 The government of St. Lucia acknowledges the concern regarding the development of a private dwelling house at the base of the pittans and within the pittans management area. Let me first start by saying that as the Minister for Physical Planning and a proud product of the community of Sufre, I treasure our world heritage site pittans. On behalf of the government of St. Lucia, I want to reassure the nation that the Department of Physical Planning and the Development Control Authority has abided by the laws and the rules governing the pittans management area and at no time was any aspect of the development in question approved that would threaten the designation of the pittans management area as a world heritage site. The guidelines for the PMA were developed by the government of St. Lucia and are contained in the PMA and the Sufre Region Integrated Development Plan, otherwise known as the Hyder Report 2008 and the Limits of Acceptable Change Lak Study of 2014. It is important that everyone, however, understand and recognize the history of the estate in question which falls on the Block 0025B, parcel 4, measuring 76.6 acres located within the pittans management area, PMA, an area known as Asiwain. The property was agreed to be sold by Mondezi Estates to a business executive from Canada in January of 2015 under the tenure of the former administration. In a letter dated October 2015, the lawyers for the new prospective Canadian owner wrote to then Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr. Kenny Antony seeking incentives pursue on to the Special Development Area Act. In his letter, the lawyer indicated that the property was being acquired from the Mondezi family in Sufre for the purposes of constructing a large multifamily villa and other amenities to be used as a vacation unit and luxury rental units. The lawyer further stated in his letter to Dr. Antony and I quote, Most of the property is located in the restricted no-build area of the World Heritage Site and as such it is the client's desire to have designed and erected an eco-friendly luxury property to be enjoyed by visitors in keeping with the area. After reviewing the lack report and discussions with the relevant ministry, the client is satisfied and as such is looking to close the sale on Friday, 50th October 2015, end of quote. By letter dated December 28, 2015, then Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Dr. Kenny Antony granted the proposed buyer the status of an approved developer. The exact quote from Dr. Antony's letter reads, Subject to the resolution of all outstanding issues regarding the status of that part of the property which falls within the World Heritage Site, I am pleased to advise you that pursuant to section 4 of the said act Mr. Jeffrey Rubilad has been granted the status of approved developer, end of quote. That designation entitled the property owner according to Dr. Antony to a 50% waiver on stamp duty and vendor's tax. The announcement of this decision by Dr. Antony also appeared publicly in the January 25, 2016 issue of the St. Lucia Gazette. The deed of sale for the property is dated 19 January 2016, also during the tenure of the Dr. Antony administration. It was not until September 2016 that this current administration became aware of this sale via an application submitted to the DCE for Autoristic Proposal for Land Use and Concepts for approximately 0.4 hectares or one acre of the area which also proposed a long list of amenities to be built. The technical staff at the DCE conducted an assessment and appraisal of the proposal and made a recommendation for rejection of the plans submitted by the developer. The staff of the ministry made these recommendations on the basis that the proposed development site falls within policy area 1 of the Pytons management area and according to the design guide of the limits of acceptable change study of 2014. Which means that our administration rejected the initial plans of the developer due to the fact that it was not in keeping with the rules which govern the area. On March 14, 2017, the applicant submitted another application to the DCE for approval in principle for land use and concept to construct a one story single family residential building on 2,640.4 square meters on the same area. This was a completely redesigned structure which the DCE advised had made the criteria of the lack study, hence approval was granted for a structure which keeps to the guidelines and aesthetics of the area. The approved construction is in an area which had already featured an estate house. I wish to make it clear that at all times the DCE and the Ministry of Physical Planning have been monitoring this development to ensure it is in keeping with the guidelines. As regards to this property, at no time has the DCE approved any new development within the noble zone of the Pytons management area. I wish to reiterate, the property under discussion was sold under Puchesa Decled on a proof developer in 2015 during the K&E Anthony administration. Our government has simply ensured that the development is in keeping with the guidelines of the Pytons management area.