In Saint Lucia, we have become very good at rewarding people after they leave office or the country.
Returning nationals are granted duty‑free concessions. Politicians are guaranteed pensions, perks, allowances, duty‑free vehicles, and lifetime privileges — regardless of how long they served or how well they performed.
But there is one group the system barely acknowledges at all: the citizens who never left.
The teachers, factory workers, farmers, nurses, small business owners, drivers, clerks, tradesmen, and public servants who stayed through everything — economic downturns, tax increases, currency pressures, hurricanes, pandemics, fuel shocks, and policy mistakes not of their making.
They paid for everything. Every duty. Every VAT increase. Every fee, levy, surcharge, and so‑called “temporary” tax that somehow became permanent.
They didn’t earn in stronger foreign currencies. They didn’t enjoy overseas safety nets. They didn’t retire into guaranteed pensions written into legislation.
Yet they kept the ship on course.
That contrast should trouble us.
A politician can serve a few terms and walk away with lifetime benefits — funded by taxpayers who may never enjoy a pension at all. A returning national can re‑enter the country with containers of personal goods duty‑free. But the citizen who stayed, worked, raised a family, paid taxes for forty years, and held the economy together receives nothing.
No loyalty credit. No residency‑based concession. No recognition that time served at home is time invested in nation.
This is not an attack on politicians, nor on returning nationals. Both have a role to play. But policy reveals priorities, and our priorities are skewed.
We have built a system that rewards position, rewards absence, and rewards exit, while quietly penalizing continuity.
The message is subtle but unmistakable: leave, and you will be welcomed back. Hold office, and you will be looked after. Stay, and you will be expected to carry the load.
That is not how strong nations are built.
A mature society understands that loyalty is not automatic — it must be reinforced. That citizenship is not just a legal status but a lived contribution. Years of paying taxes, absorbing shocks, and sustaining communities should count for something tangible.
If politicians can be guaranteed pensions for service, why can’t long‑term residents earn loyalty credits?
If returning nationals receive duty‑free concessions, why can’t citizens who never left receive reinvestment incentives?
If service to the state is rewarded, why is service to society ignored?
These are not radical questions. They are fairness questions.
At some point, Saint Lucia must decide whether it values those who kept the ship sailing — or whether it will continue to reward everyone except the ones who stayed aboard during the storm.
Government must now answer a simple question: when will national policy begin to reward those who stayed, paid, and endured — not just those who returned or those who held office?
A country that forgets its most faithful citizens risks teaching the next generation that loyalty is optional and commitment is a mistake.
A Fair Fix: How Saint Lucia Can Reward Loyalty Without Punishing Return
Policy Explainer
The question of incentives should not be framed as a choice between welcoming returning nationals and respecting those who stayed. A serious country can — and should — do both.
What is missing is not goodwill, but policy imagination.
For decades, Saint Lucia has treated long‑term residency as an obligation rather than an investment. Yet time lived, taxes paid, and shocks absorbed locally represent a measurable contribution to national stability. That contribution deserves structured recognition.
First, introduce a Residency Loyalty Credit. Citizens who have lived and paid taxes continuously in Saint Lucia for defined periods could earn a one‑time duty credit applied to tools, equipment, vehicles, or home improvement.
Second, support local reinvestment, not consumption. Concessions should be tied to productivity — machinery, agricultural inputs, manufacturing tools, or energy‑saving upgrades.
Third, formalize a “Stayed and Served” recognition framework in law, ensuring transparency and fairness.
Fourth, balance incentives across the lifecycle of citizenship — recognizing both return capital and resident continuity.
None of these proposals undermine the diaspora. They strengthen national unity by removing silent resentment.
Saint Lucia does not suffer from a lack of patriotic people. It suffers from a policy framework that assumes patriotism will survive without reinforcement.
Fixing that is not generosity. It is fairness. And fairness is one of the smartest investments any country can make.