 Fellow Solutions, I've chosen to address you at this time for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it's a brand new year and traditionally we look to every new year with renewed hope and expectation. I also wanted to say thank you to the many people who continue to believe and pray for my government, who recognize the gravity of the problems we are grappling with and offer you all the assurances that we are beginning to turn the corner in our plans to put our country back where it belongs. This new year also finds us at a halfway point of our term in office and I thought it fitting to report to you on our governance, what we've been able to achieve and where we go from here. In effect, I want to tell you the state of the nation. In June 2016, as we came into office, all economic indicators pointed to the fact that our country was on an unsustainable economic path. My administration inherited the largest and fastest debt accumulation in five years, at $3.1 billion. The highest recorded youth and overall unemployment rates and the weakest economy in the OECS. Over the last 30 months, our government has been able to stabilize the economy. After several years of negative and low growth under the previous administration, we have now recorded for the past two years over 3% growth, with a reduction in youth unemployment from close to 45% to 38% and an overall unemployment from 25% to just over 20%. One of the major challenges my administration inherited was the limited fiscal space to borrow money and given the high level of debt accumulated by the previous labor administration. Although borrowing is necessary to undertake public sector capital investment projects, we've been determined not to increase the existing debt burden. Our government did so by ensuring that, as much as possible, new borrowing comes with its own revenue stream. We're all very pleased that this year we'll see the commencement of major roadworks throughout the length and breadth of Solution and the redevelopment of the Huronora International Airport. Solutions have been waiting far too long to see these projects take off. The funding of these projects were created by two new revenue sources, namely the airport development tax and the additional $1.50 on the existing fuel excise tax. I reiterate, this will not put undue pressure on the government's budget, as this new debt is supported by dedicated revenue streams. There is no doubt that these two projects will trigger a wave of economic activity and their completion will assist in expanding our capacity to reach our growth potential. I'm also very excited about the significant number of jobs that will be created in the process. In keeping with our election promise to ease the economic squeeze on the people, we reduced value added tax, gross property taxes, implemented in amnesty on hospital bills, reduced vehicle license fees, doubled spending on the school feeding program and transportation subsidy. Today, the economy is beginning to blossom once more. Tourism, the linchpin of our economy, which was trending downwards, has been resuscitated, recording in 2017 the highest number of arrivals ever, 1,114,000. This surge in tourism has resulted in Senusia regaining its position as the leading tourism destination in the OECS. Banana exports are at their highest in several years. There's a strong rebound in construction, and the manufacturing sector is picking up again, all contributing to the lowest level of unemployment recorded since 2007, the year of Cricket World Cup. We anticipate that unemployment levels will continue to fall as investment plans continue to be implemented in 2019. At a time when crime is on the minds of most solutions, we've had to spend much of the last 30 months sourcing and providing some of the very basic needs for our police force that were not available when we came into office. In today's world, if you do not have a CCT cameras, if you don't have a forensic lab, if you don't have a justice and court system that are working in tandem, if you do not have a DPP's office that is properly staffed, if your policemen do not have proper communication systems and vehicles, if you do not have proper court billings, you cannot say you are serious about fighting crime. If those problems were not heavy enough burden, there are the related sanctions placed on the police in 2012, including travel and overseas training. The Labor Party government's irresponsible handling of the impacts investigation has also contributed to the sharp decline in the morale of our police who are doing their utmost in overwhelming circumstances. From the onset of our administration, we've taken steps to combat crime at all levels, including instituting social programs that address crime at its root cause. We first reopened the forensic lab that was closed for some years. As a result, we've been able to make significant headway in the investigation and prosecution of several rape cases on the island. The government is also now faced with another hurdle of tackling the current health and safety issues at the same facility, which I am pleased to assure will be resolved in the coming weeks. We appointed a director of public prosecution and increased resources for the DPP's office. The new police headquarters will also include six new courts, a state of the art control center, and improved facilities for our police. Strategically, we've taken decisions to strengthen our police force and justice system. However, we recognize we still have a long way to go in providing the basics that are the vital to the serious crime fighting. We have invested in CCT cameras and police communication systems, which will be operational within weeks. We're putting all of the necessary resources in place, but simply will be asking for accountability. One of the specific goals of the social services programs has been the welfare of the poor, the marginalized, and the disadvantaged. In this respect, apart from doubling what we were spending on school feeding and transportation, we've increased and improved the elderly caregivers program, increased the number of social workers, upgraded legislation dealing with the welfare of children, expanded our after-school programs, and are seeking to engage more young people to join clubs and not gangs. As our government puts these measures in place, we continue to appeal to all solutions. Let us do our part as good citizens to discourage crime and support our police force. Another critical issue for our country has been healthcare. Thankfully, we've started the phased opening of the Owen King EU hospital, which, I must remind you, there was no plan, an inadequate fund set aside for this operation. We have commenced construction of a polyclinic in Dennery and increased operating hours in the Groesley polyclinic. Meanwhile, in Soufere, we are finalizing plans for a new mini hospital to serve that community. Free healthcare facilities, namely the Derisso, Bellevue, Montrepo Wellness Centers, have all been upgraded to be safer, greener, and more resilient to natural disasters. It is our hope that soon all of the healthcare centers in St. Lucia will be smart healthcare facilities. The government has taken steps to finally resolve the problem at St. Jude Hospital, which was one of the many disasters left behind for our administration to handle. I am pleased to report we've already commenced clearing works for the new hospital wing and the ministries of health and economic development have finalized the design. Construction is set to start within the next few weeks. Our nation owes a great debt of gratitude to the doctors, nurses, and all dedicated staff of St. Jude who continue to provide service to the people of the South under such difficult circumstances. I thank them and the nation that thanks them for their personal sacrifice and I assure you that we will resolve this issue once and for all. Our commitment to delivering affordable quality healthcare is also advancing well with the national health insurance scheme which will ensure that no St. Lucia is left behind when it comes to accessing better health services. Too many families continue to suffer financial and emotional ruin because they don't have these safety nets. I can report that we have a secured financing through the World Bank for assistance in implementation of a healthcare insurance. One of the major challenges we face as a nation that impacts directly on our future development is in the field of education. We have to face the fact that our education system is in the need of a massive overhaul if we are to prepare our people for the opportunities ahead and to be globally competitive. The revolution has started with the Ministry of Education's successful hashtag Educate St. Lucia project. We've also introduced computer coding, robotics, digital literacy programs in our schools. Under the equipped program we've invested 10 million US dollars in the expansion and rehabilitation and furnishing of several learning institutions to improve the quality relevance and the effectiveness of instruction in the education sector. I want to assure St. Lucia's that our government is determined to remain focused on the task ahead which is to take St. Lucia out of the state of stagnation and despair that we found it in June 2016 and to give it once again purpose, vitality and direction. We have too many challenges ahead to start doubting ourselves. Let this time, this new year, be our time. In recent months this government has demonstrated for all to see a kind of governance that has never been exhibited in St. Lucia before. The kind that listens to the concerns of our people and bona fide organizations. We've listened to the voices of genuine concern and tempered our advances accordingly. We've never been afraid to have tough and sensitive discussions and to get input from the various sectors of society. In some cases this has meant reviewing some of our own plans and allowing time for discussion which is what good governance is all about. So if 2018 was a year of planning and adjustments, 2019 will be the year of implementation as a number of public and private sector projects get underway, translating into the biggest infusion of capital into our economy ever. We made it clear from day one that the southern part of St. Lucia in general and viewfort in particular will be the focal point of much of our development efforts in this term. The Desert Start Holdings Pearl of the Caribbean project has started with the race course and we are getting set to upgrade the UNR international airport to the tune of US $170 million. The existing terminal will be transformed into a charter terminal and will also build a fixed-based operation for private jets. We've reached an agreement in principle with Carnival cruise lines for the construction of a cruise ship port in viewfort. With this in place, people will be able to get off their chartered flights and go straight onto the cruise ships within minutes. This will give our island a strategic advantage in the region. In 2019, the south will also experience a surge in job creation with a number of projects coming on stream. Apart from the viewfort, we think it's high time that developments in the south begin to impact and outline districts like Soufrere, Labry, Choiselle and Miku. In tangible ways, hence, we will also need to upgrade our infrastructure. The construction of the Grace Water Intake is part of our upgrading of the water system. We also know that for years, the public of Saint Lucia has been paying a government instituted levy for the disilting of the John Compton Dam and nothing was ever done. In May of last year, our administration commenced phase one of this long-awaited John Compton Dam rehabilitation project. So between the John Compton Dam, the Grace Intake and Dennery will be spending approximately EC $168 million in 2019 in the water sector only. The focus on the south does not mean that the north will be neglected. One of our major projects of north will be the regeneration of the capital. Everyone knows that Castries was once a very vibrant capital city in the Caribbean with high levels of commercial activity on a daily basis. Today, there are times, especially at night, when Castries looks like a ghost town. Gone are the large department stores, fine restaurants and nightclubs that once gave the city life. Gone too are the bright lights and the window shopping that made Castries a bustling metropolis. Every successful city has a strategic advantage or focus that allows it to be competitive on a global basis. Castries was successful for many years because of its natural asset, the harbor, that earlier facility that coaling the bananas and now tourism. But Castries now has not been able to keep up with the times and needs to be redeveloped. It has been 70 years since the Great Fire, following which a number of buildings which were erected as temporary structures. But they've stayed with us for 70 years. Look at the main street in Castries, Bridge Street, with abandoned buildings including one that was destroyed by a fire more than 10 years ago. Many of the main buildings in Castries are in poor physical shape. Some of them owned and occupied by government have fallen into disrepair and are considered health hazards. We have no choice but to replace those buildings that have outlived their usefulness and pose risk to health and safety. The regeneration of Castries is itself a means of spurring economic activity and providing employment for our people. We also need to ensure that more of the over 600,000 cruise ship visitors receive annually actually come off the ship, visit our city, and spend with our vendors. While the expansion works at Point Serif and has improved the class of vessels being accommodated newer and bigger ships with the capacity for carrying as many as 6,000 passengers are coming into this sector and we must be ready to receive them. It was this same sort of vision by the United Workers Party Administration which resulted in Point Serif and complex being built in the 80s. This is now proving inadequate and we have to reinvest in Point Serif and expand our investment to also improve the products, services, and recreation opportunities in the Castries market area. Meanwhile the hotel plant in the north is on the verge of expansion, a rebranding of the Rex properties at Rodney Bay is underway and the Rex solution is to undergo reconstruction. The government has agreed to renew the lease of the property on the condition that the resort is built to be a 4 to 5 star product or higher and that has a significant European plan component. We will not support a full all-inclusive hotel on that site because the existing commercial entities in the area sandals at shock is being upgraded with a new pool and additional rooms are also being considered. It is our hope that the current dispute between the courts which is preventing the 360 all-suite EC $500 million project from going ahead will be speedily resolved. Some years ago we attracted a Hyatt Hotel to San Lucia but that story one we know all too well had a sad and sorry ending. Hyatt is a major international brand and we're now fortunate to have it showing an interest in this country once again. Invest in Lucia has completed transactions with a Barbados based firm to buy land at shock for an 800 room Hyatt Hotel which will be a mixture of the European plan and all-inclusive. Construction is due to begin in the second half of 2019. Elsewhere San Lucia's distillerist plans to undertake upgrade of its plant and development of a tourist attraction at a cost of $30 million. We'll make an investment of $500 million in our road rehabilitation. A recent audit determined at present approximately 52% of our road network is classified as good or fair with the remaining 48% being classified as poor or very poor. Hence when we've already begun the road improvement and maintenance program to address the quality of the road network in San Lucia through strategic maintenance of primary roads and 55 kilometers of secondary roads. This will generally improve the safety and the capacity of our roads. The young people of this country are a priority for our administration hence the reason we are investing so heavily in upgrading our sporting facilities and creating a school of excellence in sports which are due to open this year. Our administration is investing US $12 million over the next 15 months to finance the design, development, construction and upgrade of several projects including the Suframini Stadium, the Denry Sports Complex, the Grosle football ground, the Miku North Sports Complex, the Miku South Sports Complex, Grosle Secondary School. Our athletes must know we're in the corner cheering them on not just in words. The funds from the San Lucia National Lottery will be dedicated to funding youth development and sports. We anticipate our young people will also take advantage of the opportunities from our injection into the San Lucia Development Bank for housing and local business development. Initially we promised $10 million injection however noting that the SLDB has attracted a significant number of persons wishing to own a home and improve their economic and social well-being we doubled the amount to $20 million. The bank can now provide support in the areas of home construction, home renovations, home extensions, house and land purchase as well as support entrepreneurship in the areas of agriculture, fishing, village tourism and manufacturing. We aim at this time to give our young people a chance to achieve their dreams. They have so much energy, creativity and so many innovative ideas many made even more achievable by the availability and the access to technology and we will create that support system as they continue to be our inspiration. As our country continues its upward trend I want to appeal to all solutions that this time that we put away the petty and silly squabbles that constantly seem to surface and which only serve to ferment division. It is time that we come out of this mindset and that everything that the government does must be subject to a political interpretation or be seen as an opportunity to create mischief, confusion and division. Nation building is a serious matter. We cannot solve the problems of our country in isolation. It's a holistic adjustment that we must make and how we approach the business of our country. If we make these needed adjustments it will amount to a significant change in the overall results. The government recognizes that they are constraints to growth and we're doing our part to tackle these issues and be accountable. We've engaged the private and public sectors in an in-depth exercise of developing a medium-term strategy which encourages accountability. If we are to think of the economy doubling and tripling in size we have to look at the stark reality of what would prevent that from happening and address it. As we begin the new year and on the eve of what I am confident will be a defining moment in the economic and social development of Saint Lucia, I urge that we all come together and begin to build the new Saint Lucia that has become the battle cry for our government and the way forward into the future. In a few weeks time we will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of our independence. This is a time for reflection but also a time for us to celebrate in grand style our achievements as a nation. I call on all solutions at home and abroad to participate in the numerous special activities we have planned. We've added some amazing showcases and events to highlight our nation's 40th and I know it will captivate your attention and do justice to this occasion. I am so excited about the year ahead and the promise it holds. I take this opportunity to thank the friendly governments and international organizations that continue to assist us in our development goals. The people of this country have been very patient and I thank you all for your vote of confidence as I am truly honored to be the leader of this great country of unmatched culture and beauty. More than ever I believe Saint Lucia it is our time. In closing I wish to urge all solutions. Let us rededicate ourselves to the task of pushing our country forward. Let us remember Saint Lucia is a nation built on values that are worth protecting. We cannot be our own enemies when the real enemies are poverty, deprivation, underdevelopment and critically lost opportunities. The policies of the government are to provide affordable, quality healthcare, globally competitive education, public safety and security for all. Our policies are designed to create opportunities for our people through employment and participation in economic activity. I urge you to join us in making these things happen. I thank the cabinet ministers for their immense efforts in working towards achieving our goals and of course my wife and my family for their continued support. I pray that this new year will bring all of us good health, peace, happiness and comfort. May God bless you and may God bless our island Saint Lucia.