 Terima kasih, En. Sfika. Terima kasih, En. Sfika. En. Sfika, saya bergerak untuk memberi penerbangan saya keadaan dan keadaan dan keadaan dan keadaan dan keadaan. En. Sfika, Prime Minister dan Minister untuk perniagaan ekonomi dan ekonomi dan Minister untuk perniagaan dan keadaan dan keadaan. Ia mengeluarkan penerbangan sebuah policy pada 20 April 2023. Penerbangan sebuah policy ini, En. Sfika, adalah keadaan dan keadaan dan keadaan untuk keadaan. Penerbangan sebuah policy ini, En. Sfika, mengembangkan penting bahwa keadaan dan keadaan dan keadaan dan keadaan untuk mengeluarkan penerbangan untuk mengeluarkan hidup orang kerja. Bersyukur, mengerah, dan keadaan yang tidak mempunyai keadaan dan juga berguna menjadi keadaan dan keadaan. Benar, En. Sfika, semua yang kita beri kepada keadaan adalah mengusahkan filosofi yang penting untuk mengeluarkan penerbangan. Bersyukur, En. Sfika, mengerah, mengerah, dan keadaan dan keadaan adalah keadaan yang mengeluarkan dan harus diberi keadaan dan keadaan untuk mengeluarkan penerbangan. Bersyukur, En. Sfika, kita telah mengeluarkan keadaan dan keadaan untuk mengeluarkan penerbangan. In the case of health, Mr. Sfika, we indicated that the St. Lucia Labour Party will pursue a health policy that is patient-centered, evidence-based, equitable, accessible and affordable. These are the things we said, Mr. Sfika. In the manifesto, Mr. Sfika, we identified 11 strategic priorities for the health sector, and we intend to deliver over our first term in office. I wish to mention three of these critical strategic priorities which will radically transform the health sector and which will advance our progress towards achieving sustainable development goal number three, namely good health and well-being. These three strategic priorities are as follows, Mr. Sfika. One, universal healthcare will be implemented within the first term of the Labour Party government. Mr. Sfika, we have already implemented the first phase of UHC. Mr. Sfika, our government has launched maternal and child health services on the phase one of UHC. I am proud to say, Mr. Sfika, that every pregnant woman will be able to access services of ultrasound and laboratory services at no cost through primary health facilities on the island. This became effective on June 1st this year, Mr. Sfika. Our government is a caring government, Mr. Sfika. You may be aware, Mr. Sfika, that our government launched from July 1st this year, the Golden 80 Plus Health Package. This benefit package for elderly citizens of age 80 and over includes the following, Mr. Sfika. One, the provision of prescription drugs at community wellness centers at no cost. Two, access to one annual hearing test at the community wellness centers offering the services. Three, IK services at our community wellness centers. Four, access to ice cream and surgery at the Cuban Eye Clinic. Our government will continue to roll out universal healthcare as we believe, Mr. Sfika, that health is a fundamental right and must be made available to all. We recognize, however, Mr. Sfika, that the provision of healthcare services to all cannot happen overnight as we need to identify the additional health resources to finance the course of health services. Healthcare is expensive, Mr. Sfika. And our government intends to make the tough but necessary choices to implement UHC. We will not do like the previous government, Mr. Sfika, in which healthcare regress under the term in office. They spoke about national health insurance for five years, Mr. Sfika, and that is all they did. Talk, words with no action. After they failed five to stay alive promise, made in the manifesto of 2016, they again try to fool the solution public with the same trickery by promising five for five, Mr. Sfika. Mr. Sfika, the solution public saw five for five as a six for a nine. This so-called promise, Mr. Sfika, included medical care for all, Mr. Sfika, through some national health insurance scheme, this fluff and bluff from a government, Mr. Sfika, attempted to again fool the people of St. Lucia by stating that they would introduce national health insurance with up to $75,000 in benefits per person per year. They stated further, Mr. Sfika, that healthcare will be free for elderly, unemployed, and single mothers. Mr. Sfika, this strategy did not work this time around as the people of St. Lucia told the former Prime Minister, fool me once, shame on me. Shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. And indeed the people of St. Lucia spoke loud and clear on the 26th of July 2021. It appears that the leader of the opposition did not hear them, Mr. Sfika, but he is still up to his same old tricks telling St. Lucia that by now, he would have implemented his national health insurance scheme. This indeed was a scheme, Mr. Sfika, as the honorable member of Youth Whatself has stated in very clear and unambiguous terms that there were no documents in the Ministry of Health that showed the plans for national health insurance. We can recall, Mr. Sfika, that the former Prime Minister indicated early during his term in office that a white paper would be presented on the health sector when he was questioned by a journalist at the time about the update on the white paper he ignored her, Mr. Sfika. It appears, Mr. Sfika, that the leader of the opposition left with his paper on national health insurance as none of the technocrats in the Ministry have those documents. However, Mr. Sfika, he has not stated how he planned to finance national health insurance apart from stating that the working public will have to contribute to the health insurance, but he did not state how government would finance its contribution and how it intended to meet the additional cost of its so-called scheme. In St. Lucia, the word schema has a particular meaning and that meaning is appropriate for what was being contrived by the former Prime Minister, Mr. Sfika. Mr. Sfika, our second strategic priority is to reopen the St. Jude's Hospital within the shortest period of time. We have completed phase one Mr. Sfika of sanitizing the buildings and we will be moving to phase two of completing the buildings. And I have made it clear to Mr. Sfika that the only way St. Jude's shall not be completed is if the world comes to an end prior to the term of this SLP administration. And you can take that to the bank, Mr. Sfika. Mr. Sfika, the plans are advanced. The leader of the opposition aided and abetted by his apostles continue to embark on a smack campaign using propaganda, lies and deceit designed to discredit the work of our government and to attempt to cover up the mess they created at St. Jude's by spending over 100 million dollars on an unnecessary incomplete building. Our third strategic priority, Mr. Sfika is to ensure that the OKEU will be adequately resourced with proper emergency services. We have, Mr. Sfika, taken control of the OKEU hospital after it was handed over to healthcare man, Mr. Sfika not a failed experiment of the former government. We now have to ensure that we allocate resources to ensure that OKEU can provide health services to effectively implement universal healthcare. On the issue of crime, Mr. Sfika our government understood clearly that there are no quick fix solutions to crime that addressing crime requires root and branch reform that involves addressing the social structures given rise to crime. Crime should not be politicized, Mr. Sfika and we would have thought that the former Prime Minister would have learnt his lesson when he uttered the words Kenny could not but I will you would have thought that those words would have haunted the leader of the opposition but no, Mr. Sfika he has absolutely no shame in again pretending that he somehow again has the solution to address crime. Mr. Sfika our government is under no illusion about the systemic problems and challenges that crime presents and as a result is taking an approach that will provide long term solution. The issue of crime has to be addressed at many levels, Mr. Sfika and our government is determined to implement a comprehensive approach to crime. We have, Mr. Sfika under invested in citizen security and we need to provide additional resources to ensure that we can improve the security of our people. Our government has already increased the allocations for crime fighting strategy for the purchase of vehicles providing resources for training and we commenced the renovation of the viewport police station and the construction of the new Bruce Lee northern headquarters. Mr. Sfika our government is under no illusion that the issue of crime is one which requires sustained effort and can only be effectively addressed over the long term. We are however committed Mr. Sfika to effectively confront the crime problem head on and to commit to provide the additional resources required to fight crime. The issue of crime is such a vexing issue that the heads of government in Karecom held a two day regional symposium on the 7th from 18th of April this year. The declaration following the symposium rightly recognized violent crime as and I quote multifaceted in nature and its pervasive effects requiring a robust regional response that includes a public health response and a societal response including family, church, academia cultural and sporting personalities minority political parties and a wider civil society. On quote crime is a global issue and to effectively tackle it we must also address the issue of the illegal importation of guns from the United States to the Caribbean region. Mr. Sfika the prime minister highlighted the strategic approach as follows and I quote our strategic approach to reversing the rise and any normalization of violent crime will be focused on strengthening law enforcement and making social interventions on quote the reference for this quote Mr. Sfika is on page 29 of the 2023-2024 budget speech the areas of focus includes strengthening the legislation improving and upgrading our human resources for training and engaging the regional security system to assist our local police hiring new police officers and improvement of physical facilities and working conditions Mr. Sfika our government has recognized that we have traditionally under invested in both health and citizen security over the years and there is need to provide additional resources we also recognize that in so doing we must ensure that this does not compromise our economic sustainability Mr. Sfika the good news is that the economy has recovered at a record pace from the contraction caused by the global pandemic and the mismanagement of the economy by the former administration and it is now clear that we were already in a recession before Covid Mr. Sfika as the economy contracted by 0.3% in 2019 semasa ia diperkenalkan bahawa perjalanan ekonomi akan menerima alasan yang lebih untuk semua sektor ekonomi terutamanya perjalanan dan keadaan dan keadaan keadaan dan keadaan menerima alasan yang lebih perjalanan Mr. Sfika dalam keadaan Mr. Sfika keadaan mempunyai sekitar 5% GDP dan sebab data ini saya dapat memberikan memberikan perjalanan untuk mendapatnya pada apabila anda berharga, Mr. Sfika dalam keadaan 2020 keadaan sebagai perjalanan GDP adalah 6.7% tetapi ini disebabkan keadaan tersebut di GDP biasanya keadaan sebagai perjalanan GDP adalah lebih 9% perjalanan GDP sebab perjalanan populasi Mr. Sfika sebab keadaan akan membuat perjalanan populasi sebab keadaan mempunyai keadaan keadaan akan mempunyai keadaan tersebut sebab semua orang mempunyai keadaan tersebut daripada orang yang lebih kecil sebab itu, Mr. Sfika kita perlu memperbaiki keadaan tersebut untuk menghidupkan sekitar 8% keadaan tersebut Mr. Sfika sebab Prime Minister mengatakan keadaan dan keadaan dalam keadaan sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, sebabnya, bahawa dia tidak melihat kemungkinan dikacauan kemungkinan dalam kemungkinan untuk kemungkinan dan kemungkinan sehingga kemungkinan sebenarnya gagal. Lain akhirnya, saya akan membangkakan, adalah bahawa levi adalah penggunaan untuk perniagaan 2,5% kemungkinan yang dibuat yang kemungkinan kemungkinan penerbangan. Saya akan membangkakan semua negara yang dikatakan oleh pernikahan yang dikatakan yang kita tahu adalah penerbangan kepada kebenaran. Pertama, Puan Svika, Prime Minister jelas beritahu bahawa keadaan dan keadaan dan keadaan dan keadaan dan keadaan akan dipercaya daripada makanan, medis, pembinaan, material, keadaan dan keadaan. Sebaiknya, keadaan ini akan mempunyai, yang menurut keadaan dan keadaan dan keadaan dan keadaan mempunyai pengalaman, dan keadaan untuk menguruskan keadaan dan keadaan untuk keadaan. Sebaiknya, Puan Svika, pembinaan dan keadaan mempercaya pembinaan dari pembinaan yang dipercaya. Lain kedua yang telah dipercaya dengan pembinaan yang lebih besar oleh Puan WP, pembinaan pembinaan dan Puan WP adalah bahawa levi akan dipercaya sehingga ia akan dipercaya pada pembinaan yang terakhir. Sebaiknya, propagandis berkata bahawa 2.5% akan dipercaya lebih daripada 2.5% sehingga ia akan dipercaya pada pembinaan yang terakhir. Ini lagi sebuah lelaki. Sekarang dipercaya oleh pembinaan yang kita ada sebelum kita, Puan Svika, jelas-jelas dipercaya bahawa levi akan dipercaya pada pembinaan yang lebih besar pada pembinaan yang lebih besar atau keadaan yang lebih besar. Ia sangat jelas. Ia tidak ada ambiliti. Ia bermakna ia tidak akan dipercaya dengan dipercaya pada pembinaan yang terakhir yang mengambil semua pembinaan yang lain. Ia memiliki pembinaan yang biasa, dan tempatan. Di pembinaan yang terserah, levi akan dipercaya pada pembinaan yang lebih besar. 1. Pembinaan yang membuat pembinaan untuk orang-orang di St. Lucia. 2. Pembinaan yang membuat pembinaan untuk orang-orang di St. Lucia. 3. Pembinaan yang membuat pembinaan yang dipercaya dan dengan membuat pembinaan dari luar San Lucia ke jalan di luar sepanjang perjalanan di San Lucia. Kerana perjalanan levi di perjalanan adalah 2.5% 10 perjalanan di luar sepanjang perjalanan dan saya kata sebuah sub-seksyon 2 sebuah perjalanan yang dipercaya melalui levi ke perjalanan di perjalanan Inland di satu services provided by a resident to a resident in St. Lucia, two, services provided by a non resident to a resident in St Lucia, and three, services provided by a business established and carried on business from outside of St Lucia to the local branch of the business in St Lucia." The third lie is that we have not increased the quantum of resources as according to the leader of the opposition, we did not see it reflected in the budget estimate for the fiscal year 2023-2024. Mr. Speaker, this statement is coming from the leader of the opposition who used to be the minister of finance and should know better, Mr. Speaker. It is abundantly clear, Mr. Speaker, that the government is embarking on UHC and will require additional resources to implement this bold, ambitious, and revolutionary initiative. We are also investing significant resources in St. Jude's, Mr. Speaker. So in the case of St. Jude's, the project will be implemented via the design finance construct method and therefore the expenditure will not as yet be reflected in the budget, Mr. Speaker. But we must have the resources available to meet this cost, Mr. Speaker. So even though it's not reflected there, that does not mean provisions have not been made to deal with it, Mr. Speaker. Similarly, Mr. Speaker, the government has entered into bold agreements for the viewfought and grozily police stations. These amounts will not as yet be reflected in the budget estimates but we must prepare for the payment of such in the future. Mr. Speaker, a budget is an annual financial estimate which must be seen within a wider context of the medium term and prudent fiscal policy. Notice I said prudent and not imprudent fiscal policy dictates that we make arrangements to finance the additional cost of health and security. The final lie, Mr. Speaker, and to put things in proper perspective is that the levy is a replacement tax for the reduction in VAT. Now, Mr. Speaker, first I would like to state categorically that the former administration engage in what can only be described as fiscal folly in reducing the VAT by 2.5%. Mr. Speaker, all of our multilateral institutions no dumbfounded by this policy moved by the former administration. These institutions included the IMF, World Bank, and the ECCV. Mr. Speaker, these institutions cannot in any way be described as political and will assess the policy purely on the basis of its technical merits. This is also the view of our government as the country lost over $200 million for a policy that was implemented purely for political gimmick. Mr. Speaker, our government has moved on and we were looking at policy options to finance the increased cost of health and citizen security as these are areas of very high priority for our government. The Minister for Finance must be commended, Mr. Speaker, for coming up with a bold, ingenious and innovative solution for funding the increased cost of health and citizen security. Mr. Speaker, budgets are all about making policy choices and trade-offs. We believe that the 2.5% levy is necessary and just as the benefits far outweigh the cost and if we do not provide the additional resources for health and citizen security, it will endanger the sustainability of the economy and our development. The people of St. Lucia want and deserve better healthcare, Mr. Speaker, and many of the unemployed poor and elderly need UHC as they cannot afford healthcare. Similarly, all of our citizens need security as crime is now a national challenge and we must address these issues. We need the additional resources and this is why I am giving my whole hearted support to this bill, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I end by saying may God continue to bless the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, continue to guide his hand and continue giving him the wisdom for him to get our country on a more solid platform. I yield the floor. Thank you very much.