 Mr. Speaker, permit me to join the Prime Minister in extending condolences also to the Kingdom of Morocco on the tragic situation which can be classified as a national disaster. Morocco has been a great friend of ours and to this day they continue to contribute to our people, our country, its social and economic life. Mr. Speaker, today is quite historic. It's yet another historic day in the life of this parliament, one which brings to the fore history, passion, emotion, commitment and the exposure of fake individuals who parade sometimes in the name of attempting to help the people. I say it's historic, Mr. Speaker, because when the Minister for Health stood to speak, he set the tone and the atmosphere for today's meeting. He spoke of the involvement of former Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Antony. He spoke of my involvement as Prime Minister then between the period 2007-2011. He spoke of the disgrace during the period 2016-2021 and he spoke of the spirit and energy of this period under the leadership of the parliamentary representative for Cassries East. Mr. Speaker, this parliament mirrors the history of St. Jude Hospital and the journey that we all have had with St. Jude. Today I classify my own involvement as my journey with St. Jude. And I say this, Mr. Speaker, because when I became Minister for Health in 1992, as part of the National Health Development Plan, St. Jude, in my opinion, should have graduated from a community hospital into a national referral hospital with areas of specialization, some of which I thought would have to be a trauma center. But even before my time, there are others who served and the sisters of Mercy who came somewhere in 1965 in search of an old military facility to set up a hospital. Found reason, and I gave the history of that some time ago, found reason to settle at St. Jude and to establish the hospital in 1966. It was a hospital that brought community together. It was a hospital that the people of the south of this country had passion for. It was a hospital that whether you rich or poor, you received some of the best quality healthcare service down there. In fact, one of the signature attributes of St. Jude was the fact that persons who didn't have money but who had land and cultivated the land would go to the hospital and would pay for the service through a battering system of goods, vegetables, and food generally for the service. So that was the mission of St. Jude, together with the religious philosophy of Catholicism there at St. Jude Hospital. And so, Mr. Speaker, when the fire of 9th September occurred, and I often said then, as Prime Minister, that while the United States had their own 9-11, St. Lucia had its 9-9-1. And the reason I say 9-9-1 is because, Mr. Speaker, on the night of the fire, it was at one o'clock in the morning that I got the call that St. Jude was on fire. The ninth day of the ninth month, one o'clock. And I didn't hesitate, Mr. Speaker, to jump out of bed and to action my driver, wherever he was, I started driving. He connected with me and we went down to St. Jude Hospital to see whether we could have lent an additional hand or two to save St. Jude Hospital. But, Mr. Speaker, as the sun rose at 6 o'clock in the morning, the entire surgical block was reduced to ashes. And the onus and burden was on the Prime Minister and his team to find a location considering the loss of life of a number of citizens, community people from the south, to find a location for the hospital that we found the View Fort Secondary School in Larrisos as a temporary holding point. And then later, after surveying the stadium to conclude that the stadium was indeed a suitable place to transform into a hospital. And so, Mr. Speaker, if I'm to look at what we came here today, it is to connect the dots from 1966 through 92, 2009, 2011, 2016, and to say the time is now. The time is now for action. Two years after this government assumed office to get on with the job and to complete this hospital to my own passionate satisfaction that the job has finally come to conclusion. Mr. Speaker, this has meaning to all of us. I know it has meaning to the Minister for Health because St. Jude borders between North and South VFOR. It has meaning to the Parliamentary Representative for VFOR South because for him St. Jude belongs to View Fort, whether it's North or South, even though he advocates every day for View Fort North. View Fort South. For me, Mr. Speaker, the hospital is in View Fort South. It is in View Fort South. I stand corrected. And you see how passionate he is. You see how passionate he is, Mr. Speaker, and it tells you, it speaks to exactly what I'm saying. The passion, the meaning, what it is to those men and women in St. Lucia, whether North, South or East and West, a mere 50 yards away from a boundary makes a difference. And so the Parliamentary Representative for VFOR South is very clear that St. Jude is in View Fort South. And we all love St. Jude and we'll ensure that it remains in View Fort South. But Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, the thing about the passion of St. Jude from day one after the fire was that we will open that hospital within 12 months, within 24 months, sorry. And we started work and we were so passionate that we felt that we should put history together and to print booklets that we distributed one year later. Nice glossy booklets because we felt that they deserve this thing. So the first booklet is entitled Rising from the Ashes. Rising from the Ashes. And speaks of the history of St. Jude from the Beanefield Military Hospital in 1942, a dawn of a new day, driven by compassion for people with our sister Mary Irma who was the founder of St. Jude and Sir John Compton who supported her to the St. Jude history from 1965, the both of a community hospital, and it goes on and on in giving that history, the passion. And then it continued, building on a social foundation and spoke to the plans and the ideas behind establishing a new St. Jude and commending all those who have made a contribution to St. Jude. And so, Mr. Speaker, one year after the fire, we went back and did a groundbreaking ceremony to demonstrate our commitment to get this hospital going. And at that time, Mr. Speaker, we were able, out of a community endeavor, we were able to record and to announce those persons who had made contributions at the time, some of them mainly locals and overseas groups, including the Republic of China on Taiwan, the Government of Australia, the Government of Mexico, Government of Germany, Government of Israel, Government of India, you know, donation of medical equipment from HES Corporation. And I heard the member for Miku South saying all about the equipment, not all of the equipment came in at the time, HES committed to equipment. They didn't send equipment because we didn't have a facility to put the equipment. They committed to equipment, the American Government commitment to equipment and locals, of course, who gave cash. At the end of it, when the last administration decided to abandon in 2016, we had collected $41,32,662 through donations on this project. Mr. Speaker, quite a bit of money on our own, picking up the mantle, rising from the ashes and deciding that we should proceed. So today I heard the leader of the opposition speaking about the original plan as if it is his plan. And I'll come back to that about what he was reading today because if I were in his position, I would not have read that document today. It's an indictment on him, an indictment on him to have stood here today and to read that report. But you know, the party that I once belonged to, Mr. Speaker, today have a behaviour, a culture and an attitude that I classify as political scavengers. And I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why. It is because, Mr. Speaker, they meadow, they dabble, and they peddle in political garbage. So one time you heard them speaking about Soukouya and Black Magic and Obia. Another time you heard them speaking about Cambridge Analytica, who puts out a statement to state that a flight landed at midnight in the night and what the flight brought in. Another time they're comparing themselves even before they perform with people like Sir John Compton and Kenny Anthony and others to say that the political scavengers are better than what is here now. But Mr. Speaker, what he was reading at the time was a vision that I had in terms of St. Jude Hospital, establishing and upgrading of the healthcare facilities in St. Lucia, St. Jude Hospital. That was in 2011. But more so, it was later on, but earlier on rather, in 2010. I spoke about the vision of St. Jude and the intention of the government at the time. And yes, I spoke about refurbishing the old St. Jude. Yes, I spoke about the potential of a new and modern hospital. Yes, we spoke about the possibility of looking at a location on 21 acres of land next to the stadium to put a brand new facility. And yes, it was all part of a new vision for the south of the country so that you have a modern facility that would have been able to serve not only St. Lucia's but to serve the rest of the Caribbean as a referral centre, particularly in trauma. But Mr. Speaker, as we move on with the project, we realise that even though the $27 million we had estimated for the renovation of the surgical wing, we realised there was much more work to be done on the hospital. We realised that we could not have repaired the surgical block and not repaired the other buildings, particularly the replacement of the asbestos roof. We realised that the plumbing was bad, the aged plumbing was bad and we needed to put in new plumbing. We realised that the sewer system was deteriorating and was outdated. We needed to put in a new sewer system and we also realised that the electrical engineering needed to be looked at because of the age facility. But I had all kinds of nonsense about Mr. Speaker, the building is an 80-year-old building and why do we want to refurbish an 80-year-old building? But Mr. Speaker, it just shows the mentality of the individual that once it's aged, throw it away, demolish it because the demolition crew just demolished it all the way. I told you the last time, Mr. Speaker, if I had followed the instruction given to me, today you'd be having Parliament somewhere on the road because this one would have gone down, the printer would have gone down and the courthouse would have gone down. And they tried all kinds of things. Get the occupational help and safety people to condemn here. Get the engineers etc to condemn here and all of them said there is nothing wrong in this building. Tell them come and challenge me. So Mr. Speaker, there's nothing wrong with the building. When you look at the structures of St. Jude, their sound, one of the strongest roads we have in this country, Mr. Speaker, you know where they are? In Viewfort. In Viewfort. From the airport, going all the way into the town of Viewfort, built during the war. And nothing with one exception. It was Hurricane, I think it was either the Christmas Eve trough or one of them, where it lifted the pavement. But other than that, a perfect, strong piece of infrastructure, Christmas Eve trough. So nothing wrong with this. So Mr. Speaker, this is properly repaired by Obisadu. So Mr. Speaker, we demonstrated that there is something that we as a people love. We love St. Jude, we want to preserve it and I felt that this was the way to go. Dr. Anthony came and continued, and I'll come back to this, continued with it. But they came, mashed it up, take it out, build a new building which we call the block, and make people believe that that building will stand on its own and call it a new hospital. There's no way it could have happened. So Mr. Speaker, the question is why was St. Jude, the construction of St. Jude stopped in 2016? Why was it stopped? When the fire happened, Mr. Speaker, we appointed Cyril Donnelly. We all know Cyril Donnelly. I should not have mentioned his name, but it's alter, baby. He continued, the government changed in 2016. The contractor continued from my time into 2016. Until he started giving problems. Until he started giving problems, Mr. Speaker. When you look at the report, Mr. Speaker, the handover report, which all of a sudden today seemed to be the leader of the opposition's Bible, quoting from, five years he never looked at the report, or if he looked at it, never shared the report. He never brought it here to the parliament to debate. But today he's reading it like his Bible and attempting to extract excerpts from the report to utilize to give guidance or to condemn us. Mr. Speaker, in the report, in the handover report, Mr. Speaker, the project coordinator said in there that the project coordinator said in her report, let me just get it, Mr. Speaker, she said there that challenges, that's number seven on the same book he was reading, the same report, challenges with the original main contractor resulting in ongoing contracts being concluded by December 2013. The major issue with the main contractor was primarily his inability at the time to adequately finance the project and pay workers on the project. Okay, that's in 2013. That's two years, 2013, December 2013. Okay, that continued into the government, the administration of Dr. Anthony. Government change in 2011, it continued up to 2013. It then went on into January 2014 when they couldn't take it no more. And the contractor, it is said in the report, a new main contractor was contracted in January 2014. That's from December 2013 to January 2014, not a break. It demonstrated, Mr. Speaker, the commitment of the government of Dr. Kenny Anthony to continue the project regardless of the fact that it was started by my administration. But the significance of today, Mr. Speaker, is the fact that though we stood on either sides of the political spectrum, we have all found reason in the fact that the St. Jude Hospital could not be used and should not be used as a political tool and the job continued from 2011 onward to 2013 and changed in 2013 to another contractor and brought it all the way to 2016. That was what it was about, Mr. Speaker. Dr. Anthony would not sacrifice it because he needed his hospital. The people of the south needed the hospital. Regardless of the politics, Dr. Anthony continued with the project in 2014. But what happened in 2016, Mr. Speaker? What happened in 2016? In 2016, the moment they got in, they were on a witch hunt, suspended the project, fired the contractor, wasted three years trying to find a reason to abandon the main project and to move on onto their own frolic in the name of building a modern St. Jude Hospital, which I don't care how you clad it or you drip it or whatever you do, it is a box. It is a box. I visited there last week, Mr. Speaker, and what I saw wasn't at all impressive as far as that box is concerned. It is incomplete, of course, and you can see what was going on there. To use the terms of a colleague of mine is flashing mirrors, glum glum. Ahead of elections to make people believe that look at this beautiful thing you can have if we get back into office. But behind the facade, behind the facade, it is nothing but a box. But we are still sane in this government, Mr. Speaker. With the monies that we have from our own resources, with the loan that the Saudi Arabia government will give us, we are still sane. Our mission is clear. We will fix the existing original St. Jude Hospital to the satisfaction of the people, and we will find use for the box, use that will bring reward and credit to the people of this country. We won't just simply decide we're not going to build on it. We're not going to do that. We will do something with it. But don't make people believe that after you wasted three years, three years, excuses after excuses after excuses, you know, behaving as you are political scavengers. You wasted three years, and then you are coming to see that you had this grand plan. And what this is all about is a modern facility with all of the electronics and this and that, within the walls, within the panels, insulation here and insulation there, just trying to blind people. New technology, et cetera, et cetera, after spending all that money on the facility. Mr. Speaker, this government, and I'm proud to say, Mr. Speaker, let me just say something. I'm proud to say that I am proud to be part of this government of the St. Jude Hospital. I'm proud. The reason for this, Mr. Speaker, I see men who are sincerely committed to the cause of the people. Sincerely committed. Not men who are parading like they are committed. Men and women, sorry, madam, minister for gender affairs, gender balance. Men and women who are sincerely committed to the cause of the people. I heard one saying earlier, and I can't remember which one, Mr. Speaker, saying about somebody suffering with jet lag. Is there anybody else who can suffer from jet lag than him? Flying from one place to the other. You leave, you're going somewhere, you change your mind, you go under the place. You stay at a house at a hotel, 2,000 pounds a night while people in the country are suffering. And you want to accuse a member of suffering with jet lag? You're globetrotting. And when you look at the bills when they come out, you'll hear the kinds of monies we wasted, Mr. Speaker, of those globetrotters just running about the place, flying all over the place. And to use the term of a man who I admired, Sir John Compton, sweet talk and fancy talk, nothing but talk. Nothing but talk. Take your ball and run. Take your ball and run. And then, Mr. Speaker. Members of the Member for Microsoft did give me a very valid reason as to why he has to leave at this point in time. A very valid reason. It's a bereavement. A bereavement? Yes. I am reporting what he told me. Mr. Speaker, if it is a bereavement, let me take responsibility without the Prime Minister asking me and extend condolences to the leader of the opposition and his bereaved family. Not a family member. It's somebody who is actually due to meet later on today. Okay. So, Mr. Speaker, on that note, let me get back on track. So, Mr. Speaker, as I said, this government of the St. Louisian Labour Party that I've joined in the mission for the people, I'm proud to be part of it. Because I am sure at the end of the day, in the next two or three years, when the time comes, and we look at the scorecard of this government, you'll recognise that this government stuck to its mission, stuck to its mandate, stuck to its vision of putting the people first, serving them, providing for them, developing a country that we shall build and ensure that St. Louisians are part of that building and that operation of this country. So, Mr. Speaker, as I move on, so in 2016, they abandoned the project and then they have decided pretty close to the election of 2021 that they must attempt to make haste while the sun was shining. But that sun wasn't shining, Mr. Speaker. That sun was setting. And by the time the sun set, it was time to leave. This government has gone through and what we have done. We have looked at the plans, we have looked at St. Jude, we have studied all of the reports which were given, all of what was done, including reports from their time and everything. And we have said, we are moving in one direction. We will continue St. Jude Hospital. And based on my own visits in recent months, I've been there probably three or four times, I must admit that while we have not made any major announcements except the fact that we have negotiated with the Saudi government, the loan for the completion of the hospital of $202 million, I must admit, I'm very, very confident that this hospital will be finished by the end of next year. Latest. Latest by the end of next year. So Mr. Speaker, what does the resolution speak of? It speaks of borrowing from the bank the amount of $281 million, $250 Saudi Reals. It speaks about the use of the money to complete the hospital, but also at the same time to appreciate the fact and give value to the fact, Mr. Speaker, that in the time of need, we throughout, if I should use the term throughout the sportsmen out of the stadium, and I must take this opportunity, Mr. Speaker, at this time, because I don't think I've ever, ever done it to thank the sportsmen and sportswomen of Vierfo, the sportsmen and sportswomen of Vierfo, who at the time of need, Mr. Speaker, didn't protest, allowed us the government to have the stadium, and for 14 years, Mr. Speaker, 14 years, they have said nothing except to hope that the government of St. Lucia, whichever government would complete St. Jude Hospital so that they can have a center of health, that they know and they get injured on the playing field, they know they're going safely to a hospital that have the facilities and the competence of men and women to take care of them. And I'm very grateful for the men and women, the young men and young women of Vierfo South, particularly Vierfo North and the whole of the South. And I ask former Prime Minister, Minister for Health and those of you from the South to please convey my sentiments of gratitude to the sportsmen and sportswomen of Vierfo. Now, Mr. Speaker, I think the member for Cassie Central indicated that the box could not have operated on its own. And you know how the box became official, you know? The box could not have operated on its own. In fact, the box was part of the total complex. So whatever services they would have put into the box, whether administration and other services, etc., would only be a subset of the total complex. But that is a problem. And you heard the member for Miku South earlier making a statement. He said, well, you know the buildings that were built on roots, on tree trunks, and they were affecting the building. So they had to knock down the buildings and pull out the tree trunks and get to the bottom of the crust of the earth to build the box. I don't know, but you know, Mr. Speaker, I think that hospital created new technologies for certain people. Because at the end of the day, Mr. Speaker, the cost thing for the foundation was at $3 million. Yes. Yes, you did $3 million, Mr. Speaker. So by the time they coined the phrase about the root and the tree trunk that was down in the foundation affecting the structure, the same way they coined the analogy of a corridor and a gurney cannot go through. All of that to justify the decision of moving out or stopping construction on the original building. So the foundation, Mr. Speaker, which was estimated at $3 million turned out to be $9 million. $9 million. Permission was granted for sand to be taken away, taken off. A license was granted to get sand off the River Dory beach, I think it was. River Dory, one of them, the River Mouth. They extracted sand over and beyond what was required to put in the foundation and destroyed all our roads. And a member for Viewfort South certainly had the reason to put the pressure on the Ministry of Infrastructure to fix his roads. Although we treated him badly, because after we did the road, we left out a critical part, which is the Larissus Road, at least to the school. And to the highway. And to the highway down at the Marcy store. But, Mr. Speaker, yes, we're going to do something about itself. I promise you. But, Mr. Speaker, these are the kinds of things that happened, Mr. Speaker, during the reconstruction of that facility. And you tell me that there are people out there who are promoting that this is the guy who must take St. Lucia into the future. Mr. Speaker, if we've got to go and look back at what has transpired, when you think of the things that happened, Mr. Speaker, when a man can wake up in the morning and ask, I don't know if it's the accountant general, I think he was around early on, but when he can say write a check of seven million US dollars for vaccine, and you say you don't know who the person is, you thought he owned the company, that you ordered the vaccine, and today I don't know the Prime Minister has said nothing, the Minister for Finance has not told us whether it has been paid. But seven million US dollars of our people's money, this recklessness, Mr. Speaker, cannot continue. And you're out there parading with bravado, as if nobody can touch you. The same way you broke down the prison, broke down custody suites, ready to break down parliament, and nobody can touch you. But, Mr. Speaker, we must bring some order to this country. We must pass legislation, as I believe the member for Cassie Central indicated, to deal with people who do things reckless in their administrative responsibility and escape without punishment. People must be accountable and must take responsibility for what they're doing. But, Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, so we spoke about the statements being made by the then Prime Minister, etc., and attempting to read a report, attempting to read a report, Mr. Speaker, that he never read, and if he did, he probably read it in the dark and didn't share it with the rest of the country. But he made a statement with Mr. Speaker, it was quite profound. When the member said that the Millennium Heights was only given a name, in other words, it was only christened. It was only christened, and it wasn't prepared for being handed over or opened for years. It stayed, after being christened, just called the Owen King, whatever, Millennium Hospital. So four years, Mr. Speaker, he said that the hospital laid there idle and not open. Mr. Speaker, in March of 2016, March, April, May, June, three months before he got in as Prime Minister, there was a new National Hospital Commissioning Project status report, and he received it. He received it. The report dated March 31, 2016. Mr. Speaker, it was a report that was produced, I believe, every month on the progress that was taking place regarding the commissioning of the OKU hospital. Under the leadership of Stephen King, Dr. Stephen King, who headed the Transition Committee. Yes, he was fired. I guess because he has the same name with me. Maybe he thought he was firing me. But Mr. Speaker, so here you have a government with a plan. And you know, again, I said today's historic, it's really historic, you know. When I got into office, when I got into office in 2007, the thought of a new hospital had started already. From Anasalansiko, continued by me, and my thing was we will refurbish Victoria Hospital, put in some new blocks, break down the old Duke of Edinburgh award building, etc. That was supposed to be the new Victoria. Then Dr. Anthony came in as Prime Minister and came up with the idea of building a hospital along the Milliam Highway. In those years, I had my views about it, but it was my views. I felt, well, listen, why are we going to spend all this money? Let's do the thing where everybody knows. But the point is, Mr. Speaker, that he saw wisdom in going to a new site with a vision of putting all of the health services on one complex. Mental health, general hospital with a helipad. So I came into office now, imagine I'm back in office, I become Prime Minister, I didn't even plan for that, and the negotiations continued with the European Union. There's one thing you want to talk about, your fifth finger. They had already selected the contractor. They had, they had already selected the contractor. And we had a difficult decision to make about the fifth finger because the envelope wasn't sufficient. The point is, Mr. Speaker, we continued. I continued from where he left off. I signed it. We lost the election later. Dr. Anthony came in in 2011 and completed the hospital. But again, the egoistic individual who believes that he knows it all and wants to do, as you say, his new St. Lucia, you know, flashing mirrors, sweet talk and fancy chalk. He, Mr. Speaker, decides I'm not going to open the hospital. So he ignores the report. Fire Stephen King. Fire Stephen King, now you're prompting me. Fire Stephen King, Mr. Speaker. And then keeps the hospital closed from 2016 until COVID chased them out of Victoria Hospital. The movement from Victoria Hospital, Mr. Speaker, was not planned. No plans at all. Only because. They were smoked out. Because Pigeon Island was not viable. Because Pigeon Island, Rat Island was not viable. It was not viable foolishness. I tell you garbage, Mr. Speaker. So you left a hospital standing there from 2016 until 2019, 2020. And when you realize that you're caught in this whole scenario, you had to, you virtually smoked out my COVID and run and fix yourself up at OKEU without a plan for transition. Thank God it was there. Thank God it was there. Member for Gaspis North, you have 15 minutes left. 15 minutes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. But Mr. Speaker, and you know these things are important to speak about. So whereas we have come, Mr. Speaker, to speak on the resolution of a loan of importance to complete the hospital, Mr. Speaker, it is important that we create what I call the atmosphere. We create the justification. We give people an understanding of what we have gone through over the period of time. Just imagine, Mr. Speaker, if only that government then had continued with St. Jude, today we would not have been speaking about St. Jude. And that is why while I agree to the rules of the House, that we must come and speak on the motion. Speak on the motion which is, can we afford it? Is it good? Are the terms good? Is it important that our people understand why we are doing those things so that we cannot repeat the mistakes of the past? So you go ahead. You waste time. COVID chased you out. You fire Stephen King and left behind a report which speaks to the project summary, policy and governance legislation, and it says that of February 2015, the Millennium Heights Medical Complex Act of 2015 was passed. In 2015, it means there was a plan. So you had legislation. The government knew exactly what it was doing. That was 2015. Then it had operations review and rationalization of services. 2015, 2016, the government said, listen, let us look at our operations. Let us review the operations for this new facility. This is no longer going to be a Victoria Hospital. This is a new, modern facility. The operations have to be different. The operation procedures must be different. So all of that was being done, Mr. Speaker, under Stephen King and his competent team, fire them. Then human resource management, Mr. Speaker. In other words, the team was saying, we cannot go in with the same set of people. Old wine and new bottle. It's a new bottle bringing new wine. So they're saying, with respect to human resource development, the ministry continues to advance the agenda with the engagement of a consultant to undertake the development of the complex. So Mr. Speaker, one, I read this report. Every step of the way, they speak about tendering. Tendering for services. Tendering for services. Keeping in tune with the financial act. Okay? Human resource management. It dealt with change management because once you move in and you're changing, changing into a new facility, new ideals, new ideas, new mission, new vision, new processes, you must have a change management. Undertake government counterpart works. Telecommunications. That was tended. The Kiblin wireless wanted. The one that tended. Hospital information systems, Mr. Speaker. Okay? Three companies tended. Equipping installation and commissioning. Administration and move management. So in other words, apart from dealing with the change management, that is for systems, they say now, move management. On the day that we decide to move, you have to manage that. You have to manage that. Manage what you take out. How do you take it out? To be able to sterilize what you're moving so that you don't carry anything that is not unnecessary in the place. But the last time they, when they moved Mr. Speaker during COVID, you know, in my constituency, you know, we have an old, I don't know if it exists in other communities. You know, when people are moving house, you have to be careful what time you move. So when people are moving and they see you passing in La Clare, everybody shouts, pines, pines. So Mr. Speaker, that's how they moved out of Victoria Hospital. Like people moving from one house to another and pines, things covering up like, I mean, unprofessional. So Mr. Speaker, this is the commerce that this guy created. This is what this guy left behind Mr. Speaker. Commerce. And speaks today in public and wants to attack everybody, wants to go after the Prime Minister, wants to come after me and speak about dead weight and this and what I said. I top it up them. They must learn a lesson. Because he has failed to understand, there was a day called the 21st of July, 20, 26 of July, 2021, in which the people of this country resoundedly said, we do not want you and your policies. We have voted a new government, the St. Lucia Liberal Party with the blue wave riding. So Mr. Speaker, this is where we are. As far as St. Jude is concerned. And I stand here with great pride of being part of this administration, with much emotion because of my sentiments for St. Jude. You know, every time I speak of St. Jude, I remember my mom who suffered. She died at 97, suffered with glaucoma, et cetera. And she always looked to St. Jude for medical care. She waited whenever the foreign doctors came in and would go there to get the medical care. And therefore Mr. Speaker, for me, as then Prime Minister at the time, then Prime Minister at the time, having been involved from the inception of the fire, to travel to VU Fort, I believe in less than an hour, and to be involved for 24 hours, assisting and making sure that things went well. Having seen the process unfold and the challenges of financing, having seen the many St. Lucians who came out, the children who walked, who came and gave their few cents for the reconstruction, the St. Lucian groups overseas who hosted events and sent to us for the reconstruction of the hospital, the Taiwanese, the Australians, and all the governments who participated in the process who gave support and who believed in us, who believed whether it was my administration or the administration of Dr. Kenny Antony. They saw in us a commitment to serve, a commitment to the people, a commitment to make good on a promise to the people, a promise of good healthcare. And therefore, I'm very proud today that I'm part of the government that will see the completion of this hospital. I'm very proud and I look to this day, Mr. Speaker, with great expectation, under your leadership, Mr. Prime Minister, and also under what I must indicate today, under what I call the dynamic leadership of a good health minister, a gentleman who I know, a gentleman who I know when he started, may have had his own, you know, own jittery situation, maybe a new area, where you said him. But I must admit, Mr. Speaker, he reminds me of myself when I was in the Ministry of Health, and I'll give a story, Mr. Speaker, the next five minutes that I have. You know, after leaving the Ministry of Health in 1992, after the second election, and my leader, Sir John Compton, said, well, I will send you to the Ministry of Health. I said, oh my God, people said this is the Ministry of Health. So it took me a week before I made up my mind, before I made up my mind to go. And I went over there wondering, boy, I wonder if I'll survive. I was sitting down with my permanent secretary and my team, and full of energy about getting things done, the new hospital, the new hospital here, and all of these ideas. I got so excited that I got immersed in the whole process. And just like he does sometimes, the Minister sometimes just picks up and goes and walks, the hospital goes to the health centre. I did that also. And it's a great joy when you go to speak to the nurses, Mr. Speaker, and you meet the patients, and you get the stories, et cetera, et cetera. And the nurses give you great encouragement, Mr. Speaker. And I think I want to commend the Minister for Health for the great job he's doing in the Ministry of Health. And I'm sure that when we complete St. Jude, I'm not saying if, but when we complete St. Jude, I think we'll have a great celebration. A great celebration, a great victory for us as a government, and certainly a landmark institution that down the road we can look back, will read the history books and realize that we have populated the land space of this country with a group of individuals who are truly committed, who are devoted, and who are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices for the cause of the people. I thank you, Mr. Speaker.