and bless productive 2018. I believe this is the first time we have gathered since the opening of the New Year. Further, let me take this opportunity to wish everyone and St. Lucia a happy 39th Independence anniversary and celebration. I am in receipt of communication from the Honourable Member for Suisselle, Saltibus, informing of his unavailability. He's unable to be here with us today as he is out of state on government business. Statements by Ministers, Honourable Prime Minister, Leader of Government Business. Madam Speaker, I just want to stand and continue your acknowledgement with regards to the 30th 39th Independence of St. Lucia. And I want to acknowledge this great milestone that St. Lucia has achieved and for us to recognize the progress that we have made as a country. And more importantly, I'm appealing to all St. Lucia's to actively participate in a list of independence activities that we have outlined for this year. And in particular to the young people of St. Lucia to solicit their involvement in civil society. A great nation can only be successful when its citizenry participates in the process and engages itself in the development of our country. And I feel that the 39th year is a great opportunity for us to celebrate and recognize the incredible achievements that we have made as a country. And sometimes we get the impression that people have become cynical about politics, become cynical about its own country. And to say that this is our country. This is our St. Lucia. And it requires of us all to participate. And that to recognize that the change that is necessary can only come about by engagement. And I often say to many St. Lucia's who say that they're so disgusted with the process that we have that they prefer to absent themselves from elections as an example madam speaker. And I say to them that when you don't vote, you still have voted. Because whoever the majority has voted for ends up becoming your selection. And while it is difficult sometimes to reconcile yourself to two choices in terms of political parties. One has to be able to make a choice in terms of what is the best way forward. And so I'm hoping that many solutions will take this opportunity of our independence to continue to reflect on the progress that we've made madam speaker. But more importantly to reflect on how they can participate and continue to make St. Lucia the best place to live, the best place to work, the best place for people to come in vacation. And so I want to thank all the solutions for their support, their participation and encourage many more people to do so. Thank you madam speaker. Honorable minister in the office of the prime minister with responsibility for tourism, information and broadcasting. Thank you very much madam speaker. Madam speaker I just rise to report to this parliament and to inform the parliament really about the record breaking year that we had in 2017 as it pertains to tourism arrivals to our shores. Madam speaker to many you would have seen the cruise ships not only increasing in size but increasing by the number of calls and visits that they made to our destination. Stay over arrivals madam speaker or the arrivals coming to stay in hotels created history by generating for the first time in our history a 386,127,000 visitors or an 11% improvement madam speaker over 2016 while the crew sector yielded 668,303 visitors or a 14% increase over the same period in 2016. Yacht arrivals madam speaker also had encouraging numbers at 48,739 visitors. Madam speaker this gives us a total of 1,103,169 visitors combining the various sectors in the tourism industry. Madam speaker all of our major markets performed phenomenally including the United States leading the way with very strong growth returning to Canada and the United Kingdom. I rise most importantly madam speaker to say that this government will be doing everything in its power to ensure that we encourage St. Lucian's to maximize the economic opportunity that tourism presents. In many ways madam speaker this will be the year of linkage for our government as our policy shifts towards increasing more sites and attractions encouraging St. Lucian's madam speaker to continue growing the number of non-traditional accommodations in terms of villas and apartments that are an Airbnb Expedia and booking.com and other online platforms madam speaker. We are madam speaker undertaking the process as well to reconfigure the institutional arrangements that govern the tourism sector. Madam speaker to this end we have made a tremendous headway in trying to establish the National Tourism Council which will encourage madam speaker greater cohesion in the management of the tourism industry as we seek to encourage greater levels of participation and greater levels of cooperation between departments in the civil service and the private sector. Madam speaker we are also of the view that the time has come for us to better utilize the potential of our villages and towns and so madam speaker you would have heard us speak saying and making pronouncements about the establishment of village tourism and I want to assure this parliament that we have made significant headway in advancing the establishment of the new entity village tourism incorporated which we hope will be established by the third quarter of this year. Madam speaker everything that we do and everything that we are attempting is with one aim and that is to ensure that the people of St. Lucia benefit in a greater way than they have in previous years from the tourism sector. I thank you. Honourable Minister for Economic Development Housing Urban Renewal Transport and Civil Aviation. Thank you madam speaker. Madam speaker I'd like to make a statement on the River Dury Development Project. This project this project started the River Dury Development Project started in 2010 under the former UWP administration and under the then Minister of Housing Richard Fedri. An agreement was signed on the 22nd of June. Excuse me please Honourable Minister I'm sure you recognize that there is a feedback so can we try to see what is happening it's coming through. I recommend so. The River Dury Development Project started in 2010 under the former UWP administration and then Housing Minister Richard Fedri. An agreement was signed on the 22nd of June 2010 between the NHC and master builders as the contractor. It was to develop 58.21779 acres of land at a contract price capped at about 60 million dollars. On June 6th 2012 an agreement was signed to nullify the agreement between NHC and master builders with the intention of entering into a new agreement with NHC for the completion of the woods. It is evident that the new government in 2012 entered into an agreement with a UK based company. This is an unusual agreement Madam Speaker because Bo became a 51% shareholder of the 58 acres of land of the River Dury Development Project. They became a 51% shareholder but did not attain or apply for an alien land holding license which is a requirement for anybody owning or any foreign company owning the majority shares in a land development project. No deposit was made by Bo yet they owned 51% of the River Dury Development Project which if calculated into acres would account for about 30 acres of the development. The government of the SLP transferred the land to Bo and turned around and engaged lawyers to try and get the land transferred back to the government. So Madam Speaker that is why I said it was an unusual arrangement because here was the land owned by the government transferred to an entity and then lawyers engaged to get the land back to the government. Several different lawyers appears to have been engaged and thousands of dollars was paid but was not successful in getting the land transferred back to the government of Saint Lucia or to the NHC. Madam Speaker the NHC is being sued for unpaid infrastructure costing five million four hundred and sixty six thousand four hundred and twenty three dollars and fifty four cents relating to the River Dury River Dury project. The 58 acres of the housing development project in 2012 the joint venture company NHC Bo Saint Lucia Limited and master builders was informally permitted to continue with infrastructure roots originally contracted or commissioned by the NHC. The letter transformed into the NHC being indemnified from claims by master builders group limited. However a contract was never secured from the joint venture for continuing with the scope of infrastructure was estimated to cost about sixteen million dollars. After unsuccessful attempt to seek payment arrangements from both NHC and its joint venture legal proceedings was launched against the NHC. Madam Speaker it gets more interesting from there. The court has granted an inhibition order in favor of master builders prohibiting any activity or transfer of interest on the property without due regard for the interest of claim by master builders limited being first considered. In seeking an expedient solution an unsuccessful attempt was made to have the court set aside the matter. So in all of the thousands of dollars we were paying to the lawyers and Madam Speaker I'm referring from mentioning who the lawyers were in this chamber but the documents can be presented to show who the lawyers are. A mediation agreement was obtained at the hearing of May 9, 2016. A recommendation was made to be compensated to the extent of four million plus six point five acres of land yet to be ratified by the incoming board. The matter was due for hearing in September 2016 by which time the current NHC administration had to respond. Now in this case I have to mention names Madam Speaker because that is the report submitted to me on the matter. The managing director and that's in the minutes of the NHC board meeting. The managing director and the attorney René Sainte-Rose had since appraised the minister of this priority matter with subsequent meetings to be held and I happen to have been the minister who was appraised at the time. In 2012 to put it in order Madam Speaker in 2012 the NHC completed the formation of the joint venture which was initially being pursued by the former NHC administration leading up to the elections of November 2011. With the formation of the company the NHC was afforded 49% share of the ownership while both panel systems was awarded 51% as per agreement. Upon committing the land there was to be a compensatory arrangement where in the developer both panel systems would place in escrow the raw market value of the land in the joint venture being in receipt of the property. The land measuring 58 acres was to exclude the six acres of land already occupied by the farmers. So Madam Speaker the arrangement was the land had to be valued and before the transfer was made the value of the land had to be deposited in an escrow account. We have not found this escrow account we don't know whether it exists but we cannot find any money deposited anywhere yet the land was transferred. It also included plus extraction of reserve portions of land upon which the estate house existed to be vested into the St. Lucia National Trust. Needless to say the entire property with no escrow account as per agreement being satisfied. Disagreements between directors and failure by both panel to capitalize the project prompted the need for legal action. Peter I. Foster and associate has been proceeding to dissolve the company and to seek from the cause the property being returned to the state. Attorney Gerald R. Williams is representing the NHC interest in the joint venture. Success in the NHC recovering the assets hinge on the outcome of the current NHC versus master builders court case in which the inhibition by the court over the entire 48 acres has been registered. So the entire 58 acres is tied up in that arrangement. Madame Speaker what is interesting is the pricing. It appears that nothing changed in the scope of what's of the project after the joint venture. But the price increased by four million. So the original contract that was signed between NHC and master builders. Nothing changed in the scope of what's when the panel became part of the arrangement. But it turned out that the revised contract price had increased by four million dollars. In the first contract arrangement it was costing six dollars and ninety six cents per square foot of land developed land to be developed. Compare this Madame Speaker to six years later when the forestry housing development was developed was undertaken and the price per square foot was just over five dollars for development cost. But the revised project cost on the NHC both had gone up to eight dollars and seventy five cents per square foot of land to be developed with no change of scope of words. Today Madame Speaker the government has been ordered by the court to pay almost seven million dollars towards this arrangement and here's the letter that I receive Madame Speaker from the lawyer representing master builders. It says dear Minister Joseph we continue to act herring on behalf of the claimant master builder company limited. We write to you in your capacity as minister with responsibility for the National Housing Corporation. We hereby request settlement of all monies indisputably owing to the client in respect of infrastructural work carried out at the River Dore project in the joint venture in the quarter of library. For and on behalf of NHC and the benefits of the joint venture company and in the NHC both central limited within 14 days there are these monies have been outstanding since 2012. Our clients claim is for the sum of six million one hundred and forty nine thousand seven hundred and seventy nine dollars and forty eight cents. Persewant to extend judgment of the high court dated 25th March 2016 and filed on the 26th of March 2015 and broken down as follows. Principal judgment sum four million eight hundred and ninety eight thousand three hundred and fifty five dollars and ninety cents. Cost of judgment three thousand and ten dollars and fifty cents. Interest on judgment at a rate of six percent per annum from the second of May 2012 to the 31st of August 2016 one thousand five hundred and forty eight days at an interest payment of eight hundred and five dollars per day. Eight hundred and five dollars and twenty one cents per day. A total of one million two hundred and forty eight thousand four hundred and twelve dollars and ninety eight cents. Madam Speaker this is as a result of the government refusing to acknowledge that work had been done and the work had to be paid for. That was the government that came into office after the election of two thousand and eleven. What has resulted Madam Speaker is a court judgment where with all apart from the six million plus that we are required to pay Madam Speaker several thousands of dollars had been paid to many different lawyers to undo what the government had done. Today Madam Speaker we are in the process with the Ministry of Finance to be able to secure the money to pay. We have made a payment and I can declare to this honorable House and the people of St. Lucia that the run has been returned to the full ownership of the people of St. Lucia. I thank you. Do you have sufficient copies of the slides? Can you make copies? One of the members at this juncture I wish to inform the parliament that you will note for the first time that there are no recording secretaries on the floor of the chamber. This is because the recording system has been elevated to one that the transmission is being sent directly to the secretary's computers downstairs. So this is a milestone for us and hopefully the idea is honorable members can be in receipt of hands-sides we are hoping. Not instantaneously but it should speed up the process tremendously. Papers to be laid. Honorable Prime Minister, Minister for Finance, Leader of Government Business. Madam Speaker I beg to lead the following papers standing in my name. Statutory Instrument number 122 of 2017, fiscal incentives END network trading limited order. Statutory instrument number 125 of 2017, excise tax amendment of schedule one number nine order. Statutory instrument number 127 of 2017 value added tax deferred payment of value added tax for importation of capital goals and raw materials regulations. Statutory instrument number 128 of 2017 fiscal incentives bond baguette bakery limited order. Statutory instrument number 129 of 2017 fiscal incentives techniques construction incorporated order. Statutory instrument number 130 of 2017 fiscal incentives hotel chocolat estates limited order. Statutory instrument number 131 of 2017, non-governmental organizations act commencement order. Statutory instrument number 133 of 2017 excise tax amendment of schedule one number 10 order. Statutory instrument number 136 of 2017 fiscal incentives doctor freezers ice cream parlor and fast foods limited order. Statutory instrument number 137 of 2017 airport service charge amendment regulations. Statutory instrument number two of 2018 excise tax amendment of schedule one number one order. Statutory instrument number three of 2018 health practitioners amendment schedule order. Statutory instrument number four of 2018. Millennium Heights medical complex act commencement order. Statutory instrument number five of 2018 legal profession eligibility. Kara Kariza Schillingford order. Statutory instrument number seven of 2018 excise tax amendment of schedule one number two order. Office of the director of audit performance of audit report on the Bwadawang Bridge December 2016 and financial services regulatory authority annual report 2017. Honorable Minister of Agriculture Fisheries fiscal planning natural resources and corporate. Madam Speaker I beg to present the following people standing in my need. Banana industry trust corporation financial statement for the year ending March 31st 2015. Banana industry trust corporation financial statement for the ending of the year 31st March 2016. Banana industry trust corporation company number two of one one slash C three six seven financial statement for the year ending March 31st 2017. Honorable Minister for Economic Development Housing Urban Renewal Transport and Civil Aviation. Madam Speaker I beg to lay the following people standing in my name. Statutory instrument number one twenty six of 2017. Motor vehicle and road traffic public omnibus fares amendment regulation. Statutory instrument number eight of 2018. Motor vehicle and road traffic designation of a inspector's order. Honorable Prime Minister for business. Madam Speaker I beg to lay the following papers in the name of the Minister of Commerce Industry Enterprise Development and Consumer Affairs. Statutory instrument number one twenty three of two thousand and seventeen. Invested Lucia Opeca viewport vesting order. Statutory instrument number one twenty four of two thousand and seventeen price control amendment number eighteen order. Statutory instrument number one thirty two of two thousand and seventeen price control amendment number nineteen order. Statutory instrument number one of two thousand and eighteen price control amendment number one order. Statutory instrument number six of two thousand and eighteen price control amendment number two order. Statutory instrument number nine of two thousand and eighteen invests in Lucia shock castries vesting order. Statutory instrument number ten of two thousand and eighteen invests in Lucia Lafayette Wazel vesting order. Invest St. Lucia annual report 2016 and the St. Lucia export TIPA trade export promotion agency annual report April 2016 to March 2017. Honourable Minister and the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for tourism information and broadcasting. Madam Speaker I wish to lay the following papers in my name statutory instrument number one three four of 2017 tourism incentive Genesis Casino St Lucia limited order statutory instrument number one three five of 2017 tourism stimulus and investment annula visit Villa's limited order motions Honourable Prime Minister Minister for finance leader of government business. Madam Speaker I beg to lay the following motion standing in my name be resolved that the Parliament authorizes the Minister of Finance to borrow my means of advances sums not exceeding 55 million dollars from commercial banks for a period of six months from the date hereof which sums shall be charged and paid out of the consolidated fund. Madam Speaker this motion is seeks a resolution my apologies Madam Speaker. Whereas it is provided by section 38 one of the Finance Administration Act cap 1501 that the Minister for Finance may by resolution of Parliament borrow money from a bank or other financial institution by means of advances to an amount not exceeding in aggregate the sum specified in the resolution to meet current requirements and such resolution shall not have effect for any period exceeding six months and whereas it is further provided by section 38 two of the Finance Administration Act cap 1501 that the power up conferred on the Minister of Finance to borrow money by means of a dances from a bank may be exercised by means of a fluctuating overdraft and whereas it is further provided by section 42 one of the Finance Administration Act cap 1501 that all debt charges for which the government is liable shall be charged and paid out of the consolidated fund and whereas the Minister of Finance deems it necessary to borrow my means of advances and from commercial banks sums not exceeding 55 million dollars as follows the Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago 2.2 million dollars Royal Bank of Canada 2.8 million dollars First Caribbean International Bank 4 million dollars Bank of Nova Scotia 6 million dollars First National Bank of Saint Lucia limited 2.5 million dollars and Bank of Saint Lucia 37.5 million dollars be resolved that the Parliament authorizes the Minister for Finance to borrow by means of advances sums not exceeding 55 million dollars from commercial banks for a period of six months and from the date thereof in which some shall be charged and paid out of the consolidated fund Honourable members the question is the Parliament authorizes the Minister for Finance to borrow by means of advances sums not exceeding 55 million dollars from commercial banks for a period of six months from the date hereof which some shall be charged on and paid out of the consolidated fund thank you Madam Speaker the resolution seeks primarily parliamentary approval for the government to Saint Lucia to borrow by means of advances to facilitate the renewal of the overdraft facilities and Speaker the subsequent parliamentary approval the affirmative resolution lapsed on January 3rd 2018 and in order that the government can legally access short-term borrowing to meet current requirements it has become necessary to obtain parliamentary approval through a new resolution given the current requirements of the short-term forecast of government's operating expenditure including monthly salaries and the anticipated usage of the overdraft facility the Ministry of Finance is of the view that 55 million dollars limit is more than adequate accordingly the Ministry proposes the following overdraft limits at the various banks of commercial banks indicated the Royal Bank of Trinidad the Royal Bank of Canada First Caribbean International Bank the Bank of Scotia First National Bank of Saint Lucia and the Bank of Saint Lucia and there would be 55 million dollars in total the overdraft facilities expected to generate an average interest cost for the financial year of approximately five hundred thousand dollars which represents a cost of less than 1% of the facility the overdraft borrowing by the government attracts an interest ranging from 10% to 11 and a half percent per annum at various commercial banks however the advent of the regional government securities market government has been able to borrow short-term funds by issuing Treasury bills government St. Lucia Treasury bills has been able to attract interest rates as low as 2.99% on the RGSM platform the raising of funds on the RGSM is not a complete substitute for the use of the overdraft facility however funds obtained from the RGSM plus the overdraft facility should be used in tandem resulting in an effective management of cash flows and a reduction in the short-term cost of interest. I seek Parliament's approval ma'am. Honourable members the question is that Parliament authorizes the Minister for Finance to borrow by means of advances some's not exceeding 55 million dollars from commercial banks for a period of six months from the date hereof which some shall be charged on and paid out of the consolidated funds. Honourable member for Labyrinth. Thank you very much Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker I rise to respond to the motion tabled tabled by the Prime Minister to borrow 55 million dollars by means of advances. Madam Speaker what may seem as a very simple exercise on the surface we come here from time to time to perform this exercise the opposition has expressed some serious concerns over time as to how we are managing the resources of this country and dealing with the business of the people. Madam Speaker as I sat there listening to the Prime Minister I took my journey through the corridors of time to my preschool days and think of the 43% of men the comment made about the 43% of men and my preschool curiosity has caused me to ask whether we are having a serious cash flow problem whether the time is not fast approaching when probably civil servants go to the bank and they cannot get paid. Our firemen our nurses and as usual they laugh because we on this side have fled very seriously Madam Speaker to subject the taxation of this government its economic policy to systematic scrutiny and now to new levels of critical examination and I will resume normal navigation in this regard Madam Speaker my preschool curiosity has prompted me to ask if we are not wasted monies on things like audio labs and all the wastage in this country whether there would be a need for us to come to the house to borrow in that particular fashion Madam Speaker my preschool curiosity has moved me to ask whether if the CIP program was managing the way that it was intended whether there would have been need for us to come and speak about borrowing in this way now we are on the eve of a new budget cycle and what was the pressing need to come here today the Prime Minister make it look like it's a simple thing my preschool curiosity has instructed me Madam Speaker to ask the question that if we have demonstrated great respect for the sacrifices that taxpayers in foreign countries that our traditional friends and non-traditional friends are making whether there will be a need for us to borrow to that extent as a small open and vulnerable economy with high debt to GDP ratios even though the rebase method has actually gave a little Soulajma Madam Speaker if we didn't jackhammer millions of dollars if millions of dollars that was spent in the Abattoir were not disregarded the millions that was spent in at the St. Joe's Hospital by a foreign government who that have been a deterrent to some of them to graciously bless us with some more monies for our own development. RBTT is one of the banks Madam Speaker I see a pair in there and most of them at the domestic level. I remember times that the former Prime Minister and member for you for itself you so come here and talk about borrowing from RBTT and members opposite would have said he has some special relationship with Trinidad is the prime is the current Prime Minister in the same mode having that very special relationship with Trinidad Madam Speaker Madam Speaker where is the government that had committed to a private sector led strategy of development where is that government where is that party Madam Speaker it is well documented and I learned that at preschool and I want to refer to a World Bank publication a time to choose Caribbean development in the 21st century and it stated that to make a private sector led development strategy work government must deliver services effectively compared to the taxes and fees it charges and maintain a debt level that does not crowd out private investment and is consistent with macroeconomic stability. Let us dissect the anatomy of the statement into its constituent parts. One to make a private sector led development strategy work government must deliver services effectively that is the role of government Madam Speaker and this government is not delivering effectively on services they have they have failed to operationalize the the new Owen King EU hospital St. Jude's have been stopped abruptly they stopped an administrative building in viewport that would have improved service delivery in this country this is not this is not the role of the private sector it is the role of government. So Madam Speaker to make a private sector led development strategy work government must maintain a debt level that does not crowd out private investment and is consistent with macroeconomic stability. We are borrowing from Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago Royal Bank of Canada first Caribbean International Bank Bank of Nova Scotia first National Bank of St. Lucia Limited Bank of St. Lucia. The question is in this environment that we in whether that would not crowd out private sector investment and of course my preschool knowledge and curiosity has actually moved me to ask those questions Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker under this government there seem to be no significant levels of confidence in the economy. The private sector appears to be very cautious in its spending. Also there has not been any significant government investment in this country all the both all the bluff and fluff in the last budget to do X that that DSA should have generated so many jobs and there will be so many jobs in in in the country that has not come to pass. If you have failing private demand rising saving ratio and falling government spending there will be an even more substantial fall in aggregate demand making the economic recovery and very difficult whereas our local private sector has no confidence in this government. For example if we continue our recklessness for example continue to allow ourselves to be blacklisted we will be forced and disrespecting our international financial institutions like this government has been doing the last time we were in the house they attacked the World Bank but if we continue to do that we'll be forced into a situation where only at the domestic level we will get some space and there are outer limits beyond which they will not go. So Madam Speaker given this context and given that most of our debt is domestic borrowing from domestic banks would have a crowding out effect and Madam Speaker again the opposition will insist that we need to be very cautious about everything that we do borrowing in the context of economic sanity must be fundamental today. In the previous administration we tried our best to reduce the deficit and to ensure that we pursue a course that will strengthen our domestic economy so that will deliver better services to the people of this country and borrowing is one of the things that are very important in the context of everything and so Madam Speaker I conclude by indicating that on the eve of a budget presentation we are coming here to borrow my preschool curiosity has caused me to ask the Prime Minister the aforementioned question and so I'm hoping that he will respond and illuminate the issues further that will lead to deeper understanding because he was quite parsimonious in what he said about what he was going to utilize the facility to do and so it leaves the door wide open to speculation but I will not enter the realm of speculation I will leave it to the Prime Minister to of course enlighten this honorable house I thank you madam speaker honorable member for castries south thank you very much madam speaker madam speaker you want to start by joining the honorable member for me to south Prime Minister in wishes and lotions be happy independence anniversary the 49th anniversary of our independence and I'm certainly looking forward madam speaker to a number of activities in castries south that will be commemorating our independence anniversary or the vote madam speaker that the Prime Minister probably would have said some more about what's been organized around the island and what is available for various constituencies to be able to organize activities to commemorate independence because I have a number of groups in my constituency that are interested in organizing activities and face significant difficulty in getting assistance to do so only yesterday I called the castries constituencies concert to look for some banting and I was told that it is the Ministry of Social Transformation that deals with that I call the Ministry and was told that there is no banting available and a simple thing as banting to put up in communities madam speaker could be quite a difference for the look and feel of independence and one would have hoped such simple things would have been available but madam speaker we will do the best we can in our various communities the second point madam speaker I want to just raise madam speaker has to do with the presentation of statements madam speaker and to ask you whether or not and I would wish that you would guide me the full statement of what was said in the house is actually captured somewhere so for example it may very well be for the answers that I have refused with you they've not really had statements because the honorable member for castries south is actually said a lot more than what is contained in the statement now it could be you add leave as you present and the totality of what is said needs to be captured because if we just take the simple statement that is circulated I'm saying there is the impromptu at lead that takes place and I would trust that for full disclosure the entire statement is in fact captured somewhere madam speaker and hopefully it will be in handset and you may wish madam speaker to just you know provide information because I am not sure now madam speaker I can I can answer immediately and tell you and inform you that the handset recording would be verbatim so it would have you can get a copy through the handset reports of the entirety of the honorable minister's statement okay please proceed thank you very much madam speaker madam speaker I had not intended to say anything this morning but what is the honorable member for library was speaking I noted a lot of laughter and dismissal on the other side madam speaker almost as if they commenced been made by the member from library were frivolous and has been described as preschool I'm gonna take a let's not take this preschool comment lightly when a prime minister of a country says that 43% of the male in the labor force have only had a preschool education it is a serious indictment of our men in this country and of our labor force and whereas the member from library said that he is part of that 43% of the labor force madam speaker it is a serious statement that we should not just laugh at those things this is the business of the country this is a leadership of the country when you say things they have meaning and they convey messages about your country and about your people but madam speaker there was a lot of laughter and I thought madam speaker I should say my little piece about the motion madam speaker because madam speaker it is made to look as if this is usual this is what is expected and this is nothing to talk about madam speaker is that really the case it is provided madam speaker it is provided that government will operate overdraft facilities for managing short-term debt it is provided you don't have to use it you don't have to use it but you can use it if there is a need to use it you follow me madam speaker every six months you are required to seek parliamentary approval to be able to operate the overdraft facility you operate an overdraft facility if you don't have the revenue available madam speaker anybody business or household will tell you you don't go and operate overdraft facility where you incur interest if there is no need to do so if you have the cash in your pocket if you have the cash otherwise madam speaker you don't have to go and use the overdraft facility you drew the overdraft facility because there is a necessity to use it and the Prime Minister made mention of the regional mechanism that we have in place where short-term financing can be obtained so in addition to if you have the revenue you have that option and when all else fail madam speaker which happens very often we're not denying that madam speaker then you use the overdraft facility but madam speaker for me I need to ask whether or not the 55 million dollars has already been spent or committed and therefore this is just the mechanism to be able to meet those payments whether or not it has not been spent and it will be spent over the next six weeks because the financial year ends the end of March think about it in six weeks the financial year will end why is your necessity madam speaker to borrow 55 million dollars madam speaker for expenditure over the next six weeks 55 million dollars why is there such a necessity so if it has not already been spent it is for forecasted expenditure and the Prime Minister mentioned or he probably gave a hint of it he said we have salaries to pay we have water bills to pay I assume is that both with you and admin of Philippa because by the way my hood school sports is now being cancelled because schools will not use the facilities but there is no water madam speaker a very sad set of affairs when you have sports ministers madam speaker but my speaker on a more relevant note madam speaker what this sells us madam speaker is about the borrowing and lending policy of this government and I say lending madam speaker because I want to explain it this is a government that came into power saying that there will be no borrowing that there will be no borrowing madam speaker it said so they promised the people of St. Lucia and said over and over during the campaign that the Labour Party and the Kennedy Anthony was borrowing too much money and therefore we will cease borrowing now the Prime Minister has backtrack and he said I did not say no borrowing I said no borrowing unless there is a revenue stream that's what he has come back and he tried to mitigate the statement but he did say no borrowing that he would stop borrowing but we have not seen any stopping borrowing in fact madam speaker in the estimates for this current financial year we have one of the highest levels of borrowing in the history of this country from a government that said it was not going to have any more borrowing madam speaker so the motion today madam speaker puts a scrutiny what is the policy of the government madam speaker as it relates to borrowing and to lending I keep repeating lending madam speaker there's two sides of one coin in the case of this government only in October madam speaker we came to this house and 50 million dollars was borrowed from local bands 50 million from local banks we came to this house now one overdraft madam speaker 55 million from local banks why is a madam speaker such a necessity to borrow from local banks is it because the government cannot raise the money through bonds or even Treasury bills is that the case madam speaker somebody needs to tell us but also ask the question why is there so much liquidity in the banking system and why are local investors not using those monies for the development and other investment projects why is it that more places are not taking loans to build houses why is there so much liquidity in the local banking system that the government can be reading the local banks madam speaker why is there a crisis of confidence madam speaker but this government told us like the leader like the member for library said that this was going to be a private sector led growth strategy investors will be bringing millions to send moisture madam speaker and there'll be no borrowing in this country madam speaker so madam speaker I asked the question where is all that investment that we were told it would be coming madam speaker the Prime Minister member for Miku South said on a talk show program recently he had gotten a loan of a hundred and fifty million US from Taiwan for roads in solution so people can continue to see all the roads that have been built in St. Lucia a loan of a hundred and fifty million US dollars is about four hundred million dollars easy madam speaker if this country has taken a loan of four hundred million four hundred million dollars madam speaker why has it not come to this house why has it not come to this house madam speaker what will be the impact of a loan of four hundred million dollars madam speaker on this country and we are made to believe that this motion is just matter of fact and we should just accept it this in some ways madam speaker is an indictment of the fiscal management of this government madam speaker because he may promise it to the people of St. Lucia that there will be no borrowing but six weeks before the end of the financial year they are borrowing 55 million dollars for advances but madam speaker that's not all the Prime Minister also said he was also going to get a loan of a hundred and fifty million dollars for the effort that's another four hundred million dollars madam speaker between the effort and the roads program that's eight hundred million dollars almost one billion dollars that this country is borrowing this year well you call it preschool mass I know I went only went to preschool madam speaker and I can add 400 million and 400 million and I think it tells me it's 800 million but if not come to this house did not come to this house who seek approval now we will told madam speaker and we'll deliver this not today because we'll have enough time next month to deal with it madam speaker is a hundred and fifty million US dollar loans for roads using the one dollar and fifty cents fuel tax but that's another story for another day a hundred and fifty million dollars US for the effort that'd be well unless you kill me honorable member and God takes me away I will see that the madam speaker but madam speaker you had a kind of cryptic comments they're making madam speaker but let's continue madam speaker the digger road madam speaker the digger road madam speaker a road that had about five million dollars for design an existing road you know madam speaker an existing road madam speaker all you have to do is resurface it and fix a few drains had about five million dollars I am told madam speaker for design it came before this house madam speaker on the point of order I wish to advise the honorable member first castry south that is incorrect in as far as the cost of the designs embedded in the content but answer can the honorable member for cash is not indicate what is the figure on honorable minister please proceed member for cash results thank you very much honorable member for cash is not for clarifying is not five million it may be 4.5 million but madam speaker madam speaker let's proceed because that's not the fundamental point the point is madam speaker a document came before this house for the beats on that loan for that road I was withdrawn by the honorable prime minister it has not returned to this house it has not returned madam speaker and I noted on my recollection tells me madam speaker that we will require to separate paying that loan in September last year I'm sure vaguely madam I sat here and I read it September last year is it that we've started with paying a loan for a road in Miku South but the house has not even yet approved it madam speaker and we are made to believe to just approve 55 million dollars because it's normal it's not normal madam speaker it's not normal it's available to you and you can use it if it needs it needs be but it is not normal madam speaker it's not required my speaker you know what's most disturbing about all of this madam speaker when madam speaker I listen to the prime minister discuss the DSH project madam speaker DSH man and again madam speaker and listen to me carefully about this madam speaker because we have the CIP in solution which is supposed to earn revenue for this country we have a donations option where money supposed to a national economic fund madam speaker that parliament is supposed to approve the use of those monies and listen to what the prime minister says was about DSH he first announced it on reference program sometime last year that the developer will be up front in the monies madam speaker he will build a racetrack and we will reimburse him through our CIP so he will spend the rate listen to this the developer will spend the money build a racetrack and we'll reimburse him with our passport money last week or week before madam speaker the prime minister took this idea to levels that one not would never believe was possible in this country and listen to what the prime minister told us and all of that is linked to borrowing madam speaker because we have resources in this country that can be used to repair schools that can be used to repair health same wellness centers that can be used to deal with the issue space in our hospitals and the prime minister says to us madam speaker that the developer will build a racetrack we will reimburse him if our passport money is he will then give it back to us he will give it back to us he will give it back to us because racetrack don't make money so he's given back to us something that does not make money we will then engage him in a management contract which means to pay him to manage it for us so there it is he's building something we pay him back for it he gives it to us what it makes no money and we will then engage him to manage it and operate it and pay him to do so now this is bewildering why would you take something from somebody which is not making money pay him back with your passport money that we can spend and avoid us come to this house and borrow 55 million dollars but now we're going to pay him to manage it when it is not making money but there's a further secret the prime minister says there was a need to lease the land to the developer so he can use it as collateral think about that so we listen the land to the racetrack for him for him to use as collateral to get a loan so that developer is using our land as collateral to get a loan to build a racetrack he's not repaying the loan we give him the money he repays the loan he gives it to us because it's not making money but why is he doing that and why are we even accepting that hey what the prime minister says the racetrack does not make money it is the cheese that attracts all the money making investments it's the facilitator so there you have a smart man who is a developer saying this thing doesn't make money I'm gonna give it back to you all and then pay me to manage it but I need it so I can attract or does the cheese I can attract all the money making investments now all the money making investments will be paid if our CIP money is too but he's not giving it back to us he's only giving back to us the one that does not make money you follow me madam speaker the one that has not not the prime minister words these are his prime minister words the prime minister said it is the cheese that will bring in other investment the prime minister says it is a facilitator the prime minister says the other elements will be paid using our traditional CIP investments the prime minister says that so the gentleman is going to build everything the one that does not make money he gives back to us but he needs it so we're going to pay him to manage it for us and use our CIP monies it gets even more bizarre madam speaker the same gentleman says I am only putting temporary facilities or the racetrack and I'm going to start some races and bring down investors to see what I am doing and to try to entice them to invest so he's not even put in permanent facilities but he doesn't even have confidence that it will succeed but he'll put temporary facilities with the hope of speculating so you put temporary facilities you have some huge races and it may be races in solution next year for true madam speaker multimillion dollar races paid for by our passport money but he's only put temporary facilities but if it fails then nothing is lost that is the policy that guides borrowing in this government madam speaker and you know last week madam speaker a week before there's a place in London called the Excel Center huge exhibition hall you know that I know that I studied in London madam speaker I did a masters in England I did a PhD in London and I worked there for three years madam speaker you understand so I know it well madam speaker just like I know other parts of the world well and there are people in this house that cannot give solution because they are the investigation madam speaker I'm not one of them madam speaker madam speaker you know what have that Excel two weeks ago but madam speaker by the way the Prime Minister announced a few months ago two months of free month the Prime Minister announced that he was going to take an investigation into allegations that a particular member of this house was under investigation I would really wonder Prime Minister the next thing to present a report of that investigation as to whether there is in fact an investigation into a past member of this house but back to excel madam speaker at excel madam speaker there was an international gaming conference taking place international gaming is called ice you could Google it ice it's online and offline gaming and as it turns out madam speaker persons that I know professionals whatnot message me and said to me what's this thing going on because they are group of investors selling this development in St. Lucia for gaming in horse racing and he cannot believe that this is what St. Lucia has on the table and I try to ask well who are those people because I don't know that anybody from solution went up to sell any gaming but apparently the speculation continues and so much is a laughing stock because that is global conference on online and offline gaming St Lucia is being speculated for shares and investment in this big gaming enterprise that will be taking place in St Lucia and the people of solution was nothing no nothing about it madam speaker so madam speaker that's DSH for you that's it for you where we are lending money for our CIP now madam speaker the Prime Minister also announced at the signing of the range development madam speaker where a developer had signed a traditional CIP approach where he will go and find investors to invest in his hotel and those investors would pay and once they invest they would get a citizenship that had been abandoned and the Prime Minister now says and he announced the deal that persons who can make a contribution through our donation madam speaker the donation money goes to the National Economic Fund to pay for health care for education repair of schools repair playing fields he's now taking that money not for the people of St Lucia and he's given it to a loan to the developer 2% for him for now the Prime Minister said it he said it so we're going to take almost 450 million EC dollars of monies we will get from the sale of our passports and we give it to a developer to build a hotel that the developer will own and the developer repeats that 2% interest so we're borrowing money at 6% 7% but we given a developer madam speaker alone from our National Economic Fund and the Prime Minister we've been with told madam speaker over over that this is illegal the laws does not allow for that the same press conference the Prime Minister said at the next sitting of this house he's coming with a document to correct this of course this is the next sitting and it has not been presented to this house madam speaker so madam speaker we have range we have DSH DSH madam speaker is the most bewildering and illogical investment for Prime Minister who said it was idiotic to subsidize rice flour and sugar for poor people in this country because other people were benefitting to now take our money is give it to a developer to be there is track which it gives back to us because it's not making money we pay him to manage it and he uses that to get all the other investments that make money that will be built in our CIP money and you tell me madam speaker I'm only a preschool education I'm one of the 43% madam speaker you see this boring motion yes madam speaker many times in the past other Prime Minister the Ministers of Finance have come to this house to get approval for overdraft facilities madam speaker but I am disturbed madam speaker when this thing is treated so previously six weeks before the end of the financial year from a government that told us that economies doing well the member for answer the mechanism madam speaker and we will respond to him appropriately at the right time madam speaker to both of how things are so bright and prosperous in this country madam speaker bright and prosperous and then to come to the house to borrow another 55 million dollars it's not as simple as that madam speaker it's not as simple as that thank you very much Honorable Minister for Housing Economic Development Housing Urban Renewal Transparency Aviation thank you madam speaker madam speaker you think that a bill as simple as this laid before the house which is routine every single government from independence to now madam speaker has had to go through that process I went through it when we were in opposition we are going through it when we are in government you'd had the members opposite and you would think that it is something so extraordinary that is happening in the parliament madam and we had them all over the place about all kinds of things now madam speaker how do you reasonably sit in this honorable house and not respond to some of the statements that have been made I mean the member for library the member for library got a try as leader of the opposition and he's behaving like a preschool like a preschool and he's give it and he's give it a preschool speech to the honorable house today madam speaker and saying all the things he learned at preschool but some of the things he should have learned at preschool is what is routine you it just happens madam speaker we are not just borrowing 55 million to go and draw down this is a security measure that all governments use every single government and they know how many times they did it when they were well I had the member for Castro himself he's a new comer he doesn't know so I excuse him he doesn't know the routine of what happens but madam speaker to make it look like we're crowding out investors and local developers by using the facilities and overdraft facility at the bank that is going to crowd out private investment that's what the member for library said now I take it madam speaker one of these days will get to instantriply we'll get to instantriply you know talking about this is a government that said that development should be led by private sector and that by borrowing we may be crowding out the opportunity for private investors to get the cash because the government is taking the cash but the member for Castro is on a completely different page because he's talking about there's so much liquid the system is so liquid that is that why the government is using so I don't know what they're talking about the two of them but madam speaker you had them raising issues about the borrowing of 55 million dollars and mention in the bank and if the member for library want to know the relationship that existed between Trinidad when we were referred to as Trinidad to begone St. Lucia or St. Lucia Trinidad and to begone he can ask the member for view for itself he can enlighten him on that and what transpired during that time but madam speaker some of the issues raised let me respond to the IFC statement that members continue to highlight madam speaker in this honorable house when we stand up and we speak we can speak politics and we can speak to the issues but the signals that we send out there and the messages that are sent to entities that we deal with as a government we must be careful you cannot see a record where I said the IFC is correct I was making a class statement of trust that as much as you can trust the IFC is as much as you can trust the people of St. Lucia and I was making a comparison madam speaker I was making a comparison of statements and the issues that I had with the proposals of the IFC legitimate issues questions are being asked because the opposition was presenting that because it is the IFC and they give you something you are not supposed to question that was that was the essence of the discussion but what has happened madam speaker they have taken it and they have turned it around and I can stand by the statements that was made the statement I said I'm not going to call anybody corrupt and I stopped short of mentioning any names of the people that we dealt with because I understand madam speaker you are dealing with international institutions institutions that the government engages but to give the expression or to give the impression that because it is from the IFC we can trust it and if it comes from the government and people of St. Lucia it cannot be trusted is unacceptable to me as a St. Lucia and as a member of this honorable house so madam speaker they can continue to grapple with it I made a simple statement this morning madam speaker I made a simple statement this morning about you think you'll see that time and then you have what they jump on they jump on oh will you kill me madam speaker what does that come in you said the time will come so I cannot ask if you'll be there to see this time come I may not be there to see the time come so madam speaker trying to handle a situation that does not exist so the airport the airport matter was a matter of ownership and the issue we had with the IFC and we still have is the proposal of who would have ownership of the airport I come into DSH don't worry we'll have time to talk about DSH madam speaker when the member for library speaks about there's lack of confidence in St. Lucia and where the jobs that we spoke about madam speaker I have to wonder what the member for library is talking about when the member for library left government unemployment was hovering yet 25% in the last quarter of the of this financial year of the year 2017 unemployment was down to 16 percent 16.8 percent madam speaker these are not numbers put out by the government oh they bad numbers now so so so madam speaker apparently you're not representing library that's why you don't know what's happening in library but I'm speaker this is a girl this this opposition accused us of firing thousands of people and I want you to understand the mathematics that you use you said we fired thousands of people yet still the records are showing that more people are employed under the united workers party government so explain that to me you explain to me you explain to me that is you see madam speaker that is what confidence does the people the people of St. Lucia have confidence in the united workers party government administration so more jobs are being created across the board I don't speak up they want to talk about management you finished it your report your report said the report made by the member for view for south and prime minister at the time was that by August 2016 the people of you thought would have a state of the art hospital work continued until the end of the year 2016 in view for so the state of the art hospital that you gave the people of you thought it is there the state of the art hospital that was supposed to cost 60 million dollars by his own words and now in the region of a hundred and eighteen million it is there so if that is what the three MPs for the view for area view for not view for south and library if that is what you all consider a state of the art hospital for the people of you thought I say under the united workers party government the people of you thought these are much better than that if that's all you if that's all you could offer them we have better stop it and give them something better the people of you thought we'll get a better hospital under the UWP administration then they will dream of under the government so take your time take your time you have five years to build a hospital five years you much on the gates of St. Jude you said give the sportsmen the stadium and after five years and if I spend five years if I spend five years in government and I cannot give the people of you thought a better hospital than what you gave them as a state of the art hospital then I don't deserve to be in this on rubber that's what you that's what you you don't know anything that was happening but on speaker the members opposite are talking about you know you you borrow in fifty five million dollars and you borrow in a hundred and fifty million four roads the evidence is there that the roads in St. Lucia are on the path to total improvement we have better roads driving on now than we had under the labor party administration and the past can speak for itself it does not need you because we know that members opposite do not understand the past what they understand is what they see from the political standpoint so madam speaker coming to this honorable house and saying that the member for library I suspect he's sitting in the chair of the leader of the opposition I assume that he's deputizing I suspect he's deputizing and that caused him to misbehave this morning and give something that is on characteristic of him that that's unlike the member for lab that he would speak through school stuff in the honorable house today so madam speaker he said he said there's lack of confidence and I cannot believe that even the chamber the chamber if you look at the chambers report it is reporting that there is confidence it is not as much as they wanted to be but the evidence is there madam speaker they want to question our management of the economy now let me give you a lesson okay when we said we were reducing that by two and a half percent you all said we were mad we were taking more we were short changing the government fifty four million dollars well what you don't understand is that reduction in fact coupled with all of the other things that this government is doing has resulted in the reduction of unemployment in this country of course they will the people of St. Lucia have responded not they will respond they have responded because madam speaker but it is clear madam speaker you should tell me you are the parliamentary representative you said library is a republic I do not have access to the information in library because it's a republic of library so I expect the president of the republic to give the information in the house don't ask people people's republic yes so so madam speaker I am I am confident madam speaker that this country is on the right path to growth and development I am confident that we are on the right path and the evidence is there madam speaker if you are saying that government has not undertaken any major capital projects can you imagine so who's driving the growth that we are seeing and when the growth figures but that's what I'm saying to you the government has not even begun spending the hundred and fifty million u.s. on the road we have not started the effort project and imagine the economy is performing better already than it did under the St. Lucia leave up so can you imagine can you imagine when the Ministry of Infrastructure and they circulated a booklet there you saw we are going to build a new St. Lucia that is what we promise and that is what we are delivering on now I know madam speaker I've been in opposition and I've been in government I know it is not easy for the opposition to sit there and see the country doing well madam speaker I have the member I have the member for I have the member for castry south talk about resources castry south yes I had the member talk about the resources now has what he said madam speaker the resources of this country could have been used to fix schools to open the hospital to do all of these things and I agree with you now you know why I agree with you because I know under the UWP administration the resources will be there by also in five years in government there were no resources to fix the schools there were no resources to open the hospital so I feel good when I see you have more confidence in this UWP administration to find resources to do the things in the country than you have on the same side that you see him why you so in a hurry we know your time is limited but at the same time you don't take it easy take it easy it doesn't matter where it's limited it's limited okay so madam speaker the motion led by the prime minister must not be allowed to be viewed from the standpoint that the opposition wants to make it look like we are careless reckless government just coming on borrow left right and center that's not what it is and if you want it is not how much you borrow it is what you do with the money that is borrowed okay so so when you talk about things so why you didn't say we have to borrow that money to pay the six million dollars on the project in River Dury that y'all could have paid three million dollars and resolve that matter and save the government the embarrassment of going to court and losing a kid and when you talk about political victimization why wasn't the gentleman paid for his contract why did we have to go to court pay lawyers and I have I have a stack of letters hey madams all of these lawyers resets they have too many of them how many thousands of dollars was paid to lawyers if you obey you know the work was done pay the gentleman but you will choose the things you want to highlight that the government must pay we should have spent 60 million on st. Jude we spend a hundred and eighty million did you choose to highlight that in your presentation did you choose to highlight maybe this 55 million and when you talk about confidence why we come in six weeks before you want to know you should tell me you are the parliamentary rep for library the constituencies the hospital is on the border of your constituency you are in government you asking me how much money you spend in st. Jude I said the figures you have to come and tell me I was in government that money was not spent but tell me you are clueless you didn't know anything that was madam speaker for you the member for library did not know what was happening at st. Jude so if you are so concerned about the people of you for and what hospital they have why didn't you see to it that the money spent in library was well spent that it could have brought about what was needed my final point madam speaker DSH I heard the member for castry south talk about DSH so do you know what you want through you madam speaker they said we should not give the run to a foreigner that has been a big outcry so now we say st. Lucia is going to own the horse racing track you still have a problem so what do you want boss as you is making money I ask you a question but madam speaker for you and I giving him the opportunity to answer boss is you making money free facility built by a government is going to bring you back net profit you don't know that most as you close all day you don't know it wasn't making profit madam speaker we built a cricket stadium we built a cricket stadium we are cricket lovers in this country we have the West Indies team the cost of maintenance of this facility in and of itself and the one or two matches you can host when you lucky in a year and with these days West Indies performing so poorly exactly it's costing you more to host the game than you making but would I ever say a cricket stadium is not good for St. Lucia I would not say that madam speaker but if you going purely on the economics of it then you have to ask yourself is this the best investment okay so when the member for castries south would come and give the impression oh because the horse racing track not making money you should not so you don't understand the economics of what happens around madam's madam speaker madam speaker it is evident that the members opposite they say a drowning man will catch on to a strong they have nothing to say in the honor of the house today they should have just let the bill go but madam speaker they invent all kinds of arguments to say that we should not be borrowing by overdraft you know what's an overdraft you know what's an overdraft and overdraft is there that you have access to you are not required to use it if your cash flow is good enough and we can pretend don't come and pretend that cash flow of government is so good you issue projects sometimes the monies are not released yet the donor agencies the salaries and everything that time of collection don't try and give the people of St. Lucia the impression that you know every time government needs money money is sitting there all of all of the sinking fund accounts was closed under the labor party and I can tell you when the labor party came into office in 1997 there were nine sinking there were nine projects on the sinking fund by 2001 they didn't have one that is what happened under the watch of the labor party so we have not built reserves we know that we do not have the reserves so when you do not have the reserve for your cash flow you need an overdraft and you need some more businessmen over there because if you have businessmen over there you would understand what the value of an overdraft is to cash flow for the running of a business and that is all but you need to learn how to run a business to run because that's why every time you all need that money all just one borrow no no means to pay my prime minister the leader on this side said the borough is going to be every bar set of borrowing will have its own revenue stream and the 400 million you talk about for the road we have created a revenue stream for that the dollar 50 on the gas we didn't hide that we came to the people of St. Lucia we came to the parliament and we said this is what is going to happen and even even now part of the money that is spent on the roads was from that same gas tax it's evident so you talk about the airport and another fuck you talk about 400 million for the airport well let me tell you the numbers you not given in the proposal by the IFC apart from the cost of the effort there was an additional hundred and sixty million US added to the 200 million cost of the effort for yes I know let me tell you I have stood the test of every investigation I hope you can do the same madam speaker madam speaker investigations they spoke about members of the house being investigated investigations are good thing because investigations reveal two things innocent or guilty okay that is what the investigation is going to show who is innocent and who is guilty now standing on this side I can say after five years of investigation I believe I'm innocent okay no I always know I am innocent but for their benefit who did not know and did not believe I believe now they know I'm innocent so I am hoping that as investigations continue that they can stand the same test that I have stood at be those okay so madam speaker it is easy to take cheap shots at people in the parliament and I'm used to that I'm used to being a target but at the same time it cannot be that we are going to come to this house they should have told us that they paid three million dollars don't you think that affected the cash flow the three million dollars that was paid to investigate me if you are not giving me that three million dollars I would have been better because I could give you all the information for free you know you hire the most expensive fraud investigator you could find in the US to investigate me three million dollars okay and then why you are the report should be tabled in parliament you want the PM to table report on CIT was the report on my investigation taxpayers mom three million dollars tablet in the parliament what you found in the parliament the report that the three million dollars was paid for that is very what I want tabled in the parliament madam speaker madam speaker it is evident it is evident madam speaker I afraid of any document madam speaker there's there's no document I always work around the most documents you think I afraid of documents I hope you could submit your documents because madam speaker it is one thing to point fingers at other people and talk about who's investigating and who's been investigated I don't have to worry about what they'll find out about me I already know what they will find out and that's why I can speak loud anyway I am because I know what's there but madam speaker so when the labor party administration would spend three million dollars of taxpayers money to investigate one member of parliament and then not even a nobody knew nobody knew at the Treasury madam speaker one page the last page of the contract with the signature because this is too classified to be dead now you know what that reminds me of madam speaker when information is too classified it doesn't find itself in government because the same people who tell you everything or trust and when I madam speaker remember sometime I spoke about trust when people cannot trust themselves they will not trust you they couldn't trust themselves to handle the effort project they couldn't trust themselves to give the accountant general the contract for the investigation so they gave the last page with the signature so I don't know who was holding the other pages but I know on the Russian mail that they could not trust the government that they were part of to hold the document so they gave it to one by the name of because he was much worse than the government on growing both so madam speaker when I come to this honorable house and when the members opposite want to debate on issues that do not exist making a big fuss about 55 million dollars overdraft facility to run the operations of the government and talking about whether there's money to run the affairs to pay public servants and you want to scare people by saying maybe when teachers go to the bank the salaries will not be there when you came into government you found over 210 million dollars in reserve by the third year in government they have nothing left you want to talk about management of this economy you want to talk about who can manage better that's not a discussion that's not a debate you not in the equation you not even on the starting line to say you can finish the race you not on the starting line you didn't qualify you're not part of the finalist so understand that and understand that the people of St. Lucia have elected the United Workers Party government under the leadership of the member to run the affairs of state for five years and the people of St. Lucia will judge the performance of this government in in five years and when they judge I can tell you we will continue to be here and some of you will not even be over there thank you Madam Speaker Madam Speaker as I comment yet another presentation in this honorable house I want to take the opportunity to once again thank the people of January North this time on the eve of Ash Wednesday and on the eve of the commencement of the holy season. Madam Speaker having sat in my chair this morning listening to the debate it reminded me of the words of a former New York governor who said that politicians a lot of them they campaign in poetry and they govern in prose and the simple understanding of that Madam Speaker is that when some politicians are on the campaign trail they say one thing and after having won the election and find themselves in government the storyline changes and it is a totally different conversation. Now Madam Speaker as I understand the motion before us it is supposed to be procedural it is supposed to be something that should have gone through the house this morning in perhaps half an hour 40 minutes and then the business of the day would have been done and would have been completed but what is most astonishing Madam Speaker is the extent to which people can forget the things they said when they were on the opposite side of the parliamentary aisle and for us to be an effective Parliament Madam Speaker I believe every single one of us must find it in our resolve to embrace objectivity as we attend to the business of this country. Madam Speaker all the speakers before me or presenters before me took the latitude to wish solutions a happy independent celebration 45th anniversary that is. 39th sorry Madam Speaker maybe the preschool math is getting to me but Madam Speaker before I proceed further into the substantive matter before us. With your indulgence if you allow me I want to make two very brief points which I consider very important and should be mentioned in this Parliament. Firstly Madam Speaker I want to implore all the teachers and students and house masters who are organizing sports meets for the different schools and the different students in our country. As a former minister responsible for youth development and sports I need to say that this was a period in the year that I always look forward to and there was nothing that split me on as minister more than seeing children exciting themselves and enjoying themselves in physical activity because I believe Madam Speaker by organizing those activities we are sending a very important message to our young people that they need to engage in physical activity as an expensive way of combating some of the chronic non-communicable diseases we have in this country. Madam Speaker secondly and lastly before I return to the motion before I want to express my sincere condolences to the families of all the young people who have perished amid the carnage on our roads in recent times. Madam Speaker most recently we lost a young cricketer by the name of Nick Elibox from Mac and Castries South East. He is a young man Madam Speaker whom I knew very well. I worked with him and I followed his career very very closely and was very heart wrenching on the morning that Sunday morning when news group that Nick had made his demise in a vehicular accident. His loss Madam Speaker is one that is suffered by the entire sports fraternity in particular the cricket family the Winwood Islands cricket setup and I'm sure Madam Speaker had he not been cut short by this unfortunate incident he would have been one of the many young cricketers I'm hoping would have gone on to represent the West Indies in the coming years. So Madam Speaker my prayers and thoughts are with the families of the young persons whom we whom we've lost in particular the family of Nick Elibox. Madam Speaker the motion before us this morning is no less morbid and depressing and the posture we've assumed here as an opposition is one that we are duty bound to assume on behalf of the people whose interests we represent in this Parliament. I am not one who believe that an opposition should oppose only for the sake of opposing we have to be more objective than that and today Madam Speaker we have a legitimate reason to question what is before us. Madam Speaker I remember sitting on the other side of the house between 2011 and 2016 and this very motion the only thing that is different to what is before us today are some of the figures and the date at which the motion is being presented and you should have heard some of the members opposite one in particular. We were excoriated we were chided we were criticized for borrowing and we were constantly reminded that we were exacerbating an already bad death situation for the country but today the shoe is on the other foot and justification is being provided. Sometimes the quality of the debate is not reflected in the amount of noise you make in her you know but the words that you speak the spoken words the things we say today Madam Speaker there are a number of solutions who supported the United Workers Party in the elections of 2016 and for them a lot of expectations have been violated. We've known for a while now that the cash flow situation in the country was not what any one of us would have wanted for our country but I made the point before in this honorable house and on platform when as a responsible government we took a position and we told St. Lucien what the situation was with our finances in this country it was convenient for the opposition party to present a picture that everything would have been okay once you have voted for the United Workers Party. There would have been ching ching in the pocket. There would be no unemployment in St. Lucien. Everybody would be at work and things would have been cook and curry as we say Madam Speaker for all St. Lucien but today Madam Speaker today Madam Speaker and this is a question that is very genuine. We've been told and St. Lucien is a very small society and we always know what is happening within the corridors of government within the conference of the parliament and even in the privacy sector. Madam Speaker we've been told and reliably so that the date for the annual budget or the national budget has been advanced and that we will be having budget for the first time in a long time it's not for the first time in the month of March. March Madam Speaker is a mere week and a half a week. What is the urgency? What is the urgency that must cause the government to come into the parliament a mere week and a half two weeks before the presentation of the annual budget to borrow 55 million dollars. It is the question Madam Speaker that I believe is worth explaining so as to understand not just my understanding as a member for them but all the other persons who are following this debate as it goes on. Madam Speaker I cannot recall as I said this having happened prior to today so as my colleagues on this side have said Madam Speaker the death situation that confronts our country today is one that needs urgent attention and we cannot continue to borrow in the manner that we've been borrowing. Every government not just in St. Lucia but the entire OECS must borrow because we do not have the capacity to raise revenue whereby Madam Speaker whatever we have to spend would be equal to the amount that we are able to raise. So borrowing is the must but we have Madam Speaker to borrow for things that will impact the lives of our people. The Prime Minister has said before and the point was further accentuated by the member for Caster East whereby the Prime Minister said that for every new loan or death situation is going to embrace there will be a revenue stream to address that. Madam Speaker if this is going to happen I will be one of the first persons to lend support to it because I understand objectively that a worsening death situation for this country is not a problem only for the United Overfathers but it is a problem for us on the opposition side and it's a problem for all of St. Lucia. But how does that borrowing impact the lives of the people in the community? Am I to assume Madam Speaker that this 55 million dollars will cause the Ministry of Health to reinstate the Laristos Health Center that has been out of commission for two years? Am I to assume Madam Speaker this level of borrowing that the lapel road in my constituency will be resurfaced? And am I to assume Madam Speaker that with this level of borrowing some of the schools in this country wouldn't have to postpone or cancel their sports mitts because some of the playing facilities are out of commission? If the money being borrowed Madam Speaker is to impact some of the people I've mentioned in a positive way I have absolutely no difficulty with it but there are a couple issues here you see one thing on the conventional and when reality hits you in the seat of government not only do you change your storyline but in some cases you can't even muster the courage you can't even muster the courage to come and tell people the situation as it is so Madam Speaker some of the questions I've asked today are genuine questions that the people of January North would like answered with this Madam Speaker I conclude my contribution to the debate Honourable Member for Newport News. Thank you Madam Speaker I wish to join Madam Speaker my colleagues I wish to join my colleagues Madam Speaker in wishing the constituents of Newport North well on the observance of soon to be observed anniversary of St. Lucia's independence and I also wish to indicate to them Madam Speaker as we begin a new a new calendar year that will continue to do my best to represent them in the Parliament Madam Speaker to ensure that they get they continue to get the roads fixed and and other amenities Madam Speaker I wish since this debate entered so many different roads so to speak I wish Madam Speaker to join this debate at the point where the member for Castries South East admitted for the first time from from the government side Madam Speaker that governments do must not operate as businesses he admitted Madam Speaker in his explanation that there are projects that governments must keep even though they are making a net loss and that was astounding Madam Speaker because this is the same government that continues to say if a project is not making money close it so they close Radio St Lucia and again the argument is that Radio St Lucia is not making money it's a loss making entity so close it they're about to close the print tree as it stand as it is Madam Speaker the marketing board is a loss making entity so close it the fish market in cooperation is a loss making entity so do something about it close it the Fouasseau Center a loss making facility so close it and they often speak of both as you madam Speaker and the member for Castries South East has a fetish has some fetish with both as you and myself indicated a while ago that both as you was closed closed under my watch I wish to indicate categorical in Madam Speaker that this is not true again false information and the member for Castries South East and he continues to make the point that cows disappeared while I was Minister for Agriculture Madam Speaker I wish to take this very seriously because he's suggesting that under my watch as Minister for Agriculture there were cows at Bosseju and for some reason cows disappeared while I was Minister for Agriculture this is not true let me minister recall madam Speaker Bosseju had no cause the time that the dairy farm was closed at Bosseju Madam Speaker I was a student in school I was a student so for the member for Castries South East to continue to say this and I have asked the Minister for Agriculture to instruct him that he should stop saying those things in the house because people will assume that as Minister for Agriculture there were cows at Bosseju and they disappeared when I became Minister this is not true and I want it to be reflected in the records as when I became Minister for Agriculture there was Bosseju owned no cattle and that is a fact and so even though you take it as a joke these are things that go down in the record and I want to ensure that it's corrected Madam Speaker so all the things that are managed by St. Lucian's that are developed and grown by St. Lucian's must be closed because they are loss-making entities so Radio St. Lucian Nunipu-Femme bagai St. Lucian, marketing board Nunipu-Femme because he pack a fellage that is what this government has been about the fisheries complex Nunipu-Femme you know one thing that is common in all of those things Madam Speaker is because they are managed by St. Lucian's they have St. Lucian roots of course they have problems like many things in our country and there are many businesses private businesses that have problems and the government props them up of course there are businesses that have problems but all of those entities are St. Lucian entities but the member forecast itself is now says today that DSH the racetrack even though it's a loss-making entity he said net profit even though it's a loss-making entity there are times when government must keep those you know the difference between DSH and all of those St. Lucian entities DSH is controlled by a foreigner by a foreigner and that's the big difference so he admits today that there are times when government need entities even though they are loss-making even though they do not record a net profit but all of the St. Lucian ones must go but DSH is good even though the racetrack may be a loss-making entity then he admits that today and I have said very often Madam Speaker that it is for St. Lucian's to look at the facts and decide it because members opposite especially the member for Castro's office and the Prime Minister they tell you the things both is and I give that to them they tell you the things openly and both is and I believe that is why the Prime Minister says said that 43% of the men in the workforce didn't didn't pass preschool he is openly and both is telling St. Lucian's that that is who you are you men out there that's who you are you didn't you didn't go to primary school and openly so he tells you that you didn't go to primary school the inference there Madam Speaker is so I can do what I want I can deal with you because you all didn't go to primary school you all only went to preschool and these are the kinds of attacks Madam Speaker that we have on our St. Lucian Nests and this time the member for Castro's office explains it delusively that the racetrack is not making profit we'll keep it because there are times you need entities that don't make profit but the others let's go with them and so it does not matter if Mr. T. O. R. King gets Sunday Beach I guess Sunday Beach does not make profit I live all of my Sunday Beach La Panipo Fianca because I also buy a money Maria Island La Panipo Fianca and all how he likes to giggle when you talk about those things because to him Madam Speaker those things don't matter those St. Lucian things don't matter to them the back of the area the ill pirata area those things don't make profit so let's give it to a foreigner the both the whole Bolsheju area the whole 350 acres the Prime Minister has said it himself that's just a wasteland I'm making no profit so just give it to T. O. R. King the mid-processing facility they say is 11 million dollars and again and on truth they like to do that the 21 million dollar mid-processing facility that's not important let's get rid of it because we have a big master called T. O. R. King who needs that that is the attitude of the government Madam Speaker it is only the things the things that are St. Lucian these are the things that we give away oh you're like to talk about Roshamel there's only one Prime Minister in this country that a court has ever said that they can't trust what he says and he's sitting on the other side in the Tuxedo Villas matter you're like to talk about let's talk about real things with facts let's talk about Tuxedo Villas you're like to talk about Roshamel you're in a cabinet and say a man's home is a hotel you'll forget that we're forgetting that so Madam Speaker the member for Kastri South is admitted today that yes there are things that the government must keep even though they are loss-making entities but all of the St. Lucian things they are not making money so we need to get rid of them also Madam Speaker there's a whole discussion about borrowing and the and the relationship to VAT and the member said opposite that they reduce VAT by 2.5 percent and so on and so on Madam Speaker while they do one thing on one hand on the other hand the Prime Minister and his minister in the Ministry for Finance they sit weekly and figure out how to take more from the other hand so while they reduce VAT by 2.5 percent each person with a small car a sedan pays over $6,000 in gas taxes a year the fishers a fisherman who goes out to see a fish a woman who goes out to see four times a week using three 15 gallon tanks they will pay $13,000 extra in gas taxes the fishers and we've calculated calculated it over and over with them so while you talk about removing 2.5 percent you have placed the burden on the small family the professionals the teachers those people who work in the banks the children of the farmers and the fishers who can purchase a little car to take the family to hospital and to school that's where you have placed the burden and you calculate it I want you to calculate it check the number of gallons of fuel you use a day multiplied by $1.50 and multiplied that by the fuel used per week per month per year multiplied by 12 and you see how much money that you have taken from the pockets of the people in gas taxes so when you talk about 2.5 percent but it's a flashing mirror and I want you to go to the to the supermarkets and ask mr. Jaim from grace and Mrs. Ardonza from Bellevue how much more they are paying in groceries after you took out the 2.5 percent but and it's the effect on the individual in the household so I probably by sepeche a deal with here 2.5 percent but I come up with a meal and I just gasla you can make a pie I peche and you can do the calculations I've said 13,000 and and this fisherman that I've used I gave him three months holiday in the year I only use 40 weeks I didn't use all of the weeks in the year gone calculate it got your communities got to Miku and those places where you have fishers and find out how much you're taking in taxes from them on fuel go and do the calculations I've done it many times with them and they themselves are shocked they are shocked themselves you see the Musa Matej Sheme Musa Saga Paskegaian engine from here and if you do that for three years 13 multiplied by three you see how much money you have taken from the from from the people who suppose to drive the economy at the base I don't know anything about money and this viewer madam speaker since we are talking about borrowing and taxes you know something this extra road tax at your place is on top of the license fees and all of that you said you reduced you did not remove it completely you know after all if you put in a road tax that's so much money give them a breakdown that you only remove half of the half of the increase when you add that to the $13,000 you see how much money you're extracting from those people so you're flashing one thing on one side and you are you are pulling out the bowels on the other side say South Cafe and madam speaker when we speak about borrowing and taxes what happened to the two million extra dollars on the road and the member for Cassie's office he likes it as usual and that's why I always give that to him it tells you the thing both face so when he says he'll build 10 schools for his wife you can't say he didn't tell you that he tells it to you both face I give that to him all the time he ain't hiding anything he tells you both face if I had a chance I'll be 10 schools for my wife that's him he says to the works works works and he smiles works works works but madam speaker I'm happy as a parliamentarian if works are happening all of us everybody are on this table we all want roads we all need things when the member for Cassie's office was in a position the last time he was the former minister for communication works and I saw him on TV when he was in a position feeling in roles with Barrow which means that when he was made of just a few years before he didn't do all that he could have done so it is not unusual that while we're in opposition we still need things for our constituency that is something all of us need it is not unusual he was filling in holes with will barrels and he had just left office three years ago or two years ago so if we ask for roads doesn't mean that we didn't do any work in our constituencies there's always need for work and if roads have been done we are all very happy we would hope that we would get works in our constituency and not and I'm not judging anybody yet because I've written to the to the to the member for Cassie's office North I know he's a man who responds and I'm waiting I'm waiting I'd like to be fair I'm waiting and I have indicated madam speaker that everybody who pays the 150 they live all around St. Lucia the people who live at Bellevue and Grayson Pierrot they also pay 150 in the gas and so I'm waiting and so when I see people smile say works works works works works I'm hoping that the works benefit all of us madam speaker the truth is madam speaker we didn't we really didn't come here to spend all of this time on this that's the truth but when the member goes to St. Jude hospital and it they speak about we said we would finish the hospital by a certain date it wasn't finished by a certain day of course we said we'd finish the hospital by a certain date all of us all of us every single one of us not only those on the south because a shy moon cafe by L'Opital's aqua I could he say bye here for to sell I could he say bye labo we act by Shwazi to sell God forbid madam speaker but the St. Jude hospital serves the whole of St. Lucia God forbid anything is to happen to any one of us anywhere on the south as a first place they will take any one of us so St. Jude Hospital is a is a national issue you know about we all you need a hospital for you fought for this for that of course it's in view for but St. Jude Hospital is a national issue and so madam speaker all of us all of us wanted to finish the hospital but this very same government madam speaker you have also given dates the prime minister was at St. Jude Hospital in June of 2017 and he said the hospital will finish by December of 2017 he promised he promised the the staffer the hospital that he said that he said that he said that he's and I dare him to deny it so when you talk when you talk about people giving dates yes and so when you talk about dates and so when you talk about dates I don't believe madam speaker that members opposite of the prime minister and so on I don't believe that I don't believe that that I personally don't believe madam I personally believe that everybody wants to ensure that we have a good hospital so I'm not debating whether this side doesn't want to have a good hospital I believe you to want to have a good hospital I believe that I believe that the prime minister also have a good hospital every single member here wishes for us to have a good hospital at St. Jude I believe that I don't believe the reasons they are given though I believe they are trying all kinds of tricks for their own reasons but the essential point of having a good hospital I believe everybody the minister for health everybody we debate issues but I believe everybody wants a good hospital but don't come here and say we get dates and you already do it and so on so but you'll give dates you'll give dates madam speaker they were so sure they were so sure madam speaker that in August of 2017 in August of 2017 they handed over the mug to the board of the hospital a confused government madam speaker they stop works they stop works in July of 2016 by June of 2017 the prime minister is saying we'll finish in December of 2017 by August of 2017 they are so sure they are so macho one thing they handed over parts of the hospital that they say is not good they handing it over to the St. Jude but what kind of government is that you don't like the hospital you think it's Margie but you're handing over the mug to the board and you're handing over the mug to the board in August of 2017 madam speaker if you stop the hospital you don't believe it's good at all how you're handing over a part of it to the board yeah how you hand over a part of the hospital to the board and in September of that same year in August they handed over a part and in September of that same year the minister for health say we demolition it so it's very clear madam speaker that while I believe everybody wants a hospital this side have their own ideas for what they want to do with the hospital I pretty I believe it has to do with the assit I put it to you madam speaker it may have to do the equine disease free zone maybe the hospital is in the equine disease free zone maybe I'm not sure yeah laugh laugh and so madam speaker I said to you that the members on the other side continue to give unsubstantiated information they continue to try to pull a wool over the eyes of solutions this motion madam speaker presents no detail explanations and I agree with my colleague from then we know of course we've come to the house before to deal with this kind of thing and a member for country's office and others who are in the parliament during the last term remember that and if you go to Hansard madam speaker you will see how many lines and pages of of debates that the member for country's office has about not coming details and so on you see how many lines and today acts as if what are you all calling a wild thing in about that's an ordinary thing the prime minister said for salaries and other things can you tell us the 37 million five hundred thousand dollars on the bank of St. Lucia press care current million dollar madam speaker we repair the schools well oh I forgot we don't have a curriculum yet because to repair the schools you must have a curriculum utter nonsense madam speaker utter nonsense and that's the kind of thing we have in this country when the prime minister says to repair the schools you must have a curriculum that's nonsense and I say so forcefully as a former teacher not former as a teacher and a former school principal nonsense that's what goes out six million dollars on the bank of Nova Scotia what is it for four million dollars on the first car international bank is it to pay for the infrastructure for DSH we have to move the garbage dump is that what it's for is it the garbage dump that they are moving to to Larry track grace in view for now for a lot or to library is that what it is I say such a large on paper but yeah so they are both stadium like material are we to a ball of your Gwassler or to Sabla over a set of material aboui madam speaker I'm not the one I'm not the one who introduced I am not the one who introduced those issues in the debate but I must respond to them is it to build a road that is that the track that is currently been constructed at the DHS site that will obviously cross the road which takes people to grace in view for now and no one nobody has told the people of grace where they are gonna pass and the road the truck has actually been graded skipping the road so you can actually see where the track will pass and nobody has found it fitting to tell the people of view for now or Larry so so or the people who traveled that road where they're going to pass she may have had a person monkey color glass Cali Larry shoes mama I like all Pearson Pearson who've had map of Vinny December now they are not they are not the last she make I pass a and people laugh at those things people just gleebly laugh at those things madam speaker and we are expected to just as parliamentary representatives the parliamentary of you for itself that road crosses his boundary or his his constituency leads into the constituency that I represent and nobody that money gets power can you imagine that madam speaker I guess those things are I guess those things are very very mundane because we are stupid people we say Lucian's must be stupid people because the prime minister and his team can just make roads tracks in areas that our people have traversed for decades and decades and nobody says a thing it's like you shut up you are not part of the 43% you keep quiet I urge the government madam speaker to change course on this matter and to change course in the way they're handling these things you're talking about people we're going to play they're going to have a pool this a moon give what not flag you've got south laugh keep okay she may look I pass a I could put my money the supper supper lady I am not scared no par moon no no safe no plea bar passes animal and for those things madam speaker I guess the record will continue to show that the members opposite take this for puppy show is it to replace the water the water lines and electricity is it to demolish the stadium the stadium should not be viewed for because the people who matter the real people don't live down there but I guess it's for solutions to decide on those things we we just report them and remind people of what they see and how they they think of us we don't really matter even though we produce some of the best athletes in the country and some of the best cricketers we don't really matter you don't need a stadium to acting can just mash that up and those things don't matter there is 2.8 million dollars madam speaker from the Royal Bank of Canada what what are we doing with it is it for medication for cancer patients at our hospitals the supplies to the hospitals all of the bed sheets that the member for Mikunov before the elections went to St. Jude and put on on on social media and TV and to show them have we replaced those bed sheets at St. Jude yes I remember I have the record have we done that and is that what it's for the 2.5 million from the first National Bank of St. Lucia Limited what what is it going to be used for the transfer of Bosheju for the 350 acres to somewhere Miku or somewhere like that or a new meat processing facility that they say cost 11 million dollars and they know that I true at all or is it going to be used to assist the Burmina farmers even more even though you say the exports increased by 200% I know that I true at all you see that's a mold of the government they just say things I probably and it's going to work because our exports of burners increased by 200% to England like the others I'll tell you I went to modern preschool and I know that maps well so is that what it's for so it is it is not as simple as people make it out to be madam speaker sepa sepa by sepa to leave people out to dismiss you like you you don't matter they want us to simply come and just rob a stamp it even though we have been to the house before and when those when those motions came to the house before they were exposed to the same level of scrutiny as the member for Mikunov when she has rid of the opposition they were exposed to the same manner or even deeper scrutiny so don't tell us we should just you know we're making a you know as if we should just pass it it's our responsibility madam speaker and I assure you that while we are not against borrowing we want to ensure madam speaker that the borrowing is done for the purposes for purposes that are important health care and to ensure that the government does not continue to make us feel or try to make us feel as if we don't matter and all of the debate about DSH and and all of those kinds of things that we don't matter just keep quiet and let's see you are King common bulldozer your land and take away everything and and take away a beach you're gonna put skyscrapers on Maria Island a lot that kind of foolishness and the Prime Minister says yes I can tell you matters bigger as foolishness there be no skyscrapers on Maria Island not ever there be no skyscrapers that those foolish pictures that you showed that will not happen I can guarantee him that that there be no skyscrapers on Sunday Beach I can guarantee him that I'm just as generations of the past fought for the lands we are going to fight for our lands madam speaker it is a custom of just getting things like it's his supermarket that he can discard things and do what he wants there be no skyscrapers on Maria Island and there be no causeway to Maria Island madam speaker as the member of parliament of you thought not and as a view portion and a solution I'm telling him there be no causeway to Maria Island none so he can say correct as much as he wants if he thinks he can just yank his way to the foolishness that is doing it's not gonna happen not before land so madam speaker there are times when people need to you need to draw the line and a little piece of land I have a PRO that I bought if somebody just decides to come and put something on it I'm going to draw a serious line and where DSH is concerned and all of the glitzy pictures that I've seen on the beaches that I spent my childhood looking for almonds and running beyond to the crabs there will be no concrete buildings on it I'm telling you so when we come in the member for castry South is speak about DSH in terms as if his puppy show they show us DSH is not a thing about changing the marketing board and making it private you know madam speaker DSH about sir DSH about La Vino DSH about La Vino and so madam speaker I see as I end that there are times in politics when there are times in politics when your tenure in the parliament has to be defined by historic moments in the time there are times like that in the politics when you have to decide that sitting around this table and worth much compared to what you have to go through if you leave the rest your rest the rest of your life in Bellevue or pier or grace the Prime Minister some of them can live anywhere in the world just like they send their children to school anywhere in the world they go worry about fixing primary schools in Saint Lucia their children don't have to sit and let rain wet them from the galvanized roof madam speaker and so when you say that they say oh it's a personal attack oh it's a personal attack it's not a personal attack it's reality it's the reality the children don't have to endure that or when the wind rustles through the galvanized teachers are going to get buckets of water to put and I'm not saying it's his fault that's not what I'm saying because schools need repress throughout the time we did some governments did some I'm not blaming him but what I'm saying madam speaker there are times in the politics you have to stand up in the moment of the time and when I see them publish all DSH I'm standing up in the moment of this time and I'm saying none you see that foolishness they're talking about you see that yes I'm visibly upset because your patrimony and your pain there times you have to get upset and you see for DSH and things on Maria Island and on the beach where we played as children where you don't have a public facility is not a public beach there they are beginning to set the stage to tell you that your beach is doesn't belong to you so if it doesn't have a public facility it's not public so it's not yours they're beginning to break you down chop you down to want to eat you up dying happening dying happening I don't have to be in this parliament I don't have to be I don't have to be but those things are happening these things are not happening and so I say madam speaker that boring needs to happen but all of the debate that came out of it and DSH and all of those kinds of things my response to it is that everything that is inclusion to baguette baguette we see that is what they are talking every single thing that is inclusion and that they will come when every single one of us those of us who spent this term in the parliament will have to account every single one of us to our grand children and our children in terms of what we did to them with DSH and all of those foolish things that be given over to everybody so y'all can laugh if you want to you can laugh I've stopped laughing thank you my members I shall rise in this house I'll stand suspended for one hour care we just heard from the member parliament for people at North Honourable Mosul Shabbat is wrapping up the first segment of today's sitting of the House of Assembly the lower house which is the first for 2018 the Prime Minister began this session of the House by extending best wishes to the nation on the occasion of solution 39th independence anniversary the Prime Minister called on citizens to participate in the efforts of national building and development and to reflect on the progress that we have made so far as a nation speaking after the Prime Minister was the Minister for Tourism who spoke about the record-breaking year in tourism for 2017 and pledge governments continued efforts to advance the tourism agenda his book of the linkages that will be built using tourism and other industries and also the establishment of a National Tourism Council he also took about the importance of village tourism and so efforts will be intensified to established by the first quarter of village tourism incorporated I guess a company referring her to a body that will really ensure that village tourism gets its fair share well we've come to the end of this first session of the the lower house as you heard the speaker mentioned that the House has now adjourned for what hour and that's for lunch and so we will resume at about 10 past two in the afternoon we thank you for viewing this first segment of the House via the National Television Network and look forward to rejoining you at about 10 past two