HAVING recently listened to the devastating effects of Covid on a number of US States by way of bankruptcies and depleted financial resources of hundreds of persons and companies, we have decided to highlight the differences between these states and St Lucia. This astonishing information immediately brought our attention to the amazing job carried out by the United Workers Party administration under the leadership of Allen Chastanet.
St Lucia is a small island developing state with limited resources and was able to survive the onslaught of this 2019 Covid virus by seriously addressing its debt and meeting salaries of the 9,500 civil servants. This all transpired despite the closure of the nation’s borders and top industry (TOURISM), both coming to a virtual halt.
The wisdom of the former prime minister and his team immediately embarked on a vigorous infrastructural development programme constituting of roads, housing developments, airport and terminal buildings, medical and hospital enhancements and a massive water improvement supply to the south of the island from one million gallons to five million gallons daily. The DSH project though harshly criticized by the opposition injected some US fifty million dollars of investors personal funds which produced a shot of adrenaline to the merchants in the south.
The other boost was derived from the major input by government in restoring several unoccupied warehouses at the Hewanorra Freezone and converted same for rental to companies like OJ labs and Intel IBO which together employed close to two thousand call centre employees at an average pay rate of $3,500 to $4,000.00 monthly.
Based on Allen Chastanet’s leadership and his long-time confidence in tourism, St Lucia was one of the first nations to open its doors to the tourism industry despite the strong criticism from the Opposition Leader who had no confidence in tourism. We thought it most fitting to remind St Lucians of a job well done hence the significant growth experienced shortly after Covid. It should be noted that the former prime minister took his time prior to Covid to explore the happenings in Singapore which led the way to the largest infrastructural programme during Covid and today has one of the most updated airports and terminal buildings worldwide. It is, however, most unfortunate that the HIA project was unfortunately halted by an administration which lacked the foresight of growth. Hopefully St Lucians will very soon place on their thinking caps where it truly belongs and avoid repeating the dramatic errors of the past.