 Good afternoon, members, and bear in mind the comments by the member of the reserve. Sort of us, I guess he's now energized, haven't had lunch, he's energized. Members, when we suspended the House, we were debating the Domestic Violence Act. Minister for gender affairs. I was told I was speaking next. Oh. We were off the view that the speakers had been exhausted, but members of view for assault. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Thank you very much. Mr Speaker, how did you get the opportunity to join other members in sending or issuing congratulations to the women at St. Lucia? And for me, more particularly, to the women of my constituency, V4 South. I want to say that I'm out today, Mr Speaker, because of my journey in politics the last 25 years. It has been the women of the South in V4 South who have seen to my political survival and who have made it possible to return to this House on several occasions. So, they enjoy a very, very special place in my heart. Very, very special place in my political memory and a very, very special place in my life. I suspect, Mr Speaker, that if we looked at the voting demography of this country, the political demography of this country, if you prefer, Mr Speaker, that the vast majority of women end up supporting the St. Lucia Liberal Party. Indeed, I believe that more women support the St. Lucia Liberal Party than men do. I can't prove it just yet, although from the voting patterns that I have seen, I think there are some important indications. And perhaps there is something, Mr Speaker, to learn from. There's something that those statistics suggest. It might well be that women get very attracted to the program of the St. Lucia Liberal Party and vice versa. Men find some respite in the programs of the United Workers Party, the opposition party. But I can't explain this with a certainty that I would like, but nevertheless, it is an indication certainly for the St. Lucia Liberal Party where women play such a critical role in our own political survival and that hopefully that will remain this way for some time to come. Mr Speaker, I am exceedingly happy that this all over the house is one of the first parliaments of a country to enact a comprehensive domestic violence bill. And I'm aware, Mr Speaker, that there is effort sometimes isolated, other times more structured efforts to erase the history of this country and to pretend that the history doesn't exist. I saw this particularly during the last film of the former government. It's very, very unfortunate. But you know, Mr Speaker, in these matters St. Lucia has always been at the forefront of the legislative agenda of the region. And I am happy that this morning that there was evidence of women who have contributed to this cause who have made it possible for this legislation to be enacted. I think it is so important that that history be recognized. But I make the point to say that we have always been at the forefront of social legislation of the state. Although there is such a long way to go and I shall come back to that in a few minutes, Mr Speaker, only to emphasize that we were the first country in the Caribbean actually to enact laws against sexual harassment at the workplace. And quite recently I heard a very distinguished professor, Professor Bella Antoine, making that point to a plenary discussion that when other countries languish behind, St. Lucia had gone ahead in this labour code to enact that kind of legislation. So it is good that St. Lucia is maintaining its place as a pioneer of social legislation. But of course there is crying legislation yet to do and as much as we praise this legislation, I sincerely hope that we will see very soon legislation that ensures the quality of treatment that resolves the long standing issue of status of children in our country, that ensures that illegitimate children like myself enjoy the very same rights as legitimate children. I hope we can move in that direction very soon, Mr Speaker, because clearly this legislation is crying out for support. In that vein, Mr Speaker, I am also very pleased to see that we have extended the reach of this legislation to people who enjoy long standing relationships and cohabitating together and living in the same home. That is to say that we have embraced persons who are unmarried, but they have partners over a period of time. Again, this is progressive, this is welcome, and I hope we can then also translate that into succession in due course, as I have been done in Barbados over 25 years ago. So we had a long way to go, Mr Speaker, but again, all of these are signed posts of the possibilities as we proceed, and I am hoping that what has long been denied to women who mother illegitimate children that that will be rectified in due course and that they can look forward to equal succession as children who emerge out of relationships of marriage or of unkind or another. And I repeat that persons who have cohabitated together for an extended period of time that they too can enjoy succession rights. Having said all of this, Mr Speaker, I want to take a quick look at some provisions of this bill before us today. Mr Speaker, in my experience legislation is never the total answer to problems that we have. Never. It is a pilotive, it assists, it gives guidance, it will only partially resolve issues. And the reason for this of course is that some of the problems we have are so complex and deeply sociological that unless we have the courage to tackle a sociological problem, then we are not going to get very far. It is all well and good to have legislation like this. I think the Minister of Gender Affairs had every reason to be very proud this morning as she explained the bill and explained the various provisions of the bill and its implications. But the reality is, unless we really tackle the sociological problems in our communities and in our societies there is only so much that legislation will do and so much that legislation can achieve. Basically I say this, Mr Speaker, I am doing for size that side by side with this legislation we have to develop a culture of against violence. And we have spoken about this repeatedly before. Not only when we speak about a culture against violence, we often speak about it in terms of crime. You know, you need to reduce violence so you can cut back on crime. We get angry too fast and want to settle things by weapons, by knives, cutlassies, firearms. But we are not understanding that there is a deeper issue of violence embedded in our homes, embedded in our society, embedded in our communities and we have to tackle it. Translated, Mr Speaker, I hope that in the weeks and months ahead we can find a mechanism to preach anti-violence in our various communities and not in a piecemeal way as has been done in the past by isolated counseling of individuals here and there. But generally as a huge societal effort to deal with the problem to say that no form of violence, whether it is against women, whether it is against men, whether it is against children is acceptable and must be frowned upon and disowned. So in that spirit I embrace the comment I think I heard a member mention this morning that this legislation will have to be supported by a lot of education. Now the legislation parades with a verner of neutrality behind it. In other words it is gender neutral, men can apply for protection order, women can apply for protection orders. But in the past it is the women who have had the experience of applying for protection orders. That is because of the peculiar provisions in our maintenance legislation and that is quite correct for the times it was the right thing to do, Mr Speaker. And so in the vast majority of cases the women looked and applied for protection orders and fortunately we had a system of courts that seemed to have understood this and quite often they were protected by these protection orders. We do know that they were never ever safe with the protection orders that in some instances no matter the existence of protection orders that they continue to be subject to violence and suffer from assaults and the like. So Mr Speaker I think the fact that we are talking about gender neutrality in this legislation that I am hoping that the various civil society groups who champion this legislation as indeed the minister that champion the legislation Mr Speaker I am hoping that they embark on a major education program if only to touch the lives of the men who themselves are subject of violence in homes and we don't like to talk about these things but it is rare and if you want to know and understand how frequently these things happen talk to the lawyers because those of us who are in private practice sometimes have to counsel men too who may be subject to their clothes being burned, beds thrown out, etc. because of this culture of violence in which we speak. So they too need to be educated not just against violence it's in acceptable forms but also through that they have rights and we can't assume that they have the rights they are aware of because this venerable neutrality in the legislation is not really go far. On my part I wish we had had a declaratory statement of that neutrality rather than a presumptuous neutrality that is in the legislation but that is neither hand or there is a matter of drafting style. That means that Mr Speaker I believe I have developed a reputation in this house as raising issues with drafting with legislation that reaches this house. I see the opposition is represented by the member for Swazel and I know that he will recall the several occasions when I attempted to give advice to the former government and the advice was turned down because there were issues of drafting in the legislation that sometimes even the very objectives were not met I think I see him nodding his head so he admits to that possibility but let me say this as much as I have condemned previous legislation which I think was falsely drafted I want to commend this legislation because I think it is acceptable law accessible law rather acceptable and accessible meaning by accessibility that it is legislation that could be easily read and understood and that is so important, it is populist law meaning that you can actually take up the legislation and read sections out of it and victims in the legislation can at least understand what is being said and when a legislative drafter achieves that degree of perfection then clearly you have to commend and you have to give applause and in that spirit I certainly applause this legislation that it is accessible, it is populist legislation and I may disagree with how certain things are structured but in the end it doesn't add a head on there but that haven't been said Mrs. Speaker no matter how good we are drafting legislation there are going to be moments when we slip up on things here and there and we need to look at it the first thing I want to just mention Mrs. Speaker because I think that can be remedied very quickly I am very concerned about the powers of the director in this legislation Mrs. Speaker and Mrs. Speaker you are not here but other members who were members of the last parliament will recall that when the Child Care Adoption and Protection Act was being debated I raised issues regarding the placement of the director as head of the board making decisions or recommendations regarding adoption I believe it was, I don't think it was the justice bill I think it was that on that occasion I see the member for Cass Street's self nodding his head so he remembers I raised the issue that you could not have the director sitting as chair of that committee while the recommendations for adoption came from her own department and then of course that was disregarded but my response at the time was well really leave it to the lawyers until the right time comes when the matter is taken up in the same way while I understand the intent to give the director powers in this legislation because of the quote unquote seeming neutrality and I don't mean political neutrality I don't mean that seeming neutrality in the sense that she stands midway between the applicants for protection orders and of course the court to which they have to apply and of course there must be some history to it of all this confidence there are nevertheless issues that arise that would cause some little anxiety and for me I would say there are major issues but I think the issues that in time will have to be dealt with but first of all the minor ones take a look at clause four Mr. Speaker I want you to take a look first of all at clause four two the director in consultation with the Chief Justice shall ensure that magistrates receive specialized training in hearing domestic violence matters you think about that Mr. Speaker what this ignores is the local hierarchy the director in that subject is not above the Chief Justice the Chief Justice is at the apex of the judicial system it is not the director from whom the initiative to spring to go to Chief Justice the director in consultation with the Chief Justice you can't ascribe to a director a discretionary power to be in consultation with the Chief Justice and then says shall ensure that magistrates receive specialized training in hearing domestic violence matters magistrates are not under the jurisdiction of the director they are under the jurisdiction of the Chief Justice Mr. Speaker and you can't have the hierarchy in so serious a matter wrong what you can do if you want to say on the approval of Chief Justice the director may ensure that magistrates receive specialized training in hearing domestic violence matters but it has to be on the approval of the Chief Justice because the Chief Justice is at the apex of the judicial system and magistrates had her courts likewise I mean I don't know maybe the minister is comfortable this is clause 3 the director in consultation with the minister responsible for health shall establish and deliver education well intentioned but come on the minister is the director superior and what this should be is the minister after consultation with the director get around and of course similarly I leave it with the commissioner of police I haven't checked the ranks of the commissioner and the director who's above what rank but I would imagine that the police force is the commissioner's police force and I'm putting that in exaggeration but Mr. Speaker just to make the point I know if I can't pass to the director in general and so on maybe he might have enough time to ensure that this wording is adjusted similarly Mr. Speaker there's an issue regarding the records which reach civil servants which reach ministers and so on we are trained to answer to what is called privileged information be it that we are responsible to hold secret whatever our clients tell us and we may know things about our clients which the law has no business knowing but you see domestic violence are very sensitive and very delicate matter and very unusual information can reach the decision makers now the bill recognizes some of that the bill does recognize some of that to its credit so for example there's a provision in the bill that a court can ask a particular witness to go out etc but I'm very concerned about the rule of the public service and the rule of the director again because I have knowledge of instances where information has not been made public without now don't want to ask me what kind of fraud and full disclosure you'll never get out don't ask me that but it's a reality and I would have thought that the bill should have had a provision to place a duty on the director and all public servants that have to deal with domestic violence they have a duty of absolute confidentiality in fact I saw another bill before the House and I was very pleased that the first thing the bill says I think it is in relation to the tourism whatever bill and it says that the community tourism development bill and it says in the early provisions an oath of secrecy is required it's too late in the day but if there is one piece of legislation that requires an oath of secrecy to protect as many persons as possible be it victims, be it applicants be it respondents or whatever then I really would have preferred to have seen that but I suspect it's a bit much for the attorney general I'm just saying that we have to be highly realistic about these matters sometimes politicians who are to blame they cause problems because they make unnecessary disclosures they put everybody else in trouble but the reality is the public service also has a certain amount of autonomy and it's not unusual that delicate information gets out and causes severe damage having said that Mrs. Vigour I'm a little nervous and uncomfortable with clauses 25 going down to 26 29 and I'll tell you why I am uncomfortable with Mrs. Vigour this bill makes provision for interim protection orders proceedings for final protection order to be made through the Director of Human Services Mrs. Vigour, I have been taught as a lawyer and as a student that every citizen is entitled to the protection of the law and protection of the law means unimpeded access to the courts it's my understanding of what protection of the law means unimpeded access to the courts and a right of the court to adjudicate on behalf of litigants in any dispute brought to them these are all caught up in this notion of protection of the law my problem Mrs. Vigour is the attachment to the Director of Judicial and Executive Powers I don't know who the current Director is I don't know the person's name, I don't know the features, nothing that's not my issue because you know when you speak about these things the first thing they tell you, oh you don't like that person you have something against that person, that person did you say I don't know who it is, these days I'm not in touch with the public service I don't know the person's name but I don't know the person no I don't know the person's name if the person is here then they should put up a hand and see me afterwards on the Director you were talking about now Mrs. Vigour, look at 25 an interim protection order, no depressive or final order file an affidavit with the Director the affidavit is to be filed with the Director I have difficulty with that my own view, while I understand the Director needs to be kept informed because of the larger than life rules that has been assigned to the Director I think the person should have an unimpeded right to file an affidavit with the Court what you can say, file an affidavit with the Court and the Director so that the Director is kept informed and in the loop but not solely with the Director to depend on the Director eventually to send the affidavit on its way to where it's going these are legal processes and whoever files his entitled to the protection of the law and then afterwards on the section 26 the officer of the Court shall serve, immediately serve so you don't even know what is the gap that kind of code between 25 and 1 now it says on the 29 28, 29, the Director shall call the copy of the affidavit in reply to the affidavit filed by the Responded to be served on the Responded precise problem again it revolves a judicial function a court, an issue of access is revolving around the Director because it should be going directly to the Court and by extension notification to the Director and therefore I'm very uncomfortable on section 29 it says on the date fixed by the Court for the proceedings the Director shall submit to the Court then the various things that which are to be submitted so what we are doing is to close the Director with a range of powers which strictly speaking should really be issuing from the Court albeit it may be of course be made available and copied to the Director but then of course all of this has to do with the sociological functions being attached to the Director so Mr. Speaker I have difficulty with those things and this of course is not the trap from the importance of the bill but I would have preferred if those things were attended to there is a view too Mr. Speaker but we all understand the lexicon I want to join the minister in emphasizing how important that this bill has how important that this bill is because it has come to terms with the new reality that we have with the social media and so on so it makes provision for cyber-stalking I like that term cyber-stalking and I was thinking about the politicians Mr. Speaker because Lord my goodness I have a stalk before and I just saw a wonderful judgment from the Court recently awarding damages to someone oh it involved a cricketer a cricketer, a businessman had to pay more than six, seven hundred something thousand dollars Mr. Speaker I think it was in trade at oh you're up top of your game Mr. Speaker you're on top of things Mr. Speaker and it was again with defamatory statements on a Facebook post but I understood it was actuated by malice so Mr. Speaker I'm just saying that this is good and there's a lot of cyber-stalking harassing of harassment of women etc and not just by men but by other women because sometimes when you see the men have more than one partner it is the other women who are cyber-stalking the man's woman or wife you didn't know that you didn't know that you didn't know that it doesn't happen before in denry south doesn't happen there sorry Mr. Speaker I'm just saying Mr. Speaker that a member for denry south doesn't understand what happens in his constituency when he comes to win but again it becomes a troublesome issue Mr. Speaker that we have to to deal with and I believe that it was a very important step that was made to ensure that there was protection against this the definition of domestic violence is also intriguing and deserves applause although I think some of it in term will have to to be given meat and so to put it but it is obvious that a lot of thought has gone into this and I think the civil society groups they have had a major part to play in coming to identifying what is men the reason all about tome let me know a little unsure about myself Mr. Speaker and I was hoping that we might have had a definition somewhere in the in the definition section psychoeducational therapy unfortunately I didn't see that being defined but I confess it's a new term to me I suspect I can guess what it means by the two words that have been joined together psychoeducational but it would have been good if we had had a definition of the term along the way now Mr. Speaker I want to touch on a very important issue and again important for all the things that we have been talking about when you look at the definition Mr. Speaker of court and if you look Mr. Speaker at section two that is the court means the family court now Mr. Speaker we have to progress by stages and accept that sometimes we cannot progress by leaps and bounds and if it is one thing that I would say Mr. Speaker I am very pleased that with the previous legislation dealing with issues of maintenance etc magistrates were given jurisdiction in their various localities to pronounce on some of these issues so someone who has a problem will go to the magistrate in due for and this is important because it means that we are dealing now with accessible justice people can get access in their various communities and the peculiarities of communities will be understood but the term family court is really a misanoma of all practical purposes we are dealing with magistrates courts and bear in mind that I am saying that I agree that magistrates should have that jurisdiction what I am emphasizing is that the time has come for St. Lucia to establish a fully fledged family court presided over by judges we have reached that point so that we have a specialized court that deals with family issues but also deals with issues of divorces and the rest of it because as of now divorces are under the jurisdiction of judges in the ordinary civil procedure and if we can go as far as to establish a commercial court given the way family law issues resonate throughout the society and the complexity of those issues I believe that the time has come for us to enact for a family court so that all matters pertaining to the family can in fact reach the high court and then call of appeal as a case now again Mr. Speaker because it's so easy to me to understand you can imagine what I will be accused of when I am finished here I am sorry I want to repeat I fully endorse the need for magistrates to have jurisdiction on these matters fully it's a welcome jurisdiction but I think that the time has come to establish a family court because you see even with this when there's an appeal against a magistrates decision let us say deny in a protection order your recourse is then to the high court and then to the court of appeal whatever whereas I see no reason why if a magistrate denies a protection order you don't leave the court of appeal I see no reason why just in much the same way in criminal matters you don't order a high court judge you go from a magistrate on to a court of appeal you appeal there and what we are doing when we are delaying disputes, family disputes of one kind or another what we are simply doing is to prolong agonies of individuals throughout the system whereas in family matters we need fairly quick decision making although of course some matters in family law can take years for example succession but Mr. Speaker what I am saying is that I hope that we can in time Mr. Speaker really create a family court with a unique jurisdiction it will not take much to do so obviously that's why the concurrence of the Chief Justice will preside over the courts but in much the same way that as I said that you have specialized courts specialized functions so too something like family disputes need to be extricated from the range of civil proceedings and civil disputes that we have and compartmentalize in a specialized court so that the quality of justice that we are looking for can be extended and again I repeat for the umpteenth time I would imagine that if you create a family division of the High Court of the Supreme Court rather that the magistrates will be entrusted with the same jurisdiction that has been entrusted into this act so we have to now that we have done this we need to look into the future take a step into the future and move in the direction of creating a family court and perhaps if we can do that some of the other issues that we have been raising can then be dealt with so for example the issues of adoption that we have been speaking about the issue of violence to children out of the justice act that we have been talking about provided we go and clean up those acts as I have said we should clean it up when I was in opposition I still repeat the same Mr. Speaker then some of those things could be brought under the rubric of a family court and we could deal with it in a very very specialized very very specialized way so Mr. Speaker notwithstanding my anxiety about the issues that I have raised the issue of the role of the director and by passing the courts given the director management over the access the protection of the law which I don't think should be the case at all giving the director a very direct and conflictual role notwithstanding my own comments regarding the issue of the secrecy of documents in such matters and protection of persons in such matters notwithstanding those comments Mr. Speaker my last set of comments regarding the family court I want to say that I support this bill and even if I think it has issues but it is a step in the right direction and I think the women of Tbilisi would feel relieved but again I want to plead that there be an education program that reaches men and that we work hard to deal with this culture of violence that is everywhere in our workplace in our communities and I'm certain that when budget time comes I'll have more to say about our distressed communities but I hope that we can see this as an important bill so Mr. Speaker I want to confirm that I'm happy to support this bill Thank you Mr. Speaker Minister for Gender Affairs Mr. Speaker let me thank my colleagues for their contributions and support to this bill Mr. Speaker at this moment let me express my condolences to the family of the officer and members of the Royal St. Lucia Police Force Mr. Speaker it is a sad moment for us at a time when we have so many challenges dealing with criminal acts in our society let me express condolences to the family of Mr. Timet at his untimely death Mr. Speaker we have had a long day a long discussion but one thing I learnt in this debate is that at no time should we debate on a hungry belly because the public out there they are concerned as to whether decisions are made because we have to go for lunch or we have mislunch but the Prime Minister has always said that the decisions that we have to make is too important for us to do it hastily so when I hired a member on the opposite side indicated that he supported the bill on a hungry belly I don't know what level of support he gave was it fully support 50% support 25% support but anyway thanks for the support the member who shows us also indicated that International Women's Day sounds like tokenism but I'll let him know that we have international men's day and when as I explained earlier that somebody close to me has his birthday on international women's day my birthday is on international men's day so I will be there to celebrate with the men I didn't make myself and I also want to respond to the point raised about consultation this is the speaker we can never exhaust consultation but at some point we have to take decisions and I think the time is right for the last 10 years there has been consultation on this bill is the member opposite suggesting that we have another 10 years when will we start working I did indicate Mr. Speaker that in 2016 this bill was ready to come to this house in whatever form it was but the member opposite starting this house for 5 years and I did not hear he indicated that he made any attempt to try and get this bill in this house Mr. Speaker there is always room as I said for further consultation but this government felt it was long overdue the women in St. Lucia felt it was long overdue not understanding that we will continue to dialogue because we have to implement the bill once it is passed in this house I also the member opposite made mention of Catherine Sealy and she raised her voice when I meet her I will have to tell her you have to raise your voice louder I will have to tell her your voice louder because apparently some people still do not hear Mr. Speaker I am proud to associate with a government that will not watch what happen a government that will not wonder what happen but a government that will make things happen and that is why we are here in this house today to discuss and deliberate on this bill to make things happen I support the argument that in dealing with domestic violence there is need for cohesion we need synergy we need to look at all the agencies and the roles that they have to play it is not a one sided issue it is not an issue just for us it is an issue for all of us and therefore all departments the legal fraternity the social sector the trade unions the NGOs the private sector government we have to see it as our business and for this I welcome the suggestion that we need to explore how we can refine this legislation to bring it to put it in a perspective that makes it stronger and to give the people inclusion representation and support Mr. Speaker I avoid the that if you have a difficult job an almost impossible job to do you give it to a woman and Mr. Speaker I need no apologies but to take on the challenge that this bill we have to make it operationalize we have to operationalize this bill it cannot be a piece of paper it cannot be a set of ink on white paper it cannot be a bill just on speeches it must be a bill of action and with the support of the prime minister and cabinet ministers I remain convinced Mr. Speaker that this bill will come to life we are going to bring about the changes we will mobilize the necessary resources and will improve on what we have here at this moment let me assure that people in St. Lucia especially victims of domestic violence let me assure persons who are living in a violent environment in the homes that this government will do all within its powers seek the necessary support put the necessary mechanisms in place to ensure that we get results I welcome the observation made by our colleague former representative our colleague minister and parliamentary that there is room for improvement in certain areas this is welcome and the committee stage will address these issues and as we open up this bill a number of areas are coming to the fore and we know it will be a challenge but I am saying that at this stage within the first seven months of this government we have taken this step and just give us the breathing space just give us the support and what is good about this bill Mr. Speaker is that the fact that this bill is here so early in the five-year term of this government it gives us time to dissect that bill it gives us the time to put things in place so that by the end of our term we would have seen some changes we would have seen some things in the making I will not fool the people of St. Lucia by doing something last minute just before election we do it as soon as we are elected and then we are going to put things in place Mr. Speaker let me thank the Honourable Prime Minister for giving me the opportunity to solve in that capacity to work in the Department of Gender Affairs and I don't think his choice was in error it was by design that I actually re-opposed my commitment to fight for the cause of humanity to fight for human rights to fight to protect men and women I have done it for decades I have been in the struggle in education in natural unions advancing gender equality and today Mr. Speaker having given this opportunity to be at the decision making level I will not let my people down and the people in Babylon I thank you for giving me the opportunity to solve not just Babylon but St. Lucia and the wider region Mr. Speaker we will move forward and we will do what we have to do to protect our people to bring peace to bring love harmony and tranquility in our society I remain convinced and I am reassured that the level of support given to this bill in this house it raises the hope of all the persons in St. Lucia that they have the government that is putting them first with this Mr. Speaker I take my seat I want to remember the question is that the domestic violence bill be read a second time I now put the question as many as of that opinion say I as many as the country opinion say no I think the I's have it an act to provide for the protection of victims of domestic violence the grant of a protection order and for related matters I shall read in clauses and advise which sections of the act the clauses relate to clause 2 interpretation clause 2 stands part of the bill part 1 clauses 3 to 5 administration section 4 we want to make an amendment Mr. Speaker section 4 one should read the commissioner of police after consultation with the director shall establish and deliver on an annual basis education and training programs to police officers with respect to the procedures for responding to acts of domestic violence so now am I understand the change to simply be the commissioner police in consultation with the director after consultation with the director and everything else remains the same yes correct Mr. Speaker and clause 2 for 2 the chief justice after consultation with the director shall ensure that magistrates with specialized training receive specialized training yes in herring domestic violence matters clause 3 clause 4.3 4.3 Mr. Speaker the minister is responsible for health after consultation with the director you need to read the rest no change should be made to it these are the suggested amendments to part 1 yes Mr. Speaker am just asking whether it should be the minister shall ensure that the minister establishes the legal Madam minister I think what the member of the cast is suggesting is that whereas all of the others well with the chief justice for example is just to ensure the magistrate receives specialized training as opposed to the other two which are suggesting that the the individuals have to establish the training yes we will remove them with shall ensure and deliver education and training programs for health care and social services service professionals so can you read the full thing now let me have it read ok the minister responsible for health after consultation with the director shall ensure and deliver education and training programs for health care and social service professionals with respect to the procedures for assisting victims on the following don't you just want to say that shall make available appropriate education and training programs ok we can make the other amendment shall make available education and training programs so that budget will come from there available or just educational shall make available and deliver education education and training yeah would you want that similar change to 4.1 yes Mr. yes Mr. yes Mr. yes Mr. yes Mr. yes Mr. ok Madam. part 1 closes 3 to 5 as amended stands part of the bill members can we concentrate on the work before us there if I'm not hearing the bill cannot pass part 2 closes 6 to 13 domestic violence part 2 closes 6 to 13 stands part of the bill part 3 closes 14 to 48 protection orders amendment to section 19 part 1 19 1 we are removing director and replacing it with the court Mr. chairman at the heading which reads application for interim protection order to be lodged we are removing director to replace it with court Mr. 25 1 ok 19 2 change 19 1 19 but the affidavit is already under 19 1 with the court so you can't say because we are I delete as it is after Mr. chairman section 2 subsection 2 subsection 2 here proceed Mr. chairman we look at subsection 25 1 will delete the wood director and replaces it with the wood court in keeping with the earlier amendment ok we will keep court and director you keep director you just add court and 25 1 25 1 file an affidavit with the director and court the director and court well the court first the court and director court and director which will remove 28 27 27 yes will make the similar changes court and director and 28 the court and the shall cause the court court and director court and director 28 clause 29 the heading documents the date fixed by the court must be submitted to the court 29 29 Mr. chairman on the date fixed by the court for proceedings for the proceedings will delete director shall submit to the court and replaces it with following the following documents must be submitted to the court that's 29 yes and we will delete in the heading we will delete by the director we just put documents to be submitted to the court any other proposed amendments to part 3 to clause 28 the court and director you have another amendment ok we only did 14 to 48 what 14 to 48 35 35 is there a suggested amendment to 35 35 will have the change it has to be the court giving notice in that case yes Mr. chairman the court shall immediately clause 35 replace director with court ok any further amendments part 3 clauses 14 to 48 as amended stands part of the bill part 4 clauses 49 to 51 conduct of court proceedings part 4 clauses 49 to 51 stands part of the bill part 5 clauses 52 to 58 miscellaneous part 5 clause 58 stands part of the bill section 8 information to victim and applicant regarding his or her rights the schedule stands part of the bill clause 1 short title clause 1 stands part of the bill one of the members the question is that the committee rises and the bill be reported I now put the question as many as of that opinion say aye as many as of a country opinion I think the ayes have it the ayes have it on the members I beg to report that the domestic violence bill went through committee stage with amendment to parts 1 and 3 minister for the public service home affairs labour and gender affairs Mr. Speaker I move that the report of the committee be abetted and the bill be read at full time and passed one of the members the question is that the report of the committee be adopted and that the domestic violence bill be read a third time and passed I now put the question as many as of that opinion say aye as many as of a country opinion say no I think the ayes have it the ayes have it be it enacted by the queen's most excellent majesty the ayes and consents of the house of assembly and the senator senucia and by the authority of the three mars follows this act may be cited as a domestic violence act 2022 prime minister and minister for finance, economic development and the youth economy Mr. Speaker I beg to I beg to move for the first million of a bill short and tight to the bank agreement eastern carbian central bank agreement amendment prime minister and minister for finance this week I beg to move the special sign order number 48-2 to allow the bill to go through its remaining stages at this sitting one of the members the question is that standing order 48-2 be suspended in order to allow the prime minister and minister for finance to proceed with the remaining stages of the bill at this sitting I now put the question as many as of that opinion say I as many as of a country opinion say no I think the ayes have it the ayes have it leave is granted proceed minister thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker the purpose of this bill is to amend the eastern caribbean central bank agreement act Mr. Speaker in 1983 the governments of Antigua and Barbuda the co-offer of Dominica Grenada-Monshock Saint Christopher and Nivis Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadiers entered into an agreement establishing the eastern caribbean central bank the purpose of this agreement Mr. Speaker was to maintain a common currency among the territories of the participating governments and to establish an eastern caribbean central bank Mr. Speaker with all the functions of a central bank that these are mainly to regulate the supply of money to promote and maintain monetary stability to promote trade and exchange conditions and to create a sound financial structure and to actively promote remains consistent with the other objectives of economic development of these states Mr. Speaker so Mr. Speaker the eastern caribbean central bank agreement was was the law from 1983 but at a meeting of the eastern caribbean central bank monetary authority monetary council which is the highest making decision body of the bank the monetary council approved an amendment to the act to deal with conflicts of other legislation and the act as a result the bill this amendment to the bill is necessary to give legal effect to these changes so Mr. Speaker the amendment that we seek is to amend section section 4 Mr. Speaker of the section 4 to add a new section 4a which provides that in the event of any inconsistency between the act and any other legislation the provisions of the act shall prevail to the extent of that inconsistently so basically Mr. Speaker is if there are any conflicts or if there are any provisions that conflict with the eastern caribbean agreement the eastern caribbean central bank agreement will be the first president over these conflicting clauses so it takes precedent that basically is the amendment by adding a new section honour members the question is that the eastern caribbean central bank agreement amendment bill be read a second time I now put the question as many as of that opinion see I as many as of the country opinion say no I think the eyes have it the eyes have it an act to amend the eastern caribbean central bank agreement act 19.07 clause 2 insertion of new section 4a clause 2 stands part of the bill clause 1 short title clause 1 stands part of the bill honour members the question is that the committee rises and the bill be reported I now put the question as many as of that opinion see I as many as of the country opinion say no I think the eyes have it the eyes have it honour members I beg to report that the eastern caribbean central bank agreement amendment bill went through committee stage without amendments Prime Minister I move that the report of the committee be adopted and the bill be passed be read a third time and passed honour members the question is that the report of the committee be adopted and that the eastern caribbean central bank agreement amendment bill be read a third time and passed I now put the question as many as of that opinion say I as many as of a country opinion say no I think the eyes have it the eyes have it think the eyes have it the eyes have it the eyes have it the eyes of those eye Mr Prime Minister It meant a man meant Mr. Affilance the speaker I beg to move for suspension of the stunning order 48 to allow the bill to go through its remaining stages at the city On our members the question is that stunning order 48 to be suspended in order to allow the prime minister to proceed With the remaining stages of the bill at this sitting and now put a question as many as that opinion say I As many as the country opinion say no I think the eyes of it the eyes of leave is granted. Please proceed to speak. I beg to move for second reading of A bill short the entire customs control and management amendment bill We just because the purpose of this bill is to amend the customs control and management act Cup 15.05 Mr. Speaker in January 2019 Section 76 one of the act was amended by the customs control and management amendment act number seven of 2019 according to the speaker Section 76 one of the act allows cabinet to remit or for rise the refund of The whole or part of any duty paid or payable to any person in respect of any goods replaced on the warranty If I want to exist and the value of the warranty is included in the customs value on which the duty was paid on goods requiring replacements However, miss mr. Speaker by cabinet conclusion number one two one of 2022 Cabinet approved the request to further amend section 76 one of the act So that cabinet may remit or for rise the refund of the whole or part of any duty paid or payable To any person in respect of any goods without the condition for goods to have been under a valid warranty Or for the warranty to be included in the customs value on which duty was paid on goods requiring Replacement for me to speaker the bill Amends the act to remove the limitation on cabinet's power to grant a remission or refund of duty With respect to goods on the warranty As a consequence with the speaker the bill amends the act to reflect Cabinet's power to remit or refund duties in a whole or parts To any person or goods with the speaker. So basically miss the speaker duties could only be refunded to goods on the warranty, but now the power exists by the minutes of the act to So remit duties on any good On a remember the question is that a customs control and management amendment bill be read a second time the member for social assault of us Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, I rise if anything but for clarification and If the member so desires prime minister if he could maybe we could I don't know if it's parliamentary Procedure, but if you could maybe respond as I but I really So initially the customs Bill was amended to address Marches that were our goods that were being replaced and they were on the warranty. That was the initial amendment So now what is happening is? We're removing the issue of goods on the warranty, but cabinet can now Offerize any refund. Is that how is that thing? This was you would prefer not to have this discussion at committee stage. No, no Okay, so a couple of questions Mr. Speaker is Would there be a is there a time limit is there a time frame going back how long so would you provide an authorization? three years four years five years back. This is something I would be interested in Finding out the speaker and what sort of disclosure as far as Maybe parliament would be aware. I would Would wouldn't there be some issue of accountability or conflict? I think it's a very sensitive Amendment to make on such a broad way to Forgot to all all I'm I'm duty. I think it's dangerous. I think it's a little bit too far far reaching in terms of Cut blanch sort of authorization to cabinet to do and not considering one a time limit to whether the disclosure will be made so that we were aware so that we You know, the people will know whether there's any conflict or or any any every reason for accountability. So this is just very straightforward questions that I have That I would like Prime Minister to thank you sir. You see member the reason I put that to you is because You were asking Somebody to speak twice on the same bill Which is not a rebuttal And if another member asked another question that member would have to be speaking Seven eight times on the same bill which is which is not permitted In the rules of the debate Conversation, no, that's why I was suggesting we do it at at a committee stage where the limitations are less and Members can raise any a studio wish at committee stage and Even amend if they if they wish So I would suggest that the member if he wishes the fire minister if he wishes to respond now it would be his rebuttal He would not be able to respond sit and then rebut So it would be his choice whether he but now or whether he takes on your risk your questions at committee stage minister of finance Yes, Mr. Speaker. I can explain Mr. Speaker the 2019 amendment Was intended to give the cabinet of ministers the authority to goods imported on the warranty Where a warranty exists and the value of the warrant is included in the customs value on which duty was paid on the goods required replacement But upon review, Mr. Speaker, it was realized that the amendment not only granted the cabinet power to remit or refund the duties of goods imported under warranty But removed the cabinet's general power to remit or refund duties The amendments it removed the cabinet's power to remit or refund duties, right? Which is which was a part given to it in the original custom control mansion back up to in of 2019 number 23 missus we miss the member for shows up of 1990 understand right now Mr. Speaker now given the subsection 2 of Section 76 of the act it reads this is weaker any remission or refund Made of arise to be made on the subsection one may apply either to specific instances or general or generally on respect of specified persons or to persons of a specific class and Maybe subject to such conditions and restrictions as cabinet may see it fit to impose that was in Number 23 of 1990 that provision was there the appeal of that amendment is a speaker is Therefore proposed which is to rectify the error you follow so what what I miss because we have we going back to the original 76 of 176 one of The 1990 bill which gives cabinet the authority which it had already in that in that bill to refund duties When this is when it's considered necessary because the amendment removed that That unless it was the good to under warranty You only because you see what happens that we just is going back to the old to the 76 No, but when you're mended it The cost refund duty members we are doing in a debate what we should be doing in committee, so Is your rebuttal done? One of the members the question is that the customs control and management amendment will be read a second time And I'll put the question as many as of that opinion say aye As many as of a country opinion say no But in the eyes of it the eyes of it An act to amend the customs control and management at cup 15.05 close to amendment of section 76 Would you like to do that now or you are satisfied with the Mike? my issue was Cabinet may remit or authorize the refund of the whole or part of any duty paid up able to oppose in respect of goods so now it has nothing to do goods under warranty, but Anybody who believes they have a justification for the for the duties to be refunded Can now go to cabinet and make an application now that person would have either felt Somewhere they were They were not justified in paying something else and that is what a person to take this up from because this could be very subjective It could be very very subjective that cabinet may approve one and not approve other In my opinion, this is a matter good to go to the courts. Let the court decide whether Customs or is the individual or not and I send you a lot. Are you ready? I understand it All right, so what it did is that the amendment removed that completely and put only for goods on a warranty So we just took it back to the original position But but you can still have it just the courts if you want You know, sir. He said only only warranty before and now it's so you move the powers of the cabinet to Do it except only if the goods under warranty so so There was another component to my query should they not have a time limit on based on that well, that you can on the customs on the on Customs Should we have a short do it should cabinet not indicate sorry Should cabinet not in can listen No matter which is over five years for example or over ten years for example, but you just living at very open-ended So anybody could just decide to Make a case for an application or something that has been so should we not have a time I I don't think that's necessary because that's that's what they exist in before Close to stands part of the bill close one short item Close one stands part of the bill on the members the question is that the committee rises and the bill be reported And now put the question as many as of that opinion say aye As many as of a country opinion single I think the eyes of it the eyes of it Honourable members I beg to report that the customs control and management amendment bill went through committee stage without amendments Minister of Finance just because moved to report I moved that the report of the committee be adopted and the bill be passed We read a third time and passed Honourable members the question is that the report of the committee be adopted and that the customs Control and management amendment bill be at a third time and passed and now put the question as Many as of that opinion say aye As many as of a country opinion say no It's in the eyes of it the eyes have it be It's an actor by the Queen's most excellent magistrate by and with the advice and consent of the House of Assembly and the Senate of And by the authority of the same as follows this app may be cited as the customs control and management amendment up 2022 Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for tourism investment creative industries culture and information Mr.. Speaker I beg to move the first reading of a bill shortly entitled Community tourism development Community tourism development Minister for tourism Mr.. Speaker I beg to move for the suspension of standing order number 48 to To allow the bill to go through its remaining stages at this sitting Honourable members the question is that standing order 48 to be suspended in Order to allow the minister to proceed to the remaining stages of the bill at this sitting I now put the question as many as of that opinion say aye as Many as of a country opinion say no I Think the eyes of it The eyes of it leave is granted. Please proceed minister. Mr. Speaker. I beg to move the second reading of a bill shortly entitled Community tourism development Thank you very much Mr.. Speaker Mr.. Speaker, I'm honored to be able to present this bill to parliament for its approval It provides one initiative that I think is transformational in scope and in scale It's intent is to indigenize the tourism industry in terms of participation and ownership It says that the time has arrived where we can start to dream of moving from just been seen as workers in the industry to now becoming owners of the industry It has been a long time coming and the destination itself our head But we have commenced the journey and today mr. Speaker I have an opportunity to explain to you How we have evolved to reach this stage? to explain to you What is involved in community tourism? foodly to explain some elements of the bill and Lastly to speak about some of the funding and financing that will be involved It's a deputy speaker Tourism has been an economic driver in st. Lucia for decades We can all recall the early days of the Halsey and days that was built And many other indigenous attempts to stimulate tourism in st. Lucia In the initial phases of the development of the industry The readily available natural resources provided is into the industry Resulting eventually with government legislating the tourism incentives act in 1995 In an attempt to create a more enabling environment for the growth of the tourism sector This area give both To what was called San see and send Tourism with a very heavy focus on accommodation As St Lucia continued building its destination brand More tourism accommodation properties But trust themselves on our shores creating enclaves as all-inclusive properties on premier beach France Recognizing that the accommodation stock was growing faster than the sites and attractions The government launched the st. Lucia heritage tourism program The program was an initiative of the government of st. Lucia and was funded jointly by the European Commission The EU well at that time the EC and the government of st. Lucia. It was initiated in 1998 with a total budget of EC 5.8 million dollars the time frame of the program was four years 1998 to 2002 The program sought to establish heritage tourism as a viable and sustainable component of St Lucia's tourism product by facilitating a process of education capacity building product development marketing credit access and the promotion of environmental and cultural protection For the benefit of host communities and st. Lucia's While these developments work well for building brand st. Lucia and shaping the internationally acclaimed destination We are today the government in 2005 recognized the need to diversify the accommodation sector into communities with a view to using events to spare arrivals as such a government in Enacted legislation during cricket World Cup for the provision of home accommodation to support sports events tourism this legislation called cricket World Cup tourism accommodation incentives act number five of two thousand and five Provided for duty-free concessions for solutions to build apartments as appendages to the existing home This created linkages and promoted community tourism in a huge way The notion of community tourism that we speak of today has therefore been engrained in the memory of st Lucia's and For which these two key policy initiatives soon as for runners heritage tourism and home accommodation Mr. Deputy Speaker, there is no question that despite the contribution of other sectors tourism continues to be st Lucia's major foreign currency owner Proxied by arrivals of both stay over including your team and cruise passengers which exceeded 1.2 million in 2019 a trend Which commenced and built on by successive governments and was anticipated to continue Until of course the COVID-19 pandemic arrived According to the recently revised tourism strategy 2020-2040 and I ask you to note Mr. Deputy Speaker and I quote despite a 2.2% rise in stay over arrivals a 5.6% increase in cruise passenger visitors Resulting in a 5.8% increase in the travel and tourism sectors direct contribution to GDP in 2018 GDP grew by only 1.5% Mrs. Deputy Speaker, it is very clear that this indicates major leakages associated in the tourism sector or Inadequate sectorial links or both This Mrs. Deputy Speaker is reflective of the predominance of foreign ownership Which most often leads to a significant repatriation of profits as well as a very high propensity towards importation of the inputs utilized in creating related tourism products and services With the decline in the banana industry as an export over the years tourism has become solutions premier income owner generating revenue of approximately 1.15 billion eastern Caribbean dollars in 2018 and 1.2 billion eastern Caribbean dollars in 2019 The results of the recently concluded tourism satellite account in 2019 for the year 2016 estimated a tourism contribution estimated 49% towards the island's GDP and an estimated 66% towards the country's exports Based on the research and statistics provided by the solution tourism authority and the Department of Statistics the data indicates that solution has not been very effective at converting increased arrivals into increased visitor spend They by reducing the wealth building impact of tourism for the population as a whole Community tourism is therefore seen as a means of improving the competitive competitiveness of the tourism sector through deliberate planning and management of the provision of tourism services at the community level to reduce sector leakages caused by a lack of local ownership and participation therefore Community tourism must demonstrate democratization through participation and empowerment through ownership Additionally the growth of linkages along the tourism value chain Which should have been driven by the growth in tourism arrivals Has not been as strong due to various economic and social factors as Well as the enclavement of the accommodation properties, which are described only as predominantly all-inclusive properties Of course, you must also accept Mr. Deputy Speaker that the institutional and policy framework for the development of tourism Also appears to be inadequate and it is a fact that the Ministry of Tourism is now trying to reform post-special planning and Equal distribution of touristic development have also led to a concentration of touristic assets in a few iconic places like Rodney Bay and Souffle This enclavement of tourism activity has resulted in an underutilization of communities including villages towns and waterfronts for economic activity Consequently The experiential offering which highlights cultural values heritage assets and community efforts as well as shopping activity in the villages are very limited in St. Lucia of the properties registered on Island of the Ministry Approximately 88% of them are located in urban areas Rosalie castries and view fort while they remain in 12% are located in the rural districts library through the ancillary canaries and Miko Additionally out of a total room stock of five thousand five hundred ninety-eight rooms on Island 97% of them are in urban areas while the remaining three percent of them are located in rural districts The accommodation stock has been recognized has been skewed towards the high-end all-inclusive proposition Which is also characterized by a preponderance of foreign ownership It has been noted however That there is very little avenue for visitors desiring more modest and authentic accommodation options The distribution of the accommodation stock away from the lesser developed communities There's not immediately forced the local economic development At a deeper level the limited spread of the benefits from the tourism industry Contributes to an atmosphere of mountain community resentment towards the weak social impact Unlimited tangible benefits at the community level from the tourism industry It is true to say that most solutions see tourism as a foreign thing In and for the benefit of the foreigner owned by and for the benefit of the foreigner Tourism cannot be sustainable until we start with voicing this sentiment it is on this basis that the government of St. Lucia in 2016 Established the policy position to transform the tourism landscape by developing community tourism to operationalize operationalize through a statutory agency under the Ministry of Tourism with a clear focus on tourism product development for local economic distribution and gains and all of that Mr. Deputy Speaker Explains to you how we have joined it and introduced at this point a community tourism program So Mr. Deputy Speaker the overall objective of community tourism is to assist the government in its policy of promoting private sector development through local ownership and participation in the tourism industry As such the community tourism agency has been established to advance that objective The initiative proposes community development of new quality infrastructure and activities in the form of home stays small intimate hotels restaurants bars museums creative art studios sites and attractions and shops which are environmentally friendly and embases the socio-cultural environment an architectural character of the communities of St. Lucia It is all about authentic St. Lucia experiences It is about shifting our tourism product from a predominant resort and hotel based experience to a community based experience It is about transporting visitors from the enclaves of constructed ambience of hotels to the openness of our natural settings where the soul and vital solutionness can be felt In this manner the ministry anticipates the development of a thriving sustainable tourism product by building on the existing touristic assets established under Cricket World Cup and Heritage Tourism and concentrating fully on community infrastructure development for grants and loans that the government has received So what exactly do we hope and how to achieve those objectives under the community tourism product The underlying purpose of the community tourism initiative is to develop and I want to repeat it Mr. Deputy Speaker is to support tourism development at the local level and to ensure that locals are effectively engaged and participate as owners and operators of the tourism product A key objective of this government is that tourism should allow for greater local ownership and that the profits from the tourism industry should be more equitably distributed Therefore the community tourism product program will coordinate and harmonize the actions necessary to increase local ownership of tourism assets and will initially focus on local accommodation restaurants and bars and other types of experiences that will give rise and springboard complimentary services in the communities where they are located Accordingly the program will increase the island's room stock within the alternative accommodation sector This sector within the industry is characterized by small type accommodation properties ranging from one to ten rooms and clearly Mr. Speaker what we are seeing as a primary objective is that we want the program to be able to encourage solutions like was done in the Cricket World Cup where they can add rooms to their homes and offer them as part of the home accommodation program where persons can actually start up in small intimate hotels ranging from one room to ten rooms and to be able to offer that and to add to Saint Lucia's room stock We believe that we can significantly increase the room stock in Saint Lucia by offering that level of accommodation which is more intimate and located within the communities A second objective that we seek to achieve is to be able to increase the capacity of micro, small and medium enterprises that offer those services that I just mentioned So Mr. Speaker the program will be able to create a business model for persons wanting to invest where they can develop and they can distribute a range of services We hope to offer to individuals who want to invest services relating to financing, product development quality assurance, bulk purchasing, branding, marketing and other support services Mr. Speaker specifically the program will look to provide organizational development and what do I mean by organizational development? A young person with an idea to enter the tourism industry He has a brilliant idea He wants to be able to execute this idea He can go to the community tourism agency where he will get the organizational support necessary for him to develop his idea and to be able to access financing Mr. Speaker will be offering services and the product development and support services There are so many experiences in Saint Lucia that we can offer as authentic experiences You'd all recall on many occasions I have tease my friend from Surzel and he spoke once about the joy of going by the river and enjoying a good river line There are so many waterfalls and rivers in Saint Lucia that we can actually develop as experiences Why can't we have a waterfall tour of Saint Lucia where visitors can visit a number of waterfalls that are located in the hinterland of Saint Lucia Of course access to those waterfalls would require persons on whose property those waterfalls exists to develop it in a safe and secure environment with handrails and other requirements that can be developed as an authentic Saint Lucia experience and all across the country to come to the community tourism agency to get the support and the ideas in how we can develop his product The lady in Surzel who is a basket weaver she too can be given support where she can develop her offering and allow for tours from the cruise ships and hotels for visitors to come in and see how baskets see how mats are made again in an environment that is developed that meets international standards and at the same time she can sell some squash and fruit and aqua and make some money Why can't we do it? And again all those ideas individuals can come to the community tourism agency and get support and develop in their product and develop in their ideas Improve access to financing will be a service that will be offered and I will speak about it a little later on Branding management and marketing we expect that the agency will be able to provide under the community tourism program a common branding they have a common look and feel a common adherence to standards established and persons involved in the community tourism program will be able to get all the branding and marketing support necessary for them to be able to attract international visitors and of course local visitors Mr. Speaker we expect under this objective to be able to improve the village infrastructure and that is critical and during the budget debate Mr. Speaker you will hear announcements of some of the projects that will be undertaken this year under the community tourism program a little later on I'll give you an idea of what had been spent on in the last few years and I know there are ministers and representatives in here who are very anxious very anxious to mobilize their communities to be able to develop the necessary infrastructure I know the member from Kastri's North has some exciting ideas the member from Miku North has spoken to me I know the member from Vufat North has spoken to me Barbello even Miku South I know have some ideas that they want to develop I haven't heard anything from Kastri's East as yet but Mr. Speaker there are many communities that are looking there are many communities that want to be able to get involved and develop the infrastructure and the product so they too can be part of owning and participating in the development of in the tourism industry Mr. Speaker many of the small properties are distributed across the island and operate under real challenges when it comes to human resources access to finance what are moves the accommodation properties are in Grosjele and Souffre and because of that you have the underutilization of the villages and we hoping through the community tourism initiative we will be able to bridge bridge that gap and improve the distribution of expenditure by visitors as they have multiple offerings throughout St. Lucia to break down the special inequality that exists where most of the accommodation areas like I said earlier in the urban areas we want to be able to to be able to build linkages with the tourism sector so as part of the community tourism program you will be required to utilize Mr. Speaker the local products because you will be receiving the support for you to be able to enter in the tourism sector we would want you to be able to say for example in the home accommodation sector the soups that you use should be locally produced the mats and all the decor that you have should come from local sources when it comes to the restaurants the spices you use should come from St. Lucia as much as possible we have to start creating the linkages between manufacturing between agriculture and the tourism sector and if the establishment of the community tourism program we will prioritize the creation of those linkages where you will be required to link up with the manufacturing sector and to link up with the manufacturing and agriculture Mr. Speaker I need to mention earlier about the branding and the marketing and it's really crucial for the program to succeed for us to be able to ensure that we have a focus on branding and marketing of locally owned tourism experiences and I believe the success of the St. Lucia tourism authority will lend itself to be able to do that the community tourism will operate on a central booking engine and will act as a voice for all participants under this brand portfolio participants will be able to capitalize on this exposure which will feed the demand for authentic local experiences tourism local experiences, products and services by tourists another objective Mr. Speaker which is very very critical for us is that local economic development and poverty reduction in communities must be achieved another community tourism initiative investments have been prioritized for improving the aesthetics and functionality of strategic community assets and infrastructure in order to attract additional investment and visitors into the communities and provide opportunity for increasing visitor span therefore Mr. Speaker we want to ensure that full community tourism we are able to empower people at the local level in communities as well as empower in communities and the many reasons which we can do it Mr. Speaker I can give you a simple example in Sufre the marine management authority manages the marine assets in the community and therefore the more infrastructure the more experiences we offer in Sufre means the marine authority can earn more income from those community assets that exist in Castry South for example Mr. Speaker who knows one day we might have an underwater sculpture park in Castry South we might have beach parks in Castry South Mr. Speaker and of course we will be able to earn some income out of it and the point is Mr. Speaker if you thought enough the community council can establish a cultural experience which you can charge visitors to come in to enjoy and earn money for the community council in Gruzile with the village the town council sorry Mr. Speaker they took an earned revenue from those experiences so in many ways the community tourism program offers opportunities for the empowerment of local community structures and local communities and of course fundamental is using the community tourism program as a tool of economic empowerment the community tourism program will have changed the growing resentment of tourism to an acceptance of tourism as a transformational economic activity allowing for local tourism to benefit from the industry where visitors are seen as guests in our living space and not intruders in their vocation space let us be real where we live that's our living space but it's the vocation space for visitors and sometimes you can feel that visitors are violating your living space and when you do not benefit from the tourism industry that benefit you can see the booth of the resentment towards visitors they become easy prey if we prepare our people if we educate our people if we sensitize our people it is seen as a possible tool that can build on the sustainability of the tourism industry by our people seeing it as an opportunity for them to own sustainable livelihoods and therefore be more accepting of the tourism industry as a transformational initiative and at the same time ensuring its sustainability Mr. Speaker I need to speak a bit on funding for the community tourism program the funding for the community tourism program has been provided under free sources the Karikom Development Fund the first grant SLOG 0006 received in March 2018 in the amount of US $120,000 for the initial consultancies to undertake the business case for community tourism at that time it was called village tourism and to define the parameters for the program and support for technical advice the second grant after the submission of the village tourism concept note the Karikom Development Fund approve a grant to the government of St. Lucia the grant is in the amount of $945, $643 US and covers the following program areas up to August 2022 and those areas that will be covered by that grant is organizational development product development and support services human resource capacity building for improving micro small and medium enterprise performance and service excellence branding and brand management marketing promotions and some village infrastructure at that time Mr. Speaker 2018 moving forward three pilot communities were chosen under the last government those communities were ancillary canaries, Rosalie and Soufre and Mr. Speaker let me just give the house an idea of some of what has been done in the past in the build up to where we are today in ancillary there was community beautification, landscaping and the planting of trees and painting and doing some minor work to improve the look of the main street in ancillary the upgrade of houses on the waterfront the construction of a ten room bed and breakfast with reception and amenities in the village at the old police station site the construction is still going on the demolition of the old community center the restaurant site the construction of a restaurant on the waterfront again Mr. Speaker ongoing the construction of a toilet block on the waterfront I think we still need to finalize the details on this money we use for consultancies and for designs and supervision there is also the commencement of a project in Jackmel that is still not yet completed Mr. Speaker in Souffre there was community beautification again the landscaping planting of trees and other upliftment activities there was the enhancement of the Souffre waterfront there was the construction an upgrade of the old trafford complex something which I think is still ongoing the construction of the Palmis vending facilities again a project that was inherited no the free pilot community and Souffre and Gruzile Mr. Speaker I think in Gruzile we still have to commence the upgrade of the jetty Mr. Speaker under the community tourism program there was food we Mr. Speaker a a loan from the home development fund and the loan is of 9 million EC dollars Mr. Speaker and it's interesting to note that from the monies who have been accessed would have had to come to Parliament to get the approval of the bill and to set up the agency Mr. Speaker and which explains why we have been in his to get to Parliament with the bill and to advance the work because those monies have been available for a extended period of time and we really need to start accessing to get the program going so Mr. Speaker let's have a quick look at the bill and to get a sense of what's in the bill. Other members have copies of the bill so I'm sure you're familiar with the content by cabinet conclusion number 1140 and 1045 of 2019 cabinet approve the village tourism policy and the establishment of an institution to administer the village tourism program the legislative drafting unit of the AG chambers prepared the village tourism bill and the presentation was made by the Ministry of Tourism cabinet approve the transmission of the bill to Parliament and the first reading was scheduled for 22nd June 2021 however during the months of June and July there was no parliamentary sessions and of course on July 26 solutions decided to change the government for the future I may add by cabinet conclusion number 81 of 2022 which is under this government cabinet approve through the changes to the policy for village tourism including a shift from village tourism to community tourism and I need to just take a couple minutes to explain we for the notion of village tourism was not natural and connected to solution life how can one boast of village tourism in Laban and village tourism in Kako and village tourism in Peru and La Clare for us that kind of notion of village tourism is a foreign concept in solution we speak of communities when you speak of La Clare you speak of La Fag you speak of Belvi you talk about communities in solution village has a particular understanding a particular concept and we did not believe it was suitable in any event community defines commonality it defines connectedness and therefore we for the use of the word community tourism as against village tourism was quite suitable we also changed from the concept of a franchise the last government wanted to establish a franchise and I like KFC and Bugra Plus and those are the franchises we believe solutions are not in the franchise business and we change the concept to a partnership that there is a partnership between the community the investor and the agency and working together as one a partnership for us is a different kind of business model which we believe is not natural to the solution cultural context Mr. Speaker so the community tourism Bill has been leading parliament today to establish a body known as the community tourism agency and to provide for the development of community tourism in the tourism industry community tourism will be governed as a statutory agency that operates as a partner agency with the power to do things necessary convenient or in connection with the performance of its duties the agency will be under the ministry of tourism and will have at least five to seven member board a five to seven member board that shall be responsible for its management and administration the operating and administrative expenses will be absorbed by the government and phased out according to a business and financial sustainability plan undertaken within the first six months of operation the revenue generated by this business model dedicated to small tourism establishments will be primarily fees and tourism levy on community tourism accommodation it is anticipated that the total operational costs will be made available via a subvention from the government of Saint Lucia under the budgetary submission of the ministry of tourism and will also form part of the government of Saint Lucia contribution for the CDF loan the functions of the community tourism agency set fourth in section four of the bill which is before you Mr. Speaker the Board of community tourism agency according to section nine will comprise as indicated earlier of no less than five or no more than seven members who will possess experience in law, commerce public administration finance, accounting and tourism and I have seen a few people on Facebook suggest other areas of competency believe members should have but I think there will always be latitude in selecting members to be on the Board the function of the Board is stated in section 14 and it is some of the standard functions of a Board setting the mission, the vision, the values strategic priorities the performance targets for the agency in section 14 the powers of the Board basically to appoint and determine the functions and duties of committees and into capital development arrangements and do all the things that are necessary for the performance of the function of the agency of course Mr. Speaker the bill also provides for the appointment of a CEO who has to be approved by the minister and of course the CEO will employ the staff subject to approval by the Board a key component Mr. Speaker for the success of the community tourism program is the tax relief and the incentives that will be provided and the bill provides Mr. Speaker special incentives to reduce the capital intensiveness of business setup Mr. Speaker and I want to quickly point out Mr. Speaker some of the incentives that individuals applying will be able to enjoy under the community tourism program number one Mr. Speaker an exemption of corporation tax for no more than 15 years an exemption of import duty on import of building materials equipment, furniture fixtures and fittings and remember Mr. Speaker these are for one to ten rooms as well as sites and attractions, bars, restaurants and other you know offerings that communities and investors want to get into an exemption of value added tax on import of building materials equipment, furniture fixtures and fittings an exemption of tax vendors tax and some duty on the initial conveyance or transfer on sale of any movable property for an approved community tourism product an exemption from the payment of property tax so Mr. Speaker to be able to excise some of the benefits that the larger properties enjoy right now and be able to translate them for the very small initiatives to also enjoy exactly what the multi-million dollar investments developments enjoy right now so it means that people who want to start projects, want to ten rooms can enjoy the same benefits and even more than those of the larger development projects so and that's really critical Mr. Speaker because for too often with small businesses small enterprise claiming that they cannot get the kind of support that they need in terms of incentives and tax relief but even more importantly Mr. Speaker local investors and local entrepreneurs keeps saying the biggest challenge is access to finance and in this instance Mr. Speaker we will be ensuring that the access to finance is there for communities and investors Mr. Speaker I mentioned Mr. Speaker that we already have a loan from the carry com development fund of nine million dollars that will be made available for investors the Prime Minister has clearly indicated that that's not enough money that and of course we will all recall the member from the Eastern Prime Minister was a Minister of Tourism in 1997 and former Prime Minister Kenny Anthony and he's very clear in his minds and his instructions that we must make more money available and I've said to him that the hope is over the next five years we'll try to increase this fund to about 40 million dollars to be made available to local investors who want to get involved in the community in the future Mr. Speaker but more importantly Mr. Speaker is that the interest rates will be low and flexible to ensure that places are not burdened by having high interest rates to repay but then we're going to get an even more innovative Mr. Speaker and I mentioned in an early part about the special disparity that exists in solution some communities have a lot more rooms others have less rooms to try to work on Mr. Speaker and more details will be given probably during the budget is that communities that do not have a developed touristic offering will be well, investors from those areas and projects in those areas will probably enjoy a grant and loan financing so if you're developing a 90,000 project somewhere in Niku for example then then it might be 60,000 dollar loan 40,000 dollar grant because we want to encourage some communities to get involved if you thought enough is putting on a special cultural experiences which we don't have many of in solution they will get a loan and grant somebody in a more developed area who's adding more rooms where they already have rooms will probably only get a grant will only get a loan sorry so we're going to try to use the availability of finance to spur investment in certain areas and to spur specific types of activities in certain areas so there will be encouragement for new and innovative experiences as well as support for areas that are largely undeveloped Mr. Speaker and we're hoping that for a very creative financing we'll be able to make money available to the people that really need it to be able to enter the tourism industry of course Mr. Speaker once you get loans and grants from the tourism community tourism fund Mr. Speaker you will have to be part of the tourism levy and pain your levy to assist in the further development of the tourism industry Mr. Speaker so in conclusion Mr. Speaker I want to repeat the point that we have to move the tourism industry from hotel and resort base we have to enhance our community base experiences we have to say to solutions you can now participate and you can own the tourism industry it is not going to be something only for foreigners and controlled by foreigners and for creating the community tourism program we are starting to create this enabling environment where solutions local investors local entrepreneurs can now become owners of the tourism industry and we are making the money available to you we're making the institutional support available to you and we're making the concessions and tax relief available to you for you to be able to enter that space that most solutions believe has been reserved for foreigners so Mr. Speaker I believe we will visualize a day when some of our popular lining spots nestle in Garivier, Glamity and those other areas can be upgraded to meet all the international standards through assistance from the community tourism program where they can be insured because insurance is a critical requirement if you want to be able to attract those visitors and where those experiences that we enjoy in St. Lucia experiences can now be available to the world and people wanting authentic St. Lucia experiences can go and enjoy those places those who want black pudding can go to the famous black pudding spots of course once we ensure it meets the standards and it is and it is an acceptable there will be no tax on the black pudding there will be no tax on the black pudding and Mr. Speaker some of the cultural experiences that we knew exist in St. Lucia can be available to the visitor can we use the community tourism program to invest in those communities to upgrade those offerings and for visitors to be able to come to St. Lucia and to enjoy it we want to offer St. Lucia as an authentic experience to show off the warmth and hospitality of our people and to be able for our people to use our natural assets to own sustainable livelihoods and the community tourism program will offer that to them and it will offer it in a way which is packaged and they will be able to get the range of support that they need so Mr. Speaker I take delight in presenting to this house the community tourism bill I believe it's a people's bill it's a transformational bill and it can certainly help in empowering our people at the local level and helping to create sustainable livelihoods honourable members the question is that the community tourism development bill be read a second time member for member of the castries south could you turn off your microphone please member for Miku North thank you Mr. Speaker thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker let me start by joining my other parliamentary colleagues in wishing the women of St. Lucia especially the women of Miku North happy International Women's Day we celebrate you every day but today is a special day so happy International Women's Day and just like some of my colleagues said I think I remember four of you fought south said it well that women drive the campaign and I was privy to be exposed to such an experience there was some phenomenal women during my campaign when sure that I am able to stand in this house today so we have people like Miss Roma Wilson, Phyllis Wilson we also have people like Miss Joan Agustin Mario Raleigh but women were really the drivers and the reason why I am standing here today Mr. Speaker let me now extend my deepest condolences to the team at family especially to his mother his girlfriend to his friends and colleagues within the ranks and fires of the Eurasian Police Force different team at was not just my colleague Mr. Speaker he was my brother and he was my friend he followed me from department to department during my tenure as a policeman when I worked at the drug unit he was there when I got a transfer to the criminal investigations department he followed me there I did not work one special duty without different team at present the Eurasian Police Force has lost a gem of a policeman in that of police constable 863 Nathan T. Nett and the way in which he met his demise cause his grave concern to me and I think it should cause grave concerns to all Saint Lucians I would like to also take the opportunity to extend well wishes to Officer King and I would like to wish him a speedy recovery now, Mr. Speaker I was really looking forward to the day when an act of this nature was going to be tabled before this honorable house and you will understand why I look forward to that day as I delve further into my presentation I found it a bit puzzling that government after government did not see it necessary at the time to have a bill of that sort brought this honorable house and I say that on the basis of the fact that we are Saint Lucian how heavily dependent and reliant we are on the tourism industry we will recall in the 1990s Mr. Speaker when the tourism both sailed in and the banana boat left the banana boat left if a lot of my constituents a lot of opportunities from Kudinoff and when the tourist boat decided to sail off very few people from Kudinoff became beneficiaries from the tourist product and it is very sad given the geographical location of Kudinoff we look at our international airport in the south I think just this weekend I saw a message in a group where we had about 2,000 visitors I think on Saturday or Sunday plus coming into Saint Lucia through our international airport and I can bet my bottom dollar that most or if not all of the tourists would have passed Mikwood Street and the first place they may have stopped would maybe be on the model in Denry in Denry south and you hear my colleague shouting Denry south monies have been borrowed before for village tourism and the constituents of Mikwood contribute or we pay taxes just like everybody else however the only person I can think of was really benefited from the touristy product in my constituency would be maybe Sly the owner of Lattille Fort other than that a few Airbnb's are in there but it is very sad that every tourist in the constituency and go up to and off where it's overcrowded oversaturated most of the monies are being spent in my colleagues room or my colleague from this bill is going to give us an opportunity to change that and to change that narrative and I want to offer my full support to this bill what this bill does or the way I envisage this bill working is taking as the member for castries south said is removing or not removing but giving us in the constituency in the community an opportunity to benefit in a similar way or similar fashion like those people in Souffre and Grosily would benefit we have an opportunity now and what excites me the most is the fact that the member for castries south has made it clear that we will now have access to funding and there is a possibility that we may get part funding and part grant and I want the people of Mikoudinof to those of them who are listening to be encouraged and take full advantage of this opportunity that we have before us I know that other members in here will give this bill their full support as you will also see the opportunities that lies in this bill for their own constituency but I would like to make it public and let the record show and say to the member for castries south that my constituency is in an advanced stage and for some reason we saw a bill like that going to be passed through parliament and we prepared ourselves and we are at an advanced stage and we are waiting we have been working with consultants and we are waiting for this opportunity and for us to get our fair share of that $9 million that is currently available and the parliamentary sign is good with them said that $9 million is not enough so I am hoping that $9 million might just be Mikoudinof's share you need some you will get there is sufficient Mikoudinof is already advanced so what I see I think Mikoudinof is a lot of untapped natural resources scenic areas we have something going on for us in Mikoudinof I don't even know if I can find the words to describe it what we have if I take you to some of the places in Mikoudinof you would never believe and I had the privilege of bringing some of the staff from housing on a side with and a lot of them are now asking where can they purchase lands in Mikoudinof and everybody is interested because they did not know that we had this type of beautiful scenery in Mikoudinof and this build gives us the opportunity to build on that those persons who have already started it also allows us to build on what they have so it's not just for people coming in so it gives us an opportunity for people like Mayu, the tea cuisine to build on the product and create a product that's authentically in Mikoudinof a product that when people or when we have tourists landing in View Fort that they might not even want to go past the primary bridge and they may we may find tourists coming down just to spend a few days in Mikoudinof and I believe right now we have enough in our constituency to be able to offer somebody a 7 day stay comfortably without having to leave the community we have a tea cuisine as a buzz right now in Mikoudinof and tea cuisine is giving serious competition to the brosily friday night and as a minister as a minister of tourism said we can see the amount of linkages that's going to be created with the passing of this build it's going to benefit my farmers my fishers my fishers is going to open up the the doors for agriculture and so many other things right now we have I'm sure very few people in this house know what is a CONL very few and I can bet my bottom dollar that a tourist would be more than what you can imagine to have a CONL experience CONL that's how we call it in Mikoudinof I don't know how you call it in Lapwet every Christmas it's customary for us Mr. Speaker to engage in the beating of drums and singing of songs and there is no prize that you can put to that type of experience and I can imagine if others know about that and if I heard the member for Kastry South said that there is a marketing component of this entire thing and I think that if this thing is marketed properly there are limitless opportunities for the people in Mikoudinof we have a common sense which was recently given a facelift only because it was independence and I think this too is a very very sad state of affairs that common sense was left to almost become daily and we have an opportunity now with this bill to revive and to create a CONL experience right there at Komin Sesson Mikoudinof has produced people like themselves at Sesson Desk we produce Mr. Raleigh Agustin the violinist we produce several people in Mikoudinof and what you have is a situation where our culture is slowly slipping away from us our heritage slowly slipping away from us but this bill gives us an opportunity to reintroduce it and to create empowerment whilst we reintroduce our culture and our heritage so for me Mr. Speaker I'm very very very excited about this bill and I'm hoping as I said that several I know that most members in this Honourable House will also lend their support to this bill I'd also like to say in Creole I would like you to listen and understand how this bill is going to affect them or impact them positively We see with this bill I'd like to thank your to be here this is the special day for you Thank you also Conscious name haha haha We can even give them a CMOS experience, a farm to table experience, similar to what is existing at the chocolate experience in Souffre. We have an opportunity with this now to develop a farm to table experience with CMOS. I think this will put us the constituents of Miku in a very strong position to benefit from it. And as I said, I have told the members of Souffre that we, the people of Miku North, we are ready to benefit from this. We expected something like that to happen and we prepared ourselves and we're looking forward to meeting with you and to ensuring that we become one of the biggest beneficiaries of the community tourism development bill. So Mr. Speaker, with that I want to just say again that I want to lend my full support to this bill and I look forward to this bill passing in this house and becoming a reality. With this, I thank you. The member from Souffre Saultebus. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will start by commending the member from Tastri South for what I consider to be the first time I've heard him make a contribution without a tirade of political uppercuts. You made a very decent presentation. Member, I have a rebuttal. Mr. Speaker, I actually prefer the term village tourism despite the explanation given by the member. And, you know, in recent times, you know, I've heard the member speak to the vibe and the authenticity of our villages. And I think village lends to that sort of authenticity and vibe. The community thing to me is not attractive from a touristic kind of selling point. But that's me. And so I just wanted to express that particular concern with regards to that, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when we speak of community tourism or village tourism, there's a lot that can be done in the government that I serve prior, Mr. Speaker. There was a lot that had already started while Souffre Saultebus was not part of the initial trio in receiving funds under that fund. But there was a lot that already started, compliments the Ministry of Tourism, where certain crafters had already been identified, where the ministry would have come in. Or in fact, it was something that I decided I'm not quite sure where the ministry is right now with the continuation of it. But where we had identified some crafters, very popular crafters, either in the craft or the pot tree, the weaving. And they would have established washroom facilities for these people. Because in the visits by guests, this is one of the things that was absent. The accommodation had certain risks, had certain challenges. And the ministry felt it necessary at the time to do that sort of intervention to make the tour more palatable for the people organizing the stores. And so it was something I welcomed, Mr. Speaker. And I was happy that the member also spoke to the number of times I keep mentioning the river. In fact, the last city he said I should go back to the river. But Mr. Speaker, you see, many, many people are recognizing, and I speak to my community of Chosal Saltibus, the beauty of Chosal Saltibus. Many people. Because a lot of new waterfalls are being discovered. Well, I shouldn't say new, but the road to these waterfalls are maybe a little more accessible because of people clearing. A lot of these are now accessible. A lot of people are selling an experience of river, Mr. Speaker. There's something, Mr. Speaker, that troubles me. And I think it will trouble all of us. Because in 2022, Mr. Speaker, it is a real shame and a disgrace that we still have a problem of littering. We still have a problem where our people are not... I don't know if it is an issue of pride or I don't know if it's an issue of the state of mind and they're leaving these environments that they have no care to the conditions that they leave our environments. And I have taken it on my own. I have given some groups. I made signs that they could have posted on the beaches. But sometimes you feel that you should go a step more. And that is where some of you have to be very careful, Mr. Speaker, in making various political voice notes. Because sometimes... And I say voice notes, not from the telephone, but when we speak. Because sometimes we say things to play on people's emotions, which sometimes come back to haunt us. So when we all sing, Jar Beach is mine, Jar Beach is mine, which is... Our beaches are ours. We must also have with it the refrain of keeping our beaches clean or being proud of what we have, Mr. Speaker. Because it is a shame, Mr. Speaker, in this day and age, people visit our beaches and when you leave our beaches, it is a complete, complete disaster with broken bottles and listed. And I may be urging the Minister of Local Government to empower our councils, our local councils, to either do some sort of interim policing, particularly on weekends, to the various beaches, to do that kind of monitoring, whether there is some sort of fee that can be imposed. Even, Mr. Speaker, because sometimes we say we chain off our beaches. But if we chain off our beaches and it is managed by our local people, by our community residents, where we empower them, Mr. Speaker, now I am speaking about where our local people are empowered in the community. For example, a community like River Doree. There are people who are very, very conscious of the beach there and they would like to have some sort of dominion over the activities that happen there and they're close enough where they can open up the facility and close it, Mr. Speaker, and they can actually make some sort of revenue economic activity from it. This is what I see on too many occasions. We have this ATV cause coming all the way from castries in some cases, coming down and they do whatever they want on our beach, you know, and they leave. And there's nothing to the community. I think it's time that, you know, in part of the community tourism, village tourism, that there is something that goes to the community. Many, many years ago, Mr. Speaker, when I was a lot more carefree, I remember going to visit in Virgin Water. I mean, the incredible state of the beaches there, the pristine nature of how they kept, you know, the environment. And there was a small fee and people did not mind paying that fee because of what they were experiencing. And one of the things we need to push in our people's head, Mr. Speaker, is the fact that we're not the only one with beaches and rivers. There's so many other places and we need to put it in our culture, Mr. Speaker, that we have to cherish what we have so that we can create a livelihood out of what we have. Now, Mr. Speaker, as we speak to community tourism, there are a lot of factors that enhance the community tourism. And I was happy that the member for Catriceb did not speak particularly to accommodation. You know, he spoke to the trolls. And so, Mr. Speaker, the refrain that we heard so many times during the election period and beyond about people not eating roads. But it is what we see now, Mr. Speaker, is that the roads create economic activity. And I heard the member for Catriceb is at our last sitting saying that we will not build roads to nowhere. But a lot of the community, the beauty is inland and you may want to call it nowhere. You may want to call it, but this is the kind of places that people want to visit. So, you know, we need to be very careful when we say some of the things that we say, Mr. Speaker, because the impact and the member for Viewfort South is very intimate with the area of Salt Divas. And he, I'm sure, would appreciate some of the things that has happened in the Gaaba Pakistan area. But it's something that I'm hoping that this administration will continue so that we can do an agricultural tour. We can have that agricultural experience. There are a number of things that we had in place to empower the residents of Salt Divas. And I'm really hoping that, you know, the government will continue with it and maybe channel the resources in the right area. And it's very important, you know, Mr. Speaker, that that's done. Another thing that we did in the last administration was pay attention to improvement of our water intakes, our water distribution. They work on the airport, they work on St. Jude's. These are the kind of things that we need to improve the fast ferry service. These are the kind of things that we need to identify and improve on because all of these things will enhance the offerings that we give to the people who visit the island. Okay, because Madam, the representatives from Babu Nooh, sometime ago I spoke to you about some people who were providing quite a bit of employment for the people in Balka, where they have free cottages and the experience that they guess everything is wonderful. They like the nature, the scenery, the bird sanctuary, but they were complaining about the road. And so that's very critical when we're trying to enhance and create that sort of attraction and to get more people to come in. So I'm hoping that, you know, this is something that we will continue to do, recognize the areas where there's economic potential and build on it. So, Mr. Speaker, I support it because this is something that I'm quite familiar with as it relates to where it's going in terms of spreading the financial activity for the various communities. I think it's something that will empower a lot of people as long as they are trained properly and they are guided in the right direction as to how we can enhance our tourism product, how we can make St. Lucia a place where people will want to come over and over again. Because we recognize now more people seem to be moving away from the big established hotel plans, and more people seem to want to get down into the smaller facilities. The authentic, the member for library will tell you that his community is buzzing with Airbnbs. I see it's happening now in the community of Shoozal, so there was a lot more people are getting into it. But remember from Kastri South, I did not hear you mention as to whether people who, for example, want to get into the accommodation business, whether they would have to be registered. Because I know it was something that you had an issue with in the last time that we came to the house. You spoke vehemently about that sort of registration and the penalties that could have come with it if people had not registered. And it's something that we have to think seriously because when we provide that sort of service, there are also issues of health and safety. And we cannot have people selling a product and there are certain risks at the end of the day that can affect our brand. So it is something that we need to look into, but at the end of the day I do support the bill in front of us and I wish that the country will benefit significantly from all what can come from it. I thank you. Member for Soufre-François-Jacques. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, I stand in support of this community tourism bill as presented by the Member for Kastri South. Mr Speaker, as you know, I am the parliamentary rep for Soufre-François-Jacques. I am the maker of tourism in this beautiful country. So I could not allow this bill to be on the floor of this honorable house without adding my voice to the support. I recognize that the honorable member gave a history of how we arrive at this bill today. And I know very clearly, as someone who operates inside myself, the history of the heritage tourism program. And I again want to thank, I remember that program very well. And I want to thank the government of the Centruchelibre Party for always trying to bring economic development to local people because the heritage tourism project was a project that started and allowed, I want the Prime Minister, I don't know at the time whether he was the minister responsible, but the heritage tourism project was a project that actually started causing local persons to have ownership of some of the tourism products in Centruchelibre. I am very happy that Soufre is part of this free community projects or village projects as we have it. The projects have started but it's not completed. And as we focus now on a change of name, I want to commend the honorable member for the change of name. Because that change of name is important for Soufre when we speak about tourism and local experience. I want to embrace the word to community for several reasons. What we offer in Soufre and now more specifically as we focus on Foshejak as a community. So Foshejak is a village community. And God willing, tomorrow morning Mr. Speaker, I've got to spend a day in Foshejak as the members of the Foshejak Development Committee sit with international agencies like Jeff and the entire community in shaping up what we call the agro-tourism pact for Foshejak. It has nothing to do with Canada, it has to do with Foshejak. So I want to tell you, and when you think of Foshejak, there are different communities in Foshejak. You have the mini-community, you have the esmeralda community, you have Deoash, you have Zeno and all of those communities we have in individual projects within that agro-tourism pact. So for me the word community is extremely important. I embrace this bill before us because as the member who presented said, the fact that it is doing so much to cause our visitors to have an authentic St. Lucian experience. Hasufu again being the maker. This bill presents great opportunities for my community of barren strife. And most of you alignment now knows that this is a community that is alive every day, every night. So it is not like a grossly Friday night, it is an everyday experience. So I know that community is looking forward and there is room for them to benefit from that particular bill. I was a little concerned as I heard the member for Kastri's south as he was trying to present the make-up or the benefits from that loan agreement where I sort of, and I hope I'm wrong, where he was indicating that where the product has been more developed, the beneficiaries might not benefit from a grant component. And I said they're saying hello, hello. So I'm hoping that we can sit down and see and arrive at equitable. I understand the issue of equitable distribution as it relates to providing more, providing and responding in advance to the areas where you want that product to take off. For example in Miku, for example in Dabunop, for example in Ansleray. So I agree that I would defer to some communities getting attention before Sufra. But when it is our turn to get attention, we want equitable terms and conditions on how that fund is used. Mr. Speaker, I believe this bill before us is transforming that tourism product. And I have always believed that there is always room for us to involve the local people in a more, in a deeper way in the product that we have. So now this bill is touching on ownership, but it is also allowing, not only ownership, but what I like about it is it is going to give our local operators an opportunity to meet international standards. And that is critical for the tourism product to develop. I am also very happy that I heard the issue of a joint marketing platform because I believe when I assess the product in Sufra, our small operators are at a disadvantage because they do not have the advantage now of a strong marketing platform. And for me that is an attraction for the people of Sufra because we had already made a commitment before the last election that we are going to work on a joint marketing platform so that the visitor, even before arriving at the destination, is aware of the product offering by all our suppliers. I think that is fundamental. And our small operators, our local operators are at a disadvantage. So I'm hoping that in the passing of this bill, joint marketing platform with a strong brand to me is what the appeal is to me. I am also happy that the area of training will be augmented because as you know as a small operator, you hardly have the funds to focus on training as one or two. Another area that I appreciate will be the group insurance. Fundamental because when you approach an insurance company with this group coverage, every operator should benefit from a lower cost of insurance coverage. That also is important. But Mr. Speaker, one area where I believe we have to look at and I'm not sure how we are going to do it is the whole issue which we need to bring here or highlight somewhere is the whole issue of security. Again, it is an issue we have to give some thought to because as we have the various products, whether it is in accommodation, whether it is on calm grounds, whether it is nature talk, hiking, the issue of security must become front and center. So how we do it? I want to put that on the table. So even though we don't put it in the app, we have to put it somewhere. We have to recognize that it is an area that needs addressing. So Mr. Speaker, Sufra as you know is unique in terms of the bodies that we have. You've heard from the member for past results of the Sufra Marine Management Area. There is a lot of work that that association is doing and there is a lot more it ought to do. We have the Sufra Regional Development Foundation again managing quite a bit of the assets of Sufra. This is managing our surface spring park. It is managing the gros piton. It is managing the beach park and it is also managing part of the harbor. We have new trails. We are working on the Zenon Portrait Trail and we will continue to explore other areas. So all what we are doing here today would greatly enhance the tourism product, not only in St. Lucia, but also throughout this country. I remember when I was a parliamentary rep for Grozile. I could remember working with the now the permanent secretary. In developing as you move around Grozile there are significant sites. You go into somebody's home and you could immediately see how you could turn this into an experience. On the way to the remote lab on, throughout our country we have sites. So I am really hoping that the issue of the product development is another area that we need to strengthen. So I am very hopeful that the passage of this bill is going one additional step in empowering all our institutions economic empowerment so that we benefit from the economic development of our country, that we improve the product offering for our visitors and that together we will progress. I thank you Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would not sleep very well tonight if I did not add my bit to this Community Tourism Development Act because as a man who was born and raised in the South, I am sure all of you will remember the January fish piester and thousands of persons around the island would make it their duty to visit what we call Alessabra on a Saturday. Those days we had more than 21 vendors benefiting from an activity that replaced the closure of bell fashions in 1999. The COVID pandemic impacted very negatively on this activity and currently we only have two vendors on the site. I remember very early when I had a discussion with the Minister for Tourism. We had a discussion and he guaranteed me that he would make available funds to upgrade the January fish piester as well as to increase activities at the Forder Heritage Park. So when I already mentioned all the other constituencies and I did not hear January South, I wanted to ensure that I make a special case on behalf of all the constituents of January South to ensure that we revamp the entire January fish night activity. I am sure you all will know that very often when people get into St. Lucia, January is the first point at the mandalist point that they stop to take photos of the January village. So that tells you that there is tremendous potential in January South to benefit from this Community Tourism Bill and I heard over some of 9.7 million, just 200,000 will make it happen in January South. Mr. Speaker, we have the infrastructure, we have the Forder Park, we have a very attractive site in Erad. We have the tourism stop facilities at the Mandalay and at the fire station. We have a number of other areas in January North including the Badlil. I see tremendous potential for the January basin benefiting tremendously from this bill. And I want, I don't want to be long, but I just want to say to the Minister of Tourism, for tourism, please do not forget January South because I have already informed my councillors, it was a campaign promise that as soon as the St. Lucia Labour Party gets into office, the January fish free ester will be revamped and will bring back the days when thousands of persons will be visiting January. The spin-off effect on our vendors, our fishers, the supermarket people, I'm really looking forward to this happening in January South. And I just want to say that, to say to this Honourable House that I support this bill because I am truly convinced that January South will benefit from this Community Tourism Development Bill. I thank you, Mr. Speaker. Member for Hans Levercarris. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to join you and my other colleagues in wishing the women of Hans Levercarris and by St. Lucia, and St. Lucia by extension, a happy International Women's Day. I would also like to join my colleagues in expressing condolence to the family of PC Constable Temit and to also wish a speedy recovery to Constable King. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Community Tourism Development Bill. The Minister of Tourism, Member for Kashmir South, has outlined the changes to the legislation and the reasons for these changes. From the use of moving from village tourism to community tourism, the qualifying rooms been reduced from 75 to 10, and the movement away from the language of franchise to partnership. Mr. Speaker, more inclusive and appropriate language towards a mutually beneficial working relationship. Mr. Speaker, by facilitating possibilities that did not exist before, this piece of legislation makes it possible for the vendors of trinkets and other items, whether made locally or otherwise, can also become vendors of sleeping accommodation. An opportunity, Mr. Speaker, for us to prove we in Ansari Canaries are more than our misfortunes. Mr. Speaker, the benefits of any growth in tourism must lead to the development of our communities. Ansari Canaries deserves more than just a match pass. And in just over a year's time, the vendor venus Ansari Link Road will be completed, opening a new set of possibilities and opportunities. Mr. Speaker, just from the clearing of the landslides and the brush, so far has revealed a view of Manjimi, no less spectacular than the view of the pitols from Columbia. We, Mr. Speaker, are in a strategic location. We have undeveloped beaches and an underutilization of the waterfronts, which should be used to encourage economic activity in Ansari and Canaries. Mr. Speaker, would you believe that the former Member of Parliament for Ansari Canaries was the minister of tourism? From the talk about better numbers, the former government was unable to convert increased arrivals into increased visitor spending, a key determinant for the benefits of tourism. If visitor spend is not increased in likewise, why the bravado? With all the shortcomings, why the bravado? Mr. Speaker, at least 90% of the tourists who come to St. Lucia visit Souffre, the pass through Ansari and Canaries either by road or by sea. In the last five years, what was done to encourage the tourists to stop, spend some time, and spend some money in Ansari or Canaries? What was done to develop Ansari and Canaries as a product? Not until moments before the general elections did we or he realized that it was something for him to do because it was directly within the control of his portfolio. The vendors at that point did not matter. Now losers are quick to take pictures. Mr. Speaker, we will treat the vendors in Ansari with the respect and dignity they deserve. After all, community tourism is about showcasing local culture, sites, traditional values, and heritage of the people of the community. Mr. Speaker, the Ansari and Canaries councils stand ready to work with the Village Tourism Agency, and we do look forward, Mr. Speaker, to some additional benefit which was promised to us by the Minister of Tourism. Mr. Speaker, the Ansari and Canaries constituency councils stand ready to work with the Village Tourism Agency. We community, the community, no actually the Village Tourism Agency is what is actually called in the... Mr. Speaker, we for far too long have been told that we are poor, unreserving, lazy, and have nothing else to do but to lime and drink alcohol. This bill, Mr. Speaker, gives us the opportunity to demonstrate once and for all that we are indeed better than our misfortunes. I stand here this evening in full support of this bill. I thank you, Mr. President. The member for Cass Street East. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I sat here this afternoon and listened to the Minister for Tourism, delivered the Community Tourism Bill, Mr. Speaker, and I felt a sense of fulfillment, Mr. Speaker, because the member of V4th South and myself and the member of Cass Street North are the longest serving members in this horrible house. The member of V4th South and me and we came together on the same day and we sat in close proximity to each other for the entire 15, 20 years except now. So, Mr. Speaker, I thought of the times when the then Prime Minister said that the economy is in transition, the transition from bananas to tourism, and everyone laughed and jeered. As usual, Mr. Speaker, it was as if we were speaking a level of nonsense that had to be ridiculed, Mr. Speaker, and that's the habit of some people in St. Lucia. Any time you're forward-thinking or you see something you don't understand or possibly for political motives, they laugh and they jeer at you, Mr. Speaker. Same thing with my call for people to consume more, more local products. Same thing, Mr. Speaker, so they laughed when we said the economy, when the leader, when the Prime Minister said the economy was in transition. Then Mr. Speaker, we moved and in 1998, 1999, we said that there must be a philosophical underpinning to the tourism industry. And that philosophical underpinning was the benefits of tourism must accrue to as many people as possible. And again, they laughed and they scorned us because you were saying that the people should benefit from the tourism industry. And I heard the mayor of the country himself, in his wisdom, speak about using local soap. And I remember a famous talk show host said that I was telling people to go and take out soap on himself and go and take things on himself for springs and make soap if, and I was a fool to say that, Mr. Speaker. I also remember when we opened the gates at the vendor's arcade, Mr. Speaker, because we wanted vendors to partake in the cruise industry, at least when the ships come in this industry. And again, we were ridiculed. They said we were playing politics, Mr. Speaker. And that opening of that gate in the vendor's arcade caused a lot of traffic to come into the vendor's arcade because before there was a gate and people had to go through the outside and get into the vendor's arcade. I also remember, Mr. Speaker, when in addressing vendors, I made a point that the vendors should change their products and they should try to even use the use of credit cards, Mr. Speaker, in the vendor's arcade. Again, I was ridiculed because I was saying to the vendors, you have to advance yourself, Mr. Speaker. So when the Community Tourism Development Bill is tabled in this house and I see all these aspects in one bill, all these aspects that seek to cause the benefits of tourism to accrue to as many people as possible, Mr. Speaker, I feel relieved and I feel happy, Mr. Speaker. And I want to compliment the Minister of Tourism and the members of the Tourism Fraternity to now bring in such a bill that will cause the holistic development of tourism in St. Lucia, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, many people would not know that the Ansari Fish Fry started under the Government of the Liberal Party when I was Minister for Tourism. And I remember that day in the Cabinet when there was a parliamentary secretary called Cyprian Lansico. And at that time, Mr. Speaker, parliamentary secretary because the Cabinet was a very... Parliamentary secretary could not speak unless they asked permission to. And Cyprian Lansico was a parliamentary secretary and the Prime Minister said to him that there is a place called Oystines in Barbados where there is a fish fry and he should go to Oystines to visit the fish fry. And together with himself, Minister Iambali and I think two or three other people, they went to Oystines in Barbados and Cyprian was excited. Cyprian likes Ansari like he likes himself. He was very excited, Mr. Speaker, and that caused the Ansari Fish Fry. And again, what I see in this Community Tourism Development Bill, aspects of developing Ansari, developing the Ansari waterfall, Mr. Speaker. Again, it pleases me, Mr. Speaker. But I remember when we lost elections in 2006, Mr. Speaker, there was a gentleman who was Minister of Tourism who thought he was a guru and the best thing he found to do was to stop the program of community enhancement through the tourism industry, Mr. Speaker. I remember we started the Nature Heritage Tourism Program where we developed waterfalls and we developed beaches and we changed the beach cleaning program to the National Conservation Authority. That was in charge of cleaning the beaches, Mr. Speaker, the NCA. And again, that was done to cause the beaches and I heard a member of the show talking about the cleaning beaches. We were in the business running from the NCA. We also had the hostesses program in Souffre which is soon going to power. They changed. They cancelled, Mr. Speaker, the hostesses and the rangers. Again, I see these aspects of that tourism development bill. So, Mr. Speaker, when people talk about tourism and pretend, and I remember there was somebody who sat there, not a very tall guy. He said he was better than all the tourism ministers put together. He said, Mr. Speaker, that he was better than all the tourism ministers put together, Mr. Speaker. And God helped me and I've seen the day when he no longer sits there, Mr. Speaker. When you say, Mr. Speaker, I want to deal with a few aspects of the bill, Mr. Speaker. I want to say that I am very, very pleased. You see, in this business is a team sport, Mr. Speaker. And when one person scores, the entire team scores. And when this growing development bill comes into being and it's successful, the entire country will benefit, Mr. Speaker, when it's successful. And I want to say to the Minister of Tourism that the proceeds from the CIP program through the National Economic Fund should be invested in aspects of the community tourism development. Because when we amended the National Economic Fund bill, it was for a reason, Mr. Speaker. It was for a reason because I always say that if a country, if a government can control the consolidated fund, there ought to be no other fund that should not have the control of, Mr. Speaker. And I make no apologies for that because I think that a cabinet should be responsible enough to be able to use wisely the funds from wherever they come from the country, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, we support this bill, Mr. Speaker. And I know that if and when it is implemented properly, the country as a whole will benefit. And the basic philosophical belief that the benefits of tourism must accrue to as many people as possible. A belief that tourism cannot be only for a few people in one part of the country. A belief that the tourism cannot mean that people only work as waiters and busboys. Nothing wrong with that, Mr. Speaker. And I remember when we made that point again, we were criticized when we said that tourism ought to be service and not servitude, Mr. Speaker. And that's a basic and that's a difference between us and them. It's a philosophy that says people come first. It's a philosophy that says we must try to create wealth for our people, Mr. Speaker. It's a philosophy that says that you can benefit from an industry even though you are not born with a golden spoon or even though your father did not have money. That's a difference, Mr. Speaker. That's a difference. And this afternoon, we are going to pass the Icageal Incentives Bill. So we're going to be putting the basic structure of the economy together to benefit the people of San Ushua. I will not go into the details, Mr. Speaker, but I thought it was important that I spoke to the philosophical underpinnings of this bill. Something that I believe in, Mr. Speaker. I believe that people must benefit and I believe that the indigenous people of the country must be able to partake in the economic sport of the country, in that case, the tourism industry. Mr. Speaker, I support this bill and I compliment all those involved. I compliment the Minister for Tourism and I hope that this bill will, and I'm sure it will, and I will not go to speak about my constituency, Mr. Speaker. But I just want to remind the members here that there was once a restaurant in my constituency called the Naked Virgin. Remember that? You know that, Mr. Speaker. And the meals there were of the quality of these meals, Mr. Speaker, and tourism used to come in, Mr. Speaker. I remember these things. I remember these things. And I also remember, Mr. Speaker. And again, when we developed the Derrick Walkout, the Derrick Walkout House, again, to bring tourism to the people when they gave me the government, they stopped it. And that's what this country is paying for. It's paying for my rapid behavior. It's paying for behavior that because I did not do it, it's wrong, Mr. Speaker. And that is where we are today. So we came in and we found that Zee had started something called Village Tourism. Not started. They created a structure called Village Tourism. What did we do? We improved it. We not cast it aside. We intake it and show it away and see the people who did that know nothing about it. What we did, we improved it and we have a better bill, a better product and St. Lucia will benefit from it, Mr. Speaker. I support this bill, Mr. Speaker. And I thank you very much. The Member for Labry. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise to make a brief contribution on the Community Tourism Development Bill. As this bill provides for the development of community tourism. But before I venture into this debate, Mr. Speaker, I want to join my parliamentary colleagues in wishing the women of my constituency, the women of St. Lucia and of course the women of the world a happy women's day. In fact, Mr. Speaker, I was raised by my mother and other females in the Baptist family. And I know what it is to be a woman, very strong. And women of course are generally the real architects of society. I always had the protection of the women in my family. And there is a quote that I really love and it's from an unknown writer. It says, every man needs a woman when his life is a mess. Because just like the game of chess, the queen protects the king. Mr. Speaker, I also like to profit the opportunity to join my colleagues in expressing our heartfelt sympathy to the family of Nathan T. Met. And of course for a speedy recovery of Officer King. And certainly my prayers are with the family and the entire police force, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in returning to what seemed to be the essence of the movement, community tourism, which resonates very well with my constituents, Mr. Speaker. As in my constituency, we believe that the development of tourism must be in harmony with culture, values, and to the benefit of the constituents. It is the case, Mr. Speaker, that many tourists are looking to experience the culture, norms and values of the people of this country. And we know that the product of sun, sun, and sea has reached a mature phase. And you have a different type of tourist seeking for a real experience in a country. And St. Lucia for a long time paid lip service to that, but never really engage in a sustained fashion. And today as part of our recovery post-COVID, we are exploring the fascinating possibilities of community tourism, Mr. Speaker. This is also consistent with our government's view of putting people first in ensuring that they can benefit directly from the tourism sector. It also coincides with our view of spreading the benefits of the tourism industry and catering to tourists who are interested in ecotourism and learning more about the culture and values of the people. Mr. Speaker, at this juncture, I wish to revisit my many statements on community tourism, whether in opposition or in government. And finally, I can sense with all of my faculties that something good is about to come to the constituents and constituency of Labri Oji. When I was in opposition, our Prime Minister at the time and leader of the opposition spoke to bringing development to every constituency in this country and looked for what's applicable to each constituency in this country as one size will never fit all. He said he's going to return the security interests of St. Lucia to centre stage and the highest priority to consider the economic and cost impact on St. Lucia's business community in the development and finalisation of new or amended policy changes and free to take a pragmatic, practical and proportional approach to development as it applies to different constituencies, sectors having regard to their specific needs and regional policy. This third broad policy objective could be distilled into a comprehensive, coherent and coordinated framework which could deliver progress for all constituents and of course constituencies. And this is why we are here today in this chamber. Adding our voice to this very important bill, Mr Speaker and therefore I am confident that under this administration with the Community Tourism Development Project the next decade holds the possibility for us to find practical realisation in critical projects that will advance the development of the various communities of this country. Mr Speaker, I have always accentuated the aspect of consultation in the process, mobilising communities to find solutions to respond to the challenges that tantalise us. And Mr Speaker, notwithstanding that in line with the new prescripts of the new dispensation, new policies are going to be put in place to dramatically improve the quality of life of St. Lucia in pursuing these objectives, St. Lucia will be challenged to find the appropriate balance between leadership and collective effort. For example, the Library OJ constituency will be able to partner with the SLP in pursuing some key objectives over the next decade, which are one, to erect economic infrastructure along the Library Village beach ramp to continue to stimulate demand for our brand of tourism. Right now, some persons will believe that we should just bulldoze all the wooden houses, the French Creole buildings in the community, and put concrete structures that a number of visitors to our shores, a number of tourists actually come there because it's a quaint and beautiful village, and there is a very important product. We need to further fine-tune and develop that product. We have Airbnb where people come into the community, they want to relax, and it's a very different type of tourism in keeping with the rhythm of the constituency. We want nothing to disturb the rhythm of our lives. We develop our constituency for ourselves whilst creating interest in a progressive community. Two, to develop Marjomel as the open library village to further complement our tourism product, not to mention the further development of the Mon-Libla lookout point as a significant tourist attraction. All of that's around the constituency, Mr. Speaker. Marjomel, we have some beautiful waterfalls, but we do not just want to showcase another waterfall. We are going to build a village leading to that waterfall. It is called the Upper Library Village, and we have a sample of each Creole building that we have in the constituency that persons can go there and get a room and pay some good money to be in a natural setting. There will be organic farming only in the community of Marjomel. And very soon, the road system would be improved significantly to facilitate the constituents in terms of riding on the highways and byways of community tourism. The lookout point. Pregnant with history. We are going to develop those sites, Mr. Speaker. And the bottom line is to vest those sites in the Library Development Foundation so we can extract economic benefits from it. It will be under the umbrella of LIP, Library Effort and Preservation. All of those projects shall be explored and pursued in consultation and collaboration with the Library Development Foundation. I have accentuated many times in the Sonrobo House that a politician is just one of the actors in the drama of development. We have our part to play, and the people have their part to play. Government has its part to play. The private sector has a part to play. And we are going to distill all of those perspectives into a useful formula for change and development. My preliminary thoughts are that the revenue stream created as a result will be utilized in the following manner. And that's my preliminary thoughts. 20% for youth and sports development. So we are going to have those sites developing our community tourism product vested in the Library Development Foundation and irrespective of which party occupies the corridors of power, we are able to undertake very important aspects of our development. Too many times we have been encumbered by a United Workers' Party Administration coming in. When Little Party is in office, we advance the development of our constituency from a government standpoint. The government plays its part. When UWB gets in, as if you can't be able, we are going to expedite the aspect of consolidation during this time under the leadership of the member for Casseries East and Prime Minister, the Honorable PJP. I know they don't allow you to refer to a member by name. But like I said, Mr. Speaker, 20% for education-related expenditure, 20% for youth and sports development, 20% for cultural development, and Library will be a place as we develop it further that the music will rise in the morning with the people of the People's Republic of Library. Already, it is a society with a soul. And any community or society without culture, it will lack a soul. And therefore, we are going to continue to fuel the cultural aspect of our community because we do not want to compromise the immune system of development. And so we need to nourish it with positive injection so that we do not suffer from cultural malnutrition, Mr. Speaker. And consistent with what I have said, 10% for maintenance of the physical infrastructure and notwithstanding the nexus and cooperation that are already in place for cultural development between the Library Cooperative Credit Union, the Library Fishers Cooperative, and the Farmers Cooperative Black Bay in particular, 10% will be allocated to agricultural development given its critical role in sustainable agriculture, food security, and nutrition. The idea, Mr. Speaker, is to create a more positive nexus between the various organizations in the People's Republic of Library, the Library Development Foundation, the Library Employment and Economic Foundation, the Black Bay Farmers Cooperation, the Library Fishers Cooperative, the Library Credit Union, the Library Youth and Sports Council, and all the organizations that form that strategic framework that fuels the development of the constituency of Library OJ. They will work under the respective mandates to accelerate the development of the Library OJ constituency, a place where patriotism, participation, pride, and purpose find expression. Having said so, Mr. Speaker, it is my view that this type of tourism will be of major benefit to the towns and villages in St. Lucia, and I am looking forward to the establishment of the Community Tourism Agency and to ensure that my people from the constituency can benefit from the incentives to stimulate community tourism. We have seen, if we look into memory's eye, many packages for tourism, village tourism, and all sorts of tourism and library has been excluded. We have put a lot of effort into the development of our constituency, and I know that the Party of Sir George F. L. Charles of Bread, Justice, and Freedom will deliver the Bread, Justice, and Freedom to the people of Library. We have put a lot of effort into the development of our constituency, and it will deliver the Bread, Justice, and Freedom to the people of Library. It is only when the Labour Party is in office we experience any significant movement. But I know that our movement sometimes appeared very slow to some for the many years of neglect, but I always say to my people, we must move forward together. That country's unslurry, there are many investors there, and when there is a pilot project, we are not going to be jealous, we are going to wish them success and for them to recover within a year so that they'll make space for my constituency to benefit even more in terms of the way forward. As a small island developing state, we must increasingly ensure that our development is balanced, inclusive, employment, and sustainable, in that it does not degrade the environment. So in all what we do, Mr Speaker, we must pay due attention to the environment and community tourism will give many communities in this country the opportunity to have people who believe that they're on the block with nothing to do and opportunity to participate in the national economy. Because government cannot find a job for everybody who lives school. The private sector will not find a job for every St. Louisian who lives school at this time and therefore we are going to cultivate entrepreneurial culture and one of the major tools would be community tourism. There are more people who are employed, there are less people who are poor in this country. We have a greater pool of persons making an effective demand for goods and services in our country and our economy will grow and recover faster in the post-COVID-19 environment. We want to ensure that the tourists can live in harmony with our people and ensure that our environment remains pristine, Mr Speaker. We are not about building islands, Mr Speaker, and creating a total environmental damage to our communities. It is important that the community tourism agency provides the necessary technical and financial support to prospective citizens who would like to cater to tourists in various spheres of activities. Many of the citizens would need assistance in developing the business concepts and may not have the financial resources to invest in the business. They would therefore need, Mr Speaker, support in developing viable and bankable business proposals which can be presented to financial institutions. The community development agency will also provide support in marketing the tourism products that constituents will develop. This will include the development of websites and other marketing strategies, Mr Speaker. And, Mr Speaker, I want you to see the connection between the youth economy and where we are taking community tourism. It is my view, Mr Speaker, that we need to create and generate more employment in the communities to prevent the rural urban migration drift that has been prevalent more recently with the contraction in the agriculture sector over the last two to three decades. So, Mr Speaker, the banana shock is still being felt in this country. And a number of persons who became dislocated laborers under the banana fields have not found solace in any real opportunities. And I have said before, given the impact of the sagasam seaweed on the east coast, we can see it at Poilet, going Niku, Nikunov, in particular, that we can organize a special program to clean up that area consistent with providing a decent environment for our visitors to enjoy the product that we have. And as I prepare to close, Mr Speaker, there are also benefits that local prospective investors in community tourism can enjoy like tax concessions which would be of tremendous benefits to the constituents. And therefore, looking forward to this important initiative, Mr Speaker, and give my full support to the Community Tourism Development Bill. Mr Speaker, I yield the floor. Member for Viewford North. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, I want to spend a few minutes to join my colleagues. First of all, to commend the Member of Parliament for Castery South for introducing this Community Tourism Development Bill. I think this is historic, Mr Speaker, as it provides an opportunity for our communities to benefit from tourism and from the proceeds of tourism. Mr Speaker, I stand to support this bill because the constituency of Viewford North stands to benefit tremendously from this bill or from the products which will come out of this act. Community tourism, Mr Speaker, as described by this bill means the brand or trademark created by the agency that is attributed to a community tourism product. I also want to speak to what community tourism product means. And I want to go this route, Mr Speaker, to repeat some of what the Member of Castery South said in order to develop my rationale for supporting this bill as the Member of Parliament for Viewford North. A community tourism project means the provision of accommodation, the construction of a bar, a recreational facility, a restaurant or other food establishment, a tourism accommodation. It also includes, Mr Speaker, the refurbishment or renovation of an existing bar an existing recreational facility, an existing restaurant or other food establishment or an existing tourism accommodation. You can see where I'm going with this, Mr Speaker. For in the constituency of Viewford North we have some of the cleanest and most diverse refurbishment areas. And if you think of the opportunities, when you approach canals going into Opicon, in Pierrot you go to Grace, Vijay, you go back to Savants Bay, Bellevue, all of the Pierrot areas. All of these areas have wonderful refurbishment services and each of these services easily employs at least three individuals. And we have individuals who come from far in the Opicon area and so many of these establishments can refurbish Kutembe Bien, Uso Wange, Bellevue, the restaurant to a bar axela, Okaizuensipo. So, Mr Speaker, it's very exciting. Mr Speaker, I want to refer to the functions of the agency. And I'm very pleased to note that one of the functions under functions of the agency for it includes F to collaborate with a constituency council to encourage and facilitate the establishment and enhancement of public amenities, public facilities and community services to support community tourism. This is very important. So, Mr Speaker, a constituency council, a view for North constituency council under the chairmanship of Conrad Limcon Francis can look to refurbishing facilities, enhancing public facilities in preparation for the advancement and the expansion of community tourism. Mr Speaker, it's a unique opportunity to build capacity in the communities. It's a unique opportunity for constituency councils to partner with the tourism authority and with the agency in order to ensure that not only you are preparing for tourists and to make money and to gain income, but to build capacity to ensure that our own people benefit from the improvement in facilities and the enhancement of public facilities. And it gives us an opportunity, Mr Speaker, another area from which we can derive benefits. There are over 400 households in the constituency of V for North, Mr Speaker, and you can well imagine if at least one or two individuals from each of our households can get connected to these tourism activities how we can benefit the constituency like V for North. And you have heard it before, Mr Speaker, the dreams of the people of V for North are really to keep our community as green as possible, as fresh as possible when you drive through the constituency of V for North, our hills are almost virgin forests and we have the best in that we still have a large quantity of groundwater fresh groundwater and you travel through the constituency with waterfalls as other members have said before and already we have some products though they are still being developed we have some tours to the waterfalls in Bellevue and along the rivers of Greece there are already activities that are taking place in the constituency which will benefit from this act so I urge comrades to support honourable members to support this bill the efficient income generating or economic centres in the constituency will benefit. Can you imagine what will happen with our CMOS farmers as the member for V for North indicated we have a very well developed CMOS farming sector sub sector in the constituency of V for North the CMOS farmers and the products that they have developed we have individuals in our constituency who have developed some of the best CMOS processing which you can find and you can well imagine how this can tie into this community tourism when they get the support and even more training I need not tell you Mr Speaker about our expertise in relation to theatre and heritage products acting, music, dance and so on. I can well imagine in the community of VSL where the people up there are very talented and just on their own they put up wonderful productions of what can happen our community of East Indians in the constituency of V for North Kako, the VJ area you can think of the wonderful dishes and a whole gastronomy experience can be developed and already these people have started in their own little way to invite people to the community to experience the Kako Seventy Adventist Church every year there is this wonderful event where East Indian gastronomy can be experienced and the whole business of food and how we eat and how we prepare food as long as it's done safely and our people are trained that's a whole of an aspect of tourism which we have to develop and while we speak of our own dishes and we enjoy it in our communities these areas can be developed and our people can get income from it so I support this I wish to encourage Mr. Speaker the people of V for North there are many people in V for North who can build as we say colloquially downstairs their houses and there are many individuals who can add a room or two rooms or three rooms to their houses I think of all the wonderful views not only overlooking servants there and Kako and I think of Babu and so on and when you are in these places majestic views you see the constituency of Shwazel and Sufre from V for North so I can well imagine somebody in V for North a few people in these areas building two or three rooms and getting into the Airbnb and so just imagine at any one time you have a voice of visitors in the constituency of V for North going around the community enjoying the farms and so on this is a wonderful opportunity and to help us build on what we already have but Mr. Speaker there are other areas there are areas our people are very good in relation to our cultural assets medicines and so on and the whole area of liberalizing the marijuana industry we have promised Mr. Speaker we will be the best producers of cannabis oil in V for North and can you imagine with support after we have piloted the bill in parliament can you imagine industries and this is another area which has tremendous potential for tourism cannabis oil and all of these essential oils incense and so on by products of cannabis by products of of I mean essential oils there are so many things we can do so it is not simply the sites as the member for castries south said it's not only the sites it's the baths and it's the soaps as the member for castries is said is how do we we develop our own creams out of what we have in the constituency so there is a lot that can be done with this opportunity and Mr. Speaker I want to say one thing while we are speaking about tourism and this will help us and develop our communities it's also very important for us to focus on how these how that kind of support can develop social skills in our communities that can develop social capital how do we develop our people so that we not only training them to develop products for tourists but also training them to transfer skills so that if there is any if we have any shocks in tourism that they can transfer the skills into other areas they can quickly transfer the skills to information communication technology and continue to develop and continue to grow so I see it as a vehicle for development not an end in itself so that our people can get training musicians can be developed that they are not just staying there they can move on to something else people who are developing baths and creams and so on can now move into exports and that kind of thing so I see this as a wonderful opportunity for our community I want to say Mr. Speaker who has never talked to us before it is a bill that is for all the people who have developed business and who have developed for tourists it is not food only it is not the tourist side that will recommend us because there are so many people who are going to help there are so many restaurants with bar, v for north that people can do good food there is a place where you can make a better bake with a very good quality people like that can help you to come back with SPRC that is what we have done and everything that comes here can be assisted thank you Mr. Speaker with this Kaila Kaila with this building with the government with Bill Kaila with this money to build Kaila with the help of Adam Munkika to help directly so tourists can come back with SPRC to help so there are so many ways to help these musicians we have done six months we have brought a live air in v for north we have done three we want to be able to come back with this we have done music we have done theater we have given the government this money to help people with this opportunity to do tourism I look forward to the benefits which will accrue to the people of v for north I know that we have a pilot phase at this stage but I can assure this parliament I can assure the minister for tourism that there are several initiatives in v for north initiatives which have started and all these people need is some help some training, some assistance so we are ready to go in fact there are two locations where we want to build some open stages for theater productions and so on that kind of thing we are already organizing with the seamos farmers and they want to do a tour going up kaku you know the hill and so on so people can taste different kinds of seamos so we have started sports is another big thing we have some of the best sports people I am sure sports tourism can also tie into that so this one to come down and play a football match against some of the best football players for half an hour and have a good time afterwards so thank you Mr Speaker and I support this build on behalf of my people thank you minister for tourism thank you very much Mr Speaker Mr Speaker there is not much for me to say at this point except probably to respond to a couple of points made I think the member from Soufre for Sajak made reference to security and I think it is a very critical point Mr Speaker we have to engage in a proper public education drive Mr Speaker because we need to prepare the communities as I said earlier to welcome visitors to their living space we need to educate our people as to the potential that is offered under the community tourism program we need to prepare them to welcome individuals we are very natural in our hospitality and our warmth but we speak in a context where the benefits of tourism have not really accrued across communities and across different groups of individuals and we do and since some resentment at times it is something that we need to work on I think the reference was made at some point about whether or not the properties would have to be registered and I think a reference was made to comments in another debate where I had opposed the approach used by the previous government we expect as I pointed out that the accommodation would be the tourism levy and that we will do it differently the approach used in the past will be totally different to how we approach it this time I want to thank all my colleagues for their support for the bill and certainly Mr Speaker we are going to look for our implementation as quickly as possible I must Mr Speaker express my thanks and appreciation to the ministry and secretary and the other technical staff that have worked so hard to bring this to where it is now of course you can understand with change of government they sometimes have to start all over again they have to understand the new concepts and new philosophies and I think they have been very very accommodating and understanding of where we want to go with community tourism and have worked very hard to make sure we reach this stage we had said we wanted to ensure that the bill is passed before the end of the legislative year so that we can certainly from April get started with deliberate haste so I want to thank the PS who is here today and the staff of the ministry for all the hard work that they have done for the entire group of stakeholders who have been consulted on the bill and have shared their thoughts, their ideas their comments, I want to thank them and we have already two staff members working to ensure the institutional framework is in place and I want to also thank them for the work that they have done. We are very anxious to get started and to show that this community tourism program can help in the transformation of our country and the empowerment of our people so in those few words Mr Speaker I thank you. On the bill members the question is that the tourism development bill be read a second time. I now put the question as many as that opinion say I as many of the country opinion say no I think the eyes have it the eyes have it and act to establish the community tourism agency and to provide for the proposal for a partnership agreement tax relief registration and monitoring of an approved partnership business and for related matters close to interpretation close to stands part of the bill part 1 closes 3 to 3 closes 3 to 44 administration 5 to B 8 to 79 5 to 1 closes 3 to 44 as amended stands part of the bill part 2 closes 45 to 62 partnership agreement part 2 closes 45 to 62 stands part of the bill part 3 closes 63 to 78 tax relief registration and monitoring of an approved partnership business part 3 closes 63 to 78 stands part of the bill part 4 closes 79 to 82 miscellaneous part 4 closes 79 to 82 stands part of the bill schedule 1 section 2 list of taxes schedule 1 stands part of the bill schedule 2 section 36 of affirmation of secrecy schedule 2 stands part of the bill clause 1 clause 1 stands part of the bill and remembers the question is that the committee rises and the bill be reported and I'll put the question as many as of that opinion say aye as many as of a country opinion say no the ayes have it I think the ayes have it I beg to report that the community tourism development bill went through committee stage with amendment to part 1 Deputy Prime Minister Minister of Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries Culture and Information I move that the report of the committee be adopted and the bill be read at a third time and passed Honourable members the question is that the report of the committee be adopted and that the community tourism development bill be read at a third time and passed and I'll put the question as many as of that opinion say aye as many of a country opinion say no I think the ayes have it the ayes have it be it enacted by the Queen's most excellent Majesty by and with the advice and consent of the House Assembly and the Senate of St. Lucia and by the authority of the same as follows this act may be cited as the Community Tourism Development Act 2022 Minister of Agriculture Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development Mr. Speaker I beg to move the first reading of a bill shortly entitled Agriculture and Fisheries Incentives Amendment Agriculture and Fisheries Incentive Amendment Incentive Amendment Minister of Agriculture Mr. Speaker I beg to move for the suspension of Standing Order No. 482 to allow the bill to go through its remaining stages at this sitting Honourable members the question is that Standing Order 482 be suspended in order to allow the minister to proceed with the remaining stages of the bill at this sitting and now put the question as many as of that opinion say I I as many as of a country opinion say no I think the I's have it the I's have it leave is granted Proceed Minister Mr. Speaker I am very excited and happy to be presenting a very important bill amendment on behalf of the fishes and farmers of this country but before I move forward Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker I deliberately did not when I previously spoke thank all the women of St. Lucia and particularly the women of Denry South and I want to say and wish them a happy International Women's Day I also want to take time to express sympathy to the teammate family for the loss of the loved one and to also say the same for his colleagues at the Royal St Lucia Police Force Mr. Speaker the 2014 agricultural and fisheries incentive act at the time of preparation seem to have provided a well-designed framework for the provision of services to our stakeholders however after extended use from then to now we at the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries food security and rural development have observed a number of deficiencies and inefficiencies which has led to the revision of the document and these amendments are significant enough to the welfare of the fishers and farmers to warrant the sitting Mr. Speaker over the years the practice has been to send all applications to cabinet regardless of the nature cost and trivial nature of the incentives being applied for these apply an undue and unnecessary burden on the cabinet to deal with routine and mundane matters and therefore erodes the time that should be allocated to strategic governance matters by way of example I speak of instances of application for an extension of time on an approved concession or approval for a change in type of motor vehicle Mr. Speaker it has been further observed that there exists administrative inefficiencies that cause inordinate delays in the approval of the concessions in some instances the result is the frustration of the applicant and a deterioration in the relationship with the ministry as a result of this delay delay approval the ministry also seeks from slasper a waiver on rental charges for some clients as the items have been imported creating concessions approval prior to customs clearance so the breakdown in the relationship with the client is now compounded with the loss of revenue by the government Mr. Speaker on many occasions we've seen farmers and fishes and other persons in the agricultural sector seek approval for incentives for a motor vehicle and in most cases by the time they receive approval for incentives for a period of time the vehicle may not be available or the vehicle the vehicle type may not be available and the minister for agriculture has to burden the cabinet to seek further approval for extensions or renewals or change of vehicle type this has been causing serious pressure on our farmers our fishes who may have been contemplating getting approvals at a much faster rate not knowing in some cases that the vehicle may not be available and has to always come to the ministry for assistance of that nature it is also noticed that the current act was also deficient in the scope of incentives that could be applied for therefore such areas as seamos production hydroponics and forestry supplies were not included although they were being promoted by the ministry so in the 2014 act Mr. Speaker seamos was probably not of the level of importance that it is now and as we all know this industry is growing very rapidly but at the time of the 2014 act there was no inclusion to give support to the seamos farmers of agricultural incentives we also realized that forestry supplies was left out so the persons who are into the chainsaw business in terms of timber conversion were not benefitted the persons who are involving the production of ransom what we call the incense were not involved and all those who were considered brought in or added in the new amendment it is our intention Mr. Speaker with these amendments to provide a swifter approval process better customer experience reduce cost to farmers and fishers improve relations with our stakeholders improve the framework for incentives and ultimately enhance food production and security in Saint Lucia the act is amended in the bill to use phrases such as fisheries product rather than fish product in the original act agricultural and fisheries project as opposed to agricultural project and agricultural and fisheries input rather than agricultural inputs in relation to the consideration of applications the bill amends the act to allow the permanent secretary in the ministry of agriculture fisheries food production and world development to consider and approve applications for incentives that are $100 or more $100 or less than $20,000 and Mr. Speaker that is within his view as the permanent secretary and also for change of a commercial motor vehicle or renewal an extension of time to import those items so what the amendment is actually saying Mr. Speaker is that the permanent secretary of the ministry of agriculture now can now approve incentives starting from $100 up to a maximum of $20,000 Mr. Speaker adjustments are also made to the act in the bill as it relates to the agriculture and fisheries committee already established under the act therefore a delegate of the permanent secretary of the ministry of agriculture may be appointed as well as alternates for the other members of the committee the persons appointed by the minister have experience or must have experience in various areas including fisheries agriculture and natural resources and the secretary of the committee must be a public officer the four missions of the committee have been modified to include the consideration of applications for change of a commercial motor vehicle renewal of extension of time to import items that have incentives that exceeds $20,000 but are less than $100,000 so we are saying and Mr. Speaker that the committee that is established within the ministry has the power to approve incentives commencing from $20,000 to $100,000 additionally it is the responsibility of the committee to make certain that the criteria for eligibility is met for applications for incentives exceeding $100,000 for applications regarding commercial motor vehicles Mr. Speaker new provisions are added to the app in the bill in relation to the committee consequently the bill amends the act to insert provisions respecting the term of appointment of the committee resignation of a committee member revocation of appointments by the minister vacancy of office meetings of the committee declaration of interest and abstention from voting cabinet is provided Mr. Speaker with the authority to consider applications for incentives in excess of $100,000 for change of a commercial motor vehicle renewal of extension of time to import items as a result of the amendment in the bill Mr. Speaker the cultural and fisheries project has been expanded under the act as amended by the bill to include greenhouses seamosupplies hydroponics Mr. Speaker and as I mentioned earlier we have we can see a rapid seamos industry developing in St. Lucia and you will realize that they need quite a bit of equipment twine rope all the materials that the seamos producers would require incentives for another new area as I mentioned is hydroponics and this is a facility of growing plants in water and so you have various equipment that those persons rely on so the amendment takes care of those pieces of equipment there was also in the previous act the term commercial vehicle and so a lot of farmers were thinking that it would have been a 4x4 pickup it may be a refrigerated truck but in this amendment it clearly states that the type of vehicle would be one a single and double closed panel van single and double cab pickup vans refrigerated trucks and dumb trucks photons and less Mr. Speaker our farmers and fishers are going for a very rough period especially with regards to the high cost of inputs and this is not just a Saint Lucia problem it is a global problem farmers every time I visit the farmers and have meetings with them there is a big call for assistance from government for support to purchase fertilizers and other farm inputs and I know this amendment will surely be of great support for the farmers in terms of reducing the cost of production and in saying that Mr. Speaker I want to just indicate to this honorable house the benefits of the concession to our farmers and fishers the incentives Mr. Speaker to our farmers and fishers will greatly increase production of food in this country it will help to improve product quality to meet the market requirements our farmers and fishers will see a reduction in cost of transportation a reduction in the cost of production because our farmers and fishers especially our farmers Mr. Speaker have always been saying to them they should not see farming as a hobby but they should see farming as a business as the minister of agriculture I want to see our farmers making a profit from agriculture and so reducing the cost of production will greatly contribute to them making a much bigger profit from their activity the amendment will also encourage a swift approval process as I said it would not burden cabinet every time having to discuss approvals that can be dealt with at the ministry level it will also improve the framework for vision of incentives to our farmers and fishers and very importantly Mr. Speaker it will improve relations with our stakeholders and it will reduce the processing time for our application approvals Mr. Speaker I wish I had the time to say a little more but I am just watching the clock quarter past eight and I want to present this amendment bill to this honourable house for the consideration of members of parliament I thank you Mr. Speaker honourable members the question is that agriculture and fisheries incentives amendment bill be read a second time and now the question is many as of that opinion say I as many as the contrary opinion say no I think the eyes have it the eyes have it an act to amend the agriculture and fisheries incentives act cap 7.18 I am sorry I didn't see I didn't see the member of you with south but we have to put this to the vote just for the record because the question has been put we have to put it to the record members the rules do state that once a question is put the debate is over but the rules do allow for a suspension of that rule and I'll put a question that we do suspend the rule to allow the member for view for itself to make a contribution and I'll put a question as many of those in favour and many of a contrary opinion the eyes have it please proceed member of you with south thank you Mr. Speaker I think I'll make more noise on this side so you can see me more clearly Mr. Speaker so that I can attract your attention Mr. Speaker I will repeat that Mr. Speaker I have to confess that I am looking at this sort of amendments in this bill through the eyes of my constituents particularly the eyes of the fisher folk in the south of the island let me emphasise that I think there are very commendable aspects these amendments particularly in respect of the new definitions fisheries product for example Mr. Speaker the effort to cater to those who are in horticulture hydroponics production until of timber et cetera I think all of that is to be welcomed and I think all of that is very helpful I particularly applaud to the effort to minimise the delay in decision making I think that too is a step in the right direction although I will come back to that because I do think sometimes ministries and departments create unnecessary bureaucracy that can be most frustrating not having been said Mr. Speaker I have a fundamental problem with the definition of with clause 4 of the bill seek into set criteria for persons who may apply for incentives for commercial vehicles Mr. Speaker in the original draft of this legislation there were serious doubts that fisher folk fishers qualified for incentives under the original act despite the nomenclature of the act and I do recall when that legislation was enacted and to his credit it was pushed heavily by the former Minister of Agriculture the member for Viewfort North and I recall insistence that the legislation also caters for fisher folk for fishers but the unfortunate thing is that in its administration and implementation there were officials of the Ministry of Agriculture who thought that the legislation only applied to farmers and who in fact only encourage incentives for farmers and not to fishers and that I think points to a problem that we have that the very staff who are implementing legislation do not take the time to study and understand the legislation that they are supposed to be implementing or administering and I hope that the current Minister of Agriculture will take some time with his staff to go through the legislation and explain the requirements of the legislation and how members of staff could assist those who apply to obtain the benefits of the legislation the question that I ask myself is whether an aspiring fisher from Buford South can ever ever get the benefit of incentives for commercial vehicles to assist him with his trade and I have difficulty under the formula that has been proposed here and I did raise it with the Minister, with a member for Denry South a few moments ago and he gave me an answer which I thought provided me with the ammunition to explain why I have difficulty with the proposed proposed clause this is what a clause says a person shall not request an incentive for a commercial motor vehicle if the incentive exceeds his or annual income then it goes on to say unless there is proof provided by the business plan so the fisher in Buford whether he is involved in retailing wholesale or he is engaged in the fishing business he has a business plan he has to have financial records and then he has to show proof that he is going to improve on the efficiency of production and he must show proof that he is going to make more money make more profits after he has done all of these investments this is what it says a person shall not request an incentive for a commercial motor vehicle if the incentive exceeds his or her annual income unless there is proof provided by the business plan of financial records submitted of improving efficiency of production and increasing profits through technology of hands product it's palusally clear so it means that in effect the ordinary fisher is going to be excluded the fisher who engages in retailing of fish to the hotels and elsewhere now that the fisheries complexes have closed and excluded them they are going to to suffer because they are operated by these I take the members logic that yes we need to insist that they run a business and teach them how to operate a business I have no difficulty with that I think the logic is very sound but in effect what you are doing is to really exclude these people who need the incentive from the very incentive the reality is that government now is transforming itself into a bank and its behavior like a bank because it is evaluating the suitability for an incentive like a bank this is what banks do no government should be involved in doing this kind of thing to just to determine whether somebody get incentives or not I mean you can forget this the people who are the fishermen nobody is going to take this to apply for an incentive the only persons who are going to apply for incentives are in fact those who are already well endowed with 12 vessels those who have decided to take a different turn with fishing and I don't know how many you can count on your fingertips in any of that I really think that this is unfortunate I mean very very unfortunate and if I am concerned about it because I can see the immediate exclusion of my fishing flow to the south because I don't want to be able to access this and look at the definition as the member for Henry South pointed out commercial motor vehicle includes a single and double cab close panel van a single and double cab pickup van a refrigerated truck a dump truck weighing 4 tons less and we ask why is it that these people go up and down selling fish now from every nook and cranny from battered looking vans battered vans that they can buy for 10,000, 15,000 dollars always breaking down all over the place and then in effect what we are doing is to deny them the opportunity proper vehicles no, no, no I have great really great difficulty with this and I agree with the thrust of the legislation to try and see if we can begin to look at the whole question of of repackaging fish exporting fish etc and I have to commend the people of the cooperative in so self for example because I noticed of late they have now been packaging fish really in very attractive packages for retailing in the stores we unfortunately have had opportunities go by the wayside Saint Vincent is now in the business of exporting fish Grenada is now also in the business of exporting fish but because of our failure to organize our fish sector over the years we are now paying a heavy price I don't think the way this is being approached by this definition here is allowing for that to happen despite the broader intent of the legislation to ensure that we move in that specific direction but I propose Mr. Speaker we urge that we look at this definition and I accept to attempt to do so this afternoon in the committee stage is going to be very difficult it seems to me that when these things happen we have an opportunity in the senate that consideration can be given to reexamining this here and in the senate an amendment effected to allow greater priority and to allow greater opportunity of access to the senate amendment come back to the house maybe that might be the better approach the second thing Mr. Speaker that I want to draw to the attention of the memory for denry south and he was on the ball he spoke of administrative inefficiencies and he spoke of administrative difficulties and delays clause 6 says introducing a new amendment 5A the permanent secretary of the ministry shall consider applications for agriculture of fisheries incentives that are $100 or more not exceeding $25,000 $20,000 sorry change of a commercial mode of vehicle renewal of incentives for a commercial mode of vehicle extension of time to import an item all well and good the problem however is this and it is high time civil servants understand that they have no authority to pass judgment on people's application no matter what they believe or suspect about the individuals who make applications a fisherman or fish a lady before south who is asked to submit his or her application to the fisheries officials in the south should not suffer fisheries officials do not submit the applications to the permanent secretary in the ministry to deal with there is no statutory authority for a civil servant to decide who gets an incentive or not get an incentive it cannot be rights that application is kept down in the south because they may hold certain views about the applicant that's not for them to decide when you see the application comes in it should be sent in any event no application should be submitted through any fisheries official to the permanent secretary of the ministry it ought to go directly and I hope matters like that can be corrected to avoid this kind of situation that that I am aware of and has occurred and has developed because too much authority is ceded to lying individuals who do not understand the legislation the administration that I am in means there is also a wider issue of the fisheries complexes because whether the intentions of this bill is realized or whether the various amendments made to the legislation can bear the fruit that is intended depends on what will happen to the fisheries complex in south of the island I have an opportunity when a budget comes to talk to talk at length over the fisheries complex in the south but I will just say this now the status of the fisheries complex in view of what must be settled and settled quickly the physical facilities are deteriorating and deteriorating at a very rapid rate it seems to me that whatever agreement that existed between a former government and ocean blue needs to be resolved and resolved quickly I don't have any difficulty if there is negotiation and ocean blue is allowed to continue in the north where it is over at points there let us stay there but ocean blue cannot be allowed to operate the fisheries complex in the south if the government is of the opinion that it does not want to get back in the administration of the fisheries complex which I fully understand given the history but that it ought to be passed on to private sector operators then the best way is to begin to do that immediately and allow bidders to apply but we cannot continue a situation where the management of the complex is deteriorating fishermen cannot get the services they require and as I said I certainly agree Mr Speaker certainly have no difficulty if a management team is awarded the management of the complex I'm in association with whoever utilizes the services of the complex I have no difficulty with that if that is the route that the government wishes to take but we cannot continue to allow the dispossession of the fishes in the south remain as it is whether we like it or not Viewfort is the premier fishing port in this country the most fishermen are from Viewfort Viewfort provides all supplies the greatest tonnage of fish to the rest of the island yes then we supply fish we could supply fish to fresh supply but the amount of fish that supply does not compare to what Viewfort supplies we survive off the industry and for that reason I am just giving notice that I really hope this matter is resolved quickly if we have to put it out to tender let us do so and do it quickly but that situation cannot continue to deteriorate it is seriously affecting the livelihood of fishes from the south so Mr. Speaker I understand if of course an amendment could not be done now to this that we might have to live with this but I hope consideration could be given at least that there is an amendment in the senate that can come back to us and rectify this matter because what we are doing is that we are excluding the people who most need the incentive because we do not realize the importance of transport to them that cannot be right Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker I thank you Mr. Speaker can you just turn off your mic Mr. Speaker thank you Mr. Speaker actually quite elated that this bill has been advanced today considering that the process had started under the previous administration because I remember when several FAR applications would come you know we kept telling the minister you know why can these things be handled by your ministry and I know that there was working process I do however note that the approval to the permanent secretary has gone back to $20,000 which was what it was prior to the amendments when the member of UFOT North had brought it in because we had recommended $50,000 because as I take it the $20,000 means that the change of a commercial motor vehicle for PS would be within the range of $20,000 and I mean as the member of UFOT South said that is why you find some of the fishermen have some really depraved vehicles and sanitary vehicles selling the fish applying the trade because for together a suitable vehicle for $20,000 is a very difficult you know aspect I concur with the issue of the fishermen providing various records because it reminds me in a previous life you know when a fisherman would have come to me seeking assistance they want to change the engine from a $40,000 to a $75,000 and you ask them for records and they tell you you see a $75,000 knife and you had to depend a lot on local knowledge and go and see their business so it was not something that the fishermen could have provided I note under section 7 section 1A with regard to the alternates member for for denry south use the committee that used to be in place I believe was strictly a committee made up of ministry officials at the time it seemed to be that there is some expansion now in place and I notice the addition of law, marketing, finance and accounts and I'm not sure the relevance of these four fields particularly when you consider the preliminary findings have been done by either extension officers already and you're now saying that you want to put somebody you know from marketing or finance or accounts on your committee to determine whether or not somebody should get approval for fair concessions I'm not sure the rationale for that under 8E under 8E 1 the committee shall meet at such times as maybe necessary or expedient for the transaction of the business of the committee I find that very open-ended and whether we could have the committee shall meet once a week or once a fortnight but to have it very open-ended as when necessary is very open-ended and I thought more specificity should be in place for that there's also with regards to the scope of the committee there was no indication as to the number of committee members and also whether that committee was going to be a paid committee that I thought clarification would have been required on that and one more thing in closing and that's just some something I think that could work well for your your your serving as a minister and also for the country sometime very recently I spoke to a farmer engaged in rabbit raring and he said to me when he brings in his field well you talk about diversification and everything but customs consider rabbit as a pet and therefore they have to pay full duties so while poultry goats and other things are considered livestock and you know I think it's something that we should do looking to particularly with the stress to diversify that we should give consideration to rabbit farmers also getting in some duty but apart from that I do support the intent of the bill I think it's well the timing is very good considering the last time any amendments were made on that bill thank you minister for agriculture Mr. Speaker I listen to all the comments made with regards to the bill the amendment bill sorry and I must say I agree with most of the concerns raised especially by the member for view for the south one of the things that caught my attention when I raised the issue of the fishes was that the fishes were supposed to be selling fish directly to the ocean and of late I have been receiving we've been receiving requests from a number of fishes for application for vehicles and the basic explanation or reason or justification is that they need a vehicle to sell the fish and we had within our ministry a big discussion of regards to that and we were thinking it may be best to give that level of support to a fisher who probably has a fishing business the fisherman may be involved in supply of fish to a particular hotel on a regular basis the fisherman may be involved in storing his fish for a period of time to retail to the various communities in the various communities so we were not of the view that given incentives to every fisher would apply for a vehicle on the basis that I would need a vehicle to sell fish because that would be the basic justification from them and I have heard it before they've approached me when you ask what is the justification for a vehicle that I needed to sell fish now we must while I agree with providing incentives to the fishers we must also understand it's a big cost to the country and I'm not saying in any way to indicate that the fishermen are not qualified but we are at this point juncture where we will have to discuss it at the level of the ministry and to take a decision in terms of how we can accommodate the fishers in terms of providing them the benefits of the incentives the Mr. Speaker I must say it was interesting hearing from the member for the fishers obviously he's from a constituency where you have a lot of fishers and I also agree with him with regards to the deteriorating the deteriorating nature of the complex in view for itself and I'm also concerned with the complex in Denri South it's deteriorating very rapidly and in this coming budget an amount of 1.1 million dollars has been approved for repairs to those facilities Mr. Speaker in closing I want to say how happy I am to have presented this bill for the first time since I became the minister and to thank the ministry staff for the hard work in terms of getting this bill to be passed in the parliament or in this honorable house and to thank the cabinet, the AG's office my permanent secretary and all those stakeholders who were consulted in making this happen today Mr. Speaker I hope we can get some time to as soon as possible to discuss the concerns raised and at a later time we'll come back to deal with the concerns that were raised with regards to the amendment bill I thank you Mr. Speaker Honourable members the question is that the agriculture and fisheries incentives amendment bill be read a second time I now put the question as many as of that opinion say aye as many as of a country opinion say no I think the ayes have it an act to amend the agriculture and fisheries incentive act cap 7.18 clause 2 interpretation clause 2 stands part of the bill clause 3 amendment of section 2 clause 3 stands part of the bill clause 4 amendment of section 3 clause 4 stands part of the bill clause 5 amendment of section 4 clause 5 stands part of the bill clause 6 insertion of new section 5a clause 6 stands part of the bill Amendment of Section 7. Clause 7 stands part of the bill. Clause 8. Amendment of Section 8. Mr. Minister, you're 8E6 and 8E8. 8E6. The red literally would allow both the chairperson and the deputy chairperson to either both have a cast in vote or to decide who has that cast in vote. Well, that's not what that says. 8E6. Pardon? It doesn't say that. If you read that literally, it almost gives them the right to decide who has that cast in vote if they are both present. Pardon? 8E6. Well, 86, sorry, is the quorum. Right, 86, but if you look at 86, we're talking about a quorum, but it says chairperson, deputy chairperson, and the quorum of two. So the words under quorum of two should be expunged and replaced by the presence of the chairperson or deputy person and two other, and at least two other members. I can't propose the amendment. No, I can't propose it. A minimum of three years. Yeah. Mr. Chairman. So 86 should read a meeting of the committee is constituted if at the meeting there is the presence of the chairperson or deputy chairperson and at least two other members participating in the meeting. You go that, and if you look at the region of 8E8 literally, it gives, if they are both present, it doesn't say anything about one or the other being absent, it gives the impression if both are present, they can decide between them who has that cast in vote. So perhaps you want to say the chairperson or deputy chairperson if chairing the meeting. Yeah. Chairing the meeting. No. It's not there. It says, right, suppose they're both present, who has the right? Who doesn't say that? No, but I just know what it says. It says, with both are present, they shall have a cast in vote. So who decides which one of the cast in vote? No, but that's not all law works. Absolutely. Mr. Chairman. Yes. So 8E8 should read the chairperson or deputy chairperson if chairing the meeting has an original vote, and in cases of equal division, the chairperson or deputy chairperson has the cast in vote. If the chairperson is not present, the deputy chairperson presides. You don't leave things so open to presuppose. It's ambiguous. It's not clear. When convenience is once thought to be straightforward, took five years to agree on that. Where do you see that? If they are both present, what happens? No, no, no, no. Yes, but go on to 8. It says, if both are present, who has the cast in vote? It doesn't say the chairperson has the cast in vote. It doesn't say that. Minister, what is the suggestion now? Mr. Chair, I realize that you seem to have a problem with it as it stands. But the chairperson would have authority over the deputy chair if both of them are submitting. Yes, he does have the authority, but it says, I welcome it. Support the chairman says to the deputy chairman, you have the cast in vote. Because it does not say chairperson and deputy chairperson. It says chairperson or deputy chairperson. It has an original and the cast in vote in the equality. Suppose there is an equality of votes and the chairman says to the deputy chair, you exercise that right, not me. Because they both have that right there. You are assuming that one or the other will be there. What happens if both are there? Yes, but it doesn't say it is he who has the cast in vote. It says both have the cast in vote. Exactly. When you put that in, then you change everything. Absolutely. Absolutely. Mr. Chair. Yes. Mr. Chairman, it should read then the chairperson or deputy chairperson who ever chairs the meeting has an original vote and in cases of equality vision, the chairperson or deputy chairperson has the cast in vote. So why do I change the second chairperson or deputy person, that person? That person. That person. Yes, that person. So instead of... That person. What do that person do? That person. Or equality vision, the chairperson or deputy chairperson. So just see instead of the chairperson, so that person. That person. Yes. We take out the chairperson, that person has the cast in vote. Remember the admonition of the member of the Fort South. The language must be such clear, lucid and unambiguous. So Mr. Chairman. Yes. It should read then the chairperson or deputy chairperson who ever chairs the meeting has an original vote and in cases of equality vision, that person has the cast in vote. Okay. Clause 8 as amended stands part of the bill. Clause 9. Incursion of new section 8A to 8F. Clause 9 stands part of the bill. Clause 10. Amendment of heading for part 4. Clause 10 stands part of the bill. Clause 11. Amendment of section 9. Clause 11 stands part of the bill. Clause 12. Amendment of section 11. Clause 12 stands part of the bill. Clause 13. Amendment of section 12. Clause 13 stands part of the bill. Clause 14. Amendment of section 13. Clause 14 stands parted the bill. Clause 15. Amendment of section 14. Clause 15 stands parted the bill. Clause 16. Amendment of section 15. closed 16 stands part of the bill closed 17 amendment of section 16 or closed 17 stands part of the bill closed 18 amendment of section 17 closed 18 stands part about clothes 19 amendment of section 18 close 19 stands part of the bill. Clause 20. Amendment of section 20. Clause 20 stands part of the bill. Clause 21. Amendment of schedule 4. Clause 21 stands part of the bill. Clause 1. Short title. Clause 1 stands part of the bill. Honourable members, the question is that the committee rises and the bill be reported. I now put the question as many as of that opinion. See, I, as many as of the country opinion. See, no. I think the eyes have it. The eyes have it. Honourable members, I beg to report that the Agriculture and Fisheries Incentive Amendment Bill went through committee stage with amendments. Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development. Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of the committee be adopted and the bill be read of food time and past. Honourable members, the question is that the report of the committee be adopted and the Agriculture and Fisheries Incentive Amendment Bill be read of food time and past. I now put the question as many as of that opinion. See, I, as many as of a country opinion. See, no. I think the eyes have it. The eyes have it. Be it enacted by the Queen's most excellent majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the House of Assembly and the Senate of St. Lucia and by the authority of the same as follows. This act may be cited as the Agriculture and Fisheries Incentives Amendment Act 2022. Mr. Speaker, I beg that this House stands at your Insanity. Members, before I put the question, let me, let me thank all members. It's been a long day. It's been a historic day. I want to thank members for their participation, their attention. I want to thank especially the members of the Royal Senator Police for the duties today. For them, it's been an even longer day. They were here before us. They were here before us and they want to leave after us, especially in these trying times for them. It couldn't have been easy for them. I'm sure most of you, like me, noticed the emotion of the deputy speaker when he began. I actually didn't think he was going to make it through when he began his contribution to the Tourism Development Bill. So I can only imagine how difficult it was for our police officers. Let me thank the staff of the Parliament office, who had very short notice, added to the wishes of the leader of government business. So thank you very much for having said that. And the question is that the House do stand adjourned, sign or die? I now put a question as many as of that opinion say aye, as many as of our country opinion say no. I think the ayes have it, the ayes have it. Sitting adjourned. Today's proceedings of the House to give you a quick recap just in case you might not have been able to take any of our coverage today from the National Television Network on today's sitting. We'll start with the statements made by ministers and a quick synopsis will show you that the only prime minister for the JPM Minister for Finance, Economic Development and Youth Economy, his statements basically related to the shooting death of Constable Nathan T. Metz and also expressed his condolences to his family and also to the injured officer King who was also involved in that unfortunate incident. We also had the Minister for Youth Development Sports, the Honourable Kenson Katz, a member for Rosalie on the occasion of International Women's Day, recognizing a number of female athletes, special mention made of Julian Alfred and also to the islands OCS National Network, team following their recent exploits in sub-regional competition. The member for Sufray, the Honourable Emma Hepley, Minister for Commerce, Manufacturing, Business Development, Co-operative and Consumer Affairs spoke on the Parliamentary Caucus and then we had the member for Castries North, the Honourable Citizen King, the Senior Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Sports, Transport, Physical Development and Urban Renewal, addressing the reasons for the revocation of the Queen's Chains lease land to Cabot and stating that was to ensure protection of Amerindian sites and the unimpeded access to Donk Beach, Secret Beach and Kazabah Beach was reported at Cabot was to establish a public beach park at Kazabah with amenities and stating that all investors should have that compunction to respect, preserve and protect the patrimony of St. Lucia. A number of papers were also laid today. We had papers being laid by the Honourable Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Economic Development and the Youth Economy, Philip J. Pierre, member for Castries East and also by the Honourable Minister for Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture and Information, René Sele, member for Castries South and Sehele also presented on behalf of the Honourable Minister for Health, Wellness and Early Affairs, the Honourable Morty Jabatis, member for BFW Northwoods out of the Chamber at the time and we also had some papers laid by the Honourable Minister for Commerce, Manufacturing, Business, Development, Corporate and Consumer Affairs, Emma Hepley, member for Souffre, Fonseja. The report from the committee by the Honourable Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Economic Development and the Youth Economy and that was a report of the Standing Finance Committee on the Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure in a sum of $9,870,400 for the Financial Year 2021-2022 and that was in relation to Hurricane Elsa and to finance the response package. The motion formally resolving that the Honourable House of Assembly adopt the report of the Standing Finance Committee on the Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure in the Financial Year 2021-2022 and the sum of $9,870,400 as a charge against the consolidated fund and other funds of the State of St. Lucia. Then the House went into a number of bills and they skipped the order a bit that was related on the order paper and first of all dealt with domestic violence and that was brought by the Honourable Minister for the Public Service, Labour and Gender Affairs Virginia Albert Poyotte and that in itself brought about a long anticipated debate and certainly the bill became enacted. We also had between the other sides of the break for lunch Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Agreement Amendment, Customs Control and Management Amendment Bill also presented and the final bill presented on the evening by the Honourable Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development Alfred Potsbale, member for Denver South on the Agriculture and Fisheries Incentives Amendment and of significance was a contribution for the member from Vuford South, Dr. Kenny LeAnthony. Actually admitting that the incentives could be beyond the reach of members of his constituency Vuford South among others and of course raised some concern about the physical state of the fish port down at Vuford. The ministers sought leave of the house to enable these bills to go through all the stages at the sitting and the 42 being suspended. That was achieved. So we've come to the end of today's sitting of the House of Assembly. Today Tuesday March of 2022 very significantly one in which very long outstanding bill came before the Parliament on International Women's Day. And that was a domestic violence act that takes in all genders, male, female and all sentience in general. On behalf of the entire team here from the National Television Network, I'm Ryan O'Brien saying goodbye and good night.