Thursday, November 12 2009

The Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting begins in Port-of-Spain on November 27 and continues for three days. Fifty-one heads or their representatives will assemble at the Hyatt for the talks. Two countries have been suspended—the Fiji Islands which was suspended from membership on September 21, 2009 and Nauru, which is in arrears. We continue today a daily feature on the Commonwealth and feature the Heads of these States who are expected in Port-of-Spain in November.

Stephenson King, 51, is St Lucia’s Prime Minister. He represents the constituency of Castries North for the United Workers Party (UWP) in the House of Assembly of St Lucia. He won the elections in 2006 polling 2934 and unseating the incumbent Minister of Agriculture, Ignatius Jean, who polled 2047 votes.

King entered active politics in 1987 after leading the youth arm of the UWP and then as President of the Caribbean Federation of Youth, a US funded organisation set up with assistance from Washington as a counterweight to lingering Marxist views even after the fall of the revolutionary government in Grenada. King served in government, under Prime Ministers John Compton and then Vaughan Lewis, between 1987 and 1997 first as Minister of Community Development and Sport and then as Minister of Health and Local Government.

When the UWP was in the throes of its leadership contest between its two former leaders, Vaughan Lewis and Sir John Compton, King, the party’s Chairman, was seen as Lewis’ last big supporter in the party. However he did not follow Lewis into the St Lucia Labour Party on Lewis’ loss of the party leadership and quipped on a political platform that, “ I don’t follow foolishness.”

When the UWP won a majority of seats in this election, and a new government under Compton was sworn in on December 19 2006, King became Minister for Health and Labour Relations. After Compton fell ill in May 2007, King became Acting Prime Minister. In a cabinet reshuffle in early June 2007, he became Minister of Finance (including International Financial Services), External Affairs, Home Affairs, National Security, Labour, Information and Broadcasting. It was an ironic twist that King would assume the mantle when the Deputy of the party was overlooked as just a few months before King had been seen as a Lewis loyalist in the party’s leadership race.

Compton died on September 7, and King announced his death on September 8.

King was subsequently sworn in as Prime Minister by Governor-General Pearlette Louisy on September 9. All ten of the UWP’s members of the House of Assembly agreed on King’s designation as Prime Minister. King reshuffled the cabinet on September 12; in addition to being Prime Minister, he is Minister of Finance, International Financial Services, External Affairs, Home Affairs and National Security.



Economy

The recent change in the European Union import preference regime and the increased competition from Latin American bananas have made economic diversification increasingly important in St Lucia. The island nation has been able to attract foreign business and investment, especially in its offshore banking and tourism industries, which is the island’s main source of revenue. The manufacturing sector is the most diverse in the Eastern Caribbean area, and the government is trying to revitalise the banana industry. Despite negative growth in 2001, economic fundamentals remain solid, and GDP growth should recover in the future.

The population of St Lucia is of mostly African descent (82.5 percent of the population). There is also a significant Mixed minority representing 11.9 percent, with Indo-Caribbean or Indian groups at 2.4 percent and the small European origin minority (descendants of French, British, and Irish colonists). Other or unspecified ethnicity accounts for 3.1 percent. There are small numbers of Greeks, Lebanese, Syrians, Chinese, North Americans, Portuguese, Germans and Italians.

The official language is English, but a creole language called Antillean Creole is spoken by 80 percent of the population and is getting increasing usage and official recognition. It evolved from French, African languages, and Carib..

St Lucia boasts the highest ratio in the world for number of Nobel laureates produced with respect to the total population of the nation. Two winners have come from St Lucia: Sir Arthur Lewis won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1979, and Derek Walcott received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992. Both were born on January 23, but in different years.

About 70 percent of the population is Roman Catholic. The rest are Seventh-day Adventists (seven percent), Pentecostalists (six percent), Anglicans (two percent), Evangelicals (two percent), Rastafari (two percent) and a small minority are Baptists.

Migration from Saint Lucia is primarily to Anglophone countries, with the United Kingdom having almost 10,000 St Lucian born citizens, and over 30,000 of St Lucian heritage. The second most popular destination for St Lucian expatriates is the United States, where combined (foreign and national born St Lucians) almost 14,000 reside. Canada is home to a few thousand St Lucians, while most other countries in the world have less than 50 citizens of St Lucian origin (the exceptions being Spain and France with 124 and 117 St Lucian expats respectively).



Health

Public expenditure on health was at 3.3 percent of the GDP in 2004, whereas private expenditure was at 1.8 percent. Health expenditure was at US$ 302 (PPP) per capita in 2004. Infant mortality was at 12 per 100,000 births in 2005. There are two public hospitals and one private hospital in St Lucia, none of which provide the same level of care found in an American hospital.



Culture

The culture of Saint Lucia has been influenced by African, French and English heritage. One of the secondary languages is Creole, a form of French patois.

St Lucian cultural festivals include La Rose and La Marguerite, the one representing the Rosicrucian order, the other one representing Freemasonry, which can be seen on a mural painted by Dunstan St Omer, depicting the holy trinity of Osiris, Horus and Isis.

Traditionally, in common with other Caribbean countries, St Lucia held a carnival before Lent. In 1999, it was moved to mid-July in order to not to coincide with the much larger Trinidad and Tobago carnival, so as to attract more overseas visitors.



Music and dance

A popular folk dance is the Quadrille.

As well as other Caribbean music genres such as soca, zouk, kompa, and reggae, St Lucia has a strong indigenous folk music tradition.

Each May since 1992, St Lucia has hosted an internationally-renowned Jazz Festival.



Tourism

Tourism is vital to St Lucia’s economy and the economic importance of such is expected to continue to increase as the market for bananas becomes more competitive. Tourism tends to be more substantial during the dry season (January to April). St Lucia tends to be popular due to its tropical weather and scenery and its large number of beaches and resorts.

Other tourist attractions include a drive-in volcano, Sulphur Springs (at Soufriere), the Botanical Gardens, the rain forests and Pigeon Island National Park, which is home to Fort Rodney, an old British military base.

The majority of tourists visit St Lucia as part of a cruise. Most of their time tends to be spent in Castries, although Soufriere, Marigot Bay and Gros Islet are popular locations to visit.