 House of Assembly sitting 2017 from the Government Information Service, I am Alisha Ali and thank you so very much for joining us here at the National Television Network. Now don't worry there are several ways you can connect with us, well quite apart from being on our cable channels you can connect with us on Facebook Live, you can join our YouTube channel, you can also log on to www.govt.lc so that you can catch today's exciting proceedings. What do we have on the agenda today? Well of course it's the appropriation bill, what does that mean? The appropriation bill, Prime Minister the Honourable Alan M. Shastney will be laying his first budget address in the House of Assembly since being elected on the 6th of June 2016 and in that presentation we are expecting the Prime Minister to present a roadmap for the country and it will focus on the implementation of programs, projects and policies and the title of that presentation will be Build a New St. Lucia. The Prime Minister will specifically lay out plans for strategic priority areas not only for this year but over the next three to four years and in those strategic areas that we are looking at, we are looking at creating sustainable employment, social re-engineering, tourism, agriculture, security and justice, energy and climate change. Now if we go down to the chamber floor we can see we have quite a number of people here in the audience waiting to take in the proceedings quite apart from the members on the floor who are elected, members of parliament, we see the opposition and the government side present and deep that we see on the government side we can see the Minister and the Ministry of Finance along with the Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture they are actually senators and the upper house will be meeting on the appropriation bill not this week but subsequently. Well first and foremost the Prime Minister will lay the bill here today and the debate will continue from 4 p.m. tomorrow and will move into Thursday and maybe Friday and we can see the President of the Senate Honourable Andy Daniels also here to take in the proceedings. We have officials from the Ministry of Finance who will be assisting the Prime Minister in his budget address. As we look around the chamber while we are waiting for the speaker of the House of Assembly Honourable Leon Theodore John we can see that there are the atmosphere is quite exciting actually and while we're on the subject of appropriation which what it does when the appropriation bill moves to become the Appropriations Act it allows the Government of St. Lucia to withdraw money from the consolidated fund we can see the public gallery here at the House of Parliament in Laba Street in Castries and it's a few more seats left but as you can see everybody is shoulder to shoulder here in the gallery anxiously awaiting the Prime Minister's made an address on the appropriation bill. Now going back to the appropriation bill before we met last not last week but the week before where the Prime Minister presented the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the upcoming fiscal year 2017 to 2018 in the amount of 1.513 billion dollars and today he's expected to expound on the figures in that document the dollars and cents on the constituencies the different government agencies and ministries and he will also be expected to outline the medium to long-term fiscal strategies including a number of tax reforms. We are expecting the Speaker of the House of Assembly of St Lucia the Honourable Leon Theodore John and she will be coming into the chamber very shortly and so just very briefly before she enters the chamber we can in according to the Prime Minister's budget address that we were able to take in previously the target of 3.2 percent of GDP in the budget was met and there was a mocked improvement in the fiscal position of central government and we can see that for revenues and grants tax revenue recorded 13.1 million dollars in slur plus over its target of 945.7 billion dollars the sergeant of arms is making his way into the chamber he's carrying the mace and he is followed by the Speaker of the House of Assembly Honourable Leon Theodore John and this signals the beginning of this afternoon's proceedings I now take you to the chamber floor let us pray my to God by whom alone kings reign and princes decree justice and from whom alone cometh all council wisdom and understanding with iron worthy servants have gathered together in thy name do most humbly beseech thee to send down thy heavenly wisdom from above to direct and guide us in all our consultations and grant that we having thy fear always before our eyes and laying aside all private interests prejudices and partial affections the result of all our council may be to the glory of thy blessed name the maintenance of true religion and justice the safety honor and happiness of the Queen the public world peace and tranquility of St. Lucia and the uniting and knitting together of the heart of all persons and estates within the same in true Christian love and charity one towards another to Jesus Christ our Lord amen the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all forever amen announcements honorable members i wish to inform that i am in receipt of communication from the honorable member for denry sol indicating that he's unable to be with us today and therefore sends his apologies statements by ministers papers to be laid honorable prime minister for finance economic growth job creation external affairs the public service leader of government business man speaker i beg to lay the following papers in my name statutory instrument number 37 of 2017 public service commission disciplinary proceedings regulations honorable member for economic development housing urban renewal transport and civil aviation madam speaker i beg to lay the following papers standing in my name statutory instrument number 38 of 2017 St Lucia national housing corporation larry shoes viewport vesting order statutory instrument number 39 of 2017 St Lucia national housing corporation larry shoes viewport vesting order number two honorable minister in the office of the prime minister with responsibility for tourism and information and broadcasting madam speaker i would like to lay the following papers in my name statutory instrument number 40 of 2017 tourism incentives nico storing services limited order statutory instrument number 41 of 2017 tourism incentives black pearl limited order statutory instrument number 42 of 2017 tourism stimulus and investment cabot st lucia ink order statutory instrument number 43 of 2017 tourism stimulus and investment the hamlet limited order statutory instrument number 44 of 2017 tourism stimulus and investment be wretched limited order statutory instrument number 45 of 2017 tourism stimulus and investment freedom fund ink order statutory instrument number 46 of 2017 tourism stimulus and investment flora cottages villas limited order honorable minister in the office of the prime minister with responsibility for commerce industry enterprise development and consumer affairs madam speaker i beg to lay the following papers standing in my name statutory instrument number 47 of 2017 price control amendment number six order bills honorable prime minister minister for finance economic growth job creation external affairs the public service leader of government business madam speaker i beg to move for the first reading a bill shortly entitled appropriation 2017 2018 appropriation 2017 2018 honorable prime minister minister for finance economic growth job creation external affairs the public service leader of government business madam speaker i beg to move for the suspension of standing order 482 to allow the appropriation 2017 2018 bill to go through its remaining stages at this city honorable members the question is that standing order 482 be suspended in order to allow the appropriation 2017 2018 bill to go through its remaining stages at this sitting i now put the question as many are as of that opinion see i as many are as of a contrary opinion say no i think the eyes have it the eyes have it leave his granted honorable prime minister honorable minister in the office of the prime minister from office of the prime minister with responsibility for external affairs madam speaker i beg to move for the suspension of standing order 482 9 in order to allow the honorable prime minister for finance and minister for finance to move the second reading of the appropriation 2017 2018 bill beyond the stipulated time and without interruption honorable members the question is that standing order 39 32 9 be suspended in order to allow the honorable minister for finance to move for the second reading of the appropriation 2017 2018 bill beyond the stipulated time and without interruption i now put the question as many as of that opinion see i as many as of a contrary opinion say no i think the eyes have it the eyes have it leave his granted please proceed honorable prime minister honorable prime minister minister for finance economic growth job creation external affairs and the public service leader of government business madam speaker i beg to move for the second reading of a bill shortly entitled appropriation 2017 2018 bill madam speaker i'm extremely honored today to deliver the policy statement on the budget for fiscal year 2017 2018 to this honorable house this is also a very special occasion for me as i am for the first time presenting a budget address to this honorable house i feel extremely humble now the speaker and i wish to place on record my thanks and appreciation to the many people of st lusia especially the people of microsoft many are who are who are here today i want to recognize windy kennison anthony joseph michael filip etion theresa marina valencia anthony with his tie morris and mary these are only a few of the people who i owe a great debt of gratitude for their confidence and continued support madam speaker i wish to inform the people of st lusia that our government will not let them down this is why we began to work on the day after elections we're confident that with the help of the people of st lusia we will rescue our economy madam speaker our government has been in office for a little over 11 months and now have a full appreciation of the state of the economy and the public finances i must say the situation confronting st lusia is far worse than we thought it was madam speaker the dashboard of economic and social indicators for st lusia shows we are trapped in a vicious cycle characterized by low growth high unemployment and high debt this malaise has brought untold suffering on the people of st lusia we intend with the help of the people of st lusia to turn this economy around madam speaker much has been written about the state of st lusia's economy and i believe we all know the problems very well the myriad of reports written by the international monetary fund the world bank the caribbean development bank essentially highlight the same set of issues and challenges challenges faced by this economy these include low growth high public debt and fiscal deficits high unemployment low productivity lack of competitiveness structural problems in the labor market and the high cost of doing business madam speaker these issues have been discussed ad nauseam yet the problems still remain we are determined to lift st lusia out of this economic quagmire by taking the necessary tough policy decisions required to lead us back into a trajectory of high growth sustainable debt high levels of investment low unemployment and improved standard of living for all st lusia's madam speaker i've listened to many solutions of all walks of life and i personally feel inspired by them i know that they're willing to partner with us in making the changes required to make st lusia a prosperous economy we will not madam speaker achieve instant success Rome after all was not built in a day this budget this budget will lay the foundation for the implementation of the programs projects and policies which my government intends to implement over the next four years to make st lusia the success story of the caribbean in this policy i address madam speaker i shall outline the context the vision the plan programs and policies that we intend to implement which will be the foundation for the next four years the road to our destination will be bumpy implementing change is sometimes messy and i never and never easy i am however confident in the people of st lusia they understand that we will have to choose a different path as the greatest risk is continuing to do the same thing my government will provide honest effective and inspirational leadership to tackle the economic and social policy challenges in an inequity in an inequitable manner madam speaker following the severe impact of the financial crisis global economic growth has settled at a moderate rate of about three percent the imf is projecting that the u.s economy economic growth will accelerate to about two point three percent in 2017 and two and two point five percent in 2018 while the euro area is projected to grow by one point seven percent in 2017 and one point six percent in 2018 commodity prices have remained low particularly energy prices and this has contributed to the low levels of inflation in most countries crude oil prices have remained below us fifty dollars per barrel on average in 2016 this average remains significantly below its peak in 2008 when the average was ninety nine dollars and six cents per barrel indications suggest a slight increase inflation in inflation in 2017 particularly in advanced economies as interest rates are expected to increase madam speaker the economies of most caribbean countries showed signs of strengthening in 2016 with the exception of trinidad and tobago however constraints to growth namely high debt levels and external current and fiscal deficits remain the main drivers of growth for tourism and construction activity the tourism dependent countries such as barbedos jamaica the bahamas and the members of the eastern caribbean currency experience increase arrivals mainly from the united states the economies of the eastern caribbean currency union union averaged a growth rate of two point two percent while san lucho's economy grew only point nine percent from one point nine percent in 2015 the fiscal position of the governments of some countries improve marketly most notably in granada monserrat san quits and nevis madam speaker san lucho's point nine percent growth performance in 2016 though meager was attributed to expansions in its construction manufacturing agriculture wholesale and retail and financial services sector over the past 10 years from 2006 to 2016 the overall economy has been growing at an average rate of one point three percent san lucho's economy continued to experience deflation in 2016 with the consumer price index falling by three point one percent this was mainly due to lower energy prices the country's major trading partners experienced negative to low inflation which also contributed to the lower cons consumer prices in san lucha the increase in domestic economic activity was accompanied by an improvement in the labor force participation rate which increased to 73.4 percent and a further reduction in the rate of unemployment there was a reduction in the unemployment rate from 24.1 percent in 2015 to 21.6 percent in 2016 while this is good news there are still about 22 500 people unemployed in this country and a youth unemployment rate of 43.1 percent which is a serious matter that my government is already tackling head on the fiscal operations of the central government improved in fiscal year 2016 2017 as evidenced by the narrowing of the fiscal deficit which moved from 100.9 million in 2015 2016 to 67.8 million in 2016 2017 this was mainly due to a higher growth in revenue and moderate growth in expenditure total revenue in grants receipts increased by six percent while total expenditure increased by three percent the growth in current expenditure was driven by double digit increases in interest payments and current transfers the tourism sector continued to dominate economic activity despite declining numbers in 2016 total visitor arrivals fell by 7.3 mainly due to a 13.2 decline in cruise arrivals the drop in cruise passengers was partly offset by the increase of 0.9 percent in stayover visitors primarily from the u.s and the caribbean unfortunately visitor expenditure contracted by 4.8 percent to 1.97 billion the agricultural sector grew by 4 percent the sector was poised to make an even greater contribution but its performance was impacted by tropical tropical storm matthew in september of 2016 banana exports were poised to record a second consecutive year of growth with the volume of exports increasing by 15 percent up to the third quarter however production declined in the fourth quarter as a result of the storm resulting in an overall contraction in volume of 1.1 percent to 14 629 tons export earnings were reduced by 11.2 percent to 19.8 million the pattern of banana exports appears to be shifting with the volume of export to the caribbean region surpassing exports to the uk for the first time purchases of other fruits and vegetables by supermarkets and hotels declined due to the effects of the storm and a speaker the construction sector was the most dynamic sector as a result of investment in the construction of hotels and commercial properties accounting for approximately 60 percent of the growth in gdp in 2016 work on the 450 room royalton hotel provided a significant boost to construction sector activity in the construction sector employed 17 percent of the 5248 persons who gained employment in 2016 the manufacturing sector experienced further growth in 2016 evidence by a 7.2 percent increase in production increases were recorded from non-alcoholic beverages as well as bakery products a lack of competitiveness and low levels of utilization of productive capacity did dampen the growth prospects for the manufacturing sector exports of manufactured products to the region were affected by continued difficulties in trinidad and tobago in accessing foreign exchange now a speaker i now turn to the financial and monetary sectors this includes the activities of banks credit unions insurance and money service entities in the commercial banking sector the stock of bank credit and loans and advances by banks continue to fall in 2016 indicative of a higher level of risk aversion and arguably low growth environment resulting in reduced number of bankable projects this decline is happening within the context of continued growth in deposits which has resulted in liquidity indications such as the loans to deposit ratios declining to 90.1 percent by 2016 from 119 percent in 2013 and excess reserves held at the ecc by the commercial banks rising to 451.1 million from 244.3 million in 2013 the liquidity of the financial sector now presents the opportunity for increased lending by banks and a speaker following the 2008 global financial crisis they were a series of global initiatives dealing with mitigating tax avoidance and evasion and enhancing the transparency of the global financial system these resulted in set lucha having to amend its financial regulatory framework so as to be compliant with the new international norms permit me then madam speaker to highlight a few topical developments in this vein de-risking foreign account tax compliance act or known as factor an exchange of information madam speaker according to the world bank de-risking refers to the severing of a correspondent banking relationship between local banks and overseas banks practices by global financial institutions threaten to cut off access to the global financial systems for the remittance companies and local banks in certain regions putting them at risk of losing access to the global financial system if the current trend continues people and organizations in the more volatile areas in the world or in small countries with limited financial markets such as solution could be completely cut off from access to regulated financial services keeping individuals and businesses in regulated financial systems is a precondition for effective systems to mitigate risk and combat financial crisis in layman's terms madam speaker remittances has the ability of making you unable to use your local credit card when you travel and what the world is saying it does not want people to carry cash it wants people to put their monies in banks and to deal electronically and this is in order to strengthen the financial system and to avoid people who are trying to bypass the regulations in march 2010 the united states enacted fact that in a direct effort to stop tax evasion and enhance financial oversight to become a compliance and lucia signed on to the intergovernmental agreement model 1a with the united states on november 19th 2015 in order to facilitate information exchanges this allows for the two-way automatic exchange of the information between the us and st lucia madam speaker in addition to our obligations to united states in relation to facta st lucia is party to 32 active exchange of information agreements with various countries which is spearheaded by the global forum on transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes madam speaker allow me for a moment to take a step back and reflect on st lucia today or what i hope will be the st lucia of the past what do i see i see high unemployment high debt and chronically low growth of development these have been the hallmark of our economy for some time let me now spend some time to go over some of the data to illustrate our economic and social plight from 1996 to 2015 the economy grew by an average rate of only 1.6 percent more significantly growth averaged only 1.3 over the last 10 years and what is of what and what is of great concern to this government madam speaker is the fact that the economy grew by an average of 0.3 over the last five years madam speaker low economic growth is the number one economic challenge we face in st lucia today it is clear from the numbers that i have quoted that growth has become progressively weaker in more recent periods while one may argue that the economy was severely impacted by the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 several of our regional peers have successfully recovered and are now doing better than us with their economic growth growing at higher rates for example growth in the eccu from 2012 to 2016 was estimated at 2 percent compared to 0.3 percent for st lucia over the same period this is just not acceptable over the past decade our unemployment rate has increased significantly from 14 percent in 2007 to above 20 percent where it has stubbornly remained youth unemployment has followed a similar trend and has remained extremely high at 43.1 percent it is extremely sad reality that over one fifth or 20 percent of our productive labor force is unemployed and by extension madam speaker this implies unemployed capital in that scenario this in effect means that we have substantial capacity for expansion growth and development another major concern that we have to address in our economy is the issue of productivity is estimated that st lucia's productivity has been falling by an average of 0.6 percent from 2007 to 2016 the low levels of worker productivity can be directly linked to an acute skills mismatch in st lucia our workforce is predominantly low skills and has been revealed by many and has been revealed by many reports however the economy requires an ample supply of skilled and semi-skilled labor which we are failing to produce i believe it is worrying to know that jobs are available within the economy but our our citizens are not sufficiently skilled to hold these jobs our debt position has continued to worsen with the debt burden creeping up from one year to the next year the increase in the debt stock coupled with low growth and its implications for servicing the debt has severely restricted our degrees of freedom in implementing expansionary fiscal policies to cushion the adverse impact of low growth in addition the structure of our debt with a large percentage of it being in the form of short-term instruments has significantly increased the rollover risk i would like to highlight madam speaker that the cost of doing business in st lucia is in most cases higher than that of its competitors one area where the disparity is quite clear is that is with the cost of electricity which is most cases directly impacts the cost of production st lucia's ranking in the ease of doing business report has fallen from 34 in 2008 to 86 in 2016 this madam speaker tells us clearly that st lucia's trajectory is in the wrong direction and the trend must be reversed i wish to finally mention a critical element of the enabling environment that is essential for the supporting growth and investment of physical infrastructure madam speaker we have an aging infrastructure and public assets have deteriorated significantly due to the lack of timely adequate and at times no maintenance our roads schools hospitals water distribution network government buildings including police stations require urgent attention these costs are however beyond what this country country's fiscal capacity can support madam speaker if we are to propel this economy on a trajectory of higher growth and development we must restructure our economy to enhance its competitiveness and productivity the choices are stark we either embark on the journey of transforming our economy or we continue to wallow in the vicious cycle of low growth high debt and high unemployment my government has chosen the path which will restore the prosperity to our nation madam speaker this debate provides as always an opportunity for reflection and introspection it is a task we must undertake with an honesty that is brutal and unrelenting as i reflect on the social face of st lucia i am truly truly concerned we're seemingly drowning in a pool of blatant negativity and a decadent behavior let us not be shocked by such an assessment it surrounds us all its guises it surrounds us all in its guises and forms crime violence abuse lack of respect for the people and property these have become the norm and part of our daily existence we must encourage discourse but not destruction we have to set better standards for ourselves and for our children and to take pride in our country st lucia we're confronted with rising levels of poverty and unemployment those who are vulnerable do not look for the look with confidence to a system that is supposed to inform support and empowerment so their vicious cycle of dependency and that of their household continues with no hope inside we breed apathy we nurture disinterest we do nothing those who choose to deny such a characterization may do so but my administration will not for too long we have wallowed in mediocrity and negativity content to stagnate in some instances even regress while hiding behind the convenience of the socioeconomic cards the world and its system has dealt us in this last in his last budget address as prime minister so john compton lamented the physical economic and social divide that was unfolding within our country he was strong in his conviction that a quantum leap of thought and action was the only way out almost 10 years on his words assume even greater relevance madam speaker we're at a critical juncture in our development journey we can either choose to act decisively to affect real change in our country or we can continue to plot on an old familiar path to nowhere we can find ways to harness the energy and the industry of the majority of our people we can seek to utilize and unleash their creativity and talents or we can allow the minority to continue to paint this sad face of st lusia and we self-destruct as a direct consequence of the inaction of the majority our government has chosen the path of change we are committed to building a new st lusia with citizens who are humble and proud committed to excellence and accepting of all people thoughts and ideas we relish the challenge of creating a society that is competitive productive and inclusive madam speaker the time the times demand a new vision for st lusia to provide a roadmap for growth and development it cannot be business as usual and this new vision would require fundamental and structural changes in the economy we want to build a st lusia which instills pride a place where businesses can flourish where people can get jobs not handouts where people feel secure care for each other can access educational opportunities receive quality health services and enjoy a comfortable standard of living without imposing a burden on the future generations our approach will engage all sectors of our society and be based on dialogue therefore the following strategic areas of focus will be aggressively pursued over the next four years with the underlying aim of achieving substantial and inclusive growth one creating sustainable employment two reengineering social services three reforming government to make it more responsive to the business community and citizens four improving security and justice five building capacity in renewable energy and six adapting to climate change madam speaker creating sustainable employment is a priority of this government and we have pledged to work towards an unemployment rate of no more than 15 by 2021 as stated in our manifesto is expected that many of the investments within the coming months will create employment throughout the island particularly in the sectors of tourism agriculture and construction clearly our approach is very different from the labor party we aim to create the enabling environment for growth within the private sector by providing incentives enhancing government support services improving efficiency in the public sector and addressing the existing skills gap we're currently working on a comprehensive incentives package which will create employment within the private sector and provide much needed support to businesses within solution more details will be given on the incentive package within the upcoming months madam speaker as one of the main contributors to the economy the tourism sector will be re-engineered in order to achieve its full potential and to be used as a catalyst for economic growth we'll work towards building a tourism product that is globally competitive environmentally and socially sustainable and will maximize both backward and forward linkages particularly in our culture manufacturing and construction sectors madam speaker it is possible to expand the tourism room stock by 2000 rooms over the next four years throughout the island major tourism investments are expected we've already witnessed the opening of the roulton where a minimum of 900 jobs have been created during operations the harbour club is expected to be open towards the end of the third quarter of the calendar where 117 rooms are expected to be available and it's envisioned that the minimum of 150 jobs will be available coconut bay plans a 200 room expansion and is expected to employ a minimum of 400 persons during the construction and an additional 320 jobs on completion madam speaker there are some other major investments under active consideration work will begin on the fermant st lusia resort in sabbasha schwazel in september of this year this this development will employ 150 workers during construction and 250 workers upon completion this resort will be unique space that integrates local nature a low-rise building complex and a wide range of recreational facilities the hotel will include 125 star hotel rooms 37 villas three restaurants a spa commercial areas for local producers and traders and three swimming pools a special central place in the development is provided for local tradition a number of shops for carbons and paintings will feature at the property the raid we breach will be redeveloped and will become the home of a luxury five-star dual branded hotel called courier and hilton this property will be built where the rec resort was previously located the courier on the hilton will feature 500 luxury rooms 350 rooms assigned to hilton and 150 assigned to the courier brand this development will cost in excess of us 100 million and will and is expected to employ at least 650 workers during operations work on this property will begin within the last quarter of 2017 madam speaker we're expecting to work for work to commence on the honeymoon bay resort and canal was very soon this resort will consist of two hotels the first is a 250 room five star luxury family all inclusive hotel and the second is an 80 room five star luxury hotel this resort will feature an 18-hole golf course and a clubhouse and the museum the development is expected to cost us 360 million and will employ about 600 workers during the construction and 750 full time and 300 part-time workers during operation madam speaker the range developments signed an agreement with the government of salucha to acquire black bay lands and develop black bay into an integrated master plan luxury touristic community the black bay master development will consist of a luxury branded hotel in villas and other amenities set on 180 acres on the southern tip of the island the hotel is expected to have 180 rooms and will be the central anchor anchor of the black bay master development the estimated development value of black bay hotel is us 130 million initial site works are expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2017 or the first quarter in 2018 and the hotel is expected to be complete by the end of 2020 peak employment during the construction phase will be 300 direct hires and 400 during operations madam speaker sandals resorts international has confirmed plans to add a fourth resort on st lusia the property will offer 350 rooms and suites inclusive of an exotic sky pool butler suites all butler signatures swim and roundable suites and an infinity edge sky pool bar this project is estimated to cost us 250 million madam speaker yet another opportunity for the creation of an estimated 600 jobs during the construction phase an estimated 875 jobs during the operational phase groundbreaking for the project is set to begin in 2018 in addition to these developments we will focus our efforts on increasing the number of three star properties on the island as we recognize this is a preferred property type for our european visitors and yachters the government's policy is to reserve the three star property developments for st lusian's and to invest in keeping with the village tourism madam speaker we're looking to increase our room stock in this madam speaker we are looking to increase our room stock and this has the effect of increasing our capacity and hence makes st lusia a more competitive to increasing airlift and open the possible markets which were previously untaxed we'll create and capitalize on the concept of village tourism eight existing fishing villages will be transformed into unique tourism villages based on their attributes and strengths these villages will be uniquely themed and development plans will be established in a participatory manner which will address the village's infrastructure culinary assets architecture and capacity this is in support of an expansion of the shared economy in which much the same way that grows a lake continues to benefit from village tourism this this opportunity is further enhanced by the continuation and success of air bnb we'll further develop our niche markets of romance family and adventure based tourism and expand our offerings in areas of equal tourism sports tourism and business tourism madam speaker it is our attention that everyone in society be given an opportunity to benefit from tourism development at some level this is clear given the decentralization of the tourism related investments particularly the development of viewport as a new tourism frontier our government will continue to provide support including financial support for persons in hospitality training one of these per one of these persons have successfully completed their programs once these persons have successfully competed their programs they will be eligible for employment with many of the major cruise lines we intend to train a minimum of 500 persons in this financial year madam speaker to generate employment opportunities especially within the south of the island for example our government has partnered with ojo labs international to develop an artificial intelligence training and call center to market and sell their products services software and technology of ojo and his clients including the fastest growing real estate company in the united states by september ojo will occupy least retrofitted premises within the sent lucha free zone to house this facility employees will be recruited and trained starting this month it is anticipated that 50 jobs in the area of artificial attempt intelligence training will be immediately created with the plan to expand ultimately to over 200 this is the first for the caribbean i will provide our people with advanced technological skills that are not currently available they're currently not unavailable in the region this will provide an opportunity for our young people to expose to cutting edge technology from a first world company madam speaker this government recognizes the importance of our culture particularly for creating employment especially in rural communities for reducing poverty generating income and achieving food security our government will create the environment to enable the private sector to participate in the development of the agriculture sector and foster a commercialized approach to livestock rearing fresh produce farming and fishing we will revitalize the banana industry and increase banana production the ranzu farms have been identified as available farm lands which will be utilized for banana cultivation these lands will be leased to the farmers through windfish madam speaker a banana productivity improvement project will be on undertaking during this financial year in addition to addressing the issues related to leaf spot control that project will oversee the expansion of the current acreage by 600 to a thousand hectares arrest decline in production and rebuild farmers confidence increase productivity to 37 to 49 tons per hectare acre and restore production to satisfy the requirements of the market with these efforts an export target of 60 to 70 000 tons is anticipated by year three of the project assistance provided with the input supply leaf spot control land development and drainage measures will also be adopted to build resilience to climate change and steps will be taken to help farmers mitigate the effects of natural disasters or economic shocks new opportunities will be created for generating income and employment in rural areas by expanding and diversifying production specific crops will be targeted and grown using greenhouse technology in an effort to reduce the seasonality of these crops additionally specific farmers will be identified as producers for these crops and these farmers will enter into contracts with hotels for the constant supply of fresh produce madam speaker i am confident that this measure will reduce the uncertainty of supply amongst both farmers and hoteliers and create the environment for additional linkages to be made madam speaker this government's agricultural diversification strategy will focus on a national on national food security the exploration and exploitation of niche markets for non-traditional products and in so doing optimizing the employment opportunities available within the agricultural sector through the agricultural transformation program ATP of the banana accompanying measures BAM project a number of components will be undertaken will be undertaken the first component is the refurbishment and retrofitting of agro processing facilities on the island the second component is the construction of a national diagnostic facility this activity is designed to enhance our research and technology capability the third component is disaster risk reduction in agriculture it includes the procurement of inputs to control the black sigatoga disease the rehabilitation of farm community infrastructure is also part of this component the initial focus was on drainage and riverbank stabilization we will also pay place emphasis on rehabilitation of farm roads commonly referred to as feeder roads the fourth component is the youth agricultural enterprise facilitation program which seeks to create the enabling environment to allow the entry of approximately 150 persons into our culture as young entrepreneurs the objective is to increase the number of new farmers the yet is also an incubator program designed to accelerate the pace at which solutions our cultural sector is modernized transformed and diversified by the speaker our road network has deteriorated badly over the years and funds allocated have been insufficient to adequately maintain the roads this has been made worse by the extreme weather events in the last fiscal year only 5.35 million dollars was spent on road repairs and maintenance and we all see the poor results the department of infrastructure has prepared a comprehensive plan for the restoration of our road network this plan is expected to be executed over five years with the restorative works to be carried out throughout the island at an estimated cost of approximately 479 million dollars we intend to explore cost-effective options for financing this year's program the rehabilitation and maintenance of the road network will include the following repairs and maintenance potholding drainage and retaining structures and grills on primary secondary and tertiary roads the acquisition of road maintenance management system which will assist in the department of infrastructure in planning their maintenance programs reconstruction and rehabilitation of bridges culverts and water crossings a bridge condition assessment has been undertaken island wide this study has identified the bridges to be maintained or replaced rehabilitation of roads within the city towns and villages road works associated with the shock to grow Zilei highway rehabilitation of the millennium highway roadway and junction improvement procurement and acquisition of road safety equipment this includes traffic lights guardrails road signs and other equipment we will endeavor to undertake the rehabilitation of approximately 38.9 kilometers of agriculture and feeder roads in various parts of the island madam speaker in the northern highway from castries to grows a lake is the busiest stretch of road and solution and based on current trends it is expected to become if it has not already even more congested in the coming years in december our cabinet considered all the options available for addressing the congestion issue and directed the department of infrastructure to undertake the following one full rehabilitation of the bypass roads to provide drivers with viable alternatives to the highway to an in-depth review of the shock bridge to ensure economy in the designs feasibility studies for the north south highway is complete and all indications are that this is the long-term solution to the issue of the congestion in the city and castries to grows a lake highway our government has decided that a holistic long-term solution is necessary and our only choice and speaker i move to a project known to solutions as the sh or every time i hear i call it i call it delivering southern hope madam speaker there's been much discussion regarding the dsh project but regrettably a lot of it has been in ill-informed i'm now grateful for the opportunity to clarify the details of this existing exciting investment which has the ability to transform the face of the south and to provide much needed hope to the thousands of unemployed youth who've been neglected for too long finally we can bring some relief to the south the government of san lucha has entered into a framework agreement with desert start holdings limited for the development of the pearl of the caribbean i would like to recognize in the house tonight the owner and chairman of desert start holdings and that is mr tail at king the pearl of the caribbean has three phases and will include a race course residential properties casino hotel marina and recreational park the project will be phased over 20 years with the racetrack at boson ju view fort comprising the first phase of the project madam speaker let me say for all to hear this is the only phase of the project that has been approved by my government thus far all other plans are under consideration are being and are being reviewed madam speaker and on completion of the review will continue we will continue consultations with all stakeholders particularly residents and property owners in the south madam speaker please permit me to show the most recent details for phase three of the project as you can see following the initial consultations the developer has listened to the concerns of the people and fulfilled his promise that the design will not connect to marie island but in looking to enhance the point sabbade the dca has granted approval in principle for the racetrack pending an environmental and social impact assessment this assessment is now complete and has been submitted madam speaker as we can see by the photographs i think we all have to recognize the genius of mr tail king and the outstanding work that he has done in other parts of the world and that he would choose to come to st lusia and to bring this level of creativity energy and his level of contacts to the benefit of our island madam speaker we know that this is a bold and sweeping project that the scale of the project is unprecedented but at the time so was pigeon island the millenium highway the john compton dam the has all refinery and the rodney bay marina and we cannot be afraid to embrace the development because without it there is no hope for our people the jobs they need so desperately will not fall from the sky we must create them solutions can be assured that we will do so which marie's respect for our environment with the need to develop for the for the two must go hand in hand phase one of the project will be implemented leader this year all in relation to the racetrack domestic and international barns equestrian lawn equine clinic and quarantine barn fractional ownership of homestead villa race course boulevard infield park and polo field and a permanent grandstand and a temporary grandstand during the construction phase there'll be an estimated 500 to 800 persons on site with a management team of 10 to 20 persons once the race course is operational persons will receive training and employment in the areas of horse husbandry maintenance facilities and management of the race course and training of the race horses on average the race horse industry says that three to four jobs are created for every third red such jobs being jockeys trainers barn managers groundkeepers groomers veterinarians vet assistants and blacksmiths it's estimated that we will have over 400 horses third red horses in residence at the royal st. lucia turf club madam speaker the dsh project are delivering southern hope will transform view forth from the ghost town that it has become under the labor party administration into a modern progressive city full of opportunities for its citizens no longer will high rates of joblessness plague view for it no longer will the people of the south field like abandoned children this project will also make use of underutilized lands in the south particularly in boson ju and create several ancillary industries and linkages with existing businesses the opportunities this project presents are endless and our government is grateful to the developer for expressing this level of confidence in our country in our government to make such a large-scale investment here we welcome this development and look forward to the job opportunities it will provide to our young people particularly those from the south madam speaker our government is committed to the development of the huanora international airport on assuming office slaspa had engaged the international finance corporation to serve as a lead advisor to develop and advise the feasibility of implementing a public private sector partnership transaction for the development of hia on review of the i of c proposal our government decided to embark upon exploring alternative financing arrangements within the context of a broader vision for the development in view for which includes the development of the hia and also a cruise ship terminal madam speaker as part of the development of view for it we aim to enhance the natural deep water harbor to accommodate cruise ships and build build out a home porting facility given its close proximity to the airport announcement on the confirmation of the financing we made later this year madam speaker there is no question that our city is desperate need for redevelopment if we are to compete to be competitive and modern and ready to face the future i speak of castries madam speaker my government will undertake several projects which we envision are critical to the modernization of the city traffic congestion must be addressed and the construction of a new cargo port at cul-de-sac will enable the relocation of the cargo operations the port will be enhanced to accommodate larger cruise ships and the marina the freed land era will become available for significant cruise related commercial entertainment and residential developments these redevelopments will include shops and plazas duty-free shopping zones and restaurants sewage treatment in the castries has long been unacceptable the construction of a sewage treatment facility to handle the blackwater generated by the areas of central castries that are connected to the sewage network is a priority as well as a precondition for the expansion of cruise and water related activities in castries harbor the international business companies act has been amended to allow the headquarters of regional companies to be located in san lucha my government will be following up this legislation with incentives for local developers to construct residential commercial and mix use developments to accommodate these companies madam speaker we must put a more equitable and just society all sections of our population particularly the most vulnerable must have access to a system that provides support and services and we must build a society that is proactive and embraces risk in a positive way madam speaker this new society must be anchored on the pillars of the individual the family and the community accordingly our social services regime must be reoriented our newly configured ministry of equity social justice empowerment culture and local government and youth development and sports has been tasked with the responsibility of bringing life to this vision at the core of this new system for administration of services and programs within the sector is the local government authority every intervention every extension service must now be placed within this context it means our social transformation officer our family case worker our youth and sports officer all must work within the framework of that local government jurisdiction and that the same must apply to those agencies like ssdf bell fund and cdf every provider of services will determine its role within the broader mandate of facilitating the growth of compassionate and resilient individuals families and communities our government will develop the afterschool program as a model to demonstrate this new arrangement in recent times this program has been regarded as a standalone intervention administered through the community services development unit but we recognize that there is potential to realize even more significant benefits in the area of sports we intend to focus on sports like football basketball and athletics where we believe the greatest opportunity exists for our young persons to progress academically and professionally we'll endeavor to engage coaches at the community level as opposed to the more recent school-based efforts which can lead to delusion of the overall coaching impact similarly within the creative art sector we will create an avenue for cdf and other creative arts facilities to enhance the quality of talent at the individual and community level madam speaker this approach will link school to community community to sporting and cultural organizations and ultimately ensure that our youth probably those at risk are productively engaged but also serve to minimize the use of our school plant sorry it will also serve to maximize the use of our school plant and community centers which traditionally are underutilized for significant periods of the day we will try to engage through our youth empowerment service program those out of school out of work boys and girls who are unoccupied through initiatives such as after school program we will do this through our partnership with the cdb and usa id item speaker we must transform our social protection system in order to assure access to services for those most in need it is unacceptable that in this era of technology where the need for data and evidence-based decision-making is in incessant that we are referencing poverty data that is over 10 years old it is equally unacceptable that we have not established an architecture that enabled us to be more client friendly we'll therefore initiate this new system by supporting the conduct of the country poverty assessment inclusive of a quantitative and qualitative assessment we will also after years of delay finalize a targeting instrument the s l hyphen net proxy means test to ensure that we could categorically identify those who require the state support i want to stress that this instrument which will incorporate income and non-income criteria and will be administered and utilized by all ministries agencies departments and organizations delivering state supported and or endorsed social services such an instrument however will be useless unless we establish a central registry or database to enable us to adopt one client one record system that provides a historical map of a particular applicant outlining his or her circumstances support provided and noted achievements and impacts the final pillar of this reform is the integration of social financial and other forms of assistance Madam Speaker in order to realize the transformation in our economy education must be given priority education must be seen as the platform to enable citizens to attain their full potential our population growth is slowing and we have a fast declining school age population we will conduct a comprehensive assessment of all public schools their inventory and students in order to maximize the use and resources deployed at our island schools additionally a diagnostic study of the education system will be undertaken to inform the transformation of the education sector the government will introduce and enforce standards throughout the education system these will include standards for school buildings and infrastructure school supervision policy administration teacher preparation and curriculum delivery at the level of early childhood education and development we recognize the private sector is playing a critical role as the main provider therefore the government through the ministry of education will work towards the setting and monitoring of standards which should be adhered to by early childhood education facilities additionally vacant space in primary schools will be utilized for the provision of early childhood education Madam Speaker we are living in a rapidly changing world one which continues to evolve through globalization and information and communication technology we must prepare our students to compete globally by modernizing our curriculum and incorporating technology into the delivery of lessons the use of ICT must be embraced by students and teachers and a greater effort must be made to incorporate ICT into the education system the ministry of education will work of our teachers to develop digital content catered specifically for students it is our intention to reduce the dependence on textbooks and create an environment which embraces electronic learning Madam Speaker is our intention to create a generation which is technology literate who can use ICTs for productive means and are capable of functioning effectively in a globally technologically driven society additionally the ministry of education will source platforms which will allow for independent learning by students and caters to individual learning styles Madam Speaker the highest attainable standard of healthcare as a fundamental right of every human being is enshrined in the world health organization's constitution my government is committed to providing improved healthcare to all the citizens of St. Lucia Madam Speaker the health sector requires an immediate overhaul the quality of healthcare the legislative framework human resources for health and on very importantly health financing are all areas on which our government will focus too many of our people are denied access to healthcare because they simply cannot afford it too many of our children are dying because their parents cannot pay for critical care this cannot and will not continue the ministry of health estimates that a minimum basic package of health services for the population will cost approximately 179 million dollars this cost will allow for the provision of primary secondary and tertiary care services and is primarily to be able to bring the new hospitals on board the funding will be used to cover the operating and maintaining of the two new hospitals improving primary care services by increasing hours of operation in support of the hospitals and strengthening mental health services currently the budget for ministry of health is 110 million hence there is a financial gap of 69 million dollars we were given the option to increase n i c by five percent which would generate an additional 55 million this would only allow us to open up the hospitals it meant that the people who could not afford healthcare before would still not be able to afford it now and so madam speaker this was not an option our objective for this sector is to transform the government's role from a direct provider of healthcare services through hospitals and clinics and a direct funder through budgetary subventions to a policymaker and a regulator my government aims to achieve this by implementing a two prong strategy which pursues public private partnerships for provision of services and the introduction of a national health insurance my government believes that to preserve the future sustainability the sector we must establish a financial mechanism madam speaker my government aims to utilize the resources of the national healthcare insurance fund to finance health care a number of matters will be addressed including purchasing and contracting with public private sector providers consumer choice the administration of the fund and the regulations of the finalization of the packages packages of services to be provided to all registrants for health service the aim is to provide health coverage to all our people as too many are falling through the cracks number three reforming government to make it more responsive to the business community and citizens i turn now to reforming the government to make it more responsive to the business community and citizens madam speaker i'm pleased to announce that the ill and revenue department's electronic payment platform has gone live as of march 21st 2017 electronic payments are now possible for all major tax types for both individuals and businesses using either a debit or credit card this is just one practical example of steps taken by the government to improve the business environment thereby improving the ease of doing business in san lucha madam speaker i mentioned earlier that there was a need to improve productivity in our economy if we are to build a competitive and robust economy this will no doubt require a comprehensive re-engineering of the public service given this its size and influence on the rest of the economy the public service continues to operate as it did in 1980s since then the world has changed dramatically but the public service has continued to operate business as usual being guided by the staff orders for the public service of san lucha issued in the 1980s the public service of day madam speaker must be fixed i intend madam speaker to ensure that we have the public service management bill tabled in this house within this financial year the citizens of today are more demanding and require a better and high quality of service the public service must therefore have at its fundamental objective the provision of excellence in service delivery many services ought to be accessible and available 24 hours a day 365 days a year but in order for this to happen madam speaker there must be a comprehensive changes in the legislation the accountability systems and the introduction of relevant ict madam speaker expenditure on wages and salaries inclusive of nic contributions on behalf of the public officers is just under 410 million or about 30 35.4 percent of the total recurrent expenditure budget it's important that we ensure that the taxpayers get value from money and that the proper accountability systems are put in place in the public service in this regard madam speaker we've started the work of developing a results orientated framework for the budget this framework is to be cascaded to the level of the public officer so the accountability is established at all levels i'm convinced madam speaker that unless we hold every public officer accountable for the work that they do we will continue to perpetuate in a situation in which the public service continues to operate inefficiently with everyone playing the blame game we need to embrace ict in the public service to reduce costs and improve efficiency and service delivery i am keen to see the introduction of online services to better services service our people once a person has access to the internet services can be accessed from the convenience of their homes in the case of driver's licenses there should be no need to drive to union to apply for a license renewal there is no reason these applicants cannot be made online madam speaker the departments in the public service continue to operate largely in a vacuum and turf control is the order of the day this has resulted in widespread inefficiency about which our citizens complain from one year to another but which only seems to get worse we can no longer afford to allow the public service to operate in this matter and we must put in place the systems and processes to ensure that a holistic government approach is taken in making decisions on critical policy matters which have implications for more than one agency it is for this reason madam speaker that we've created a system of clusters whereby relevant agencies are grouped within a particular cluster to work together this approach should allow the greater for greater collaboration and cooperation among agencies within the cluster and therefore lead to better policy formulation and implementation after reviewing the state of the economy it has become quite clear that we must embark upon a strategy to significantly grow this economy if we're to manage debt provide sustainable productive employment and improve the standard of living of all citizens my government believes there is sufficient potential within solution that from 2018 onwards we can generate and maintain high levels of growth this growth will be will initially be driven by the construction and tourism sectors with linkages being capitalized on in our culture manufacturing and real estate this growth will not be localized to any one group of individuals but we are growth that will be felt throughout the economy and enjoyed by all we've begun the consultative process with stakeholders on the development of a growth strategy which focus on productive employment equity enhancing the business environment building our innovative capacities and upgrading the skills of our human resources thus far we've identified a number of bottlenecks to growth including low productivity lack of skill work workers limited access to credit and the high cost of operation we will continue our work with the private sector and civil society on sustainable solutions to these challenges as well as the eventual development of a national growth strategy madam speaker access to credit has long been a challenge for us in St Lucia both at the household level but more so for the private sector difficulty in accessing credit continues to constrain economic activity within our country the challenge is not due to the lack of liquidity but rather risk adverse lenders concerned about the high levels of default of loans within St Lucia the delinquency of some has resulted in all of us being penalized by elevated interest rates and more stringent conditions to access loans in the upcoming year the government will continue work with all stakeholders on the establishment of a credit bureau a registry of movable assets and a secured transaction system new more relevant legislation and regulations are being drafted on insolvency this suite of legislation will provide the mechanisms to ensure viable businesses continue as ongoing concern as a going concern and preserve their value despite encountering financial challenges a sector transaction bill is also being drafted which results in a modern functional secure transaction system which feature a modern collateral registry the secure transactions reform will allow many small businesses and entrepreneurs to utilize non-traditional forms of collateral such as inventory and other movable assets to secure credit to expand their businesses madam speaker all of these actions are meant to address the challenges which we face as a country and accessing credit madam speaker this government will work to improve the administration of justice and the security of our country St Lucia's courts have been without a home for some time which has resulted in delays in the hearing of cases and the rising the remand population in the prisons the courts will be temporarily relocated to the national to the court the courts will be temporarily relocated to the grounds of the national cultural center a temporary structure will be erected to house the family court first district court the high court magistrates court and the offices of the director of prosecutions while the national cultural center will be relocated to an alternative location madam speaker the office of the director of public prosecutions has been short of resources for some time this has hindered the pace at which cases can be handled we will strengthen the office of the director of public prosecution through adequate staffing and the provision of another enabling other enabling services such as proper equipment this will further assist with the reduction in the backlog of cases madam speaker we could report that with the appointment of the new dpp significant progress has already been made in reducing the backlog of cases and i would like to publicly congratulate him and his department on their outstanding success thus far madam speaker i'm pleased to report that the forensic science laboratory reopened during this financial year we expect this to assist the rural solution police force in their crime fighting efforts in addition we will increase the resources of the rural solution police force by training 46 recruits and providing additional vehicles and other much needed equipment we cannot keep expecting our police to perform better if we not give them the necessary support and tools to perform madam speaker through our intelligence driven crime fighting strategies we aim to increase surveillance within the city of castries with the installation of a cct camera throughout the city particularly in the areas prone to crime the government will be part partnering with the private sector in the supply and maintenance of cameras madam speaker there's a need to improve organizational effectiveness within the rural solution police force a number of senior police officers have retired and it is the intention of my government to establish a leadership training program to ensure proper succession plan and to provide effective leadership at all levels of the police force our government is committed to ensuring that officers are kept abreast of new and advanced crime fighting techniques madam speaker permit me to turn my attention to the issue of security at our air and seaports a present four agency perform board at present four agencies perform border management functions in solution these are customs excise department immigration department marine unit and the quarantine division of the department of our culture collectively these agencies have the responsibility for overseeing the movement of people animals and plants the imports and exports of goods and the services of securing some lucia's borders madam speaker these agencies are facing elevated security threats increase global trade and scarcity of resources other challenges include archaic data storage and retrieval practices inadequate sharing of information non-transparent legislation and increased procedure requirements as well as a greater demand against their resources due into increased travel and trade into our into solution these factors have placed an immense burden on these agencies and on the resources of the government of solution madam speaker there's a need to rethink our approach to securing our borders which would bring about greater efficiency and effectiveness in the dispensation of border control and management to this end we will develop a border control services agency this agency will be responsible for border management and the processing of people goods plants and animals at all ports of entry customs and immigration services enforcement of relevant legislation protection of solutions borders and madam speaker we expect that the formation of one agency with responsibility for border management will correct many of the existing deficiencies to this end the committee has been set up with the representatives from key agencies to examine the options for the establishment of a border control service agency madam speaker the great scientist albert einstein once said in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity and the challenging global economic situation has forced countries to seek creative new means of promoting social and economic development while generally recognized as a critical factor of production and one vital for overall national development energy has usually not been seen as a sector in which in its own right within our country we wish to change this view and to foster the development of a national sustainable energy sector that will spur investment and job creation while broadening and diversifying the national economy and supporting efforts at protecting the environment and combating climate change this objective will be pursued through a sustainable energy sector development strategy this strategy will be to increase the demand for sustainable energy services in the economy to this end government will seek to continue and to accelerate ongoing work on the diffusion of renewable energy and energy technologies this means that government will more aggressively pursue the installation of photovoltaic and solar hot water systems on public building government will also seek to advance ongoing work in the areas of geothermal exploration and solar farm development madam speaker the strategy will also include the promotion of increased manufacturing energy enterprises in solution for many years now the manufacturer of assembly of solar water heaters has been undertaken in our country it is now time to diversify the manufacturing place to include photovoltaic and other components and energy efficient street lamps and street lightning as this will be achieved by directly targeting investment in this area government will pursue the development and implementation of energy efficiency guidelines to reduce energy costs in its operations and to further signal its readiness to be an exemplar in energy use this sustainable energy sector development strategy madam speaker will be to encourage energy innovation we will aim to reduce dependence on fossil fuels while at the same time increasing foreign exchange through reduction of imports of fossil fuels madam speaker a fully fellow energy sector will require the presence of corresponding enabling environment and a comprehensive review of the relevant policy legislation and fiscal firm and fiscal framework will be undertaken madam speaker climate change poses a major challenge to our sustainable development and a threat to the very survival of many small island developing states the successive hottest years on record rising sea levels the increasingly violent tropical storms crop failures the outbreaks of vector born diseases in new parts of the world these all bear testimony to the seemingly inevitable onslaught of climate change no matter what the anisers would have us believe this phenomena we all know is a reality what is even more what what what is more even the proverbial ostrich can no longer bury his head in the sand as the sand has now grown too hot in other words madam speaker inaction will not make climate change disappear it is widely known that although st luce and other small island states are not the main contributors to global warming they are among the most vulnerable to climate impacts our survival is at stake we must take action now adaptation continues to be a major concern as we seek to build resilience in our water our culture tourism health fisheries and other sectors over the last decade a number of pilot adaptation projects have been implemented but these need to be significantly scaled up if we are to meaningfully adapt to climate change in december of 2015 in ratifying the paris agreement st luce undertook a nationally determined contribution that once implemented will see sharp reductions in st luce's greenhouse gas emissions through among others the fusion of renewable energy and energy efficient technologies and practices madam speaker climate change adapt adaptation and emissions reduction or mitigation will not come cheaply while we must pay attention to ensuring our own survival and to play our part towards the greater global good we will not be able to adapt or mitigate fast enough relying purely on our own resources as such this financial year a particular effort will be made to pursue available climate financing from various sources we'll focus on expanding access to green climate fund and other similar climate entities and we will address institutional and other barriers which have impeded access to such financing madam speaker every effort will be made to achieve synergy between climate change and energy agendas madam speaker the government is currently working on a medium term fiscal strategy aimed at crafting a clear path towards growing the economy while improving st luce's fiscal and debt position from 2012 to 2016 the level of public debt continued to grow while some measures have been taken to curtail expenditure while improving revenue intake we are still spending more than we collect in revenue resulted in increased borrowing and higher public debt the low the lower levels of economic growth have not helped in corresponding our fiscal imbalance in correcting our fiscal balance hence the fiscal strategy that we will adopt entails a two-prong approach of increasing the level of growth while improving the productivity of expenditure madam speaker we will soon be introducing at this honorable house a new public financial management bill the bill does not only set new guidelines for the management of the country's finances but requires the minister of finance to report to parliament no later than one month after the second quarter of every financial year on the state of the public finances my government has made tax reforms a major priority over the medium term in this regard madam speaker work has already commenced in a number of areas geared toward improving competitiveness and stimulating growth madam speaker one of the promises made in our 2016 manifesto is to provide tax relief to solutions in the areas of personal and corporate income tax and that in keeping with this promise on the first of February 2017 we reduced the that rate from 15 percent to 12 and a half percent as part of the initial that reform in this view this government in the in in it is the view of this government that a reduction in that will reduce prices to the consumer and or boost profits for business thereby stimulating confidence in the economy and speaker our manufacturers have complained about the burden from that on the imported raw materials used in their production processes unfortunately their cries have followed on deaf ears given that that is a border adjusted tax when goods are imported into solution the manufacturer is required to pay the that upon clearance of the goods this input that incurred is claimable and is offset against any that collected when the that return form is submitted by the 21st of the following month if the manufacturer collects less output that than the amount paid on inputs then the difference is refunded within four to six weeks of processing his claim this madam speaker can create an unnecessary cash flow constraint thus adding to the financial burden on manufacturers in that they must source financing either from local financing or overdraft which can be expensive and render the businesses uncompetitive madam speaker we've designed a that deferral system to minimize the impact of the that obligations faced by manufacturers this system will eliminate the that payment on the imports and raw materials and no such payment is required subsequently to the extent that the manufacturer is allowed to claim the full input of that for example a manufacturer has that payable on imports of 20 000 the manufacturer will be allowed to clear the goods with no payment of his that if the manufacturer is entitled to claim 100 percent of inputs for that month there'll be no cash no be no cash that payment on that transaction a payment will be required to the extent that a portion of his of this input that is not claimable and the manufacturer has no that refundable this gives manufacturers immediate use of the imports to manufacture and to sell the goods that they have produced the ird has already produced a draft legislation to allow for the implementation of the deferral tax system on certain imports this draft legislation will therefore be amended to incorporate raw materials imported by approved manufacturers and i wish to highlight the reforms of my government proposes to undertake in respect of personal income tax any property properly structured personal income tax system madam speaker must be seen as fair in the sense that it is progressive and simple to administer both from a taxpayer and a tax administrative perspective the overall competitiveness of the economy will be improved if we're able to achieve this objective the reforms proposed are extensive madam speaker allow me to describe the scope and the flaws of our current system and explain how my government wishes to reform it personal income tax is currently calculated as a total income one earns less the personal allowances and any deductions which serves to determine charitable income chargeable income this chargeable income is taxed under a multi-rate and multi-band system in addition to having the first 18 000 or 24 000 in the case of pensioners exempt persons can reduce their chargeable income by making a claim of any combination of the 28 existing deductions some of which have numerical caps and some of which do not this has resulted in one the requirements of taxpayers to file and to verify claims of deductions a considerable amount of resources being allocated by inland revenue in the processing of the tax returns three huge variances between tax collected and tax due from taxpayers as a result of deductions made during the year this gives rise to overpayments by some taxpayers data shows that in any given year this overpayment may be to the tune of 15 million currently we owe 30 million and refunds the magnitude of deductions claimed is correlated to income simply put high income earners have the ability to make significant claims for deductions thereby significantly reducing chargeable income and tax otherwise in light of these issues madam speaker the policy direction of the government with respect to p p a y e is as follows one simplify the system such that filing is no longer required by the taxpayers to allow more progressive progressivity in the system is there for proposed madam speaker that both the personal allowances and the applicable reductions be reformed with a view to simplifying the system while simultaneously make it more progressive is also the intention of the government to place a cap on personal income tax will make an announcement madam speaker of the changes to be made in the personal income tax prior to its implementation before the end of this year a speaker is the intention of this government to introduce a foreign residency program that will allow high net worth persons to take up residence in san lucha in order to qualify the foreign resident will have to invest in real estate open a company to hire as more than 10 people or invest in our soon to be sovereign fund those persons once they have acquired residence in san lucha will be treated like solutions except they will not have the right to vote nor will they have been titled to a solution passport the government has commissioned a study to review mechanisms to enhance the competitiveness of the existing cip program and to amend the tax legislation to make it attractive for foreign persons to become tax residents of san lucha as a result of the studies government will be taking steps to establish a sovereign wealth fund that will allow participants in the cip program the option of making an investment in the fund alongside the government of san lucha the fund will be designed to ensure that it meets appropriate government standards and we staffed by professional investment managers is expected that the majority of the funds capital will be deployed in liquid foreign denominated securities with the balance being airmarked for suitable investments in solution economy profits derived from the investments in the fund are expected to be used for central government expenditure madam speaker the government has taken steps to encourage greater participation in cip honorable members would be aware that the donation component was reduced from three hundred thousand dollars to us a hundred thousand in addition to this my government intends to continue strengthening the background checks and work towards stronger and regional standardization madam speaker we will take measures to strengthen background checks we expect an increase in number of applicants as more projects are being implemented madam speaker over the years we have not been able to allocate enough money to maintain our road network which has come under tremendous pressure from the rapidly increasing number of vehicles on our roads in 2016 madam speaker the number of vehicles imported into san lucha increased by 40 to 3137 there's been increased traffic congestion resulting deterioration of our result of our roads the high level of public debt and the current sources of tax revenue do not allow sufficient resources for road rehabilitation and expansion of the road network which will cost 479 million therefore my government in keeping with our manifesto promise of identifying identifying dedicated streams of revenue for any new expenditure will dictate a stream of revenue of will dedicate a stream of revenue to go towards maintaining and upgrading the road network and associated infrastructure such as bridges this stream of revenue will come from an increase in excise tax on gasoline and diesel which will be increased from 250 a gallon to four dollars this will take effect june of 2017 is anticipated this will be the fairer tax as we based on usage and consumption madam speaker the time has come to tackle our national debt problem for too long successive governments have been paying lip service to the situation and the problem gets worse each year this government will not let another term go by with no decisive action to do so would be to undermine our fiscal reform effort and to jeopardize the potential that this country has to enter into new era of sustained higher economic growth we owe this to future generations and we must tackle it now and so we've developed a medium term debt management strategy to address the situation the objective of which is to analyze the costs and risk inherent within the debt portfolio refinancing the interest rate risk and refinancing risk the strategy document comes against the background of adverse economic and financial developments within the ecu including san lucha the management of the debt program involves the design and implementation of debt strategies which will in which will effectively align the debt level with fiscal sustainability madam speaker our current debt burden has hindered our ability to accumulate buffers and to implement fiscal policies to spur economic growth needed to place the country on a more sustainable path the current debt portfolio consists of largely of short term domestic debt putting significant pressure on cash flow and creating high rollover risk madam speaker to solve the debt problem we will have to do our fair share as a government and as a people we cannot do it alone to restore the public finances we must recognize that our fiscal stability is a shared interest for all stakeholders in our economy we will have to act in a partnership with the private sector and with our bilateral and multilateral stakeholders the burden of adjustments will have to be shared by all over the next few months we plan to announce several initiatives which we believe are necessary to place our debt on a sustainable path madam speaker this budget is geared towards revenue reform restructuring of the tax system and enhancing economic growth however we must exercise fiscal responsibility and discipline we must look carefully at transfers and determine whether the performance of statutory bodies and affiliated agencies justifies continued support of these agencies there are many there may be instances where merger of agencies or the elimination of our reduction of transfers and the most suitable or could be the most suitable option in some cases the environment has evolved and the purpose for the creation of these agencies no longer exist in other instances agency may be better placed to operate as a private institution and allow market forces to set rates and determine the true cost of operations this is no easy task but is a necessary it is necessary part of the journey to exercising fiscal discipline and reducing our debt burden madam speaker the first agency of government for which transfers has been reduced is the san lucha tourist board upon assuming my office my government took the decision to close the san lucha tourist board and to establish the san lucha tourism authority this resulted in the reduction of administrative expenses from 8.6 million in 2016-17 to 5.6 million program for 2017 financial year we've also identified a number of other agencies whose operations and performances have been reviewed and are determinationally made on their continuation in their current form and in the coming weeks and months these include the san lucha marketing board so the marketing board was established in 1968 to solve food and marketing deficiencies which existed at the time the primary purpose of the board was to encourage agricultural production and facilitate the distribution of farm produce from farmers to the final consumers over the years particularly during the 90s and the early 2000s the marketing board was the primary farm gate purchaser across the island this is no longer the case massive stores as well as other ad hoc farm produce purchasing as other ad hoc farm produce purchasing and distribution companies coupled with direct interactions between hoteliers and farmers has resulted in a diminished position of the marketing board currently it handles approximately only 2% of the total produce of farmers consecutive years of losses have now rendered the board virtually obsolete although it liabilities continue to burden taxpayers the liabilities in 2014 were in excess of two million dollars the farmers are also dissatisfied the board highlighting low and non-guarantee prices arbitrary grading standards and unreliable pickup services as just a few of the many complaints madam speaker the solution marketing board cannot be allowed to continue down this path and a determination must be made on its future through the years several reports have been prepared making recommendations from closure of the board to restructuring of the shareholdings to full privatization we've decided to solve this issue by winding up the operations of the board within the upcoming financial year the solution fish marketing corporation madam speaker the solution fish marketing corporation is another institution which has registered disappointing performances within recent years and whose financial and operational performances leaves much to be desired it was established in 1984 and with the goal of aiding in the development of the sector by providing a guaranteed market for fish poker at the time large volumes of fish were landed in solution which oversaturated the market and resulted in fishermen having to take up the role of supplier vendor as well thereby reducing the productive time several competitors have now entered the market and stand ready to accept fish which has landed on the island this current situation now calls into question the role of the st lusia fishing marketing corporation given that the competitors now are performing the role of the corporation and are doing so more efficiently madam speaker the fish marketing corporation has also been heavily criticized by the same fishermen whom the corporation has established to assist one common complaint you guess it late payments in addition the corporation has accumulated a significant debt over the years in 2015 government borrowed 1.5 million dollars to assist the corporation to meet its obligations and has been added to the debt stocked by the country over 5 million dollars now owed to the government from advances which have now been made to the corporation it should be noted that this sum does not include the amounts borrowed by the government on the corporation's behalf madam speaker repayment of this amount will certainly be a struggle for the corporation which has consistently underperformed and government will have to make an imminent decision on its future madam speaker radius and lusia has been in the news is another state affiliated entity which appears to have lost its way the financial performance of radius and lusia in recent years has been far from desirable and it continues to accumulate liabilities which would possibly be inherited by which could possibly be inherited by government as of march 31st 2015 the companies the company's accumulated losses amounted to 3.3 3 million 362 thousand 725 dollars and the company has also reported a loss of 515 thousand 497 dollars in 2015 the company has also failed to meet its statutory requirements by the way of wage related expenses radius and lusia owes the national insurance corporation 543 thousand for unpaid employee contributions and owes government 231 thousand in unpaid taxes this is in addition to a significant accounts payable balance and contingent liabilities madam speaker the annual government subvention of 417 thousand is unable to meet the significant liabilities which are being accumulated by radius and lusia like the marketing board and the fish marketing corporation the factual matrix upon which our radius and lusia was established has changed when radius and lusia was established there were few avenues for disseminating information to our citizens the radio was the most widely used tool for mass media and there were very few other radio stations madam speaker the current climate is far different the internet television cell phones have taken over in terms of communication the areas are saturated with radio stations and multiple avenues exist for the government to get its message across to its citizens we must therefore revisit the question of the role of radius and lusia in this current climate madam speaker my government will recognize who reorganized the gis to more effectively disseminate government information and its programming the company currently known as radius and lusia will be closed and the relevant programs will be restructured to take advantage of the new technologies for the information and dissemination madam speaker we propose to review the operations of the government supply warehouse supply warehouse is the sole distributor of bulk rice flour sugar on the island the supply warehouse also facilitates special requests for the import of flour and sugar and performs quality checks on these commodities the department first for some time has operated a loss with expenditures suppressing revenue collections the government will make a determination on the way forward for the supply warehouse after the review has been completed the solution national trust is charged with conserving the natural and cultural heritage of st lusia it is an advocacy group and is also responsible for developing the sites which have been vested in it as an advocacy group the trust performs that function reasonably well the trust has however not performed well in developing the sites that are vested in it the government has supported the trust through annual subventions as well as through the vesting of the trust premier heritage sites these valuable national assets can and should be leveraged to generate more revenue to sustain its operations and thereby the trust is being to generate significant revenue to send its its its operations and thereby the trust is being asked to revise its business model to become financially independent as a result the annual subvention will be discontinued however the government will continue to provide support to the initiatives the government believes has merit in the support of the development objectives of the state as by way of an example madam speaker the trust recently submitted a proposal which was approved by the former government the proposal calls for the current museum to be made into a conference facility and one of the buildings to be converted into an office a feasibility study was conducted in 2014 madam speaker by a well-known accounting firm here in st lusia in 2014 harbour club and and and roulton had not been announced in that study it indicated that the proposal of the trust was cash negative it could not sustain itself and indicated that the trust ought to find financing by selling land or by getting a government subsidy or both the question that we asked is the government what would those projects do to improve the patrimony of st lusia why would the trust involve itself in projects that are cash flow negative we also indicated to the trust that they have no example of one project a one site that is financially viable and we've indicated to them that this must change and we're asking for them to look into themselves to see how they're going to change that but a speaker much has been said about the nice program nice was introduced in 2012 as a national response to the growing problem of unemployment in st lusia the objective of this initiative was to provide short-term employment and to unemployed to the unemployed with a view to making them more marketable thus increasing their chances of earning future income by way of the experience gained during short-term employment and acquired skills in training the project had a three-year lifespan from 2012 to 2015 and the government committed to investing the sum of ec a hundred million dollars over a three-year period some of which was borrowed funds the three components were the constituency projects and infrastructure works program cpip which ended within one year and we spent over seven million dollars on that component the small business targeted assistance program which also lasted a little over a year and some aspect of some aspects of it was transferred to the nap the national apprenticeship placement program was the only surviving component of the nice project where over 1100 people were placed within various government agencies it was noted in many instances persons were sent to various government departments that didn't request additional help it appeared to be more a case of placing the individuals somewhere rather than a departmental needs in dialogue with some of the agencies the general consensus was the lack of consultation prior to the placements being sent most of the agencies were not given the opportunity to decide their major area of need and to make requests based on those needs whilst the intention of the program was to have placements for a period of six months most of the persons under the program had been employed within the program from the lifespan of the placement program some as many as three to four years this created a level of expectancy and dependency on both the part of the agency and the placements as well as not part of the original mandate of the program madam speaker nice became a job not a skills enhancement project and in some instances the nice workers were earning more than a permanent staff and so madam speaker my government has decided to review the nice program and as a result of it will keep the home health care program in its entirety and will reintroduce the national apprentice program madam speaker the solution postal service has served us well it predicates independence and has connected individuals businesses and families both locally and abroad traditionally however the operations of the postal service have been running at a loss with the advent of the internet and email the demand for postal services has declined and significantly resulting in a reduction in the revenue from these traditional services this cannot continue madam speaker particularly given our recent fiscal constraints in our effort to increase the efficiency of the public service we must reassess the role of the postal service we will therefore consider privatization this is not a decision we will take lightly but one which we must consider given the requirements of the times and our direct fiscal situation privatization will accomplish two things it will force the organization to review its operations and become more efficient and the value of services will face market forces and be priced accordingly madam speaker madam speaker none of these decisions will be easy to make nor do we make them lightly but these tough decisions are necessary if we are to begin to turn our economy around subventions and grants to state affiliated affiliated agencies should not be a black hole in which money is poured but rather should be viewed as investments which should produce returns of relevant quality services to the people of St. Lucian Madam Speaker during the fiscal year of 2017-2018 the government intends to spend a total of 1.5 1.513 billion representing a 6.1 percent increase over the 2016-2017 approved estimates and a 14 percent increase over the preliminary out turn and a 14 percent increase over the preliminary out turn for the preceding year of the total amount budgeted for in the fiscal year 2017-2018 recurrent expenditure accounts for 76.1 percent an amount of 1.15 billion is allocated while the amount allocated for capital expenditure is 362 million representing a 23.9 percent of total expenditure the budget amount for the recurrent expenditure includes 124 million for debt principal repayments the budget will be financed as followed recurrent revenue of 1 billion 73 billion 1.073 billion comprising tax revenues of 958 million non-tax revenue of 115 million capital revenue from the proceeds of sale of assets amounting to 7.4 million grants amounting to 87.4 million from family governments and multiple multilateral institutions including the republic china of taiwan contributing 35.7 million caribbean development bank contributing 9.9 million and european development bank contributing 13.8 million the government of mexico contributing 9.1 million and the world bank contributing a total of 9.8 million united nations environmental program 4.2 million government institute instruments including bonds of 208 million and treasury bills of 50 million other loans totaling 84.8 million comprising 43.1 billion from the caribbean development bank 24.9 million from the world bank 13.6 million from the republic of china taiwan 1 million from the national insurance corporation and 2.2 million from the quate fund for arab economic development madam speaker i wish at this time to provide a brief summary of the allocation of expenditure you may recall that a number of agencies of government were reconfigured into clusters so a comparison to the previous year may be somewhat difficult the economic sector departments are poised to receive the largest share of total expenditure in the amount of 899 million this represents an increase of 87.2 million or 10 percent over the last financial year of this amount some 612 million or 69 percent is allocated to recurrent expenditure while 286 million or 31 percent represents the share allocated from capital expenditure the ministry of finance will receive the largest share of this amount totaling 499 million or 56 percent of the total expenditure for the economic sector it is extremely important to note madam speaker that approximately 376 million or 76 percent of budgeted for the debt services is budgeted for the debt service payments and retiring benefits 376 million madam speaker i promise to allocate the department of to promise to allocate to the department of economic development transport and civilization the sum of 67.8 million for capital expenditure of which 27.5 million is to be allocated to the disaster vulnerability reduction project the objective of this project is to reduce vulnerability to natural disasters and climate change i'm also proposing an allocation of 19.1 million for the st jude's hospital reconstruction project and 19.2 million for the constituency development program madam speaker i've discussed the poor condition of our road network in this regard i propose to allocate to the ministry of infrastructure ports and energy the sum of 60.8 million for capital expenditure out of which 14.9 million is for the disaster recovery program this program is intended to address the impact of hurricane tomas and reduce the risk and associated with landslide and flood hazards the balance of capital investment in the amount of 42.8 million will go towards road improvement and rehabilitation works throughout the country madam speaker our government intends to resurrect revitalize and reinvigorate reinvigorate the agricultural sector and i wish to propose a major capital injection of 49.1 million to help stimulate that sector of this amount 13 million is proposed to go towards the banana productivity improvement project 10.9 million to the agricultural transformation program and 3.9 million to the rehabilitation of farms following tropical tropical storm matthew in respect to our water supply system i'm extremely pleased to announce an allocation of 10.6 million and 5.9 million for the denry and viewfort water supply redevelopment projects respectively madam speaker i wish to propose a capital of 33.6 million to the department of tourism information and broadcasting on this amount 28.9 million will go towards tourism marketing promotion to support tourism marketing and airlift into this country madam speaker in respect to the department of housing urban renewal and telecommunications i propose to allocate 24.5 million the bulk of which will be directed to proud settlement upgrade project proud three the national sites and services program and the cdb funded housing construction program madam speaker an out turn to the social services sector and an allocation of 406.7 million is before is proposed for the sector of which 359 million is recurrent expenditure and 47 million is for capital expenditure this represents an increase in allocation of 11 million over last year's budget it is no surprise madam speaker that the bulk of the recurrent expenditure a sum of 289 million is airmarked for ministers of education for the ministries of education and health and the remainder of 69 million is to be distributed to the ministries of equity labor youth development and local government as it relates to capital expenditure a sum of 26.22.6 million is proposed for the ministry of equity of which a provision of 10.7 million is for the basic needs trust fund seventh and eighth program a further 5.3 millions for the home care program and 3.2 million to the youth empowerment and life project further madam speaker a capital provision of 18.7 million is allocated for the ministry of health and wellness a sum of 6.6 million and 4.7 million is an airmark for the commissioning of a new hospital and new national hospital works program respectively madam speaker and i wish to focus on the justice system which has been badly neglected we'll address the issues plague in it an amount of 139 million is to be allocated to the sector of which 132 million is for recurrent expenditure and 7.6 million for capital expenditure in the area of capital expenditure 3.8 million is to be allocated to the fire service department particularly for the firefighting equipment and to affect repairs to the fire stations i wish to announce that we will be commissioning the babinol fire station madam speaker the police are in desperate need of vehicles many of which are in poor condition in this regard i am pleased to allocate an amount of 772 000 for purchasing vehicles with respect to the general service agencies madam speaker i propose an allocation of 58.5 million of this amount 38.1 million is recurrent expenditure and 20.4 million is capital expenditure the share of this amount is as follows ministry of public service 27.5 million and the office of the prime minister 8.7 million madam speaker i wish to make mention of a 10 million dollar allocation to the national apprenticeship program which includes two components namely a call center and hospitality training a provision of 5.9 million is allocated for allocated for the caribbean regional communication infrastructure carcip for the rollout of the government wide area network finally madam speaker i wish to propose an allocation of 8.9 million to the agencies of governments which include legislator the service commissions and electoral and audit departments and the speaker i wish to reiterate that our government through this budget has demonstrated its unwavering commitment to grow this economy by investing more in its capital program which reflects an increase of 36.2 million or 11 percent from last year madam speaker the people of san lucha elected united workers party on june 6 2016 to bring back confidence and prosperity to our country this budget puts onto the road puts us onto the road of economic recovery our government believes that we must pursue an aggressive pro-growth strategy led by a competitive private sector which is ably supported by a responsive efficient and effective public service this current cycle we find ourselves of low growth increased deficit has crippled the government's ability to provide basic services such as globally competitive education security for our people road infrastructure and basic social services if we make no changes the quality will continue to decline it is our firm conviction that our strategy will deliver higher levels of growth and a greater levels of investment more sustainable jobs and efficient management of our resources which can lead to surplus government to provide a higher standard of living for the people of san lucha it is important that we understand that in order to achieve a higher standard of living for the people we need to generate consistent government savings madam speaker one of the challenge that i foresee in pursuing our policy agenda is implementation it is no secret that we have suffered from a serious implementation deficit in the past that has seriously affected our ability to implement projects in a timely and a cost-efficient manager my government's mantra madam speaker is execute execute execute we intend to put in place the institutional framework and the strengthening capacity to enable us to accelerate the pace of implementation the transformation program that will put in place that we will put in place will require bold courageous and decisive leadership our government shall provide this leadership madam speaker my cabinet of ministers and i intend to be the champions of our reform and our change agenda madam speaker i have witnessed first hand the depth of despair and hopelessness that many families are experiencing in san lucha it is for this reason our government felt that there was need to provide immediate relief to solutions by the way of the reductions in the value added tax from 15 to 12 and a half percent we wish to pursue with urgency madam speaker implementation of a social safety net system for the lower income group in our society we are a caring and empathetic government that will address the plight of the less fortunate in our society madam speaker this budget is part of a four-year plan that will reform transform and modernize our solution this budget will therefore provide the foundation for the future growth and development of our country and so our government has chosen the path of change we are forced on we are focused on building a new san lucha which citizens who are with citizens who are proud and committed to excellence who are accepting of all people thoughts and ideas we relish the challenge of creating a society that is competitive productive and inclusive with opportunities for all i wish to thank everyone who provided support to the budget process including all the stakeholders including all the stakeholders who have shared their ideas and provided significant input in the budget process i would also like to thank all the agencies for their valuable contribution in particular the staff of the department of the finance for putting together all of the budget documents and with that madam speaker i beg to move honorable members the question is that the appropriation 2017-2018 bill be read a second time honorable prime minister for finance economic growth job creation external affairs public service leader of government business madam speaker i move that this house stand adjourned until um tomorrow wednesday the ninth may 2017 at four p.m in the afternoon wednesday 10th my apology madam speaker wednesday the 10th honorable members the question is that the house do stand adjourned until wednesday may 10th at four p.m i now put the question as many as of that opinion say i as many as of a contrary opinion say no i think the eyes have it the eyes have it this house to stand adjourned all right and this concludes today's house of assembly sitting it is the ninth of may 2017 and i am alisha ali from the government information service the prime minister of st lusia the honorable alan m shasne has laid his first appropriations bill before the house of assembly since being elected into office on the 6th of june 2017 he covered a number of areas and above categories and as you can tell it is a very large-scale project that he is intending to undertake over the next four years as the prime minister said this is just not a one-year plan he has outlined the development of st lusia up until 2021 now let's just go through some of the categories first he discussed a national apprenticeship program for this fiscal year the government intends to train 500 people for employment on the cruise line and also st lusia will be partnering with an artificial intelligence training lab and 50 jobs are expected to be created immediately in terms of national food security the prime minister intends his government intends to revitalize the banana industry and increase production through the banana productivity improvement project and it is estimated that in year three of the project 60 to 70 thousand pounds of bananas will be produced and it will be sustainable he also spoke of greenhouse technology being used to reduce the seasonality of crops and to ensure a more sustainable demand and supply option between local farmers and hotels the disaster risk reduction plan for agriculture is in place and will continue in terms of social services the prime minister announced the development or the should i say the further development of the afterschool program and he intends through his government to create linkages between culture to schools to spotted organization and thereby maximizing the use of school and community centers to keep our young people gainfully engaged education sector there will be several studies carried out in the educational sector the first will be a comprehensive assessment of all schools also a diagnostic study of the education system with the aim for transformation of the sector additionally the prime minister announced that his government will introduce and enforce standards throughout the education system these standards will be more relevant to teachers and curriculum and syllabi delivery and in a rapidly changing world the prime minister is trying to ensure that our young people our students are prepared for a globally competitive environment and he has proposed that the government of st lusia will be making digital content available in lieu of textbooks the ministry of education is supposed to be with teachers to create that content and to adapt to the learning styles of our students the prime minister also spoke about building capacity in renewable energy and it is through the renewable energy portion of his his contribution that he announced that job creation will be spurred while broadening and diversifying the national economy and supporting efforts protecting the environment and combating climate change in terms of revenue measures the prime minister did announce an increase in the excise tax on gasoline and diesel by two dollars and fifty cents that increase is airmarked to deal with world infrastructure and repair the prime minister in another portion of his contribution pointed to the disappointing performances of some of our statutory bodies among those that the st lusia fish the st lusia marketing board which a prime minister revealed will be closed during this fiscal year the st lusia fish marketing corporation also performed disappointingly according to the prime minister the prime minister announced that radio st lusia will be closed during just this fiscal year the government supply warehouse and the st lusia postal service is under review or should i say will be reviewed during this fiscal year with the view to finding out what is the way forward and what will be most efficient the st lusia national trust is being asked to review its business model to be more financially independent and with all the revelations that the prime minister made during this year's appropriations bill we will continue tomorrow wednesday the 10th of may at 4 p.m where other members of the house of assembly of the elected members on both the government and opposition side will then give their contributions on what the prime minister has said so please this is alisha ali and i'm inviting you to stay tuned to the national television network