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31st
January 2012
Dr. Jules Speaks Economics
Stan Bishop
 Wresting
Saint Lucia from the clutches of globalization’s
negative effects was the focus at this year’s
Sir Arthur Lewis Memorial Lecture.
The lecture, themed “St. Lucia’s
Survival Options”, was delivered by Registrar
and Chief Executive Officer of the Caribbean
Examinations Council, Dr. Didacus Jules. Dr.
Jules, a Saint Lucian who has more than thirty
years experience in educational and human resource
development in Saint Lucia and the wider Caribbean
region, spoke of the economic challenges faced
by Saint Lucia. To counter these challenges,
Dr. Jules explained that policymakers in particular
need to come up with better strategies to safeguard
the region’s economies.
“The process of global convergence is
impacting or has profound implications for Saint
Lucia, whether we accept this or not,”
the former permanent secretary for Education
and Human Resource Development in the Ministry
of Education, Human Resource Development, Youth
and Sports said. “These global currents,
at the least, limit the options that are available
to us in the Caribbean as small vulnerable economies
and, at their worst, directly impact livelihoods
and jobs, the cost of living, and the type of
future that is open to us. But while it is important
to understand these trends and tendencies, it
is more important to have a factual understanding
of ourselves; because it is that self-awareness
that will enable us to reposition ourselves
and establish our priorities.”
Uneasiness and uncertainty among the populace
are factors that Dr. Jules said need to be addressed
adequately. And with a greater demand for government
to come up with creative policies, Dr. Jules
noted that time and a more uniform approach
to doing business is of the essence.
“We need to appreciate that the old distinction
between short-term, medium-term and long-term
actions and priorities is increasingly being
eroded. Uncertainty and the pace of change in
today’s world are so rapid and extensive
that action (is now being defined) as what we
must do now to stem current crises and what
we must do now to lay the basis for a different
tomorrow. Even our short-term actions must be
infused by some strategic intent, so that what
we do today does not shortchange our possibilities
for tomorrow,” Dr. Jules said last week
Thursday evening.
“The essential challenges Saint Lucia
faces,” Dr. Jules added, “are namely
political, social and economic.” In addressing
these essential challenges, the former permanent
secretary said, “The need for comprehensive,
multi-sectoral solutions that tackle the problems
from many angles should be recognized. The business
of using one-dimensional approaches,”
he contends,” “is no longer a part
of the solution.”
“The tribal divisiveness of local party
politics, the disillusionment caused by unemployment
and the absence of historical awareness are
factors of the political reality that exist
in Saint Lucia,” Dr. Jules said. He pointed
to statistics from the five general elections
held between 1992 and 2011 where, with the exception
of the 1997 general elections, a greater percentage
of the electorate chose not to vote than the
percentage that voted for either of the main
political parties.
“There is a vital narrative embedded in
this picture with profound lessons for all political
parties that necessitates an explanation of
these patterns of voter behavior. The non-voting
percentage is significant enough to raise troubling
questions about the future of democracy in Saint
Lucia, the engagement of citizens in shaping
their future and the character of the national
agenda,” Dr. Jules cautioned.
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With respect to the social
condition, Dr. Jules urged Saint Lucians to
have a deeper sense of what the Saint Lucian
identity is. Many Saint Lucians, he believes,
find their patriotism only when faced with
a feeling of “otherness”. Being
Saint Lucian as a matter of birthright is
just not going to define what Saint Lucia
is. He believes that if all Saint Lucians
exercise their fair share of social responsibility,
then the challenges ahead become easier.
Addressing the subject of economics, Dr. Jules
said that chronic employment needs to be arrested.
“Failure to do so in a comprehensive
manner,” he said, “will result
in heightened disenchantment among the citizenry.”
“Employment and sustainable livelihoods
are the keys to development and equity in
the Caribbean today,” the CXC registrar
told the packed audience at the Bay Gardens
Hotel Conference Room. “As the economic
crisis deepens in the Western countries, addressing
unemployment and creating jobs of lasting
value will be an increasing challenge for
small vulnerable economies such as ours.”
During the ten-year period spanning 2001 and
2010, Saint Lucia’s population increased
by 5% while the labour force increased by
15%. By 2010, unemployment stood at 20.6%,
which represented 17, 606 people on the breadline.
The private sector, Dr. Jules indicated “must
see the issue of job creation as a critical
element of doing business and why they must
play a proactive partnership role”.
The island’s private sector is the nation’s
largest employer, hiring 77% of the nation’s
labour force, compared to the public sector
which accounts for 18% and the civic sector
the remaining 5%. Nevertheless, the skills
the workforce is being taught need to reflect
the demands of the day.
“(We need) to try to examine the type
of employment and determine whether the majority
of these jobs represent sustainable livelihoods,
what are the factors likely to affect these
jobs in the future,” Dr. Jules told
the audience during his PowerPoint presentation.
“Does our job type profile show an economy
that is geared for twenty-first century growth
or are we standing on the shifting sands of
jobs that are on their way to obsolescence?”
In the past decade, there have been declines
in employment in some key sectors of the Saint
Lucian economy. Agriculture, for example,
represented 22% in 2000; in 2007, it represented
just 12%. Manufacturing figures also declined
from 10% to 6% during that period. Construction-related
employment increased from 9% to 13%, while
the tourism industry increased for 9% to 12%.
Despite the growth in the tourism sector,
Dr. Jules contends that certain changes need
to be made so as to ensure that the local
industry remains competitive. Opportunities
for greater levels of growth need to be created,
Dr. Jules said.
“We see tourism providing more employment.
What is the nature of the jobs in the tourism
sector and how sustainable are these jobs?
If these jobs are simply chambermaid jobs,
then this is an unsustainable future. If,
on the other hand, we begin to re-tool the
workforce in the tourism sector, to provide
more tertiary level of quality and services,
then we begin to make ourselves more globally
competitive,” Dr. Jules emphasized
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Discuss
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