 Mr Speaker, I am very happy today to stand in this August Chamber to respond or to speak on the estimates of revenue and expenditure for 2024-2025. Mr Speaker, before I continue, I always want to take the opportunity to thank the people of January, Lakai and Lima for placing their confidence in me to serve them at that level Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, without them I would not be standing here today. Mr Speaker, I want to endorse the estimates of revenue and expenditure for 2024 and to just take a short statement by our Prime Minister when he was presenting. And to indicate that 2023 was a well-managed year for this government and it is going to set the platform for 2024-2025. Mr Speaker, he also stated that there will be something for every cent Lucian in this budget Mr Speaker. Unlike the previous where it was not the case. Mr Speaker, I want to delve directly or straight into my ministry and to state that under the current expenditure for 2024-2025 we received a total of $33,821,200. On the capital expenditure an allocation of $7,378,200 was received. Making it a total of $41,199,400 for the ministry of agriculture, fisheries, food security and rural development. Funds were allocated to 15 capital projects namely pre-year last in the program receiving a total of $793,600. And we know the importance of the pre-year last program Mr Speaker especially with regards to the agricultural sector. And the challenges that our families face in terms of the crops. Building resilience for adaptation to climate change and climate variability. We received an amount of $2,172,100,000 Mr Speaker. And that project is a building resilience project that looks at the entire agricultural sector. And what is important for this project Mr Speaker is that it is going to cover a number of regions namely regions 1 and 2, 6 and 7. In terms of the banana management unit, sorry we received an amount of $1,053,100 Mr Speaker. And the banana unit as we know replaced the BPIU Banana Productivity Improvement Project. And we are now focusing on the control of the black Sikatoka and surveillance of pests and diseases in the agricultural sector. This unit is very critical Mr Speaker as you know the significance of the banana industry. Enhancing energy efficiency for agricultural processing with solar photovoltaic power. We received an allocation of $200,000. Expansion of our food crop production. You would know that the Taiwanese government made a provision in the second phase of the seven crops program. $9.9 million for a period of five years. We are in the second year of the second phase of the program Mr Speaker. And an allocation of $1.943 million was made available for 2024-25. Mr Speaker in addition to the seven crops in the first phase that included cabbage, tomato, lettuce, watermelon, cantaloupe. We have added corn, dragon fruit, eggplant and carrots to the list. We are hoping that this allocation will help to assist St. Lucia in meeting its target of 25% reduction in food imports by 2025. Under the cocoa sector enhancement project Mr Speaker. This is the project that started last year. It's in the second year, it's a three-year project Mr Speaker. An amount of $290,300 is made available in this financial year to assist with the expansion or rehabilitation of 123 acres and to rehabilitate approximately 294 acres of cocoa Mr Speaker. It's a very good market available in the UK and we are hoping that we will be able to continue to take advantage of this market for our farmers. Mr Speaker we have a new capital called tree crop expansion. And Mr Speaker this project came about because if you go around the country you would see quite a lot of abandoned third Thailand. Especially in the valleys of Mabuya and Rosewood etc Mr Speaker. And we thought it was necessary to give some kind of attention to convert these ideal lands into productive use. So we are looking at Mr Speaker enhancing livelihood security and a reduction of vulnerability to climate change through a focus of selected tree crops. So we are looking at targeting approximately 100 acres of those abandoned lands in the first year. Where we are going to look in terms of conducting stakeholder engagements, baseline surveys and securing those vacant follow lands to be able to convert them into productive lands. So we are going to put in three crops and other short term crops to be able to ensure that we can meet or help reduce our food import bill and to meet our target of 25% by 2025. So we are going to put in nine crops to be able to convert them into productive use. And we are going to look at the empty third Thailand. We are going to look at the driver in this area. We are going to look at the third Thailand that was abandoned. There is nothing to plant in this area. There is no electricity, there is no electricity. The government in this area needs to administer the water. We are going to look at the third Thailand because we are going to look at the important third Thailand to be able to plant and eat. We are going to pay $400,000 to be able to provide a budget for the next year for 2025. We are going to look at the third Thailand because we are going to look at how it is going to affect us. We are going to look at the beginning of the year for the next 100 acres to be able to plant, because we are going to look at the third Thailand. We are going to look at different fruits, we are going to eat different things with gym, to look at who we are going to put in this area. We are going to look at a productive method, to put ourselves to the brim and reduce our food import. Mr Speaker. Under the livestock development sector, the relocation of Bosesu agricultural station and amount of $900,000 have been allocated for the volet agricultural station to be able to improve the breeding program of livestock and to be able to construct sheep and goat current in pens and swine breeding pens Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we remember this agricultural station initially was in the southern part of the island but we have since moved the entire facility to volet and we are hoping that this $900,000 will help us complete the infrastructure works that are needed to get this facility operational Mr. Speaker. While I am on this Mr. Speaker, under the SIRC World Bank Food and Nutrition and Security Program Mr. Speaker, we are hoping by early May to receive almost 150 new bloodlines of sheep goat and swine Mr. Speaker to begin full operation of the facility. Mr. Speaker, I would like to say that for the people who may not know what they are doing, we have come to Bosesu because we have been working in Bosesu. We have already found a transfer to the volet vehicle and we are hoping that this $1,000 will be available to all animals to come out to me.  Eun ˊ etics  yet himself ʲ qʸ n ʰʰlly ʰlly ʰlly ʲ Ə ʲ ʰ œ ʰ Paint r Sarvan's Bay JETI This year Mr. Speaker, the 850,000 is expected to provide some repairs to the Administrative Building, Rosely, Sarvan's Bay, Dennery, View Sports Facility, Cash Risk Facility, Ancillary and Souffre. And I'm seeing I'm the member for Ancillary countries, not in his head. The one I'm missing Mr. Speaker, as indicated by the member for Souffre, an amount of $5,550,000 was allocated for repairs to the Souffre fishing port Mr. Speaker. The Souffre's port as you know, we've been experiencing serious problems with sediment build up at the entrance of the port and it is causing serious problems for our fishers. In this financial year we're going to see the construction of a second groin and submerged breakwater. We are going to see a continuation of Dredging Works, installation of navigational aids and assessment and designs of counter measures Mr. Speaker. I had the opportunity to visit the site few weeks ago Mr. Speaker and I can see some good progress is being made to address the problem. Mr. Speaker, the rehabilitation of the Cash Risk Facility complex is very critical Mr. Speaker as it is a very important facility for marketing of our fish. An amount of $200,000 was allocated in this new financial year and the amount provided is to help in terms of addressing the problems with the leaking roof Mr. Speaker and to be able to remove the asbestos roof that has been there for many years. Mr. Speaker, we are hoping that this facility will be reopened very soon and our fishers will begin to market the fish and not be seen on the streets and byways night and day rain or sun trying to hustle to sell the fish. Mr. Speaker, for those persons who regularly drive through the union area you would have seen a building very nicely painted. It is called the Wildlife Conservation and Education Center Mr. Speaker. This project started in 2018 and it was funded by an agency in Germany Mr. Speaker but in the last three years Mr. Speaker we have been incurring serious problems in terms of availability of funding to complete the project. Mr. Speaker, the project has tremendous potential because it can generate very very serious revenue for the government by means of encouraging our visitors and our local people to see what is happening in terms of our national build in terms of various education and conservation measures that happens or takes place in our forest reserve. Mr. Speaker, an amount of $272,000 has been made available to complete repairs on the existing administrative building and interpretation building and the purchase of equipment for our kitchen and hospital Mr. Speaker. Even our wildlife Mr. Speaker will have a hospital to be able to take care of diseases and other problems during that period. Mr. Speaker, repairs to our log cabin Mr. Speaker. We have five log cabins in the forest reserve and you would understand that I worked there for 34 years and those log cabins have as a shelter especially when you have to conduct research in the forest reserve when we are doing surveys of our national build and their time is because of the distance you have to walk into the forest Mr. Speaker those structures or shelters would be used for us to overnight Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker, those structures have deteriorated very rapidly Mr. Speaker and does not provide the level of comfort for forest officers to be able to overnight and occupy as a result in an effort to upgrade those log cabins an amount of $350,000 have been made available to upgrade those facilities Mr. Speaker, in going through the estimates Mr. Speaker I notice a number of ministries with specific projects that would benefit my constituency Mr. Speaker and the first one Mr. Speaker is the Ministry of Commerce I see an amount on the solarization of Fisher Cooperatives Mr. Speaker of $275,000 Mr. Speaker and I'm hoping that my Dennery facility Mr. Speaker will benefit from this although I know initially with discussions with the member for Sufre Dennery was one of the first on the list but we didn't meet our obligations in terms of getting our proposal on time and as a result we missed it but Mr. Speaker I'm asking the member for Sufre from Seja to please give special consideration to Dennery to benefit from this solarization Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker under the Ministry of Infrastructure rivers and water cost maintenance Mr. Speaker $3 million Mr. Speaker and I'm hoping that the Minister, the member for Cassvis North will continue to provide support in terms of this silting our rivers and natural water causes on time considering that the Dennery village is very vulnerable especially when it comes to flooding I see on the Ministry of Infrastructure Mr. Speaker road improvement and maintenance project $10 million Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker I'm hoping that the bypass road connecting the Dennery hospital for Newfield Mr. Speaker exasse Chimean who can come and say opposite Plans restaurant Mr. Speaker Chimean will continue government concretely but we will pass the Ministry of Infrastructure to connect the Dennery hospital and to flood the village it will be difficult for the Dennery hospital so I think that the Dennery will continue to provide support for Mr. Speaker and Mr. Speaker and we will continue to provide support for Green Mountain, Rocky Lane, Mabuya and we will continue to provide support for the Dennery hospital we are hoping to get some attention Mr. Speaker for our Boajolirood Chimean Boajolirah ite wangedenefwa Chimean Salah a tuve ko imove epsasse Chimean si nul pies flood in Laka'ek and stretch to Laka'ek epsasse sel Chimean usasse vi punwale kastwi Mr. Speaker I'm hoping that some level of attention will be provided to assist with the rehabilitation of those roads including the Church Street Road Mr. Speaker the Newfield Road Mr. Speaker Green Mountain Road Mr. Speaker and other roads in Laka'ek and Lime on the Euphan Sports Mr. Speaker I see an amount of 1.85 million dollars for lighting well replacement Mr. Speaker in Dennery on the Dennery playing football field and cricket field Mr. Speaker you've noticed some lights are not working Mr. Speaker so I'm hoping that we can get some of those funds to assist us in addressing the issue of the birth replacements for the Dennery football field on the Ministry of Housing Mr. Speaker an amount of 2 million 160 thousand dollars is made available for the National Housing Assistance Program Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker this program has been a social program Mr. Speaker has created a major impact on the whole social infrastructure housing infrastructure in my constituency Mr. Speaker just this financially Mr. Speaker I provided assistance to 76 persons in terms of support whether it's in the form of plywood, galvanized and floor ply, concrete blocks still cement Mr. Speaker I'm hoping that this program will continue Mr. Speaker in addition to the number of houses although they are called small hearts Mr. Speaker but they have done well to assist the needy and the persons who have faced situations with housing assistance Mr. Speaker on the Ministry of Education Mr. Speaker I note an amount of 14 million 195 thousand nine hundred one dollars Mr. Speaker every year Mr. Speaker the principal of the denry primary school and other schools in my constituency Mr. Speaker makes request for assistance for repairs and rehabilitation of school buildings Mr. Speaker and I'm certainly sure the member for denry north as good as he has always been to denry south will provide some assistance to help us alleviate this problem Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker in terms of the Ministry of Tourism Mr. Speaker 3.3 million 345 thousand dollars Mr. Speaker was allocated in this financial year and we are hoping that we will see a revamping of the denry fish fiesta Mr. Speaker as you know the denry fish fiesta was set up to assist persons after the closure of the bell fashion Mr. Speaker and we have what we call this Saturday fish fiesta what we call in normal terms so I'm very happy Mr. Speaker we will be getting funding to begin repairs and to upgrade the facility Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker this activity has great spin-off effect for the community and I'm hoping that we can get the assistance going because you all can to think the fault that this family did not sign they made it as a candidate and we created a flim the wish to let that be that satTe. Of activities made on of this Sunday and therefore as a quem renew tourism project or program we will get వారకఠికిఔబ౿స్డటకఽి, ఆధిటాదా఑ కార్నికెదాకంౚినుమార్మికన్తికిటోికాకాకిస్నేతికయనుంచిషాయా. emit emit emit wak emit emit emit emit. Mr. Speaker, in emit emit emit emit emit of Upgrade to Fishers Facilities, Mr. Speaker. emit emit emit emit emit For the last 15 years, Mr. Speaker, before I became the member for the Denry South, Mr. Speaker, very little was done to attend to the problems of the Denry fishing port, Mr. Speaker. In another fisheries facilities Upgrade, Mr. Speaker, an amount of 400,000 as I mentioned earlier was allocated We are going to replace all the damaged doors to ensure that we provide a facility that is of standard so that when people get to the facility Mr. Speaker they will see that level of high standard that's supposed to be existing on the facility Mr. Speaker in the new financial year Mr. Speaker $850,000 have been allocated Mr. Speaker as I mentioned earlier I am hoping that we can fence the entire perimeter of the fishing port in Denui providing a gate that will be able to allow us to control activities on the port So we are hoping that when we finish fishing in Denui we will be able to do all the fishing in Denui, all the people in Denui that are happy with the work that the government has done, the work that the administration has done and the work that we have continued to do to make all the fishing facilities clean And we are going to give them special training in fishing handling and we are hoping that they will have an ID card that will recognize that they are certified fish handlers Mr. Speaker Under the Ministry of Sports, Mr. Speaker, we've refurbished the Denry Steelban shed, Mr. Speaker. That facility has been there for more than ten years and it has not been utilised in the way it's expected. We have gotten assistance, financial resources from the Ministry of Sports, Mr. Speaker, and we've rehabilitated the Steelban shed with the hope that we'll get or encourage young persons within the constituency to engage in Steelban, Mr. Speaker. As you know, Mr. Speaker, the issue of crime has been a disturbing issue for the constituency and whatever can be done to occupy our young people as much as possible will or should help curb the situation. We've seen the refurbishment of the Lakai Decay Centre improvements in terms of tiling, Mr. Speaker, painting of the building and we just recently upgraded the railings. In the new financial year, we'll be focusing on securing the property by improving and completing the fencing component of the building, Mr. Speaker. We just constructed or commenced the construction of the nursery road in Lakai and that is a road that has been unattended to for more than 15 years, Mr. Speaker. Under the constituency development programme, we have begun the construction of this new road and we are hoping that completion of this road will be in the new financial year. A new footpath commencing from the tamrin tree that is by Lin and those persons in Lakai that has been a major, major concern because of the condition of the road there, Mr. Speaker. We began construction of this new footpath last month and it was just completed and I must say the people of Lakai are extremely happy, Mr. Speaker. In terms of projects for 2024, 2025, Mr. Speaker, as the parliamentary rep for January, I've been under a lot of pressure for the status of the multiple percent of the building, Mr. Speaker. This building was damaged by in 2021, Mr. Speaker and since then it has not been, it's not fit for use by the public. This is a building, Mr. Speaker, that was hosting dances and meetings, Mr. Speaker, even weddings, Mr. Speaker. And this situation, this building is in a very, very, very bad, bad mess, Mr. Speaker. I am hoping after my discussion with the Minister for Finance that in this new financial year, 2024, 2025, some attention will be given to the building, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to say to all the people of January that I have been under a lot of pressure for the condition of the multiple percent of the building. We have been under a lot of pressure for the future of the building, but we have been under a lot of damage because of the damage for the multiple percent of the building. … Mr. Speaker, the playing field, Mr. Speaker, the football field, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the playing field Mr. Speaker, the football field Mr. Speaker, we are praying every day that we will get the funds to be able to provide the seating facility for the denry football field. We are hosting a number of events, football activities like black hat, veterans football competitions, local football competitions Mr. Speaker, but the seating is not available and the persons who are attending those games Mr. Speaker have to be standing throughout Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm hoping that in this new financial year, after my discussion with the minister for youth and sports, we will see some effort or work commencing to be able to put in the seats and other facilities that are needed to ensure that persons attending games are more comfortable at or when they are at that venue. Road improvements Mr. Speaker, we have we have seen some deteriorating roads in the constituency and I speak to areas like Lachai Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Lume Mr. Speaker, Church Street road passing next to Lawrence House in Denry Mr. Speaker, the Boasul Road as I mentioned earlier, the Green Mountain Road, Lachai main road going for the community of Lachai. We are hoping that we will be able to give some attention to those roads and to make life better for our constituents. In this new financial year, we are going to put additional lights on the Lachai playing field. We have a few lights already set up on the playing field Mr. Speaker, but we are hoping that we can deal with those dark spots by Helen and I've already engaged a contractor for coasting which I'm hoping we can begin work on very early in the next financial year. Mr. Speaker, I know in terms of sport, Denry is part of a team under the professional league Mr. Speaker and I'm in the process of providing financial resources to assist with uniforms and football where Mr. Speaker because I know Denry being one of the best teams on the island Mr. Speaker, I expect and anticipate that we'll be very successful in this new competition and we need to provide them the resources that are needed to make this happen. Mr. Speaker, I want to call on my constituents of Denry South that they place the trust and confidence in me and I want to assure them that I will do the best I can to make Denry South one of the best constituencies in St. Lucia and a constituency that that may end up being the best in the next few years Mr. Speaker, but I want to inform them that everything cannot and will not be done in one year. We have to go through a process, we have to do it together Mr. Speaker and I call on all my constituents to work with me. Let's work together for the development of the constituency of Denry South. In closing Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the prime minister for the allocation to the ministry of agriculture. It will do well and it will do well for the ministry Mr. Speaker because our farmers and other stakeholders in the sector are going through serious challenges Mr. Speaker. As we speak, we are faced with a dilemma Mr. Speaker of our farmers especially our banana farmers and plantain farmers not being able to export fruits to the region because of unavailability of boxes and we never Mr. Speaker, but the ministry has taken a proactive approach and we've placed an order of 7500 boxes through the DR from the DR Mr. Speaker which is expected to get into St Lucia sometime next week. Especially if I'm a figler, if I'm a banana, I have a lot of situations that I have to go through naturally. This is because we are shy figs that are not able to export but we have problems with Winera because Winera said, let me talk to you, that you present me because of all these machines that are in this box. And for this, we are in a situation where we are not able to export our figs, it will be too bad as a ministry will call that you have to place a proper order so that the easiest way possible is to solve the situation now. We have the point to take. We have the point to pass the science but we know that it will be okay but we will see what is possible, let us kai we zule situasiyon. I want to thank my peers and staff of the ministry for the support throughout Mr. Speaker and to look forward to further support from them in the 2024-25 period, Mr. Speaker. My team in Denry South, the council and other persons, my chair of my constituency group, my constituents, Mr. Speaker, for the patience and understanding and my cabinet colleagues, Mr. Speaker, for guidance and last, Mr. Speaker, my attache for provision and support throughout my journey in this thing. Mr. Speaker, I support the estimates 24-25. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.