On 14th May 2024, the St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce joined a number of other Private Sector Organizations in a meeting with the Cabinet of Ministers. The Meeting arose out of a series of Meetings held by the Minister of Commerce with various Private Sector Organizations who shared some common concerns.
The Meeting Agenda examined the impact of crime on business operations, inability of the private sector to source skilled and reliable labour, high energy costs and the need for the wider business community to share the benefits of St. Lucia's Tourism Industry.
The Prime Minister took time in his opening remarks to tout the benefits of a Minimum Wage claiming "businesses may see an increased outlay in the first few months, but in the next few months will see increased expenditure in their business as people, now with higher incomes will spend more". (paraphrased).
The Prime Minister took time to remind the meeting of the extensive investment in vehicles and other material support to the police which his government has and continues to provide.
One Private Sector agency spoke to the need to focus more efforts at early childhood education as a key strategy in averting deviant behavior in later years. SLISBA also spoke to its plan to rally its member to support a camera instalment program on island.
On the matter of difficulty in the finding appropriate labor, Minister Helaire discussed the challenges in continuity of programs geared towards upskilling citizens. The Bakers Association were extremely vocal regarding their inability to find adequately trained bakers.
While some of the PSOs spoke to the issue of the need for policy to cause the hotel sector to buy a certain percentage of their consumption from local suppliers, the Minister for Tourism remined the meeting that the recently implemented Revised Tourism Incentives Act, seeks to tie incentives and concessions to volume of local purchases.
The Chamber on its part, referred to the findings of its soon to be released Business Performance Survey that outlined concerns regarding Crime and Human Resources concerns. More directly the Chamber spoke to the need to review the policy and structure of accessing incentives, that made it extremely difficult for Hotels and Developers to benefit from these concessions when they purchase directly from local suppliers. Additionally, the apparent confusion created with the issue of VAT Exempt Status to developers by the Ministry of Tourism that could only be executed when they import directly.
The Prime Minister in his defense of government policy to provide extensive and "over the top" incentives and concessions to hotels noted that St. Lucia was competing with other islands for tourism Invesment, and these islands were prepared to offer far greater and more extensive incentives and concessions. The PM reminded the Meeting that he was a "Politian" who had to take decisions to ensure that he will be reelected.
The Chamber appreciates the effort of the Ministry of Commerce to ensure concerns of the private sector are made known to Cabinet, yet the Chamber remains concerned that many of the issues of concern to the Chamber are longstanding and well known yet it is the inaction on part of the policy makers that has left them unattended.
After many years of advocacy on the subject of Improving Access to Credit, the St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture welcomes the move by the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council to facilitate further dialogue and consultation on the Draft Insolvency Bill. This consultation is to be followed by a broad based Islandwide public education and awareness campaign.
The Insolvency is one of many pieces of legislation that seeks to enhance the business environment by broadening and deepening the scope of financial instruments and legislation that will improve access to credit by improving the legislative infrastructure within which business operate. Other pieces of legislation include the Security Interest in Movable Property and the Credit Reporting Bill, to name two.
The purpose of the Bill is to provide for the appointment of a Supervisor of Bankruptcy and Insolvency and a Government Trustee; licensing of trustees; assignments; bankruptcy orders; administration of estates; international insolvencies; the regulation of corporate and individual insolvencies and the rehabilitation of an insolvent debtor.
This Bill encourages and allows for businesses to continue operation rather than go into liquidation and provided for how this can be done in a structured way respecting the rights of the debtor, creditors and all involved. This Bill will remove the stigma of insolvency by providing additional alternatives to businesses and individuals who run into financial difficulty.
Members are invited to review and share their comments and queries as this piece of legislation will indeed support and help the private sector.
In a strange and surreal manner, the Minimum Wage Order is destined to be inflicted upon the business community, big, large, micro, start-up with little time provided for any type of meaningful consultation, review impact assessment for better or worse.
Based on the limited feedback (informal) from Members, the majority of Chamber Members appear to be in a situation where they generally pay above the minimum wage and so they may not be too terribly affected.
Yet this episode of implementation of critical legislation is worrisome not so much in its impact, but in the process chosen to implement such an important piece of legislation that can have serious economic implications.
When the Chamber first heard that an Equal and Minimum Wage Commission was being appointed, we welcomed this step. When the composition was announced we noted that the Executive Director of the Employers Federation was appointed as a representative of Employers. The Chamber was comfortable with this approach.
Unfortunately, the representative of Employers, throughout his tour of duty, never consulted or met with the St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce or the SLHTA or any other Private Sector Body, as far as we are aware, to get a brief, an understanding or to share any type of information with the Employers he was representing, of course the representative may have met with his employer, i.e. the St. Lucia Employers Federation.
When the Minister of Labour and the Prime Minister started making public statements regarding the Minimum and Livable Wage, the Chamber contacted them both to urge that they be consulted and given information on this important matter. They both assured the Chamber that this would be done.
In a very strict and legalistic manner the Minister and the Prime Minister have kept their word and the Chamber and the wider business community has been given the required 18 days to comment and make know their objections.
It was thus expected that the business community would in eighteen days, received, read, interpret, assess, understand all aspects and nuances of its implications and measure the impact if any of the proposed Minimum Wage. Also, if there were objections or concerns these would be properly documented and submitted to the Minister within that same time frame.
The Chamber was invited to a presentation by the Equal and Minimum Wage Commission and directed that only ten of its Board Members could participate, (the Board size is 12 and membership is currently at 152). You can well imagine the challenge in deciding who should not be involved. This presentation was made on the May 22, 2024.
Fortunately, the Commission acquiesced and agreed to meet with the wider Chamber Membership. The Chamber collaborated with the SLHTA and invited the entire group of private sector organizations to invite the members to the presentation. This took place on May 29th, 2024. The deadline for receipt of comments and objections is the June 6, 2024.
The commencement date for the Minimum Wage is 1st August, 2024.
Discussions centered around Crime Statistics with the Chamber requesting that this information be shared so the nation can have a complete picture of the situation rather than just reports on murder that tend to be sensationalized.
The Chamber also discussed the National CCTV Program that has been discussed with the Chamber years ago and which the Chamber had indicated an interest in supporting.
The issue of guns being imported in commercial cargo was raised by the Chamber with the Police indicating that this was an issue that required cooperation among the Police, Importers and the Customs& Excise Department where a happy medium can be found between ease and speed of doing business and national safety and security which seeks to stem the flow of illegal substances and guns into the country.
Issues of traffic flow, the high incidence of illegal and indiscriminate parking was also discussed as this was having a deleterious effect on economic activity. The Chamber suggested that there was need for more traffic police to be assigned to Gros Islet to deal with the huge number of vehicles that traversed the Castries to Gros Islet Highway on a daily basis.
The Chamber also was pleased to be advised that after having to close the Police School during Covid-19, the school will soon be reopened with an uptake of 80 students.
The Chamber Board was happy to have such an informative discussion with the Police and though the Commissioner was otherwise occupied hope this was the start of regular dialogue between the two organizations. The Chamber offered to work with the Police in any way possible and agreed to provide access to its many People Development Programs to members of the Royal St. Lucia Police Force, whenever possible.
So far, the various programs hosted by the Chamber have been given high marks byparticipants. Below we capture a few Testimonials that we have received.
Dale Carnegie - Effective Communications and Human Relations
“In the past, I have been viewed as someone who is not easily approachable and lacking tactic in my verbal communication skills. Due to this fact, I made sure to be even more attentive when we covered the Human Relations and Communication aspects. I can confidently say to you that I have on a scale of one to ten improved to about eight point five.
I have also recognized through this programme that persons and situations are different and you must be skilful enough to tailor your responses and approach as necessary.”
-Curlis
HR Connect
"The Strategic Role of HR session I attended was the first in its kind for me. I thoroughly enjoyed and it was interactive. The topics covered were and relevant for the times. The facilitators ensured everyone was comfortable".
- Samantha
Finance for Non-Financial Managers
“I want to commend the Chamber for not only putting on this training but also on the caliber of the facilitators. We were given theoretical and practical exposure to the finance that non-finance managers like myself need to operate fully in our respective roles and businesses. Building capacity is always welcomed and can do so much to prepare managers to effectively discharge their responsibilities, especially for the Math challenged among us, like me!”
-Carmy
Become A Sales Champion
“The training was useful in my line of work as a Business Relationship Officer. I learnt a lot throughout the training session. I would recommend Res Consulting to anyone with a career in sales."
-Keba
On Thursday, May 16th, Heineken Saint Lucia, in collaboration with the St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce, hosted a Jazz Cooldown Mixer at the Heineken Social Room. The event brought together Chamber members from the southern region and other southern-based businesses for an evening of networking, celebration, and live entertainment.
The mixer began with a warm welcome from Louise Victor, Corporate Affairs Manager at Heineken Saint Lucia, setting the stage for a night of meaningful connections and engaging discussions. Heineken Saint Lucia, a longstanding member of the Chamber, has been operating on the island for 49 years, contributing significantly to the local economy and community.
Mr. Ross Gardner, President of the St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce, delivered insightful remarks, emphasizing the Chamber's commitment to strengthening relationships with the southern business community. He highlighted the Chamber’s ongoing efforts towards achieving shared and sustainable prosperity for all its members.
Mrs. Holly Bostock, Managing Director of Heineken Saint Lucia, shared her enthusiasm for the collaboration with the Chamber and the opportunity to contribute to the vibrancy and success of the local business community.
Mr. Esli Lafeuillee, Director of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, addressed the attendees following a site visit at a neighboring business along with the Minister of Commerce. He spoke about the untapped potential in St. Lucia and the importance of collective effort in moving forward. He noted that the private sector often operates in silos and encouraged attendees to use the opportunity to network and explore potential partnerships.
Throughout the evening, attendees engaged in productive networking, sharing ideas, and exploring partnership opportunities. The atmosphere was further enlivened with live steelpan entertainment provided by Andreas, an employee of Heineken Saint Lucia, adding to the festive spirit of the event. Fun prizes were also given away, enhancing the overall experience.
The Jazz Cooldown Mixer was well attended, and saw the presence of Mr. Wayne Cumberbatch, Mayor of Vieux Fort, representatives of a number of southern-based businesses, as well as several Directors of the Chamber. It provided a platform for networking and reinforced the collaborative spirit essential for driving the local economy forward.