In a country where a growth council has become the centrepiece of economic strategy, what could possibly explain the expansion of our public holidays, with two Christmases and two New Year’s Days?

Those who are tasked with responsibility for scheduling our public holidays explain it away by saying Christmas Day, December 25, fell on a Sunday in 2016, causing the celebration of the event to be put back to Monday, December 26; and that New Year’s Day 2017 fell on a Sunday and so had to be celebrated on Monday, January 2.

There is no logic to the explanation. In the current calendar, December 25 is observed as the birthday of Jesus Christ. Whenever any of our birthdays fall on a Sunday, it is celebrated on that day. Similarly, New Year’s Day is the first day of January, whatever day that is.

Moreover, it is not that we need more public holidays. No one disputes the fact that we are under-producing as a nation and that public holidays, whenever they fall during the work week, disrupt production. It is time to get serious about reviewing the structure of our public holidays, as suggested two years ago by Mr Lascelles Chin, the head of Lasco.

For those who remember, Mr Chin said: “The (manufacturing) sector loses precious production time and resources, shutting down, starting up and sanitising equipment twice in one week, instead of just once (to observe public holidays). Do you know what it takes to close down a manufacturing operation twice in a week?

“We do not just flick the ‘off’ switch at 4 o’clock one evening and turn the ‘on’ switch back on when the business reopens after the holiday. We start losing production before the regular close of shift time. It takes hours to gradually shut down machines and hours to start up again. That is lost production. The shutdown process also has to be managed and timed to protect the costly, sometimes fragile machinery.”

This happens, according to Mr Chin, when Labour Day in May and Heroes Day in October fall on weekdays. The manufacturing enterprise closes on Friday, opens Monday and by midweek must close and open again. It’s worse when there are two holidays in a week with a weekend in-between, as happens in August for Emancipation Day and Independence holidays, he argued.

We agree. This is an issue that the Michael Lee Chin-led Growth Council should look at seriously. Economic growth is not going to come only from concentrating on macroeconomic variables. It is critical to examine our cultural practices that impact productivity, as holiday observances do.

In 2017 we will have 10 national holidays as follows: New Year’s Day (Jan 1 and 2); Ash Wednesday (March 1); Good Friday (April 14); Easter Monday (April 17); Labour Day (May 23); Emancipation Day (August 1); Independence Day (August 7); National Heroes’ Day (October 16); Christmas Day (December 25) and Boxing Day (December 26).

There will also be four observances such as: Valentine’s Day (February 14); Mother’s Day (May 14) and Father’s Day (June 18). These three do not disrupt national production.

If the holidays are to continue, then Mr Lascelles Chin’s suggestion that Labour Day, Emancipation Day, Independence Day and National Heroes’ Day be observed on a Monday is certainly worthy of consideration.