 Thank you Mr. Speaker. I stand Mr. Speaker in support of the motion to borrow US $102,128,294 from the Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China Taiwan. Mr. Speaker I support this motion because I understand that this money is to support the budget. The budget which was passed eight months ago. I support this motion Mr. Speaker because I trust this Minister for Finance and I am confident that this Minister for Finance will guard the interests of the people of St. Lucia. Mr. Speaker I am confident that the $277 million will be spent well because between the time we were placed here by the people of St. Lucia and now the Minister for Finance has handled the job of stopping the decline in this economy and at the same time providing investments in our social sector and in our communities very very well. The job of stemming the slide and at the same time ensuring that our people in the communities Mr. Speaker that the people of St. Lucia get some cushion from the rough times he has handled this job very well. Mr. Speaker let us recall what happened in 2019 even before the COVID-19 pandemic. Let us recall Mr. Speaker that the growth rate of this country slowed in 2019 Mr. Speaker and again that was before COVID-19. I wish at this time Mr. Speaker to just take a moment to thank the Republic of China Taiwan thank them for the partnership Mr. Speaker at a time when there is hardship all around the world at a time when it is difficult for many countries who are our traditional friends Mr. Speaker who assisted us in difficult times they too are having their own difficulties as a result of the challenges which were posed by COVID-19 but also as a result of so many challenges the Ukraine-Russia war and so on Mr. Speaker for our traditional friends it's been very challenging and for the Republic of China Taiwan to continue to assist us in this way I think it's commendable and we want to thank them I want to thank Ambassador Chen Mr. Speaker I want to thank Ambassador Chen for his leadership and just recently Prime Minister spent some time in Taiwan and I'm sure at some point Mr. Speaker he will explain to you how he had a great time in Taiwan so I want to really thank the government of Taiwan for their support so Mr. Speaker this motion is also about confidence it's about confidence Mr. Speaker of course there are challenges look at the challenges which we are having with violent crime look at the challenges in the economy look at the challenges with food prices and the challenges with the price of fuel and so on look at the challenges Mr. Speaker we knew that when we got into government we knew the challenges which we would endure because of the wastage of the last government the people knew that Mr. Speaker but you know what Mr. Speaker we have the resolve to endure we have the resolve to work with the people of St. Lucia and to endure it is not easy we know it is not easy but we have to go to this parliament to seek the authority of the parliament for this loan my colleagues before me explained to you Mr. Speaker and explained to the House how this loan will finance the budget and how the benefits of the budget would accrue to our constituencies and to the people of St. Lucia in general and Mr. Speaker before the constituency of VFN there are several initiatives from last year's budget which will benefit our constituency but I just want Mr. Speaker to very quickly tell you why I am confident I am confident because on the 26th of April 2022 just eight months ago this minister for finance the member of parliament for castries east and our prime minister presented a budget to the people of St. Lucia in his budget address he highlighted a number of initiatives and also he highlighted what the government would do to continue some of the projects which we found and if you just very quickly Mr. Speaker go to page from page 17 of the prime minister's budget address the prime minister indicated for example let us go even before page 17 I want to start on page 13 Mr. Speaker and the prime minister spoke about the challenges which we found the challenges of the slow economic growth rate the challenges of poverty the fiscal challenges and I have said before in this House Mr. Speaker that when the former prime minister became minister for finance he found an excellent example of how to deal with the budget deficit he found an excellent example the budget deficit went down to 1.3% of GDP but Mr. Speaker what happened after that a ballooning of the budget deficit and this minister for finance now in his budget address on page 13 indicated the challenges but what did he say between pages 13 and 21 Mr. Speaker he indicated what we would do as a government to face those challenges he indicated that he would set up an economy for the youth and he spoke about the youth economy what is the update on this the update is Mr. Speaker we have come to parliament and formed the youth economy agency so work is progressing on this eight months after the prime minister's statement if you go to page 17 of the budget address the prime minister spoke about the millennium highway and we know there were several challenges with the millennium highway obviously the work on the millennium highway was slowed and we see some progress now not as much progress as we want Mr. Speaker we believe by now there should be a lot more work on the millennium highway but there is some progress there and I know the minister for infrastructure and the prime minister are doing their best to ensure that the contractor hurries up to do the good work which the people of St. Lucia are waiting for on the millennium highway the gross delay highway and secondary road improvement project we remember what happened with the last government and I can tell you Mr. Speaker there is progress on this with discussions with the Q80s the view for the supply project which was started under the last Labour Party government and there are major advances there and I must segue a bit to say Mr. Speaker that part on this project I am having active discussions with Wasco so that the people of Bellevue and Pierrot in V4 North can benefit from this project with a water line coming from the grace side to go a treated water line to go to the Pierrot and the Bellevue side the human or international airport redevelopment project we have reported before that a committee was formed and reports have been submitted and work is ongoing an announcement I am sure will be made very soon on page 22 of the Prime Minister's address in April he spoke about the St. Jude hospital rehabilitation project you know what has happened with the St. Jude hospital rehabilitation project work has started since November 1st and work is ongoing if you continue to look at the Prime Minister's address you can go to page 27 private sector construction in tourism there are several initiatives in tourism Mr. Speaker if you go to page 28 of the Prime Minister's address community based tourism we came to this house we debated the community based tourism bill and I know that an agency has been organised and very soon the people of St. Lucia can benefit from the community based tourism initiative on page 29 the Prime Minister spoke about the orange economy and Mr. Speaker he spoke about the enchanting physical beauty of our country and the creativity of our people and he spoke about carnival and other aspects of the orange economy what did we find in August Mr. Speaker look at how we have worked with the actors and the people of St. Lucia and look at what happened to the celebration of emancipation Mr. Speaker so it's a whole new kind of governance we are looking at and this is why I'm confident because when you look at the Prime Minister's address on April 26 and you go through what has happened in the economy and what has happened in the country you can see there is progress the infrastructure aspects the labry market and square project this is ongoing expanding agricultural output the re-emergence of bananas we saw what happened with that we have some difficulties and some challenges because of freight and so on in England but you saw the expansion in the Trinidad market and that is on page 31 we can go on and on and on so this is why I'm confident Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Pweme ministla ki te la havan, liki puete pli la jan ek liki te nip pli pao le venta, ka puete la jan jp se te li si, ka mene shuval vin se te li si, ka galope shuval havan iwanje l'hôpital, se sa i te ka ferg la jan se te li si, me pweme ministla ki te li si, ek ni ka puete la jan pour diepense an lese po je anu be te on mi je ya, ek ve ka shi se po je shuval haza pweme si, ka sa mani an shi konfience, It I want to say to you Mr. Speaker that in health, there is a lot of expenditure which we must carry out in health. In other words, we had a lot of deaths coming out of COVID-19. You heard the prime minister Mr. Speaker and up to now they are dead. And up to now they are dead. In August of 2021 Mr. Speaker, when we came into government, we had outstanding commitments of 7.6 to 8 million dollars arising as a result of COVID-19. We owed and we still owe many of the quarantine facilities. There are many suppliers of medical services, people who supply reagents, people who supply medicines and so on. And especially during the COVID-19 time, they supplied us with medicines and so on and we still owe many of them. Mr. Speaker, people who provide services in dialysis and who provide services, other services, the Tapion Hospital or the private facilities, these are all very important partners in health. Mr. Speaker, we inherited a lot of debt and we are going to, we have, the prime minister has made a commitment that we are going to see to it that we pay these debts. And it's important for these local businesses, for the health sector to continue to have confidence in the government and the ministry of health so that when we ask them, you know, when we ask for supplies and so on that they have the confidence that we are going to pay. So we found a lot of these debts and this loan will assist us to pay these debts. Mr. Speaker, I'm very happy with any time I hear infrastructure, I think of the roads in view of North and I'm very happy that this loan will assist and I'm looking forward certainly to assistance in these matters. So Mr. Speaker, I know it is not easy. We know it is not easy. We are going to the government, we are going to pay this debt that the last government has given us to pay millions. When the ministries, even the central countries told the government, said they are beginning to count the money of the last government to pay, he spent two hundred million dollars. And they started to count. When the government started to count with the prime minister, we have learned to take the steps that are not taken by this mission of difficulty. We have even developed an economy. So, I support this motion, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to the benefits of this budget and you saw the benefits already accruing to the people of St. Lucia and we are going to continue to work diligently to ensure that we save the economy and we keep this country for the benefit of us all according to the member for Souffray. Thank you very much.