 Mr. Speaker, I have chosen to address you as Mr. Speaker, not Deputy Speaker, because once you occupy the chair, you really become elevated and so in recognition of your elevation, I choose to address you as Mr. Speaker and not Mr. Deputy, since you have effectively been promoted, whether it be for short term or otherwise, but you enjoy a promotion. Mr. Speaker, any financing or skills innovation, skills development for young people is welcome and this resolution attracts my instantaneous support because it is a continuation of a trend of investing in our young people. But I want to return to a theme I have addressed in this house before, and I'll address it again. And I do not mind repeating myself time and time again in these chambers because I have learned as a teacher that repetition eventually succeeds. Repetition eventually conquers, it has value. You will irritate some people when you repeat yourself time and time again, they'll tell you same old thing again, there you go again. But Mr. Speaker, irritation notwithstanding may in effect sometimes allow for the message to be transmitted and you might get a change as a direct consequence. So irritation has its value. Mr. Speaker, the first question we have to ask is why is it that the OECS is involved in this loan? Minister of Finance disclosed that the loan will be used by the governments of Grenada and St. Lucia. So my question then becomes, if it's a loan for two countries, why on earth is the OECS involved in administering such a loan? Why is it that the money was not made directly to the government of St. Lucia or wholly and solely to the Ministry of Education to be administered? So that's the first question. Now, to be fair, this is not the first time that this has happened. It is not the first time that a loan that is intended to be utilized by a country is in fact managed through the OECS. And there have been abundant examples of regional loans, for example, the OECS has been involved in. The transformation, for example, of the communication sector in St. Lucia when we decided to create ECTEL, for example, and then we paved the way for other actors to come into the provision of telephone services. That great revolution of the former level government and administration was in fact financed largely through a regional loan managed by the OECS. So it's nothing new. But my problem with the approach has to do with accountability. The fact of the matter is that there are some agencies in the international fora who believe somehow that political administrations are not to be trusted with a handling of loans and of finance. I do not support that. I do not encourage it after the hard lessons and I do not welcome. That is why, Mr. Speaker, I am putting this house on notice and it's not the first time I'm doing it. I've done it before, but perhaps it didn't resonate or register. I will not support legislation that is presented in this house, undermining the honor, the integrity, the power, the authority of politicians. I'm not going to do that anymore. I will oppose any such legislation and I don't care whether it comes from the government which I support or it comes from any government. I, the days are over for that. I am not doing that because I believe that it is fundamentally unfair for politicians to be selected and be punished by these restrictions. It is not justifiable. The problems that politicians go through, for example, with banks stands out. The fact that they have to sign special forms, they have to make declarations of all kinds and others, sometimes to manage their old money. I cannot support such approaches any longer and I will oppose it. And in similar vein, I will also oppose legislation to strengthen the regional financial task force on money laundering because of its oppressive character. But I will come to that in due course. I cannot. And I will oppose it and let it resonate that there's a parliamentarian in St. Lucia and the OECS who will oppose such legislation and they can describe me as they want. But I will give my reasons when the time comes. Having said all that, therefore, Mr. Speaker, I return to my original concern and what I said, I will read your theme that I return to why the involvement with the OECS. I indicated, Mr. Speaker, that this is not the first time and I save me a call for, I am guilty. I am guilty because there were events during the administration that I had the honor to lead when we agreed to such arrangements. And I gave you one example, I tell, classic. But there's another for me that led the way to the change of opinion that I have driven out, Mr. Speaker, between 2011 and 2016. We negotiated alone with the World Bank to supplement the DVRP. Now, you're everybody talking about DVRP and the rest of it and so on all the time and what a dramatic change that DVRP has brought to say, Lucia. I'm really happy sometimes I look at some of the infrastructure works coming out of the DVRP and I'm really so very pleased. It doesn't matter that nobody says, well, DVRP was the brainchild of the Anthony administration, it doesn't matter. But I watch it and I smile and I'm really very pleased. I'm very happy. Don't forget about the schools. But there was a companion loan, Mr. Speaker, where again money was channeled through the OECS for supplemental infrastructure, including the redevelopment of castries and the refashioning of castries and building sidewalks and something that we have spoken about for years, the pedestrianization of the boulevard and to stop traffic from going through the boulevard and allowing the boulevard to be restored as an area where seditions and tourists can congregate and to build an outdoor cafe, etc. Now, the OECS was in fact entrusted with the funds for those projects. And I know that my colleagues who served with me in 2011-2016 may not necessarily remember. They have an effect, Mr. Speaker, they don't remember well. You see, Mr. Speaker, I am blessed. At my age, Mr. Speaker, this mind is as sharp and alive as ever. I am blessed, Mr. Speaker, really, really truly blessed. So I remember these things. But, you know, the member for Souffre would not remember those things. They would remember, but I do, Mr. Speaker. And I hope I continue being blessed, Mr. Speaker. Every time I forget a name, I say to myself, my goodness, is it here as an onset of Alzheimer's or something coming in that I've forgotten this name? And I have to remind myself. But somehow it all comes back crystal clear. I was the most astounded person, Mr. Speaker, when the former administration then announced, you know, budget statement about the pedestrianization of the boulevard as if they had plucked this brand new from the air. And it was, but it was not. It was, in fact, a project of the Labor Administration that I led. And I did make an announcement in one of the budget speeches, either the budget speech of 2014 or 2015. But they announced it. And I was happy to hear it. My only complaint at the time, which I didn't pursue, was that they gave the impression that it was a new project. As I said, they had plucked and they had faction and so on. It was there. Oh, it was not. What does that have to do with OECS? What does that have to do with OECS? Those funds were supposed to be made available through the OECS, through that project. Of course, it hasn't happened. I have no idea what has happened to those funds. Whether the funds have been remitted back to the World Bank, we have no reports, no indication. Up to this day, you don't know what projects were financed, what projects were funded, what projects were discarded, because there were problems in implementation. Nobody knows, nobody knows, a noble and necessary project like the pedestrianization of the Boulevard and redesigning the whole flow of traffic and cleaning up the city, which is a problem. Nothing had to happen, Mrs. Speaker. Nothing. So then, come back to today. You will understand why I have problems with regional institutions, like the OECS, like the central bank is another one, the central bank, and I'm going to come do it at the right time. Why they have to be trusted with implementing projects and programs which, properly speaking, belong to the realm of governments? And you can't tell me that a project like this, whether they are, and I don't know whether they are just being bankers with the sums and making them available to the respective ministries. I don't know what are the internal arrangements for the monies to shift from the OECS on to the ministries. I don't know. I don't know. I guess we'll get some of those details later. But what it does, apart from all my criticisms, is to add another layer of bureaucracy and decision making and implementation. I don't know. We love bureaucracy in these islands, you know. We just love bureaucracy and one of the reasons why St. Lucia is not performing as well as it should regionally and internationally in key indicators, because we have enmeshed ourselves in bureaucracy. Every living thing is an application, is a rule. We are not seeking ways and means to minimize bureaucracy. And in this budget that is coming up, I will speak about that again, because what is happening with the land registry, what is happening with inland revenue departments, all of those things need to be revisited. These are low-hanging fruits and we must bring an end to this St. Lucia passion to create bureaucracy. No wonder we have such a monumental implementation deficit in this country. Everything is a procrastination. And what we do when we do these extra-regional arrangements is we add in another layer of bureaucracy and we're not searching for ways and means to implement things to benefit our people. That is why people are getting so cynical about governments. That is why the trust deficit is what it is. Why? Because of this seeming passion to bureaucracy. My point, Mr. Speaker, in case you attempted to hold me up, which would be a first for you though if you did that. Mr. Speaker, if you attempted to hold me up, my point, Mr. Speaker, and I'm returning to the point. You see, once a loan is going to be made available to OECS and it's going to be administered or the OECS is going to be involved, and then this loan comes to the Parliament of St. Lucia for approval as it does in this resolution, Mr. Speaker, then we have to understand that the accountability changes. The Parliament of St. Lucia becomes part of the partnership of the process because we are required to give approval to the loan and to the arrangements. But we hear nothing from the OECS. Parliamentarians have been held with contempt disregard because they are not told what is happening to the money that they approved of and for which they have liability. I do not believe these loans or requests for loans should be coming to Parliament until and unless there's a rider that the organization with whom responsibility is assigned makes quarterly or six monthly reports to the Parliament of St. Lucia how they are utilizing the funds for which the Parliament of St. Lucia has responsibility for. So you see, when problems arise, payments have to be made. It is a taxpayers who have to bear the responsibility. And that's my problem, Mr. Speaker. And so I have taken you on this little journey this morning, perhaps too. Put the thing in a wider context, issues in a wider context. But to explain to you my own easiness about these things, I don't support political administrations being treated with the contempt that they are because somehow institutions don't trust them. I reject they don't trust me. I will not accept it because I think I'm a person of honor and integrity. And the fact that you are a politician don't mean that if so fact you are dishonest and you don't have the kind of integrity to administer what you're supposed. I reject what the banks are doing to politicians. I don't accept it. I have to be told I'm a PPP and I must make a statement or PIP whatever they call it. And I must make a statement. I reject the fact that I have to take my ID to a bank for a bank to scrutinize it. When they ask for it I send it to them by email. I reject it. And you want to ask me why I mentioned a central bank a while ago? The Minister of Finance knows my historic position on a central bank. I'm not new. The central bank is not interested in protecting consumers. And the government of St. Lucia has to seriously consider appointing an ombudsman possibly a banking ombudsman to address the cries of the people of St. Lucia over how the banks are handling them. The banks are going to absurd lengths, Mr. Speaker. And I'll ask you just to allow me to digress to buttress my point about these regional institutions and how insensitive they are becoming because they are feeding their own bureaucracies and their own administrations. Mr. Speaker. Everybody knows I'm in legal practice. I have my own firm, my own business. Mr. Speaker, I have a bank that opened an account for me for my four months in 2001, several years ago. I mean, after entering opposition. It's called Anthony 911. I applied to the same bank to open a client's account at that bank. The bank is asking me to open a client's account, you know, for all the usual documents, IDs. What? Expected incomes. Whole heap of things. Whole heap of things again, Mr. Speaker. As if I'm opening an account all over again. I'm telling you, all that is happening. I have the account Anthony and Antoine as a firm account wanting to create a client's account for the same firm I have. And almost as if you have to go and supply all the information all over again. You tell me, Mr. Speaker, how rational that is. If you can convince me, it's rational, Mr. Speaker. And you know what? We sit in a parliament and allow these things to happen. We can't. We have to intervene to protect people, Mr. Speaker. We have to intervene to protect people. And there are two examples I want to use, Mr. Speaker, before I close on this matter. There's an instructive lesson in the UK. You know Faraj? You know how right-wing he is? You know how he misled the British people in terminating their ties with the EU? You know all that history? You know how colourful a politician is he? The past? What happened with the Westminster Bank in the UK? A branch of the Westminster Bank decided to ask him to close his accounts because of his politics and his political beliefs. And Faraj was the wrong person to target once the bank did that. He held a skeleton because he made noise about it. An investigation had to be ordered and the bank manager had to resign. And the government then had to say that, look, these requirements are discriminatory and the banks have to end those requirements against politicians. Well, the managing director of the bank, yes. All of that followed. So, Mr. Speaker, you understand what we do in these islands. We are defenseless. I'm grateful. I have to get me wrong, you know. I have good banks. I think the Bank of St. Lucia is a very good bank. Like the Bank of St. Lucia, I deal with them. Well, you are first national fan, but I think first national has its own issues. I'm not, I will speak about them on another occasion. But Mr. Speaker, I'm talking about this culture that we have seen permeating our political landscape, the distrust of administrations, the distrust of politicians, and a lack of accountability by these regional organizations. And I hope that the message is heard that with this resolution, that wireless resolution meets our approval, attracts our support. And while it attracts commendation, while we are grateful for what it will do to young people, while we approve all of these things, Mr. Speaker, that the OECS must be told in a right for that look when they are administering loans on behalf of the parliament of St. Lucia. The parliament of St. Lucia requires that they submit at least reports to the parliament, not even to the ministry, but to the parliament every six months about how they are handling such loans. And the experience, I told you about the work that the OECS was supposed to do with helping us to reconsider and review the urbanization of castries, et cetera, stands out. Up to this day, I can't tell you what has happened to that, Mr. Speaker. And so I regret I have to take you on this journey, but I have told you, Mr. Speaker, and I'm sure your wisdom will confirm this, that there's value in repetition. Because sometimes when you do it a second and third time, somehow it emerges with greater clarity. Mr. Speaker, I thank you very much.