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A strategy for reopening the economy

by Barbados Today
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Recently, the Prime Minister informed the public on the country’s economic reopening strategy and outlined the various phases of restarting social and economic activity. I strongly commend the Government for attempting a strategy that balances, on a tightrope, the public health risks associated with a rushed restarting process and the socio-economic risks of an unnecessarily prolonged national shutdown. With this strategy in mind, I have made a few contributions below.

(a)   Continually ramping up testing for capturing asymptomatic cases in the population should still remain at a highest priority, especially as testing resources increase and become more available in the country.  Having a better understanding of the state of the national infection rate before moving on to subsequent phases of economic recovery is key.

We also need to be certain that the country has an adequate supply of healthcare and medical resources (e.g. personal protective equipment and supplies for frontline health care workers and others, adequate ventilators and beds, and other medical supplies), in case of a resurgence of infections or confirmed cases. Dissemination of results on a regular basis (especially on the number of persons tested versus the number of tests performed) emanating from the testing activity on the nature and state of the outbreak and the conditions of those who tested positive should continue.

(b)  All organisations and entities that are preparing to restart their operations should have, on hand, the necessary guidelines and other protocols with which they need to comply and that some form of a national ‘policing’ programme for examining and responding to various levels of compliance is in place. Some countries that have begun their economic restarting process have ensured that all available operating guidelines and safety protocols have been made available to all organisations – in many cases, there were sector-specific guidelines for the restarting process for entities in different sectors/industries.

For example, Belgium has developed and disseminated guidelines and protocols for the operation of construction and manufacturing entities that are unique in their ways of working from other sectors. France has also communicated safety protocols, guiding the work and operations of entities in the retail and wholesale sector and those that provide personal care and other ‘customer-contact’ services in the country.

In light of the businesses and entities that will be restarting in the different phases of the reopening process in Barbados, I am recommending that certain sector-specific guidelines and protocols should be fashioned to aid entities operating in certain unique and critical sectors. I am not suggesting that every sector has separate guidelines and protocols but that an examination should be done to determine those sectors and/or clusters of employers and operators that might require more specific guidance in their own reopening activities amid COVID-19.

(c)   It is important that the spirit of the existing social partnership structure is continually leveraged in supporting the phased reopening effort – while the Government will do most of the heavy lifting in the beginning, it is essential that the private sector employers (and labour unions) seek to pull their weight in ensuring that their businesses and workers have the needed resources and support systems in rebuilding their operations and the wider economic sectors.

Regular and productive consultations and cooperation among the social partners are necessary ingredients to succeed in this entire process. The Social Partnership has worked well for us in the past and there is no reason that it should not work well for us now, especially during this time of national uncertainty and anxiety.

(d)  There is a call for a continued programme of communication with the public on the need for strict adherence to health and safety guidelines as they go about their business across the country – since reopening and the easing of social and economic restrictions should not suggest ‘business as usual’. Hence, law enforcement officers and operators of commercial and non-commercial entities should play their role in fostering and ensuring compliance from the public and their visiting customers.

(e)   The economic restarting plan should be sufficiently flexible and adaptive to allow the Government to ‘revert’ to earlier phases or states of emergency protocols (e.g. extended curfews) if there is clear evidence of widespread flouting of the guidelines and protocols and/or increasing rates of infection within the country. Hence, contingency plans (with supporting guidance on the necessary actions) should already be in place for such.

(f)   Supporting the most vulnerable and high-risk groups in the population is a necessity. I am content that the Government has incorporated the needs and interests of these groups in their socio-economic planning efforts, suggesting that these individuals will continue to receive the needed care and resources and be protected (financially and otherwise), even during the graduating phases of economic reopening in the country.

It is essential that those agencies responsible for taking care of those socially and economically disadvantaged and vulnerable groups have adequate built-in monitoring systems with accessible lines for communication and social contact (and physical contact only when necessary). It is crucial that the diverse needs of the most vulnerable are properly catered to and satisfied and that their unnecessary exposure to the wider community and outside public spaces is limited, as those who are the healthiest and safest in the country return to work to reactivate the economy.

It is also important that there is some support and assistance given to the latter category in balancing their child care responsibilities that might be affected (since schools are closed during the initial period).

(g)   Efforts to support those workers who were displaced and whose income sources were adversely affected from the sectors most impacted by the pandemic are critical to allowing them to effectively rebound upon a soft restart and fully recover in the medium- to long-term. These efforts would also go a long way in supporting and reviving ‘lost and damaged’ sectors of the economy.

For example, using this time to re-skill and upskill displaced employees and other types of workers to sufficiently prepare them to take on and function within ‘altered’ jobs and roles within the sector is crucial for economic recovery.

Moreover, there should be an emphasis on the diversification of the national economy (against its heavy reliance on tourism services) and that other types of adversely affected human resources from other key economic sectors (e.g. manufacturing, agriculture, and creative industries as well as the micro, small and medium-sized and entrepreneurial sectors) have the necessary skills, knowledge, abilities and attitudes to effectively function in a newly diversified economic structure which is likely to emerge in the medium to long term.

However, I am still convinced that tourism and hospitality, albeit highly tenuous and vulnerable in nature, is a very resilient sector that is likely to rebound in the not too distant future (especially when the ‘smoke’ of this pandemic clears). Hence, we should not discard this asset just yet.

Dr Dwayne Devonish is a Senior Lecturer in Management at the UWI, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados

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