 Let's take some questions today. We have some issues. I'm sure we want to deal with this particular project and key positions being held by those individuals as well. What do you make of those claims of nepotism? And also that the GBH taking a loan from you as of before. I think if you sit down and you think about what the leader of the opposition said. Now let us start off with a very clear position. You expect the opposition to hold government to account. You expect the opposition to scrutinize the policies, the programs of the government. So you expect to hear criticisms. But the leader of the opposition is well known for character assassination, for vindictiveness, for being malicious. And I can speak about that. Every time I stand and speak before him is testimony that he fails when he unjustifiably tried to do that to solutions, train qualified solutions. So let's analyze what he said. He attacks GBH for appointing a highly qualified solution. Somebody who had worked at Slasper, the Port Authority, as a senior executive. GBH gives him a regional job to manage their regional development program. As solutions you're supposed to be proud and say that an outstanding solution professional has been selected. Somebody with qualifications, not bogus degrees that they cannot prove that they have. Somebody who has had experience in port management. This is not somebody you're giving a blie. This is a qualified solution. Experience and the know-how of what to do. Being given the opportunity to lead a regional investment initiative. I am proud of him. And I ask all the solution professionals to be proud when solutions achieve the highest levels. I remember when you were in opposition, a former senior tourism executive in St. Lucia, who was dismissed by that same government, United Workers Party government, was vying for a regional job. He was prevented from getting it. There's also another solution lawyer who was going to get a regional job, prevented from getting it. How do you have a government, the United Workers Party, that denies solutions and opportunity to get regional jobs? And there are number of solution professionals who could say to you what was done to them to make sure they did not get a job. I am proud when solutions get jobs regionally and internationally. Trust me. And anything our government can do to support any solution anywhere in the world, we would do it because we are proud of our people. We are proud of what St. Lucia has achieved and we want to say to them. I was in Tucson K because a couple of months ago and I met with St. Lucia's working with beaches by finding the Sanders property there and they criticized me for meeting with the St. Lucia's. Criticized me. I am proud that St. Lucia's are managing and in senior management positions in other countries. I am proud of it. Why shouldn't I be proud for St. Lucia's? So he is attacking a qualified, experienced St. Lucia for getting a regional job. Now why? Because he says the gentleman's brother works in the bank. The brother himself is a senior executive, a qualified St. Lucia. But why can't you be proud for them? Why can't you be? But he is doing that because he wants to destroy and he wants to pull down people. I think probably he should first of all tell us what qualifies him to be Prime Minister of St. Lucia. Maybe he should try that. But I don't want to go down that road with him. Let me just advise the lady opposition. Be glad for St. Lucia's when we achieve. Proclaim St. Lucia's when they go out there and they achieve. Collectively, we must tell our children. We must tell our relatives to aspire to get in regional jobs and not decry them when they get it. That's what we should be doing. And that's what when we speak about moving forward together is about saying let's start breaking down those barriers of division and let's start promoting St. Lucia and promoting everybody else. The time will come when we will fight politically and maybe we will fight on differences in policies, but let's not bring down people. The lady opposition criticizes and says there's an issue of major concern and I'm listening. What's the issue of major concern? That GPH is getting a loan from a bank. Now really? Again, stop and think. Just stop. Just stop. That's the same Prime Leader when he was Prime Minister. All the reports suggested that NIC was going to buy lands in the North for the people of St. Lucia to own it. They would discourage from doing so and a foreign entity instead was facilitated to get the same monies from the NIC, our money, the workers' money to buy the land. When St. Lucia got upset and they were such a national outcry, do you know what they did? They facilitated that company to get a loan from the local banks to pay off the NIC loan. Think about that. The NIC loan was paid off with a loan from local banks. He was Prime Minister. Did he say he was concerned? He shouldn't be concerned and you know why? Because investors come into the country, they need financing, they raise some of their financing overseas, they look for local financing to supplement their investment and in an entirely private sector arrangement, they take their local loans. But why should they be concerned about that? What do you want the bank to do? Do not give loans? How can you make a private investment decision a national issue of that sort? But you know why he's doing it? Because he wants to destroy investor confidence in this country because when investors overseas hear that there is in St. Lucia elements that do not think investors should get any financing in St. Lucia, it will decrease confidence in ourselves as an investment destination. That's why he's doing it. The same reason why he announced to the world that DSH is in the process or at least considering taking the government to court over the DSH agreement that he signed. We never made it public, DSH never made it public but he made it public and he made it public just after he had a dance for his party at the same DH site. Now why would you if you love St. Lucia and you care about St. Lucia, why were you in the first place even have a dance at DSH or stables? And then for you to announce to the world that DSH is threatening to take the government to court knowing that when he does that investors will start asking what's going on in St. Lucia. He's calculated, he's wicked and he's a deliberate design to destroy the welfare St. Lucia. I have no doubts in my mind on that and he'll destroy any other St. Lucia who does not give in to him and succumb to him and his part of his cabal. That's how he operates. Listen to him further about GPH. He says that the government will give up $400 million over 40 years. Now we've met already who has spoken about the GPH agreement and I will go over it again but just do a simple mask for me. Say we have 750,000 visitors who come to cruise passengers who come to this country. Say 750,000. In that same story he gave and I heard the hot FM story. It says that the head tax is 5 US per passenger. Multiply 5 US by 750,000. How much is that? That's 3.5 million. Multiply that by 40 years. Assuming is 40 years. Assuming but it's not 40 years but let's assume it's 40 years. 3.5 by 40 is how much? That's 140 million, no? 140 million. How did he arrive at 400 million? But that's the kind of Alan economics that he uses. That's why this country got himself into so much trouble. That's why he could have bought vaccines for seven million dollars and never got a vaccine up to this day. That's why he could have made a DSH deal and a car boat deal and all the deals that were made with money in Panama and everywhere else is because that's how he thinks. How does 750,000 passengers a year pay in five dollars ahead, which is 3.5 million US a year by 40 years, which is 140 million. How does that become 400 million? Again he's deliberately mischievous in what he's doing. And then he says the investment from GPH is about 20 million. They're taking a loan to pay off but we know that's not true. That GPH is paying off the loan. GPH is developing the castries port and GPH is developing the Souffre Waterfront. He knows that. How would you know if you go and buy a car and you take a loan at a bank? How would government know the details of your loan? How does government even get involved and know details of when people take loans? How much was the loan for Coco Pam? Where did Coco Pam get the loan from? What was the interest rate? Have they paid off the loan? Have they defaulted? Who knows? It's a private company. When Julian bought over Julian. You remember this story? It used to be a supermarket Julian that used to rob every weekend and then locally a company bought it over and transferred it to Julian owned by a local businessman. Anybody know how much they paid for the loan? How much they paid for it? What are the details of the loan? We don't know. These are private engagements. Let's put it differently. A private company goes to a private lending institution to take a loan to finance their investment. That has nothing to do with government. It happens every day. It happens all the time. This is abnormal. Investors come in and they obtain loans from local financing institutions. When they apply for concessions, you'll ask them about their financing. They will say 70% is from this bank in New York or this bank in London. 25% from local sources, whatnot. You don't ask them what's your interest rate, what's your monthly repayment. You don't ask people those things. Don't make it look as if there's an issue. But he's doing it because he wants investors to start questioning whether they should come to St. Lucia. That's why it's been done. Because it is the lust for power, the obsession with power. Let me tell you, if the leader of the opposition ever comes back as Prime Minister in this country, a lot of people will pay a heavy price. Trust me, the maliciousness, the deviousness will be unmatched in the history of the Caribbean because that's the nature of the individual. If I can destroy it, throw the baby out of the water and then maybe I'll get a chance to rebuild it and rebuild it after my own image. They might flock all of you out in the square. Yeah. Well, I mean, from all indications, our outlook for Q4 is going to be quite strong, really strong. And we hope to end the year even stronger than we did last year. We had a rough summer. Our numbers were down slightly and because there were a lot of equipment issues with some of the airlines. So a lot of the meetings we had a couple of weeks ago, was it last week, last week, was about planning for next summer to make sure we do not have some of the same issues that we had this year. So we'll have a very strong Q4 and Q1 next year and we will build up to the summer. Next year summer looks to be quite exciting. We have jazz, we have woke up cricket, we have carnival, we have emancipation. So we will have on CPL a strong summer, but we need to make sure we have the seats, the connectivity. So we are finalizing with Virgin, we finalizing with British Airways. British Airways has been strong with us daily flights right through. So they continue to be a strong supporter of ours. We have commitments from American Airlines that they will increase the number of seats. And announcements will be made publicly once everything is signed off. But yes, a lot of discussions and work is going into securing more seats for St. Lucia. And next year is going to be a big year. If you believe the opposition has made noise, wait till next year, and especially when the prime minister announces his budget next year, I think some of them will lose their sanity. Because the projects and the activities that will take off next year will frighten them. But I think we work in very hard to make sure we have everything in place for next year. Yeah, just to follow up on that, you also had some talk with the authorities on what was that about? Well, again, it's building the relationship further. The Saudi has made money available for us to complete St. Jude's and to refurbish the George Audemars stadium. And of course, works are proceeding in that regard. I think the prime minister's office will make an announcement on further engagement with the Saudi government over the next few days. Tourism is now going to become part of that engagement. The Saudis are now leading the investment for tourism in the world. They've just announced, together with United Nations World Tourism Organization, they will open a hospitality training institute in Riyadh, training 25,000 hospitality workers from around the world each year. So there's a big emphasis on tourism in Saudi. You would have seen the efforts into the spots. They've gotten the World Cup in 2034, golf and football and Formula One. And they're really diversifying the economy and going in hospitality in a big way. And therefore, they have an interest in working with us. And we certainly started discussions as to how that can happen and the parameters of we working together. So we're certainly looking forward to it. I think the prime minister will soon make an announcement in terms of some actions that will be taken. He had always said that the work will commence early next year. As the review is done, the plans are finalised, the redesigns are finalised. And I think he will make an announcement as to when officially. Of course, work on the tower is ongoing. So work has not completely stopped. But on the superstructure, he did announce we're going through the process now of redesigning and making it more relevant to our needs. So I think very shortly he'll make an announcement as to when work will start on that. Well, I mean, I cannot say much about it. But of course, you know, as a country, we pay respect to all the sent Lucians who lost their lives during the world wars, and especially World War II, where we will still have persons who are alive. And it's always a time for us to reflect not just as a country and as a region, but as a world, the sacrifices people make because of wars, families and individuals. And it's a time for us to reflect on peace and why it is always more desirable for us to seek peace and to avoid war. Nobody wins a war. And anybody who declares winner is a false declaration, really, because they would have had their losses. And you know, Remembrance Day is a day when, as a community, a global community, we can reflect on the sacrifices that are made in pursuit of, you know, wars and such actions. Yeah, started off on Saturday. We can now boast in Cicero of having a top class surface, probably the best surface in the island right now. And we started off our football tournament on Saturday. We finished phase one of the upgrade of the Cicero play in field phase two. We'll start over the next few months with putting in the lights and the seating. We're going to start also putting an outdoor gym and it will be quite an addition to the Cicero facility and the community, where the community can now have right there, albeit outdoor, a complete gym. And then, of course, the final will be a small pavilion with changing rooms, because as you can imagine, when persons are there for activities, we need to have it. So it's a plan we've had. We've worked hard because if you knew what the surface was like before, I'm sure you can tell you should live next to the playing field. It was a clay surface and the slightest rain means no use for a few days. But now we can both have a top class surface. The 10 teams taken part. The parliamentary rep was very supportive to ensure that all the teams were fully kit and, you know, had all they needed to take part in the tournament. We start off with a knockout competition and we'll start our league after the knockout. The knockout race for warm up guys get match fit or not and then go on to the big league, starting shortly. So I'm really excited about that project. But it's almost like something has become a little bit more constant and common. You as a parliamentary rep, what are you doing to maybe step in to try to assist with the ministry and the police and what not to maybe see what we can do about that situation? Yeah, I think there are multiple levels at which you deliver those issues. And issues of social deviance generally. There is always the law enforcement where the institutions of the state can step in and deal with some of it. But they also do have some of the community responses you can give. And only Saturday nights, you know, I got a fuller understanding of what's involved and who's involved, at least from the words around the community. And I think as a community we need to step in and to, you know, deal with some of those issues. And I think I have a critical role to play in that regard. These are not interventions you put out in the news or your broadcasts. It is a kind of soft practice. You need to quietly step in and get elders to step in and other persons of leadership in the community. And community leaders stepping up and trying to deal with some of those problems because they can easily get out of hand. And you then need to bring in the hard power, which is the police and, you know, the courts and sending people to jail, what not. But before that, there's still space for soft power and for us to step in and have some conversations and as community leaders to be able to address some of those issues. The people judged a short time ago, but some of them are actually daring you to call elections early? Well, you know, I like opposition. So I won't call elections early. If you call elections early, we're going to win all the 17 seats. I don't think it's very fair for us to, after, I don't think it's very fair for me to just after, after I've beaten you 15-2 to come back and beat you 17-0. I don't think I can do that. No, I'll tell you something. I'll tell you something. I'll tell you something. I don't understand what's that come for general elections, you know. General elections will come. That's not in our mind. Our focus is to develop the country. Our focus is to go into next year. Next year, we have an exciting program of infrastructure. We're going to be building more houses next year than ever was a long time in the history of St. Lucia. We're going to be fixing roads. We're going to continue to work on the airport. We're going to be doing work on the seaports. Hotels are going to be built. We're excited about next year. So we're not going to get involved in elections just to win two more seats. Well, I'm glad you're asking that. I'll tell you something. You know, I have frequently said to people, especially young, intelligent, journalists like you, any statement that is said, you must fact check it. You must fact check it. You understand? Any statement. I mean, not only to fact check things that probably like slips of the tongue, et cetera. Isn't it me? In 2016, we formed a parliamentary review committee. We were in government, the then opposition. We were in opposition. Sorry. The then opposition was in government. We asked them to nominate two members. They refused. There was a meeting. In fact, there was a public program on NTN where they invited me and invited the Zen Prime Minister. I was in opposition. I was cordial. I understood that the people of St. Lucia had made their decision. So I wasn't angry. I wasn't distressed. I went on that show. The then attorney general, Kim Central's, was appointed to head a parliamentary committee to look into the change of constitution of St. Lucia. She wrote me and said to me that the government never nominated their two nominees. We nominated colleagues George Jr. and Claudia Francis. We nominated them. They never nominated their two nominees. We came into government. This time, we moved to make the Caribbean Court of Justice our final appellant court. They objected. They let a failed demonstration as usual. You understand? But again, the people of St. Lucia had made up their mind. So St. Lucia now, to the great acclaim over the states, is now a member of the Caribbean Court of Justice. And I'm very proud to be the Prime Minister who calls St. Lucia to break this lass. We need to have confidence in ourselves. We are Caribbean people. We have some of the best jurists. We are Caribbean people. We are a root civilization. So right now, we have our own jurists. Our final appellant come from our region. So we did that. We went back to cabinet and we formed, we reorganized the parliamentary committee and as the leader of the opposition now, who was then Prime Minister, we asked him to nominate two people. We wrote him twice. He's not responded. You understand? So, you know, he's not responded. So your question to come back about fixed election dates is something that I cannot, I do not want. Not I cannot. I do not want to just interfere in the constitution piecemeal. I want to have a complete review. So that's something we are going to review. But the leader of the opposition refuses to appoint someone to sit in the parliamentary committee. And if it says that's not true, I'm going to show you the letters. Although you might say letters are not true also. Okay, one question for me. What do you make of the opposition's claims that the health and security levy it produces and you harsh? Have you heard, did you hear the leader of the opposition in April 2019? You want to see the cabinet, the cabinet conclusion when he formed a cabinet committee to look at health and security levy? Do you know that the leader of the opposition was in government when a security levy was actually passed? There's a law. Are you aware that the health and security levy was passed by United Workers Party? They actually passed a law like that. And when it came into government, we introduced that so that law was out. And it's very simple. You know, if you want, gentlemen and lady, I can show you the copy. You know, what I'm saying, you can go and you can get a law. I can ask my administrative assistant to get a copy of the law for you, for you to seat. When it was passed, who was in the, it was in the, in the parliament and the Honourable Stevenson King has agreed that it was necessary at the time the health and security levy is our investment in healthcare. You remember, you remember the opposition spoke about a health insurance. The only speak about it is a plan. The opposition are very good for plans. Talk about plans, I give the opposition first prize. You see plans and vision, plans and vision and, and, and, and renderings, I give them first prize. If you want to speak about a party with vision and plans, first prize. Delivery zero. And that's a challenge. We have been in government for two years. I want you to take, pick up the slate before COVID, because, you know, they'll want to pretend as if COVID only hit solution. Before COVID, look at what we've achieved in our two years and look at what they achieved in their two years after COVID. Then look at the year or the two years, no, the two years before COVID, our two years. Then look at the two years after COVID and our first two years. I want you to do it. It's very simple. All the talk, the talk, the talk, the opposition actually passed the health and security levy. It was, it was in the books. They actually passed it. And I will, I've instructed my, my missionary assistant to get it for you, for you to read it for yourself. So you don't need to say, and that's, that's what I'm saying. They passed it. They had, it was important. And Stevenson King, the senior minister has admitted in the parliament that he was prime minister when it was passed, but it was passed because it was necessary at the time. And this is why he's supporting it now. Because we have 150, because we have a 150 tax that they passed. You understand? You must, you see, gentlemen and ladies, I don't, I never want to tell the press what to do. Never. I never want to tell the press what to do. Never. I will never do that. But, you know, it's very important that we look at facts. It's not, not perception, not what men and women say in their mouth. Facts. The last government, the 150, they put it, they don't want to put it, you know, and they don't want to pass a health, a health levy. Tell me something. What tangible steps? I asked you a question. Did the government take for health insurance? Plans. Talk. Somebody said, everybody that have a card for $100,000, another person said, you, I don't think you remember these things, you know. You know what you did for the university healthcare? We have already begun to implement it. That's the difference. We implement. We don't talk about it. We don't criticize. We don't call people's names. We implement. And that's the difference between us and them. As we speak, hotels are being built. Hotels are not being planned. Some are planned, but hotels are being built. Constructed. Going to the site. You see workmen. We're not going to see pictures. What tangible steps are taken towards DSH? What did you see on the ground before COVID? But everything is planned. Everything is planned. What we planned. What we have vision to do. Vision is important, but vision must come with action. Prisoners, there's no place to put arrested persons. We're building the custody suites now. We're building it. Go there. You see it. It's going to be built. So the police will no longer have to drive people all over the place when they arrest them and drop them. We're building it. We're the grocery police station. We are building it. We're not talking about it. We're building it. The view fort division headquarters. We're building it. We're doing it. People can see it. Go to Windham. You'll see a hotel being built. You're going to see it being built. You understand? The same way, you're going to see GPH. You'll see it. There's a difference between us and them. Next year, you're going to see houses. You're going to see the roads being repaired. You will see it. You understand? We are in November. And you see, I've made it my duty not to respond to what comes out on the other side because if I do that, I'm going to lose focus. So I don't listen. I don't listen to what the other side says. I don't listen to it because what they say, if the opposition would have come to us and talk about policy and say to me, you're going this way, let's go that way. But what I heard is insults in Uendo. I heard one of them calling me names and talking about racism, color. These things, I can't get in love with that. We have a country to develop. Have you noticed what's happening with young people in this country as far as business development is concerned? You know there are hundreds of young people who are doing businesses, who are making creams, who are making the excitement that's involved. And by the way, we have a new CEO at the youth economy. You're going to meet him at some point, you understand? Yes. Even as an ambassador last Friday, she reiterated the Venezuelan government's position when it comes to the conflict between that country and Guyana. I guess calling also for Derek to talk to me about the Prime Minister, Alain Ali and Nicolas Maduro. What is the position? The position is a carry-on position. We are sticking with Guyana. Personally, I'm friends to both the Prime Minister of Guyana and the President of Venezuela. We're friends. We speak to each other, you understand? But our position is our region must be a zone of peace. We don't have any conflicts in our region. So the carry-on position is Senutia's position. We stick to the carry-on position. But I have regulations with both of these people and Senutia's relationships with both of these countries. Yes. Yesterday, I spoke to the Venezuelan ambassador and the fertilizer should be here anytime and the minister of the deputy prime minister was speaking to her this morning about the flights from Venezuela to go. But things are in place. And the housing, we supposed to have a model house in the country very shortly. The president of Venezuela keeps his word and he wants it to happen. So, and I want to tell you something that you're going to, I haven't even told my cabinet, the president of Guyana is going to be our guest for independence next year. He's going to be our special guest for independence next year, the government of the president of Guyana. Yes, yes. The British High Commissioner was in St. Lucia last week. Yes, so he had some discussions with you and he had an engagement with us. One of the things that came out was that he had expressed that he and I think by extension the UK government was not pleased with the millennium highway project. I used to. Both of you, what he said that. What happened in those talks? You see, you know, it's like, it's like the grocery highway. Are you away? Are you away? Are you away? For the food time that there was a signed loan for the construction of the grocery highway? Are you aware that the shock bridge there was a plan verified by the Army Corps of Engineers and financed by the whole bank for the construction of the shock bridge? Are you aware that? Are you aware that the Bwaluwansh bridge that they created, they tried to cast all those potions upon me on it? Do you know the Bwaluwansh bridge? They were actually cost savings of $300,000. And the Bwaluwansh bridge was built on global competitive tendering for the whole world. And the firms got it was a solution firm was in league with a firm from Columbia. They had the ones who built the Bwaluwansh bridge and there was actual cost savings. And are you aware that the road next to it, which we need to we need to utilize, was built at $3 million direct award? Direct award by the same people who are speaking? Are you aware of that? So let's get back to what you asked me. Well, I was just asking. I was just asking, what were the conversations like with him as it relates to that project? Because he did say, you know, understand the Bwaluwansh bridge. Yes. You see, let me get Australia in my way. But I want you to report it. Tell your, I want you to tell your producer to report it. You're not, you're not reporting it, comrade. Please let your, let your, your, your, your, I know, because you know, this is me, you know, you know, I used to work in a newsroom, you know, I used to work in a newsroom. So I understand what you're saying. I used to work in a newsroom, you know, newsroom, you understand? And then one of St. Lucia's famous journalists. He used to have some time for me before. You understand? So I know what happens in, I always tell, but I know what happens in the newsroom. I used to work there. You understand? I know what happens in the newsroom. So I know, with all the good intentions in the world, when you say, nah, not that. I know that. And now let's go. Do you know that we had already secured finance for OPIC for the Milliam Highway? You know what? Yes. I know you, you, you, you look amused. Finance had already been secured for the Milliam Highway. From St. Scalic's George was Minister of Infrastructure. He had, he had devised that plan for a roundabout in the Milliam Highway. St. Scalic joined the agriculture of infrastructure. OPIC had financed that road, financed it. Okay. Together with the highway and together with feeder roads for agricultural is. When I'm talking about roads, the Q80 fund, feeder roads, I think there were 20 feeder roads. And I can give you the list. I can ask them to get a list for you of the roads that were funded by the Q80s for improvement. The roads that were funded. The roads that you see, you hear them talking about now. When they came into government, they abandoned all of that. And they used the money that Kenyantini had negotiated with the British, with Prime Minister Cameron. That money, Jamaica use of a scenario, some funds. And we, we wanted to use it for what is called a Chime Royal, which would be a road coming from the north to the south, a highway. Truth be told, there was not enough money in that grant to do it. It was a grant, grant funding. We already had the Skyburn Development Bank had already done a feasibility study. We invited the then Parliamentary Representative for Castries South East. We invited him. I want to listen to these things carefully, you know, because people seem to be forgetting the history. We invited the Parliamentary Representative for Castries South East to a meeting at the Bexon Primary School. There were two or three meetings. I went to one because I don't want to fear in the business of technocrats. I don't pretend to be an engineer. I don't pretend to be a commissioner, to be a policeman. I don't pretend what I did at school. That's what I am. My job is to create the enabling environment for the government's policy to happen. We invited him. He came to the meeting. He expressed his views. We also invited him to a meeting to deal with the flooding in Bexon. He expressed his views. Then when he came into government, they abandoned that plan. And they decided to use that money to do the Millennium Highway and the West Coast. We were the ones who negotiated the bridge. So the idea was the OPIC would fund the highway, go into the roundabout, connect to the bridge, and go to the West Coast. They said no. They were the ones who did all the bidding processes for the Millennium Highway. They were the ones who did all the arrangements for the Millennium Highway. Not this government. They were the ones who started the Millennium Highway. And when he came into government, we continued. So the Millennium Highway problem started from them. But of course, we can't blame them. What we said is that things are the main highway. We are not satisfied. And the bill is not satisfied. And we are asking that all the parties do better. I am told that they are going to be doing better because I agree. The public of St. Lucia is suffering because of that. So I agree. I'm not making any excuses. I agree. So the bill is and I stand on the same vein as that. This is my final question. I think the UN recently reported that this year was the warmest of the year. I know you are someone who has always advocated and spoke about the whole climate change and this and what not. But when we speak about national development and no one is going to speak of the climate reason, and we've got to speak about hurricanes and what not, will there also be some kind of consideration about the heat and how that may factor into all the development plans? In fact, in terms of production, because there are some global issues that we tend to be just playing around with. The discussion has been that sometimes it gets so hot that we will not be able to work outside. And then that's the discussion that leads to our productivity. You know, we have some serious issues to deal with, you know. Instead of people being selfish and fighting for power, there are some serious issues that every government will have to deal with. Every government, the cost of living, every government have to deal with. With the rhetoric you heard on the other side, every government will have to deal with cost of living. Every government have to deal with climate change. Every government have to deal with the deviant behavior in this country. Every government. So if you get back to the climate change and the heat, if you notice, and let's talk about roads. Yesterday, there was some potholing. As soon as the guy started, rain began to fall. All right, I'm going to say one of them, say I'm the one that made the pace hot. You want to believe somebody can say that on a political platform? You want to believe if I ever said so, what will happen? Anyhow, they say I'm the one that makes the pace hot. I'm the one. It's because of labor. There is heat. So that goes. But you heard it yourself comrades. That's what they said. And that's what I think I can ever be on a platform and a man say that. And I don't, and I won't pull him up. But there's cohesion. I don't want them to say the same thing. It's a matter of just throw it, throw it, throw it. Say anything. Call him names. Say what you don't know about him. And I said, let's say that. And then I heard sometimes the one that say God, God chooses the leaders, but God didn't choose me. You know, these are the things that pass for poise. Didn't say Lucia, you know. Yes, you heard so. I mean, that's what they said. That is what somebody said on a platform. They said that God chooses leaders, but God didn't choose me. So we are dealing, and that is why, and again, if you remember history, when we built the Watermush Bridge, it was the first climate resistant bridge that was built. We built it to deal with one in a thousand year events. So we used special material on that bridge and the consultant they had for that bridge was a consultant they chose. And you see, and that is why I can be so confident, you know, because history is on my side. I said I can be so confident. That's all the shots they threw at me. I can deal with it because history is on my side. Truth is on my side. When we built the Watermush Bridge, we said it was the first climate resistant bridge that's has been built in this country. They criticized it. They said it was corruption. They had about three or four audits. One of them who was writing was an auditor. They came out and found that we had core savings on the bridge. Because as I was saying, I don't interfere in these things. I don't interfere in these things. So back to the climate is question. So what we're going to do as a government is we're going to ensure that we build back better. So in the roads that are going to build, we're going to build back better to ensure these didn't happen. But in terms of productivity, we have a lot of issues when coming here. Because if you notice, it rains one minute. Next minute is hot. One day is very hot and the other day is all rain. And that has impact on our productivity and impact on our infrastructure plan. Can you confirm whether someone has been identified to be the Special Prosecutor? You know, the Special Prosecutor is chosen by the Legal and Judicial Commission. When the time comes, an appropriate announcement will be made. And also, did the Prime Minister announce that you will be making some pronouncements as it put into the Urinal International Airport Project? Can you give us an insight as soon as yet? The Urinal International Airport, as I said yesterday, we are going to continue. Right now, we are building the tower. The tower has been built now. But we could not, in good conscience, as I said yesterday, I could not put the people of St. Lucia at a billion-dollar debt. I could not. My conscience will not allow it. I could not. You understand? And I will not. We have decided on the way forward for Urinal International Airport. And right now, what is being prepared is a bill of quantities. But you must understand also. And again, I want you to note these things. The largest contract in St. Lucia was given by Director Wood, the largest contract in St. Lucia. And in that contract, every payment that goes out, apart from the interest rate, there is another fee on that payment. So the interest rate for that contract, before the right in interest rates, is in double digits. These are the financial arrangements that are inherited. And these are things that we must answer because people are pretending that they were never in government. So what we're doing now is that we have to enter into negotiations. We haven't started, but we're going into negotiations with the present contractor, who was legally appointed by Derek Award. And he's a Taiwanese contractor associated with the Taiwanese government. We are friends with the Taiwanese government. So we're going to enter into negotiations to look at the way forward. But what is being prepared now is a bill of quantities for the new terminal building. But work on the control tower is happening now. I just completed a meeting I'm in Trinidad and Tobago that was scheduled, that took place on the 6th to the 11th of November, addressing the Caribbean, the Commonwealth Caribbean seasonal agricultural workers program. And as you know, this program has been in existence for over 50 years. And we have many solutions who go to the Canadian farm to work. And so far every year, the employers, the farm owners, the Canadian government and representatives from the different governments in the Caribbean that are participating in the program do meet to discuss collective agreement in terms of the conditions under which the workers work in Canada, the rate of pay and other areas that can improve the situation for them. One of the big takeaway we had for this last meeting was the provision of dryers and laundry services to the workers. And as you know, Canada, there are times when the weather is very cold. And even if the workers wash their clothes, it would not dry quickly in the absence of dryer. So we agreed that the farm owners have to provide dryer in the accommodation that is given to the workers. Or if they do not have dryers installed, they are supposed to give them laundry fees and transportation to a laundry area so that they can get their clothes cleaned, washed and dry at least once a week. And that was a major benefit for us, a major gain in that last meeting because they had been negotiating for this for a while. And some farm owners did not provide that facility. So you find when the workers wash their clothes, because it's very cold, it takes how many days before it's dry, and therefore that created some discomfort for them. There was also concern about workers who actually leave the farm and go into the society. And it is one that we need to address, especially within the OECS. Some persons who do go on the farm and they maybe at the end of the program, they do not return to St Lucia or to the other islands. So this is something we have to address so that we prepare the workers. We felt that there was not enough preparation for the workers before they go on the farm. Some people just want to go on the farm. But now we'll have to put mechanisms in place to prepare them psychologically, to prepare them to adapt to the new environment and let them know that this is a contribution they are making not just to the food security in Canada but also creating employment and livelihood for the people in their respective countries. That program actually generates about 21 million US dollars per year in terms of returns coming to the countries, the OECS. Just a little bit. I could remember asking you sometime ago about the Department of Human Services and if they're given enough allocations or whatever to deal with the problems of society. Just recently we saw video circulating with women fighting with a child on all kinds of trauma. Just your thoughts and sentiments on these issues as it pertains to society now and what do you think can really be done to address and alleviate some of these fights? Well there has been a kind of decline in human relations in the society generally and I think sometimes we may attribute that to access to information and technology. Now we live in a global village before you only saw things when you reached there. You only hear things when you are next to it. But now with advent of technology you have the whole world at your disposal and therefore you have cross cultural practices where certain things that are norms, beliefs and values of our society we get this transmitted to our society unknowing to us because our children, the people in our society have access to that information and therefore they will choose the easier way out in terms of what they think is best for them and not what we advocate in our society. So therefore there is that trend of a breakdown in the whole social fabric of our society and therefore we have to use the same means now to promote positive values. We have to go aggressively with the technology so that we promote the good things, the better way of doing things because our children, our young people are exposed to a lot of the negative things in the social environment. You have access to the internet and everything else at the tip of a finger and that was not there many years ago. So it is one that requires a lot more robust action, more vigilance on the part of government. It will require a lot more investment for us to address these issues. The investigation into the escaped context from Bordeaux hasn't concluded as yet. No, it is still ongoing but they have him back behind bars and therefore we await what the judge will rule on that as to whether it will require some stiffer penalty for the inmate for having violated the law and trying to escape custody. Also, did you listen to the senior correctional officers' firearms when they said what it was? Well that has been in the public domain and I know you are fully aware of that but at the correctional facility they are taking measures now to ensure that it is not on the premises and then to do what is necessary on how that firearm can be recovered or how do we deal with the situation. But it is currently actively under investigation. While we on BCF there were some concerns about some drones being flown around in the area. I remember last when the correctional services association spoke about it, they mentioned it in one of the keys or whatnot but are you aware of any situation where the drones are very over the prison or anything of that nature? Is there anything that can be controlled or denied? Well we don't have anything concrete on this matter. What I know we have been doing when it comes to the bodily correctional facility is to tighten security and you would have known that the fencing around bodily which is almost 20 years was almost falling apart and therefore the government has invested over five million dollars to put in new fencing that is more durable and long lasting and the process right now as we speak is ongoing. So it is one that we want to restrict movement close to the facility. Now with regards to the drones we have also increased security measures at bodily with cameras that can pick up things that are happening there that the government invested heavily in so we know that it will be possible for security persons at the prison to pick up any strange movement or objects in that vicinity. So we are addressing that problem. On the labor front, how active is the labor tribunal because I think it was early this year it was at some event, I'm not sure, but it was public service because you had made some statements that there was some outstanding cases at the labor tribunal so I want to know has there been any cutting down that number has those things been heard deliberately? Well I have not received an official report from them but what I know they have been meeting in fact right now they have some challenges which we are trying to address in terms of creating a permanent space for them to conduct their hearings and some persons have gotten results from the cases and some are still outstanding but so far the tribunal has been trying its best to address some of the issues that have been there. In fact when they did assume position there was over 57 cases that were there in waiting for hearing but since then with the new labor commissioner he has and together with the other labor officers they have been able to clear a lot of the issues so they do not really refer all these cases to the tribunal so there has been a reduction in the number of cases that have been submitted to the tribunal so in the meantime they are trying to clear the backlog that is there. Right but the proposed strike for Lucillec workers that matter has been referred to the tribunal so in in that light you cannot proceed with action if it is before the tribunal so they have welcomed the idea and they said they are willing to go to the tribunal to resolve the matter.