independence.