Which side are local politicians on – Sandals or St Lucia?
By Melanius Alphonse
Members of parliament take an oath of allegiance, office, secrecy and a declaration of loyalty is made to the state.
With that in mind, listening to a handful of parliamentarians in Saint Lucia leaves the impression that their endeavour is subjective or even encouraging an atmosphere of intimidation against anyone that dares challenge the kingdom of “all exclusive tourism” and Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart.
Saul Alinsky wrote in his book, Rules for Radicals, “The first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom – Lucifer.”
Responding to public concerns that Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart and Sandals Resorts could hold the country and the tourism industry to ransom by acquiring more properties in Saint Lucia, minister for economic development, housing, urban renewal, transport and civil aviation, Guy Joseph, recently returned to much of the ideological consistency of prime minister Allen Chastanet that doubled-down on attitudes and beliefs driven by identity-centric motivations.
“How can Sandals hold the country to ransom? What will Sandals do? If you have a billion dollar investment in a country, you are just going to – he cannot put the hotels on his back and go with it. What can he do – close it indefinitely and walk away?” Joseph asked.
(L-R) Guy Joseph, Minister for Economic Development, Housing, Urban Renewal, Transport and Civil Aviation; Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart; Prime Minister Allen Chastanet; and Dominic Fedee, Minister in the office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Tourism, Information and Broadcasting
By the standards of vertical integration, “all exclusive” extractive and exploitative practices, Joseph’s parasitic thought process endeavoured to link the government of Saint Lucia’s “realistic approach towards development,” describing Sandals “as a company with a proven track record”.
Of course, that’s comparative as Sandals seeks to challenge a 2011 Privy Council Bahamas union ruling, Sandals and the exploitation of Caribbean governments and people: An Antigua-Barbuda case study – Part One and Sandals and the exploitation of Caribbean governments and people: An Antigua-Barbuda case study – Part Two.
“If track record means nothing to other people, it means something to me. So when I look at all of the hotels that have operated in Saint Lucia – come and go. Change of management, change of this, change of that. I mean, look at what happened with Smugglers. You know how much money the banks lost in loans that were given to Smugglers? You know how much money the previous government wrote off for Smugglers?
“Why I believe we should have a fifth Sandals is because we do not have a Beaches in Saint Lucia and anyone who goes to a Beaches property would understand the value of that property in terms of the family chain, because Sandals is a hotel for couples,” adding, “I am not afraid of development.” ~ Guy Joseph
If Joseph’s statist ideological orthodoxy and where clear rules no longer exist ignores Antigua and Barbuda experience with Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart and Sandals, then that further reflects Joseph’s allegiance and declaration of loyalty.
There are salient realities that very few will acknowledge. The threats of holding the government and people of Saint Lucia ransom are real and more prominent in a tourism monopoly that continues its enlargement in a post-colonial, banana economy.
Government ministers and Sandals officials at the sod turning ceremony for Sandals LaSource Resort
At the ground-breaking ceremony for Sandals LaSource, the fourth property on Saint Lucia anticipated to last 24 months, employing approximately 1,200 persons and upon completion, 900 permanent workers, is expected to bring the total number of Sandals employees in Saint Lucia to 2,700 employees, economic development minister Joseph said.
“I am especially proud of Sandals and will continue to support the drive to invest in Saint Lucia because while we have had to go to CIP and other areas to get investment into Saint Lucia, here we have a Caribbean-grown investor who has not ventured into any of these areas but has made substantial investment in this country, especially at this point in time when everybody is looking for the easy way out for foreign direct investment, Sandals is putting its own money on the table to develop a project of this nature.”
So, who is Joseph messaging to imply that Sandals is investing its own resources, and not relying on government/public funds?
Of course, Joseph is oblivious to the $24 million Sandals tax write off and the context of any other way this revenue would be beneficial to Saint Lucians.
Furthermore, an expressive conviction more concentrated on emotional investment, political support and economic self-interests followed:
“This is meaningful in more than one way. It is not just the spill off that we are getting from the tourism sector. Sandals has been considered the university for tourism workers in Saint Lucia.
“Once you have been trained by Sandals, then you become marketable within the tourism sector in Saint Lucia. Sandals must be complimented for that because you have not operated as a selfish company who would see after only you having the good workers, but you have treated the entire industry in Saint Lucia as part of your industry.
“That is very visionary and I must compliment management for taking that approach, because it is what helps to build Saint Lucia as the destination of choice that it is today.”
On the socio-economic ladder, this may help to override his own behaviour working in the shadows of the Taiwan embassy in Saint Lucia, which donated US$40,000 the to Caribbean Hospitality and Tourism Training Institute (CHTTI) that is no-longer in operation, without explanation, leaving students in the lurch.
Prime Minister Chastanet, a cheerleader for Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, known to double-down, is of the opinion that Sandals investments in Saint Lucia bring significant benefits, and represent a vote of confidence that sends a strong message to the international community about the value of the Saint Lucia product, which makes government’s job of trying to attract additional investment that much easier.
“The investment today represented 36,000 new guests who will be coming to Saint Lucia. This by itself will represent a ten percent increase in the number of arrivals into Saint Lucia. And in terms of money, expenditure… we’re talking close to US$65 million in additional expenditure per year that this property is going to generate.”
However, there was no mention of taxpayers’ contribution by means of Statutory Instrument, 2018, No, 36 [23 April, 2018] Tourism Incentives (Sandals Resorts International Group) Order.
The non-recognition implies that giving away the resources of the state is of no significance but rather the norm, to doing business in Saint Lucia.
A practice, for the most part, negotiated in secrecy outside of any meaningful negotiation on behalf of the state and the application of regulations, that more often than not becomes the vehicle of predator investors and nefarious intent.
Towards this end, ideology and identity are most obvious to the minister in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for tourism, information and broadcasting, Dominic Fedee’s values and attitudes.
“I am looking forward to this project because what I know of your corporate philosophy is that you have a very integrated approach to the development of business. A very rigorous training programme, you continue to be the university of the tourism sector.”
Fedee’s comments are indicative of emotional commitment and admiration, in likeness to other parliamentarians comparatively closed-mindedness. Even worse, current national policy or the lack thereof is not risk-averse, and therefore hazardous to sustainable economic development.
Parliamentarians’ oath of office should take precedence over the beneficiaries of narrow interests, and a bag of decades-old rhetorical tricks that tip the ultimate inspiration.
Saint Lucia is fast becoming unrecognizable, guided by parliamentarians, malcontents and indoctrination, besides improvident construction projects.
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