CASTRIES, St. Lucia, December 4th 2014 (CUOPM) – The Prime Minister of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas has been sharing with delegates to the St. Lucia Labour Party Conference the importance of involving the people as happened in St. Kitts and Nevis, the effort to return the twin-island federation on the path of economic growth in the face of the international and financial recession.
Invited by his colleague Prime Minister the Hon. Dr. Kenny Anthony to deliver the feature address on Sunday, Dr. Douglas said it was important that St. Lucia and St. Lucians be aware of the international situation and continue to move along a steady, determined and committed path.
“Aware of global challenges, but not disoriented by them; mindful of regional difficulties, but not blinded by them; living with sacrifices that islands are making, but knowing that sacrifice exists in powerful nations as well,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
“I have the good fortune, Comrades, to be political leader of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, and Prime Minister of that country as well. And today, I state in a spirit of thanksgiving and humility, St. Kitts & Nevis is doing very well. On the key metrics, we have not only met the targets that we set for ourselves, we have, in many cases, surpassed them.
I say this not because I want to talk about how well, with the help of a merciful God, we have been doing, but because I wish to share with you the path that got us to where we are today. It has not been easy, Comrades. It required tremendous focus and discipline on the part of my Government in general, and our country’s Ministry of Finance in particular,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
He pointed out that it required ongoing communication between the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis and the people of St. Kitts and Nevis regarding the necessity of the sacrifices that they were being asked to make, and it required a concerted effort to impress upon Kittitians and Nevisians the fact that benefits which could not at that time be seen, would indeed emerge, .if only the people would, with patience – despite the immediate difficulties – believe and persevere.
“Globalization means that St. Lucians are no longer competing only with each other St. Lucians; and Kittitians and Nevisians, no longer with other Kittitians and Nevisians. Everyone, everywhere, is now competing against the world. This puts great pressure on all of us, but it opens new opportunities as well. And it makes it especially important to have, in place, Governments that are capable both of protecting the vulnerable on the one hand, and facilitating the seizing of opportunities by both the vulnerable and the strong,” Dr. Douglas said.
He added that in the midst of this ever-intensifying global competition and in the midst of a global crisis that originated far from its shores, it did not take the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis, long to realize that very clear and less-than-welcome policy changes would be needed if the country and people were to be protected at a time of global economic distress.
“Beyond the realization of this fact, however, there was the tremendous challenge of convincing the people of St. Kitts and Nevis that the policy changes that my Government wished to introduce were indeed necessary, that they would actually lead to important advances socially and economically, that they would, in the end, cause St. Kitts and Nevis to be stronger, more stable, and more secure,” said Dr. Douglas, who pointed out that complicating the challenge was the fact that at the same time that “my Government was attempting to impress upon Kittitians and Nevisians the importance of the Government and the people sticking together, working together, sacrificing together - in order to make it through very difficult times - there were those whose primary objective was to sow seeds of doubt, despair, and alienation.”
“There were those who – despite the difficult circumstances in which most of the world had been pushed – had zero interest in honestly and intelligently analyzing the sober policies that my Government had been moving forward. Instead, they concluded that the smoothest path to power would be via the spreading of distrust, discord, and a general defeatism,” Dr. Douglas told St. Lucia Labour Party delegates.
“St. Lucia has principled, competent, and committed leadership in the Government that the people of St. Lucia, just over three years ago, elected. You have a Prime Minister who has honestly and forthrightly made it clear that the medium-to-long term strengthening of St. Lucia will require certain sacrifices in the short term. It is my hope, therefore, that the people of St. Lucia will, in a spirit of courage and realism, value and be thankful for the honesty and forthrightness of your Government be encouraged by the competence and commitment that defines this administration and walk forward with patience, discipline, and determination, as the people of St. Kitts and Nevis did,” Dr. Douglas said.
He pointed out however that In face of the greatest challenges, “we can be concerned, but we must never be unbroken by the naysayers. We can be concerned, but we must remain un-swayed by those attempting to break our spirit and blur our focus. You can be concerned, but St. Lucians must never fall prey to those who wish you not to believe in yourselves, in your Government, in the potential of your blessed land.”
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