41 Years of Independence 41 Years of Economic Struggle

The blue, yellow, black and white of our country’s flag has popped up here and there in citizen regalia over the last week. Nothing of course like the streams of bright red clothing that flowed through our streets in the lead-up to that other February holiday just over a week ago. So far it seems this year’s build-up to the big day has barely scratched the surface of the jingoistic fervour which draped our country blue last year. Even culture minister Senator Fortuna Belrose earlier this week admitted at a press conference that this Independence celebration won’t be as grandiose.   

Be that as it may, every Independence anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect on just what this celebration has meant for Saint Lucia. Last year an article lifted from Rick Wayne’s Foolish Virgins and published in this newspaper took us back to the beginning. It was entitled Independence: From Day One It’s Been Looshan versus Looshan. “At a special meeting in London, opposition leader Allan Louisy had argued for an indefinite postponement of Compton’s independence plans. To no avail. Plagued by its own social and economic woes, the British government seemed to have ears only for St. Lucia’s premier, who was soon crowing on local TV and over the government-controlled radio RSL that come February 22, 1979 Saint Lucia would be an independent nation with its very own place at the United Nations General Assembly. Free at last!”  

Free at last indeed. Political bickering aside, Saint Lucia has in many ways benefitted from having a seat at the UN table these past four decades. And speaking of the UN, its General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960, the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, provides an interesting look at the worldwide perspective on just what independence means and the responsibilities that come with it. 

The resolution reads in part: “The General Assembly, affirming that peoples may, for their own ends, freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources without prejudice to any obligations arising out of international economic co-operation, based upon the principle of mutual benefit, and international law; and convinced that all peoples have an inalienable right to complete freedom, the exercise of their sovereignty and the integrity of their national territory; solemnly proclaims the necessity of bringing to a speedy and unconditional end colonialism in all its forms and manifestations.

“And to this end declares that 

1) The subjection of peoples to alien subjugation, domination and exploitation constitutes a denial of fundamental human rights, is contrary to the Charter of the United Nations and is an impediment to the promotion of world peace and co-operation. 

2) All peoples have the right to self-determination; by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. 

3) Inadequacy of political, economic, social or educational preparedness should never serve as a pretext for delaying independence.” (More on this later.)

Since 1979 Saint Lucia has been free to, among other things, dispose of our “natural wealth and resources without prejudice to any obligations arising out of international economic co-operation . . .” and to pursue our “economic, social and cultural development.” That freedom, since independence, is without question. How beneficial it’s been is something else.

Take for example our annual Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure. They have told a sad tale of perpetual overspending and increasing national debt. Case in point: the Estimates of 2017-2018. Saint Lucia’s total revenue and grants was $1,144,746,924. It’s total expenditure, $1,395,518,012.

In case you’re wondering; that’s a billion with a capital B. Meaning a single year deficit of over $250 million. But this is hardly new; neither is it unique to the current administration. During the 2013-2014 budget year Saint Lucia’s total revenue and grants totaled to $936,944,652—dwarfed by our total expenditure of $1,206,300,056. A difference of almost $300 million.  

This has been our nightmare since Independence; a scene that year after year grows more gruesome.  A popular suggestion to alleviate this nightmare scenario is to remove our Governor General and the expenses associated with the office. However, the  numbers place this theory in the sin bin of myth and legend. The fact is the bulk of our nation’s expenditure goes to the ever-expanding public sector, as several prime ministers have talked about in countless addresses, but taken no salutary action.  

To make the point: $1,077,943 of our total expenditure in 2017-2018 went to the governor general, inclusive of wages, while $481,217,343 went to the Department of Finance.  Other sectors, such as Education and Health, also get millions every year, even as the country reaps what it sows. (More on that in a future article.)

In light of our 41 years of independence, Part 3 of the UN General Assembly’s resolution on Independence is particularly noteworthy: “Inadequacy of political, economic, social or educational preparedness should never serve as a pretext for delaying independence.”  It is a premise worthy of further consideration.