Prime Minister, Hon. Dr. Kenny D. Anthony has welcomed Productivity Awareness Week, noting that it “provides us all with the opportunity to dialogue on the issues that affect productivity and the measures that we can undertake to improve.”

In his remarks at the ceremony held to signal the commencement of activities to mark productivity awareness week the Prime Minister stressed that the discussion, though uncomfortable to some, is a necessity that ought not to be denied. He called on Saint Lucians to become more accountable and to adopt a more positive attitude towards work.

“As a nation, we must become more accountable. The norm these days is to pass the buck, blame others for our shortcomings and failings. Passing the buck has become habitual, almost an art in our society. In everything we look for scapegoats.

“We must develop a culture, a habit of willingness to implement tasks that are assigned to us. We need to be able to set targets and work towards achieving them and to constantly follow up to ensure that progress is being made.

“We need persons willing to become leaders and managers and willing to provide the direction necessary to ensure that we remain on target. Leaders must also be inspiring, be able to motivate to get the job done, be courageous, take the right decisions no matter how hard or unpopular they may be.”

The Prime Minister indicated that the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council (the NCPC) undertook an exercise to measure productivity levels in Saint Lucia for the period 2000 to 2013 at the macro level in the first instance.

In his remarks, Prime Minister Anthony revealed that a preliminary report shows a downward trend. This, he says, is cause for serious concern and action.

“Productivity fell by a staggering 6 percent in 2012 and 3 percent in 2013.  The report also suggests that our levels of productivity are below those of other small states that we are benchmarked against.

“Having said this, our levels are better than some of our counterparts. This should not give much comfort because the evidence suggests that we have stagnated a bit while they are on an upswing trend. If we do nothing, those other countries will soon surpass us.”

The Prime Minister applauded the NCPC for its undertakings thus far and called on all Saint Lucians to participate in the activities planned for Productivity Awareness Week.

Productivity Awareness Week was observed during the period Oct. 13 - 18, 2014.

To view the full text of Dr. Anthony’s speech, “Time To Act”, download the PDF below.