As we head towards the 21st century, the world in which we live is becoming more and more inter-twined. World economies are inextricably linked, so much so, that an economic ripple in some remote part of the globe can create concerns for us here in St. Lucia. With technology being developed and used at a rapid pace, small developing economies such as ours can be easily cannibalized. Many so called "developing economies" such as ours, have already been relegated to the status of beggar economies.In St. Lucia, rampant corruption in the public sector, gross inefficiencies in both the public and private sectors, the piece-meal (non-global) management practice of government, the 5-year planning myopia inherent in parliamentary democracy, the preoccupation of cabinet with trivialities such as the date for carnival or who gets to go abroad to study, the poor level of customer service, the lack of justice, the lack of arms-length (non-politically influenced) transactions, the apparent lack of a clear vision for surviving the banana crisis, the inability of most St. Lucians in managerial and other leadership positions to accept criticism, the pre-dominance of ego-toting men in our political arena, and the apparent lack of a forward-focused educational strategy for the country, does not paint a picture of a country poised to do battle in what is already a vicious and cruel world.
While these issues are also relevant to larger "more developed" economies, many of these countries such as Japan, Canada, the US, have some measure of "economic fat" to absorb these kinds of inefficiencies. We do not! If we pay close attention to international news, we find many of these same countries are claiming that their economies are in danger of collapse from these very same issues and more. Consequently, both private and public sector organizations within those countries are scrambling to rationalize and restructure themselves to maximize their competitiveness and to reduce the financial burden on the public purse respectively. Canada, for example, plans to retrench in excess of 10,000 Federal government workers in an effort to curb spending. The government is also privatizing several of its service delivery agencies in order to control costs. The US budget debate is all about spending priorities viz. a vis. national debt. These events help to highlight the nature of the times now before us.
In St. Lucia, I do not get the impression that our economic sector and government are working together on a national strategic plan to avert the chaos which is eminent and to ensure our economic survival. While the dynamics of our economy may have little effect on other world economies, there is no excuse for not working ensure that our economy become as strong as it possibly can. Let me re-iterate that 5-year planning cycles and conflicting personal political agendas of Ministers managing "independently", an integrated system of sectors, will not produce a strong country! We have to begin to talk of 25-year plans in spite of changes in government, and we St. Lucians must begin to demand a political culture of integrity and performance.
There are two words that I believe both our private and public sectors ought to live by if we are to stand a chance at surviving, and surviving well. They are excellence and creativity. These two words are inseparable, as it is hard, though not impossible, to achieve excellence without being creative. Every sector of our country is a performance center (agriculture, fisheries, trade, education, etc.), and St. Lucians ought to expect nothing less than excellence from the people being paid to run those centers. Excellence must be the standard! The private sector must exhibit excellence if they are to maximize their viability thereby providing and sustaining employment for St. Lucians while at the same time helping to provide a tax base for the country. All government sectors must "come to grip" with the reality of having to do more with less. This can only be achieved if a proper standard of excellence is adopted in every government Ministry.
It is my opinion, that there isn’t a single government Ministry that can stand as a "flag ship" for excellence in St. Lucia. I would venture the same statement for the quasi-government (statutory bodies) and the private sector. The private sector is dying need of a wake-up call around efficiency and customer service. Many have survived as long as they have primarily due to the existence of oligopolies and a lack of competition. Not due to business savvy. Unless we change the way we do business, we are courting the inevitable, the predator known as the International Monetary Fund (IMF). We have seen the fate of Trinidad, Jamaica, Guyana, and the narrow escape of Barbados. These were all, relatively speaking, "well-to-do" countries at one time.
When we speak of excellence, it cannot be without context. Indeed, national excellence must be in the context of an integrative national economic, social, and cultural strategy - a strategy which requires that both the public and private sectors play their part.
One of my biggest fears, is that in St. Lucia, we appear to have in place a development strategy that has very little production of tangible product which we can exchange with the rest of the world. We note that land prices double in three years with no real value added to the land - no tangible production has taken place. If there are any politicians who know what is going on, they are probably afraid to speak it. Continued reallocation of wealth on the basis of speculation and the sale of imported goods may hasten the collapse of our economy unless we can increase the production of tangible tradable goods. National and economic leadership guided by excellence and integrity is therefore sorely needed.
Two fundamental challenges before us are: 1) how do we bring about a national cultural change around excellence, and 2) how do we generate a nation of creative- and innovative-minded people? I am quite sure that each and every St. Lucian could list at least twenty problems with the state of the nation. However, it is my opinion that these issues cannot be effectively addressed unless excellence, integrity, creativity, and innovation become our national watch words. How do we proceed?
