 Thank you Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker is not here Mr. Speaker. Members for Castree Central and Member for Miku South, please control yourselves in the crosstalk. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Members, Mr. Speaker is not here with us at the moment but it was a pleasure to have had the Member for Castree Southeast in our midst this morning given what he had been subjected to the last couple of weeks. Mr. Speaker, I also want to reach out to the many sick and shitting who are following the debate very intently and permit me to single out for special mention a constituent of Denry South, not Denry North but a gentleman who for many years Mr. Speaker has been a guru on current events and things political in this country and I speak of none other than Gregor Stanislaus. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the estimates of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2023-2024 as presented by the honourable Prime Minister and Minister for Finance. Mr. Speaker, I lend my support to the estimates as the minister who leads the Department of Education and also as the minister who leads the Department of Sustainable Development and Environment. Mr. Speaker, those responsibilities I approach daily with a commitment that is rooted in my love and dedication to my country. In addition, Mr. Speaker, to my ministerial portfolios in Tenluja, I'm also the chair of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, SIDIMA. SIDIMA has a very important mandate in disaster management throughout the region. Mr. Speaker, I'm also the current chair of COTED, the Council of Trade and Economic Development, COTED Sustainable Development and Environment. All of the aforementioned positions, Mr. Speaker, and offices mean a lot to me and the people of Denry North. But, Mr. Speaker, no position in public life has meant more or means more to me than having the honour of being referred to as the parliamentary representative for Denry North. Mr. Speaker, it is the people of Olio, Despin, Larisous, Lapelle, Gran Riviere, Gardett, Richfort, Belmont, Gran Riviere, and Denry Riviere, Mr. Speaker, who for three consecutive general elections stood in long lines to vote and give expression to perhaps the simplest and most unambiguous tagline in local politics. Sean again. Mr. Speaker, I endured the wrath of the United Workers' Party. I endured the wrath of an uncaring government. I endured the wrath, Mr. Speaker, of a vindictive administration which had been given a mandate by the people of St. Lucia because they had promised on the eve of the last general election that they would embark in on building a new St. Lucia. A new St. Lucia. And they were right, Mr. Speaker. They attempted to build a new St. Lucia where once you had shown yourself to be a supporter of the St. Lucia Liberal Party, Mr. Speaker, there was no place for you in the scheme of governance. So, Mr. Speaker, when I sat here moments ago and listened to the member for Shwazel, and we should never be deceived by the tone that he employs, he comes across as being self-spoken, Mr. Speaker. But his message and his rhetoric is as lethal as some of the characters in his own organization. He chooses what to remember, Mr. Speaker. And he was quick, Mr. Speaker, to take the member for Sufretu task. And likewise, the Prime Minister, for pronouncements according to him, they had made in relation to COVID and the state of our economy. And he remembered that, Mr. Speaker. He did not need to be jolted, Mr. Speaker. His memory was working on point what he chose to forget, Mr. Speaker, was the treatment meted out to six of us in opposition. And today I don't want to dwell on the past, Mr. Speaker. We have been presented with estimates that point our country in a new direction. But it's important, Mr. Speaker, to dwell on the past, at times, to put what is happening here today in context. But we are not a vindictive government. You heard him, Mr. Speaker. I remember after the general election, the Prime Minister came into the cabinet and he said, Mr. Speaker, forcefully, that as long as CDP continues to be a program on the books of this country, every one of the 17 constituencies will benefit and parliamentary representatives will be empowered, Mr. Speaker, to execute programs and projects in their constituency. Mr. Speaker, for five years I sat across there. I saw the PowerPoint presentations. Ministers and parliamentary reps on the government side were boasting, Mr. Speaker, and we were just left to be bystanders in the scheme of governance. And the only thing I got from this government was when, Mr. Speaker, acting as a responsible Minister of Infrastructure contacted me, Mr. Speaker, and asked that I provide the names of contractors to paint a few railings on the bridges in Denver. Mr. Speaker, he came back to me and he said to me, man, you cannot believe the extent to which I was lynched. Yes, he said, man, you cannot believe what I was subjected to, just to allow some unemployed young men in Denver enough to paint a bridge. But you know what, Mr. Speaker, I promised never to throw my staff under the bus, but I have documents in my possession. And I asked, when I got to the Ministry of Education, I asked for a progress report on the rehabilitation of school plans. Naturally, Mr. Speaker, I would have an interest in what was happening in my own constituency. And I'm going through the documents and there's a column of contractors. Mr. Speaker, I will leave it to your imagination. Who was recommending contractors to do work on schools in Denver enough? It is too early to make that a document of the House. So when the member comes there and he chooses to remember the pronouncements we made in relation to COVID, why doesn't he, Mr. Speaker, take the opportunity on behalf of his organization and tell us that we made a mistake, it was wrong, and he has been presented with so many opportunities to denounce the wrong of the administration that he was a part of. And today, Mr. Speaker, you want to hear about a government that is not caring, a government that ensures when schools have to be rehabilitated in Shorzell, Mr. Speaker. The member for Shorzell is consulted and he recommends contractors. I don't ask, or do any due diligence on the background of the contractors that he recommends, he was elected by the people of Shorzell and he should be able, Mr. Speaker, to come to this honorable House and give expression to the concerns of his constituency. And as long as he continues to be the duly elected parliamentary rep for Shorzell, this Minister of Education will engage him at every opportunity to ensure that he gives representation to his constituency. Unlike them. Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister yesterday demonstrated that he is the man for the time. And as Mr. Speaker, on the 26th of July 2021, the assessment of the people of St. Lucia as expressed in the ballot boxes was, Mr. Speaker, a decision that is proving to be the right one. Mr. Speaker, they emphatically rejected the member for Miku South. Mr. Speaker, the member for Miku South during his reign as Prime Minister had very little regard for the people of St. Lucia and things St. Lucia. And when he thought, Mr. Speaker, he was invincible. Mr. Speaker, the people of St. Lucia dealt with him accordingly. Mr. Speaker, the Ministry of Education is one of my portfolio areas to which monies have been allocated. Ours is a very serious mandate in the Ministry of Education. It is a mandate that the government takes very, very seriously. And the Prime Minister, Mr. Speaker, has demonstrated that he too takes the mandate of education very seriously. Hence the allocation of more than $200 million to the Ministry of Education. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Education has been allotted $232,677,700 to execute its programs for the new financial year. $217,219,000 forms the envelope for recurrent expenditure. And we have a capital allocation of $15,458,700. Mr. Speaker, a lot of that money will be going to emoluments, wages and salaries for personnel and particular teachers in the education sector. Mr. Speaker, $2 million has been allocated to the Ministry of Education to service debt to the University of the West Indies. St. Lucia is owing the University of the West Indies almost $30 million, Mr. Speaker, debt accumulated over a period of time. But we have a responsibility, Mr. Speaker. There are persons who have presided over the affairs of this country who have demonstrated no appreciation for things local and things regional. So they couldn't care about liabilities. And they treated the University of the West Indies with scant regard and scant respect. Mr. Speaker, we have given a commitment to UE that we will do whatever is physically possible, Mr. Speaker, to ensure that we give UE the financial support that it needs to continue being a flagship university in our hemisphere. Mr. Speaker, monies from the Ministry of Education will be allotted for training. We have them back on the one university graduate per household program, Mr. Speaker. And this year, the Prime Minister has increased the allocation to ensure that we get more young solutions exposed to university education. Mr. Speaker, the provision or provision of $1.1 million in the budget represents an increase in teacher material allowance, a one-time increase of $800 for primary and secondary school teachers as well as lecturers at the South East Community College. Mr. Speaker, I thought for more than... Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is just saying to me as an aside whether I need an increase, but I told him, Mr. Speaker, I'll leave it to him to decide whether he so allocates more money for that particular arm head. But, Mr. Speaker, this demonstrates our commitment to the teachers and the educators of our country. I thought for more than a decade, and I know teachers every single time they travel, particularly those who vacation in the United States, Mr. Speaker, before they are able to buy a pair of shoes or buy a dress for themselves, their suitcases already have part with teaching materials to enable the students who would be interested in their care and the commencement of the academic year. So, this increase, Mr. Speaker, this increase in allowances for the teachers to allow them to procure materials for better lesson delivery is something that we welcome. Mr. Speaker, we have an allocation of $3.2 million for the rehabilitation of school plants. And with the $3.2 million, we are expected, Mr. Speaker, to make improvements to the learning conditions and environment in every school in the country where an intervention has to be made. Mr. Speaker, we can do with a lot more. But we understand the circumstances that our country confronts at the moment. And so, Mr. Speaker, before a dollar is spent at any school, we have already started, we have embarked on a comprehensive assessment of all school plants to ensure that the interventions that we make, Mr. Speaker, will be impactful as much as possible. Mr. Speaker, we have also incorporated in the assessment the involvement of school principals so that they can help prioritize the needs. Sometimes, Mr. Speaker, the technocrats from the Ministry of Education visit the various schools and they decide what work should be embarked on. We are saying this time around, Mr. Speaker, that we would allow the principal, a greater say in what should be undertaken at the schools that they manage, because they would naturally have a better appreciation of the challenges that they are confronted by. Mr. Speaker, early childhood development and protection, $500,000 or half a million dollars. That money will be used, Mr. Speaker, to procure equipment, furniture, and to provide general support for the many early childhood development centers that we have in our country. Early childhood, Mr. Speaker, is a very important component of the programming of the Ministry of Education. Mr. Speaker, in the budget, we have a program known as the Sustainable School Garden Project for which we have received or we have been allocated $50,000. Mr. Speaker, the school-feeding program in St. Lucia has to speak, accounts for almost 7,000 students at the primary and secondary levels. Mr. Speaker, three schools will receive special attention this year to get Mr. Speaker to establish a school garden, and the schools come from the city. We have a number of schools in the rural parts that have already embarked on their own school garden in projects, Mr. Speaker. They will continue to receive support from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Agriculture. But this year, we will pay particular attention to the Ave Maria Grill School, the St. Aloysius R.C. Boy School, and the Bishop Charles Garcia Primary School, formerly known as the Marsha Combined School. Mr. Speaker, there are a few farmers in the Marsha area whose expertise, I'm sure, the students from the Marsha Combined School can consult if they want, Mr. Speaker, to have the kind of impact that we're looking for from that particular school. I will resist the temptation, Mr. Speaker, and not take the bit of the Minister for Health who wants to mention some of the farmers, but it is not a common practice to call people by name in here. Mr. Speaker, work will also be done on the NSDC building. We're allotted, Mr. Speaker, $100,000 to install AC units, alarm security cameras, to work on the ceiling, sanitize the building for molds, metal gates railings, and the general upkeep of that particular facility. Mr. Speaker, NSDC plays a critical role in the education landscape of our country. They have a heavy TVET mandate, and given what the government has postulated over time in relation to TVET education, Mr. Speaker, I believe all the support that NSDC will be receiving from the Government of St. Lucia, this financial year, can only serve that particular institution. Well, Mr. Speaker, and give particularly the students of the South an opportunity to pursue programs that would make them more employable than they would be had they not been exposed to the programs of the NSDC. Mr. Speaker, in the budget, an allocation of $1.47 million for the construction of a block for care. This particular project has commenced in the cul-de-sac valley, Mr. Speaker, and the monies came compliments the Indian government working collaboratively with the ILO. A safe and modern and reliable learning environment will be provided to the students of care who will be embarking on studies and training in the hospitality sector. Mr. Speaker, the ICT integration project is also in the budget for which $1 million has been allocated. Mr. Speaker, we will use the bulk of that money to purchase Chromebooks for incoming from one students. Mr. Speaker, given that given the state of e-books in our school system where less than 15% of the e-books distributed among our students are currently being used by teachers and students, Mr. Speaker, we took the bold and decisive decision to procure e-books. Mr. Speaker, you do not have to install programs on those e-books, Mr. Speaker. Connectivity is all you need, Mr. Speaker, with your Chromebook and you can tap into a repository of information and content that is available online for students in St. Lucia, the OECS, and by extension the Caribbean. But, Mr. Speaker, I will be making a pronouncement in greater detail on e-books versus Chromebooks during the policy debate. Mr. Speaker, the OECS Spur project is also in the budget and the PURL stands for Program for Educational Advancement and Relevant Learning. In this year's budget, Mr. Speaker, we have an allocation of $26,152 and that, Mr. Speaker, is an amount that comes out of the 10 million U.S. granted to the OECS by the Global Partnership for Education, or GPE. With that money, Mr. Speaker, we will be addressing some of our special education needs. We will also be looking at curriculum development, curriculum revision, capacity building and a lot more in education, Mr. Speaker, working with the OECS commission on the PURL project. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my staff at the Ministry of Education, the Permanent Secretary, the Parliamentary Secretary, the Deputy Permanent Secretary, the Deputy Chief Education Officer, Heads of Departments, DEO's staff of the various departments and Mr. Speaker, line workers at the Ministry of Education. Mr. Speaker, permit me to turn my attention to the Department of Sustainable Development, for which I have ministerial responsibility. The Department of Sustainable Development, Mr. Speaker, has been allotted $23,447,500. Recount expenditure is $22,43,100. And we have a capital allocation of $1.4 million. Mr. Speaker, most of the monies received by the Department of Sustainable Development is grant funding. The mandate, Mr. Speaker, of that particular agency has always been executed at least during my stint as minister by some of the most professional and competent public officers in the country. Mr. Speaker, I am extremely proud of the work that has been done by my team in the Department of Sustainable Development. Mr. Speaker, let us look at the Global Biodiversity Framework Early Action Support for St. Lucia, for which we have received $442,442,000. And this is money coming from the United Nations Environment Program, otherwise known as UNEP. St. Lucia is party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Biodiversity. And we qualify for technical and financial support under the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. Mr. Speaker, the support will help align or the support that we get in from the UNEP and some of the other agencies with which we are collaborating will help align St. Lucia's National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan with international standards, Mr. Speaker, and will continue to showcase St. Lucia as one of the lead countries in the Caribbean where that particular global initiative is concerned. And Mr. Speaker, I need to thank the staff which is ably led by the permanent secretary and with technical officers Mrs. Liu, Mrs. Nathaniel and the others for the tremendous work that they do under this particular aspect of the mandate of the Department of Sustainable Development. Mr. Speaker, let us look at phasing out of ozone-depleting substances or what is commonly known in global environment circles as the Montreal Protocol. This year, Mr. Speaker, the Department has been allotted $254,000 for that particular program. And it is grand funding that is also coming from the United Nations Environment Program. Mr. Speaker, that money will be used for administrative costs to help pay salaries for individuals who are working on that particular project. There's also a very solid public education campaign and also the staff will be required to develop regulatory frameworks and to participate in meetings overseas, thereby giving expression to that particular aspect of our programming in sustainable development. And Mr. Speaker, I must single out for special mention a young lady by the name of Keisha Jabatis who, Mr. Speaker, works under the supervision of the chief sustainable development and environment officer for the fantastic work that she's been doing as it relates to our ozone program in sustainable development. Mr. Speaker, the IANOLA project, otherwise known as the Natural Resource Management of the North East Coast project in this year's budget, has been allocated $1,094,000. Again, Mr. Speaker, this is grand funding. This is money that the Government of St. Lucia receives as a gift. That particular project, the IANOLA project, is winding down. It started in the year 2015 and is expected, Mr. Speaker, to come to an end in June of this year. The mandate of the project was basically restoration of degraded areas and, Mr. Speaker, a fantastic job has been done by the team working on this project to raise awareness within communities in the demarcated project area as it relates to forest management and general management and appreciation for the natural environment. There was also a heavy training component where beekeepers, Latani farmers who engage Mr. Speaker, helping them use the natural environment in a sustainable way to provide for themselves and their families. And lastly, Mr. Speaker, well, not lastly, but the penultimate line item for sustainable development that I want to mention is the integrated ecosystems management and conservation of forest on the south east coast or what in sustainable development we call the south east coast project. Mr. Speaker, that particular project has been allocated $3.5 million and it is a sister project to the IANOLA which dealt with the north east coast project. But this time, Mr. Speaker, the geographic demarcation of that particular intervention has shifted. The source of funding is pretty much the same. It is grand funding. This project started in 2019 and it is supported to come to an end in August of 2025. And the areas of focus, Mr. Speaker, geographically would include Pralem, Anger, Vifot North, Vifot South and the library constituency. Mr. Speaker, the mandate is to maintain healthy ecosystems and to sustain livelihoods by encouraging people and teaching them to use the natural resources of the environment in ways that are beneficial to them and to other species that rely on the natural environment for their own survival. Mr. Speaker, finally for sustainable development, of course more of which will be said in the policy debate. I want to draw our attention to the nationally determined contributions as a line item for which we are receiving $160,000 grand funding compliments the Republic of China, Taiwan. Mr. Speaker, the nationally determined contributions, that is the term associated with climate change. Climate change is a phenomenon that affects the entire world. It's also a phenomenon that draws on the resources and expertise of every country in order to bring climate change under control. And every country, Mr. Speaker, once you are part of the UN family, you have to embark on what is known as your own NDC or your nationally determined contributions. Where you basically state what measures you are taking and what you can do to help control the emission of greenhouse gases and how you can help ameliorate the climate change situation that confronts the world given the dire consequences that we have to face as small island development states as it relates to climate change. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the government secretary, the technical and administrative staff of the department of sustainable development for the work they continue to do for the department and of course, Mr. Speaker, more specifically for the government and people of St. Lucia. Mr. Speaker, in quick time I want to spend what is left of my allotted time on the constituency of Denry North. Mr. Speaker, permit me at this juncture to focus on my beloved constituency, Denry North. And Mr. Speaker, to allow me to tell you and by extension this house how the 1.8 billion dollars or the 1.8 billion dollar budget can impact the lives of the people of the Mabuya Valley. Mr. Speaker, I am making a concerted effort to draw on the past except as I would have said earlier to provide context to my argument. There is a massive deficit of resource allocation to the Denry North constituency. Mr. Speaker, between the years 2016 and 2021 Denry North like five other constituencies was targeted and it was a deliberate policy and strategy of the United Workers' Party to starve that particular constituency of state resources. Notwithstanding, the people of Denry North were paying taxes like their counterparts from other parts of the country. Notwithstanding, the people of Denry North had made their contributions on the banana farms of this country for decades. Because, Mr. Speaker, in the majority on election day they went into the various polling stations and polling divisions and voted for Sean Edward and the Senbusha Labor Party that was sufficient for them to have been treated the way they were treated. And so, Mr. Speaker, I am hopeful that during this term of government, a lot of the projects that were neglected in my constituency for which I never got resources or support, I am hoping, Mr. Speaker, that this term around we can attend to them and give the people the relief that they rightfully deserve. It was a deliberate strategy, Mr. Speaker, that if you had starved me of resources my people would have turned against me and that would have given their candidate an advantage at the polls. But, Mr. Speaker, little do they know and foolishly they were advised before the election that you should go to Denry Noff have people observing COVID rules restrict their movement but you can go into Olyon because somebody told you you had always won Olyon. So, go into Olyon because Sean Edward and the Labor Party they are not strong in Olyon. Mr. Speaker, two years later you have never been to Olyon after the hospitality that they will after they experience the hospitality of the Olyon people. But here I am today, Mr. Speaker. Here I am today, Mr. Speaker. I am still standing politically I am still standing and if the elections are called next week or next year, Mr. Speaker you can rest assured that the people of Denry Noff will be voting Sean again. Mr. Speaker, let us turn our attention to head 43 Department of Infrastructure ports and transport. I see an allocation of four million dollars for the line item recon and rehabilitation of roads. Mr. Speaker, some of the roads in Denry Noff need to be considered. The Mambru stretch as we know it this stretch of road which links the Richfonte Highway into Larissus. The Richfonte Ring Road the Cemetery Road into Larissus the Cardi Belmont Road the Copper Road the Lower Olyon Combined School Road leading to the Hobsons, Mr. Speaker. All those roads need attention. Mr. Speaker I can well imagine what the situation would have been for the people of Denry Noff had I gotten some support in the five years that I was starved and I was victimized whilst being an opposition parliamentarian. Mr. Speaker every very few agencies attract the attention of members than the Department of Infrastructure and Mr. Speaker, if you were in opposition in the last five years you had to watch Mr. Speaker you had to drive into some communities and smell the freshness of the Baba Green. You had to watch Mr. Speaker as the concrete trucks would just pour in concrete night and day in a little footpath because an elderly an 85 year old comes to your office to ask for a little footpath because you don't know what's happening and Mr. Speaker you will be denied resources in a country where a 112 million dollars Mr. Speaker was being spent on horses Mr. Speaker 112 million dollars being spent on horses Mr. Speaker but I could not facilitate the construction of a footpath for 15,000 dollars Mr. Speaker but I'm not vengeful Mr. Speaker I'm not vengeful Mr. Speaker any agency that is in my ministerial remit and has to undertake work in opposition constituencies Mr. Speaker I will respectfully engage the duly elected parliamentary representatives I will not do to them what they did to me Mr. Speaker so if you choose to remember what is said by members on this side do not be selective in what you choose to remember or what you remember sorry but remember everything in its totality Mr. Speaker let us look at Head 42 the Ministry of Commerce but even before we go to Head 42 Mr. Speaker I want to look at the Austin Hill Road as a line item in the budget the Austin Hill Road has been in a state of disrepair for almost two decades now there was a time Mr. Speaker when people had to patch up to buy cement and ready mix to make a particular corner on that road motorable so that goods vehicles and farmers who had their plantations in the upper community to traverse that road people had to patch up to buy cement and ready mix Mr. Speaker just to get a bit of relief the St. Lucia Labour Party came into government and our resources allowed us to do a section of the road that was most problematic and the expectation was after the election we would have completed the sections that were not touched but instead Mr. Speaker of finishing what we started the then Prime Minister visited in search of votes and instead of appreciating what was already done and to complement it with the resources he had at his disposal he opted to chide me and tell me I had done a section of the road which was in close proximity to where my supporters lived what kind of logic is that Mr. Speaker but ask him how many votes he got up there ask him how many votes he got up there but you know what Mr. Speaker I understand here and refer to the estimates and see the Austin Hill Road as a line item Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer Shimmer of expenditure. Four million dollars, which can be mined infrastructure for Shime. It is not obligated to which Shime can be made. We have to get a line item. Some of them are obligated to but we can't use Austin Hill Road in the estimates as a line item. Mr. Speaker, you can punish me by not allocating the resources. My response has always been in the ballot boxes. Mr. Speaker, so today, I'm sure they're listening. Aydan will get relief. Jupy and Lilia will get relief. Matida and elderly citizens will get relief. The Celestine family, Monica, brother George, Matthew, Werner, T-Pope, all of them Mr. Speaker will be getting relief with the Austin Hill Road as would Calcule, Haydn, Bebe, and everybody who lives up in that part of the Denu River community. Mr. Speaker, I told my people on the eve of elections that once the Senutia Liberal Party had won the election, that their road would have been fixed. I told my people that notwithstanding I was staffed of resources, they know my track record better than any. When I am in government with the Senutia Liberal Party, Denrinov is a better place for it. We get our first share of state resources, but we were denied. Don't say my thing. I have copyright on that. Mr. Speaker, the member is asking me to remind the house that I did not get a single bag of cement. Exactly, Mr. Speaker, pay your saxi, somewhere actually part of my opposition. They did not allocate not a bag of cement and on the eve of elections foolishly you should see a candidate moving on SLG vehicles with engineering assistants trying to disparage me and the Senutia Liberal Party. Mr. Speaker, you are not we're not in this because we want to excite people. Mr. Speaker, we put our names on the ballot because we have a vested interest in the people whom we serve. This is not about me. When people in their 80s who work, Mr. Speaker, night and day on banana fields to ensure that the revenue for this country was substantial and you go to the Nidema Road because in that particular constituency people voted for Sean Edward and you believe that because you have money and you believe because you are riding fancy vehicles you believe because you have an accent that you're going to win election again you believe you can do that never take people for granted and that is what they did. I sat here in this parliament, Mr. Speaker and I watched people posture on this side they ridiculed us they disrespected us they had no regard for us, Mr. Speaker because they believed they would have been in power forever. That is what they believe. Mr. Speaker, we were here and we used to watch Mr. Speaker and they used to boast Mr. Speaker they used to make fun of us Mr. Speaker where are they now? I'm still here Mr. Speaker and I'll be here for a long time I'm still here Mr. Speaker I'm still here Mr. Speaker and I will be here for a long time and I'm not the one sending myself to the parliament go to Olio and ask Kashton and Oliver if I'll be here next election go to Grenovin, ask Disha and Chen if I'll be here next election these are the people who are going to ask Yes, Disha No, I don't know about him Mr. Speaker permit me to turn my attention to Head 42 commerce manufacturing, business development cooperatives and consumer affairs it's not often that I reference this particular agency for anything in my constituency but today I must Mr. Speaker and I don't as the member for Soufre Minister for Commerce is already worthy that me as if to suggest that there isn't much but knowing her Mr. Speaker the little that there is in the ministry of commerce on the line item micro, small and medium sized enterprises to which 8.3 million has been allocated Mr. Speaker, I am sure that for start-up and for small companies in the valley to diversify their businesses they will receive support from the ministry of commerce Mr. Speaker, there was a time when Denry North was over reliant on the banana dollar but given the challenges of that particular industry we've had to diversify a lot of persons have migrated and remittances contribute immensely now or significantly to the dollar circulation and the constituency. We are encouraging people to start small businesses and those who are already in business Mr. Speaker, we have promised to work with the ministry of commerce to ensure they get the support that they need in order to make their businesses thrive a little better than what they are experiencing at the moment Mr. Speaker I want to move to head 46 the ministry of tourism information and broadcasting culture and creative industries community tourism this particular program in the ministry of tourism receives 5 million dollars Mr. Speaker the Denry North constituency is beginning to harness its tourism potential a number of young persons in the community have expressed a desire to develop some tourism products in the constituency that would cause them Mr. Speaker to provide for themselves and to generate employment for young people within that particular constituency I notice talk Mr. Speaker of some individuals wanting to set up an ATV program I have referred them to the ministry of tourism and the feedback that I have received thus far is particularly encouraging and I'm hoping that Mr. Speaker this can bear fruit and Denry North will begin to make its contribution to the tourism product and more specifically Mr. Speaker generating employment for young people in the constituency who otherwise find it difficult to land a job or employment Mr. Speaker head 54 ministry of youth development and sports rehabilitation of sports facilities $2.3 million Mr. Speaker one of the most one of the most Mr. Speaker heavily invested communities in St. Lucia for sports development during our reign was the Mabuya Valley we were able Mr. Speaker to acquire adjacent lands at Larissos to expand the playing field and get it up to FIFA standards we were able to install lights we had a brand new surface Mr. Speaker we constructed a pavilion and we installed toilets Mr. Speaker truth true to form the United Workers Party came into office and they did absolutely no maintenance work on the Larissos playing field just to punish Sean Edward no maintenance we had a volleyball program where the ministry of youth development and sports engaged nationally and regionally acclaimed coach Denny St. Clair that was stopped simply because I was an opposition parliamentarian and the program was happening in my constituency Ricardo Bo introduced a tennis program that was unceremoniously dumped we had a netball program for young children of the Mabuya Valley that was stopped because the parents voted in the majority for Sean Edward we had a cricket program that would drive from gross delay on a Saturday afternoon to compliment the efforts of Clifers Jules a local coach and other coaches because on election day Sean Edward got more votes than the candidate of the WP that program was stopped so they stopped the netball they stopped the cricket they stopped the volleyball they stopped the tennis and they did absolutely no maintenance work on the Larissos playing field the people voted for Sean Edward so when you see the member for Shwezel comes here Mr. Speaker Unsultibus and whatever else you want Mr. Speaker comes here and he wants to to pontificate and he wants to give advice and he wants to give the impression that during their reign and I said Mr. Speaker I don't want to dwell on the past but sometimes you have to in order to put into context what is happening here today so when you come here and you shamelessly say some of the things that you say we have to pull you back on track because you sat here in the parliament you supported all what went on you were in the cabinet you supported it you did nothing you said nothing but today you want to summon the courage to come here and give us advice well you have a right you can stand now on a point of order and tell me that you did not support it put it on the record and tell me you never supported it that's not your business you lose you've lost you've lost you vindictive you Mr. Speaker today I have assured my people that we will rehabilitate the Larissus playing field and I'm not waiting on resources only from the ministry of sports I am committed to using some of my CDP allocation to restore the Larissus playing field to what it used to be Mr. Speaker still on the head 54 sports Mr. Speaker the Grand Roving playing field has been airmarked for lights again Mr. Speaker we want to work collaboratively with the ministry of sports and national watches authority and some of my CDP allocation to ensure that lights are erected on the Grand Roving playing field the poles have been ordered and they are already on island we have priced the fixtures and we have costings Mr. Speaker bill of quantities but it's not enough to just install lights we have also purchased through the CDP a 40 foot container that will be retrofitted into a small pavilion with toilet and storage facilities for the young people of Grand Roving I'm not waiting Mr. Speaker on the ministry of sports to do it all for me I am using some of my CDP allocations as we speak we are procured for the young people approximately 100 pairs of football boots and the football boots are in customs waiting to be cleared Mr. Speaker because we understand that there is a social benefit in sport that you cannot put a dollar value on I know in the aftermath of Covid it has taken us a while to restore football in the valley but you can rest assured Mr. Speaker that post budget the Mabuya valley will rise again in the sport of football and we will begin to draw the crowds again like nobody else can in this country and our team will be competing nationally and you will once again see a proliferation of young players coming from the Mabuya valley getting selection on the national team Mr. Speaker permit me to turn to Head 41 the Department of Agriculture Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development Banana Management Unit 1 million dollars Mr. Speaker, fig is still important in the Rinov Mr. Speaker running your million dollars on budget or budget about Zafi fig we had this here with the government we had this government to buy figs for Rinov because we opened figs to develop our country I have understood the contribution of bananas to the development of our country Thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker, we did not promise the farmers of this country that we had market in France we did not promise or say to the farmers on the eve of elections that we had documents and we had met with farm organization in Martinique and that there was a guaranteed market for bananas Mr. Speaker and I stood here on the previous Minister of Agriculture and I said to him he needed to level with the farmers even if that you tried to secure your market that is commendable but you have an equal responsibility to come back and say to the farmers I tried something but it did not work but you know what farmers who had left the industry abandoned their fields go overseas in search of employment heard that Saint Lucia had just gotten a new market for bananas in France left their employment overseas and they came back in droves clean land and the bananas were good for harvest because of the pest market that is what they did to the farmers of this country and they paid the ultimate price at the pools Mr. Speaker they paid the ultimate price and you know thought that in hindsight Mr. Speaker on reflection they would have learned their lessons but they come here and the posture is still the same I heard a member of the record talking about we lost the market in the UK we tried we leveled with the farmers we told them bananas went up and when it became cost prohibitive to produce bananas to the UK we came out and we eyeballed the farmers and we told them that this is no longer profitable we have to suspend shipment and that is important no de-farmer that is very very very big we started with the UK but then we realized Mr. Speaker that they had to do science for the UK to cut the money to buy the bananas and the de-farmer for the UK but I was Mr. Speaker particularly pleased this morning they returned me this agricultural day that they passed and they came here to do a moon business and the moon business I agreed to buy 2,000 wet figs for this and they came here to buy the bananas for the UK and Mr. Speaker for the UK they came here to buy 2,000 wet figs and they came here to buy the banana for the UK and they came here to buy the banana for the UK and they came here to buy the bananas for the UK so that we don't give up so that we can take this original market and not have to go to England but we have to take this market and we have to buy the banana Let us turn our attention to the Department of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs. Reconstruction of Larissus Wellness Center, $500,000. Mr. Speaker, Larissus Health Center was ravaged by fire in March of 2015. All services were relocated to the Richmond Health Center. Mr. Speaker, I can recall vividly that morning when I got a phone call that the fire was destroying the health center. By the time I got to Larissus, the fire service was already there with Richmond Police. There was a representative of the Ministry of Health who had been informed and she was there as well, Mr. Speaker. In about two hours' time, the minister responsible for health at the time, now Senate President, the Honorable Alvin Reynolds, she too was on site. And, Mr. Speaker, we agonized in terms of how we would have restored the Larissus Health Center. But luckily for us, Mr. Speaker, we'll enter in a new budget cycle. And immediately, the then Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, member for Viewport South, had in the budget of 2016 an allocation for the reinstatement of the Larissus Health Center. Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister passed with the Parliament of Viewport South, he was not in the budget at the time. Not at the time I was going to vote for you, but at the time there was a grand funding in case of the new government of Taiwan for the health center. Do you know what Mr. Speaker did? Notwithstanding the number of 80 and 90-year-olds who were descending on that facility for health care, you know what happened? Because I won the election. Because the Solutionary Party won the denouement of seat. Because the people of denouement and the majority voted for me. You know what happened? That amount in the budget was removed and denied the people the health center. The same government that presented over the affairs of this country when 112 million dollars was being spent on horses. But you know what, Mr. Speaker? Today, I can stand here again and tell you that in the estimates of revenue and expenditure for 2023-2024, the Larissus Health Center is there as a line item. And you know what, Mr. Speaker? It is there as a line. It's not a case where you have a lump sum for the rehabilitation of wellness centers and the minister and his team will decide which health centers they'll pay attention to. You know, Mr. Speaker? The Larissus Health Center or the reinstatement of the Larissus Health Center is there as a standalone, a line item for which monies have been allocated. And Mr. Speaker will bring an end to people having to work to reach for or having to stand on the highway to wait for a bus to see if they can get a lift to the members gap and then take another shuttle into all your denouement or elsewhere. And the healthcare professionals have been stretched on days when a doctor is supposed to be seeing 50-20 people. Just imagine the entire Denry Basin converging on the Rich for Health facility. But that will soon be a thing of the past. Nuka Ojei Health Center. And so, Mr. Speaker, I feel vindicated today that the Larissus Health Center will be reinstated under the St. Lucia Labor Party Administration. Mr. Speaker, our government will never have all the answers to all the problems of this country at this particular point in time. But I can tell you that the Prime Minister is committed to creating a better St. Lucia. I can tell you that as a government, we are committed to putting people first. And every initiative that we've embarked on in this country, Mr. Speaker, it has been people-centered. We put people first. My cabinet colleagues put people first, Mr. Speaker. And we are government of the people working for the people. We will not allow ourselves to be sidetracked or to be distracted by those who want to see us fail. Our mandate came from the people of St. Lucia. My mandate came from the people of Denry North. So for those persons, Mr. Speaker, who have a difficulty with their party being in opposition, I say to them that when the programs of this administration continue to roll out, it will not be happy come in for you if you support the other party. Mr. Speaker, I believe in fairness and inequity. I believe people of any community in this country, irrespective of whether you're from the North or the South, you should have access to state resources. The programs of government ought to be benefiting everybody. When we roll out scholarship programs in the Ministry of Education, we do not find out or try to find out which party their parents voted for. I know my own circumstances, Mr. Speaker. My mother didn't have land to mortgage you send me to university. I got a break from the government. And today I will do whatever is necessary to ensure that I give every child in St. Lucia an opportunity to pursue an education. And when we talk about the one university graduate per household, we talk about the first generation scholarship program, Mr. Speaker. I will take it on my own if I have to drive into every pocket community in this country and find the children whose parents don't have the means to send them to university. And when they come, Mr. Speaker, and we notice that they have the aptitude and they have the ability and the capabilities and they begin to doubt themselves. We sit them down and we say to them, you can do it. You have the full backing of this Minister. You have the full backing of the staff of the Ministry of Education. And you have the full support of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers. There are some people, Mr. Speaker, in St. Lucia's society. They have bread is already... Remember there, you know, if you need to wrap up now. Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Their bread is already buttered, but they are busy competing with children and young people who come from indigent families whose socioeconomic circumstances will never allow them to see the halls of a university. They are the ones whose cause I'm going to champion, Mr. Speaker. As long as I continue to be in the Ministry of Education, I will continue to give expression to the plight and the concerns of the people of Dandrenov for as long as they want me to. And I will not allow myself to be distracted by the naysayers and by those who want to spell doom and gloom for our government and by extension our country. Mr. Speaker, I support the estimates of revenue and expenditure for 2023-2024. And it is my sincere hope and belief that as a government, we will continue to deliver for the people of this country and makes Angusia a better place for all citizens, young and old. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.