 Good morning, good morning, good morning. How are you? I trust you would have gotten your invitation. It's, I hope it's a signal of how we do things in Ansari countries the appropriate way. So we thought it's only fitting that we officially invite you to our activity on the 23rd of February. I expect you to come, not only if you're cameras, but also if you're wallet. Because I expect you to spend as much of your hard earned income as possible. I'm too lost, I'm sorry. You should direct your request to the press secretary. Direct those requests to the press secretary and then we'll see if we could. When you get fancy, you might like that. You expect me to? Fancy because we appreciate it. We have a point to prove. We are very serious about our business in Ansari countries. And despite all of the sort of references to us, I think again, we demonstrate in that we are very serious about our agenda going forward. So on Friday the 23rd, we'll be launching the fish fry. As you know, it has been a bit of a break for some time. There were some challenges with the way it was operated previously. I mean, we wanted to make the point that this time around we do it correctly. So we spend time training the vendors in various aspects. We also got them to appreciate that for this activity to survive, we need to be mindful as to how we treat our customers, whether it is foreigners or locals, and the pricing. We also want to add a bit of culture to that. As you know, grossly also happens on a Friday night. So we need to find ways to differentiate ourselves. So we are also in the process of renovating a building which will be used as a theater. So when you come to Ansari on a Friday, you could take in a bit of a show and then wander off to get your food afterwards in the village of Ansari. So it's really a holistic approach in terms of what we're trying to achieve. At this point, I really want to thank the community tourism agency. They've been very, very supportive. As a matter of fact, all of this lovely invitation, all of that wonderful stuff you have came out of community tourism agency. Again, it is again the significance of the activity and what it means to us in the community. So I look forward to seeing all of you with your cameras and your wallets on Friday the 23rd. Thank you very, very, very much. Any questions? You said about the community getting involved so you let yourself culture disappear. Yes, yes. Correct, correct. We have culture, we have art, we have entertainment. We have the tastiest fish you will get on the island, actually. I know somebody else who come very shortly and say their fish is better than mine, but I think we will demonstrate that our cuisine is better on the coast than in the north. Well, you spoke about the fact that grocery also has it on Friday. Yes. I'm not too sure if there will be any plans to, I don't know, maybe change the day. Is that? Probably not necessarily change the day, but what we think we should do is to differentiate ourselves. So as I was making the point, what we want to do is, at the moment you go to grocery on a Friday, just a street jam, you lie. What we're saying is, because we have so much talent in answering canneries, in particular answering, we will be putting on theoretical displays. So you could come catch a show where there is five US, 10 US, the price is still not confirmed as yet. You will take in a show, and then after you've taken the show, you then wander off into the village to have a meal. So hopefully that will differentiate us from grocery. There's nothing wrong with going to grocery after you spend your money in answering canneries. But I'd appreciate if you come down to answering first, taking a show, enjoy our cuisine, our culture, and then wander off to grocery as you make your way home. But make sure you spend most of your money answering before you leave. And you don't have the Citra of Christmas jetty and stuff. So the jetty, correct, correct. So as you know, we've just completed work on the jetty. We are also, we're just waiting for the, some final bits to allow for the bigger vessels to moor on the jetty. But insofar as whether or to come on a small vessel, we'll arrange to get you on to show. So yes, we expect you to come by land, by sea. Yes, yes. So thank you very much again for your patience and your time. And remember, come with your wallets and your camera, not just your cameras, please. Thank you very much. Have a good day. It's a pleasure to be joined from this year. Yes. As the Muslim nature of finance, why is the budget of me going and what are some of the things that you are seeing? Yes, so good question. So we are in the process of finalizing the budget. You would have recognized when we got into government as of December 2021, the debt to GDP ratio was in excess of 100%. So we'll spend the last few years making sure that we bring it down to prudential limits. Now we've given a commitment, us in the OECS, ECCU, that will be 60% by 2035. We're just above 75% at the moment and we are trending downwards. This year there will be no new taxes. We intend to put a lot more money into the social aspects of things because we recognize that there are some challenges coming out of COVID and our things will then. So we are increasing that amount of money available to the social infrastructure. We are placing further emphasis on youth, sports, education and indeed health. We think it would be a very interesting budget. There are things in my constituency that I can't wait to announce. And I think the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance has done very well in getting us to this point where we are at the moment. And in a few weeks' time, when we unveil the budget, we realize based on the metrics that we have done very well considering where we started off in 2021. There have been concerns that you did mention that there are no new taxes rising. But yet the two point has been people are concerned that it is a tough form of tax. Well, you see, and I think when we have in this conversation, we need to be very, very clear. If we want to see better outcomes in health, the metric is you spend 6% of your GDP on health. At the moment we are spending just below 4% and we're trying to progress to 6%. The truth of the matter is if we want better outcomes in healthcare, we need to be able to raise more revenue. The health and security level was a way of us doing it to not allow everybody, because there are some people who certainly can't afford to pay for the medical services. We live in a society where we should share the responsibility. The 2.5 level is simply an attempt to bring forward more funding for the health sector and of course security, because we are at the moment not spending what we supposed to be spending on health. As I was saying before, the guideline is 6% of GDP. We're not anywhere near that at the moment. And in that regard, so the United Workers Party has come to saying that the levy is actually a loan back to Osmeral Loan. What do you say to this? I'm not to show it, but if the United Workers Party is saying that it's a loan, perhaps they should return to the textbook, because I'm not to show it. No, I didn't say it's a loan. One of the requirements for the policy based loan that you would have required from the World Bank as you said that this was one of the requirements of the World Bank for you to get that loan, the implementation of this levy to raise more revenues. Well actually, the policy based loan was a discussion that took place before we got into government. And at that time, the World Bank would not have known, although the previous government did make an attempt to have a health and security levy, a security levy. But the World Bank at that time would not have known our intent to have a health and security levy. So that was not part of the policy based loan. So I'm not quite sure. The Prime Minister did mention in his opening statement last week that there were requirements of the World Bank. And then he spoke of them and he spoke of the health and security levy as one of them, including increasing excise tax on tobacco and some other things that were needed. So he did mention it. Yeah, but he would have mentioned it and I saw his statement. He would have mentioned it in the sense of the challenges we face as a government in terms of dealing with those institutions. They usually prescribe certain measures for you to adopt. Some of them we have a choice, some of them we don't have a choice. They did ask us to do even further to bring, that in our minds would bring hardship to those who are already having the most difficult time. So the reason why he would have suggested or he would have been happy to go with the 2.5 levy because it allows us to not have a blanket because the 2.5 levy does not apply to matters or products or groceries. It would not apply to that. But if we went to a straight increase of the VAT then everyone would be paying. So we thought rather than have everyone paying and giving those who are already in a difficult situation even more difficulty, we thought the levy would be more strategic insofar as how we deal with the revenue. Yes, but it was part of that. The increase in revenue was part of the requirements of the World Bank. No, the Prime Minister was very firm insofar as how he would approach it. They would suggest that you do ABCDE. It is left to the Prime Minister to decide, well, this is how I think I should approach it on behalf of the citizens who put me in government. So yes, the question of revenue was raised, but that is one of the options we decided to go for as opposed to the general increase in the VAT. What would you say, as someone in finance, that increasing the cost of goods, especially the levy is on the importation of goods and services as well, this would ultimately increase the price of groceries because the entities that do sell it, they're importing other things, they have to do other things. So obviously they pass on the cost to their customers. So we did see issues, we did see increasing prices, we did see it. I mean, commerce did get the complaints, they did investigate. So ultimately, there was an increase. But I'm not to share if the increase was necessarily as a result of the levy. You must appreciate business people will obviously try to maximize profit. I'm not to share if the increases in the cost of living was necessary because of the levy. You would have appreciate that there was an issue with inflation, there was an issue in so far as the supply chain. So there are other factors which would have accounted for the increase in the cost of living. But the very same people that we were trying to protect, remember they are not in that bracket in so far as, because the items that they most readily get access to, no health and security levy, and no VAT because they exempt items. So the concern that you have about those particular individuals, they were not the ones who were going to suffer from this particular point. But I agree with you, it's a shared sacrifice. I have to pay more when I go to the supermarket, but it's not necessarily because it is the health and security levy. We have companies like KFC who sent out a note telling people that the delivery cost has increased again because of the health and security levy. So all of these things, essentially it does because if, for example, the digital increases the cost, the cost of your bill, you as a company, let's say Massey and you're getting services from digital, if digital increases, you're going to pass on the cost always. But is it always clear that the reason why they're raising their prices is because of the, that's the point. So there's no way for us to pinpoint and say, definitely this is as a result of the health and security levy. A businessman will profit any opportunity he gets to have better profits. The question is what are we saying about that to them as a society? I was just in St. Kitts recently and there's a smaller population in St. Kitts. But when I went to the supermarket specifically to have a look, realizing that some of the prices are as much as half the cost in Salusia. So a serious conversation needs to be had and I know the Ministry of Commerce is in the process of having that conversation. Insofar as what are we paying for our prices on the shelf because St. Kitts has a smaller population. Mine knew they're closer to North America than we are, but as much as half the price of what we're paying in Salusia compared to what they're paying in St. Kitts. So something is inherently wrong and I think we need to take a very serious look as to how we're going to address that going forward. Because I think it's a preoccupation. Because whenever we go to cabinet, the first words out of the Prime Minister is people. Well, we pray and then he says people and the last word out of his mouth before he dismisses us is reminders that we hear to serve people. So it is something that we take very seriously and we try and whatever we can to address it. Yes? Yes? Thank you very much for your time this morning. Remember wallets and cameras. Thank you very much. Today I just want to deal with one issue. Well, two issues. One, we can focus on some of the data on tourism arrivals for last year. So you will notice the increase in arrivals. Not one who believe that you really measure tourism by the numbers alone. But I think some people have sought to make the numbers a critical issue from the data that you would have before you. You would notice for 2023, we registered an increase of 7% over 2022. And of course, we don't have 2021 figures there. But 2021 was the start of the recovery in the post COVID era. We're still not yet at 2019 figures, which were the highest sale of arrivals on record. 2019 was a record year for global tourism as well as regional and national tourism. And across all regions, we witness, like I said, not just in St. Lucia, but every Caribbean country. Just about every country in the world witness significant increases in 2019. You will notice that during the summer, we actually had a soft period. And a lot of that had to do not with demand, but availability of flights and seats to St. Lucia, which is why we worked extra hard to ensure that this summer, we got some more seats available to St. Lucia. Therefore, our numbers were affected during the summer. We were down almost about 11,000 arrivals during the summer. You will notice by region, the Caribbean still a challenge for us. And we certainly hoping to see even better numbers moving forward. I haven't given you all the pages. I just wanted to give you the sale of arrivals by month to show you the changes that have actually taken place. We've seen an increase in Europe, France, the dark region, and in Canada and the Caribbean as well, right? Is that what I'm saying there? The sale of arrivals by market. No, but that's only for the month of December for regions. I'll have to give you another page to show you the regions for the entire year. But that one is just for December. Okay, but I'm seeing that we took a hit. I mean, our two biggest markets, the US and the UK market in December. Were there any reasons for that in particular? You'll notice the UK and the US, I think the closure of St. James Club has affected us. And the increase 2022 was a real strong year for us out of the US. And for 2023, we were even better than 2019, which was the previous best, if you notice, even better than 2019. And 2019 was the best year. Last year was really good for the US for us. And this year, and I think I've indicated in an earlier discussion, we'll have even more challenges if room stock, because a number of hotels will close down. Staffish, Mystic will close. The St. James Club, which will become Secret St. Lucia, will not open until late in the season. So we'll have almost 1,000 rooms out of stock, which will be a significant low for us. But we hope in, and certainly planning to do some aggressive marketing to drive more traffic to the home accommodation sector to take up some of the slack. But it is a challenge we'll have over the next two to three years until the new hotels actually come on stream. So Secrets will come on stream next year. The Kazabah Beach Club will come on stream in the next season. Canals hopefully will come on stream. Next winter season. So we will face those challenges. But at least for next, last year, you would see a 7% increase over 2022. So we continue to improve. And the biggest market challenge for us right now is still the Caribbean market, which is significant. I can probably get the relevant page to show you region for the entire year, as against just December, which is what is stated there. With the decrease in room stock, are we projecting in decreased planning still arrivals for 2024 or not? We actually not, we still expect in 2024 to have an increase. But we hope in to drive a lot more traffic in home accommodation and even existing hotels to ensure that the occupancy levels remain very high for the year. So since there is a slight region for accommodations, is there any incentive for people who may want to move into here BNB? Yeah, I mean the government, certainly for the community tourism agency, we have both grants and loans available for solutions who want to add rooms to their home and to be part of the home accommodation sector. Of course, you would have to sign in to the community tourism program for you to do so. The new legislation which we will introduce tomorrow, which I'll speak of next, will actually offer more incentives to solutions to get involved in the home accommodation sector. Do you want to just pick up on a bill? Yeah. So the other highlight for us for this week will be the presentation of the Tourism Development Bill tomorrow. It will probably be one of the most far-reaching pieces of legislation introduced in solution for many a years. The aim of the Tourism Development Act, which will be debated tomorrow, is for us to reimagine and to redesign, restructure the tourism industry. We want to build a tourism industry that is inclusive, resilient, and sustainable. It has to be inclusive because we want more and more solutions to participate in the tourism sector. As it stands now, the legislative framework that provides incentives for people to enter the tourism industry is towards the accommodation sector only. And even in the accommodation sector, it is biased towards all-inclusive and large-scale investments. So it does not really cater for solutions who want to add two or three rooms to their home and be part of the home accommodation sector. In fact, it's for hotels and a hotel is defined as more than six rooms. It also focuses on the home accommodation sector. So the other sectors in the industry, those solutions are most likely to be part of, it does not cater for them. The new legislation tomorrow will be one that is inclusive. It offers greater benefits for solutions who want to enter into the tourism industry across all sectors. So it means now incentives are available across all sectors. And of course it makes it easier for our locals, for them to be able to qualify for incentives to enter the tourism industry. So it will be a more inclusive piece of legislation and the industry itself to be more inclusive. It's going to be more resilient because we are introducing incentives and policy measures that will build an industry that can adapt and that can rebound far quicker should there be any setback or challenge facing industry. COVID taught us that we had to be more adaptive and that we had to be flexible and able to respond to whatever challenges it is. And tomorrow we'll be providing for the bill specific measures that will aim to do so. And it's going to be more sustainable. Again, there will be incentives and provisions for participants in the tourism industry to build a tourism industry that is sustainable in terms of the environment, the use of green energy, the use of green water management and other sustainable environmental practices. But also sustainable from the point of view of saying to developers that for you to get incentives you have to be able to commit yourself to certain principles. So whereas in the past whether developer or anybody we invest in industry can apply for 100% incentives, waivers on taxes, duties across the board. We do not start at 100%. It's really a base of 50. And you will gain additional incentives based on your commitment and demonstration of that commitment to certain principles. Paying your staff higher salaries, more training of staff, your commitment to sustainable environmental practices. So there'll be a number of principles that I will outline tomorrow that once somebody in the industry commits themselves to that they will then qualify to get more incentive. So we're going to incentivize commitment to those fundamental principles we believe are essential for building a more inclusive and more resilient tourism industry. So tomorrow I really want to encourage everyone to listen to the debate, the presentation of the bill and to listen to the debate because we are going to change the entire legislative framework that oversees the tourism industry. I want to ask you two questions. It's related to your portfolio as the Minister for Information. The first one is that we've seen a lot of legislation past since the entry of this administration in the previous one. The Freedom of Information Bill for the media, which helps us with our work. When can we see this bill finally come to Parliament? I cannot tell you. Well, I mean, we're presenting the tourism bill tomorrow. So I'm sure we'll come wrong to present it. To be honest with you, we've not had any sustained discussion at a ministry level on the Freedom of Information Act. We have been discussing the Information Act, the Information Broadcasting Act generally. It's something we inherited from the last government. And we've been doing, we've had a review of it. We've spoken to a number of stakeholders who have commented on it. And it has still been reviewed. I think we are going to, within that context, deal with the issue of the Freedom of Information. So it's on our radar, but I cannot give you a date to tell you it's in three months or six months. But we are, in fact, the last discussion, iPads waiting in as minister was for us to get a consultant who will do a final review of it so it can go to cabinet for approval. Second question. The, what is the protocol in terms of communicated to the public or whenever the prime minister is not on the island? I think that the protocol is the press secretary issues a public statement that the prime minister is not in country and who is holding on and when he's expected to return and where he's going. I'm not sure whether that has changed, but that normally is... I'm asking because the prime minister has left the country twice in the past two weeks and there is no information coming to the media to inform the family about it. So, how do you know if the protocol has changed? No, not that I know of. And I can't comment so much on that. I'm sure you all know who to ask that question. In your portfolio as minister for culture, I'm not sure if you are directly associated with it, but I know that independent celebrations are moving to souffle this year. Any reason that you know how to follow the move and if there is a reason what or how are the plans coming along for independent celebrations? But first of all, I think you should let me get that boater you have there so I can do it. Secondly, I think we wanted to decentralize the celebrations for independence. There is that constant refrain that everything is centered around castries and the north, meaning grossly and castries. And we felt it necessary for us to continue decentralizing the celebration. So, souffle was chosen this year. I'm not sure where it will be chosen next year. But all in an effort to spread as much as possible the celebrations. Of course, sometimes when you leave and go to some of the other communities, you have different challenges in terms of venue, in terms of movement of people, whatnot. But from all that I have heard, the arrangements are proceeding smoothly and we expect to have a fantastic celebration in souffle. There'll be the flag raising Wednesday night in a number of communities and we have a venue for January's souffle castries. We have the military parade the morning in souffle and the rally and cultural presentations later on in the day at souffle. The only concern I've heard so far is the question of heat because the artificial surface is generated a lot of heat during the day. And I can tell you, it will not be easy for the police officers and all persons involved. If the sun is out full steam on Thursday, it will be a very hot day. But from all other aspects, from what I'm hearing, it's really going to be a fantastic celebration. Could you also expect a fireworks display in castries or how would that work? Yes, I think there'll be fireworks everywhere. We're also going to have as our guests of honour the President of Guyana, President Ali, who is going to be coming in on Wednesday and he will be our guest. There will be a special seating of parliament on Wednesday for, he is coming in on Tuesday, sorry, he's coming in tomorrow and there'll be a special seating of parliament on Wednesday where he will address a joint seating of parliament and he will be meeting with his nationals. He will also attend the celebrations on Thursday in souffle and of course there are the niceties of the cocktails and everything else that comes with that. But we are delighted to have the President of Guyana, Saint Lucia, who's quite a few fellow Caricom citizens, Guyanese who have served us well in various sectors, teaching, nursing and other areas. Guyana also holds quite a lot of Saint Lucians from the 50s, the 60s. So we have a very strong relationship between Guyana and Saint Lucia and the presence of the President of Guyana is a statement of the closeness between our two countries and the bond that we share. So you have the men and ladies at the press, lady, only one lady today. Good morning, good afternoon. What can I help you with this morning? You have a couple, I like your bow tie. I like your bow tie. You remind me of a fellow called George Mallet, you know? He's probably too young to know George Mallet. I don't know his name, sir. You don't know his name, George Mallet was a prolific politician. He never lost his seat. He was a parliamentary rep for central castries. He always wore bow tie. He was a very prolific politician, not the type, some of the type we have now in the UWP. Very congenial politician, very nice guy actually. In his eye, when I was in opposition, he actually used to give me, talk to me, give me hints as a young politician. His office used to be, I used to work. I used to have an office on Riverside Road and he used to live half the road. Very, very different to what's happening now. Very different. All right sir, I'd like to start off positively. When the independence spirit, I speak to the importance of fostering national pride. I see a lot of initiatives being put forth by the government. I speak to the importance of that in general. Well you see, it's the 45th anniversary of our independence. And it's a time when we really should be, we have to unify the country. You know, this country only has 180,000 people. And whether we like it or not, politicians are temporary. And I always made that point that being a prime minister, a temporary job, and I treat it like a temporary job. So there is no need for us to have all this rank and all this, at least for some time in the year. Let's enjoy and love St. Lucia. There is nothing that is better than a country united around something. I was in Grenada for Grenada's 50th anniversary celebrations and Eric Gehry was given a treatment that he deserved as the first prime minister of Grenada. Maurice Bishop was also acclaimed. So the time comes in the country's history when you have to forget the selfishness of the person and be a bigger person, be a statesman. I think that's the best time for it. That's the time when you reach out and you enjoy it because St. Lucia's got many good things happening. When I see the students, when I see what's happening in the youth economy, what's happening with the young people in the country? I went to sports awards on Saturday. 2023 was the best year for sports in St. Lucia. Up to this last weekend, the women's cricket, the women's cricket, the senior women's cricket team, they won both the 20 over. The first time in St. Lucia's history, many things are happening. But if we believe that we can only for political gain, just because of the negativity, we're not going anywhere because it's a temporary job. It's a temporary job. All of us will be there and live. But the country remains, you guys remain. So I think it's a time when we're supposed to be unified, we're supposed to be preaching togetherness, we're supposed to be building our nation, at least for independence, if not forever. Should be forever active, not forever. You recently met with the Russian ambassador to St. Lucia. Uncle, you tell me about the nature of that meeting and what exactly? He paid, the Russian ambassador paid me a courtesy call. The day before, the American ambassador paid me a courtesy call. And the day before, another ambassador, it was a usual call by a new ambassador. There was nothing extraordinary about it. It was the normal call that ambassadors, when they are accredited to the country, they pay that visit. There was nothing extraordinary about that one. Okay, and no indication of specific discussion? No general discussions, he offered scholarships because the government's position of one university for graduates, we maintained that he said that the Russians could get scholarships to stay in Russia, could happen. And the same way, the American ambassador spoke about these things. We spoke to the American ambassador about help as far as our national security is concerned. We had good discussions with both ambassadors because St. Lucia is taking a position where nobody can determine our friends. We are friends to the United States. We are friends with Taiwan. This is our position. We, the St. Lucia government is taking the foreign policy position that we choose our friends. And that's what we do. How about? I'm speaking on the same independence activities. We have a lot of emphasis now on the battle with them. It's gone out to the communities, people who fought, you know, on the side, we say on the side, people in the rough sections of the community are coming out. How pleased are you to see that this initiative has blossomed and more people getting into it? Well, the battle is another manifestation of how you can get a nation to get into the nation. It's a kind of a battle of continuity. Come from the entire constituent, all the constituencies, they have a day and the battle carries a curve, it gets back to the country. Again, it's a manifestation of oneness, a manifestation of unity, a manifestation of togetherness. Each constituency have the different ways of doing it. Some constituency are more elaborate than others, but the fact is the theme is togetherness, continuity, togetherness, and basically love for country, love for nation. Last week, I think Grass-Eye Police spoke about an issue that Tlumsha is having, where there is a, even though the population is on an increasing lead, has seen that the number of vendors has dramatically increased from previous years, and he's saying that as of right now, he doesn't want Tlumsha to become a nation of only vendors. And you'll see that other people, they are not genuine vendors, they turn to the vending career as a way of just making any kind of money they can. So could you speak about that, like the issue, and you said this is an upcoming issue that Tlumsha will have to face eventually. So could you talk about that? Well, Mr. Aipur is a leader of the vendors, he's the best place to speak about them. What I think is that, you know, whether people want to believe in or not, the economy of the country is expanding. The economy is expanding. I mean, we've had, the Chamber of Commerce has said that their businesses did better in 2023. So people see opportunity, and they believe that the best opportunity is vending. You know, I think, I wish it could have been different, but that's how people see it. Because of the opportunity that exists, the economy is expanding. Businesses are making more money. You know, people are making, so people want to exchange. So people want to exchange, people want to buy and sell, which is the fastest way of doing it. But there's got to be some order. There's got to be some discipline in vending. But also, we also need to look at our skills. Because I'm saying to you, next year, with the boom in construction, both the private construction sector, and you're going to hear these things in the policy statement. When you talk about the year of infrastructure, people think it's only roads. It's not roads. The infrastructure is buildings, the public sector investment program, not only roads. You're going to see our housing initiatives. You're going to see the government initiating as far as the public sector is concerned, the House of Justice, the police stations. You're going to see in the private sector, you're going to see hotels. Investments come all the day, every day. Investments come for people wanting to make parts of the country special a development area so they can build and expand. So the economy is expanding, and you will see it for yourself. So people know, but I hope that they could learn, they could learn some skills instead of vending. I really hope so, but skills take time. And then we have to do something about the construction industry. We've got to find a way, and I've been discussing with my colleagues, particularly the prime minister of Barbados, to do something in the construction industry. So whether you can see, we can get some people to get short term training in the construction industry. But the reason why you find that in fact, if vendors, because people see more opportunity, and people see the economy is expanding, but there needs to be some control of the vendor situation, not to displace them, but to cause some level of control. And I really hope that politicians don't get involved to make the matter seem political. It's not political. You said opportunity, but I believe for the, I can't speak for Venn on a wool, but in the Boulevard I'm talking about, I know Cicely having an image. She said that she's a president. She said that the vendors are not even seeing much profit there right now. So would you agree? Well, I don't, I can't get involved in people's opinions. I rather don't get involved in somebody. That's people's opinions. People have opinions about anything. I know I'm not getting involved in their opinions because some you wouldn't know if they said how they did it very well. So that's opinions. Everybody has an opinion. That's the beauty of our democracy. You have an opinion for everything. Okay Prime Minister, last week you went to the house and there had been some talk about the 2.5%. I'm glad you said so. Because you know, I really laughed at this. I thought it's funny. You didn't come in at the end because in fact that was what I was expecting. You know, because you know, I'll tell you something. The problem with Saint Lucia is people forget their history. People forget what has happened before. You would have believed that it's the first time Saint Lucia had a PBL, a policy-based loan. You think it's the first time that never happened before. The last government went into PBLs also and every PBL has a prerequisite. I want you to listen to it carefully. Every PBL has a prerequisite. Okay? Now, let's look at it logically. Before we jump into the emotion and what sounds good, let's look at it logically. We have a loan from, you must listen to me, listen to me. You shouldn't listen to that now. You're gonna get diverted by the noise when the noise comes out again. Because you get diverted by noise, you know what I'm saying? Reality and truth. We have went to the Caribbean Environment Bank for a loan. Listen to what a loan is. The loan loans is land administration. All the governments in this country, they acquired land from people. They do not pay them. Not our fault, not their fault. Land was acquired and the payments were not made. 6% dietary interest when you owe people for their land. 6%. 6%. The government went to the CDB and made a case. It's called a policy-based loan. A policy has to underpin it. The policy was, we owe that money for land acquisition. We want to put it in order. The interest is 6%. So what can you do first? Gentlemen, it's a policy-based loan. So you have to have what is called prior conditions. Conditions which the last government had to do when they got their policy-based loan. So the first time you have policy-based loans in the country. One of the conditions is you have to enhance revenue. Revenue enhancement. I want you to follow it very slowly. That loan is repairable in 40 years. It starts in 40 years. With a grace period, I think of five, five years. So there is no payment and loan for five years. So first condition, you must have revenue enhancement. Revenue enhancement means you must collect more revenue. The government comes up to me and listen to me. We need to get revenue for health and security. So we're going to pass a 2.5 levy which will enhance revenue but will be used for health and security. Very simple. So the revenue is going to be enhanced but the 2.5% is going to be used for health and security. There is no secret in that. It's a revenue enhancing measure. But we need, okay, how would you improve the health and security in this country if you don't raise revenue? How would you pay for St. Jude? How would you pay for the halls of justice? How would you pay for the new police stations? You need to raise revenue. How could you have universal health care? You need to raise revenue. So the revenue that we want to raise comes to the health and security levy. So to juxtaposition that, against the loan you have to pay in 40 years, starting in 10 years time, where is the logic? We never said that we would have put a dollar 50 on gas and put it in the lockbox. We never said so. And people must remember that. We were straight. We said the money's going to go in the consolidated fund. And that's where we put it. And we came and we said, how much money had been collected for the health and security levy up to, I think up to December or something. We said so. It was a public statement. The Minister of Finance never said it was going to be in a lockbox. He says it's going to be in the consolidated fund. So all the you and cry about fooling people. I don't know. Why is that coming in? I don't understand. Somebody explained to me. Why is that coming in? I don't know. It's a revenue enhancing measure that we did. How would you fund health and security? I want to answer a question. How would you fund universal health care? How would you fund what's happening in fact as far as St. Jude is concerned? And very soon I'll bring you to see what's happening in St. Jude. You'll see real development in construction in St. Jude. I'll take you on a tour with me if you want to come. Very, very soon, yes. OK. You want to take a look because I want to understand what you're saying here. Please. You too, listen. The health and security level, as you said, this was not sparked. The idea for this was not sparked by the world-bound conditions for the policy based rule. It was not. No. Revenue and a revenue enhancing measure, a revenue enhancing measure, which would be used for health and security. The operative rule is revenue enhancement. That's the property rule. They needed you to, as one of the conditions for that policy based rule, you needed to raise more revenue. And you chose the health and security. So the health and security level did come about because of that? No. We could have done anything else. We could have raised vats. We could have raised licenses. We couldn't raise anything. But we wanted to be specific because the issues as we did to health and security. But then is the opposition's argument not valid that in the initial introduction of this levy, it was said that it was, yes, indeed it is. As you said, it was specific for health and for security. But what they're saying is, in addition to that, the whole idea for this, the reason why we even have a health and security levy is because the World Bank required that you raise revenue. No. And you chose this? We chose to enhance revenue by imposing health and security levy to fund health and security. Because how would you fund health and security if you did not raise revenue? How would you do it? And we choose to do it by the health and security levy. But they didn't tell us to have a health and security levy. They asked to enhance revenue. And we choose health and security. I think we understand that. What I'm saying is that this was the option you chose. You chose that option as part of what was asked of you. Yeah. But not that they themselves said, OK, you know what? You have to do this. I think we understand that. What other revenue raising activity came out of this? No. I'll tell you what I'm saying. And I always value to come to the parliament to listen. Here's what else we did. Here we did. We had a public debt management act, which right now, the government, the minister of finance, will come to the government and listen to me. Parliament say, this is the debt that we raise and why we raise it as another condition. And that's a very good question. Because there were six prior policy initiatives we had to take. One, we had to enhance legislation related to public debt management. So the government had to come from cabinet to have a public debt management act. We had to have approved the annual publication of the medium term debt strategy, starting in 2023, consistent to the policy framework of the public debt management act. That's the second priority. The fourth priority, we have approved the public procurement regulations to promote and enforce the new public procurement act. The last government passed the public procurement act. As part of a policy-based loan. But they didn't have the, I don't use a word, to pass the regulations to it. Yet the other strategy is public finance management regulations to promote and enforce the public finance management act. The last government passed the public finance management act. They don't want to pass it, but now we're putting the regulations. The other one is a national energy policy to promote the renewable energy and energy efficiency. And the other one is the government had to pass a climate change bill, which you saw in the parliament yourself. And the other one is the insolvency act. Now, here's what's important in the insolvency act. The only reason why we have not passed the insolvency act is we want to protect home owners. In that, what you want to see is if someone has their own home, their home, where they're raising their family, we want to protect it so a bank can come and seize it if times go bad. That's a principle that the government stands by. But the bankruptcy and insolvency bill already has its first reading. We're looking at how we can refine the home owner's thing. So they went, so if you go into hard times, the bank can come and seize your house, just so. That's why we haven't passed it yet. But the first reading has had. And the second one is to improve MSM's access to finance and expand the time of collateral for MSM is the government approved the security interest in moveable property act, where you can use other things for assets if you have a small business. And the last government started that actually. And we continued. When they started it, because they knew that to get a public PBL, you had to have these pre-existing conditions. So it wasn't only one, it was several. The tax and administration bill is not part, it's part of this as well. Last time you and I had a discussion, you were very emotional about the tax enhancement bill. And well, I'm very happy. You've got the facts now, and you seem to have understood that I'm very happy. It's always good to have discussion and things. So when our emotions climb, and then we level, we understand the truth, right? Here's what happened to the public income tax act. There were 16 laws relating to income tax, certain or 16. As we repeat it again, because people seem to have forgotten. The last government instructed the major finance to put these together, to put together. In that, they have one bill to deliver facts, all their taxes. But in the interest of the government's revenue, because why does anybody fool you? The government needs revenue to run a country. The government can run a country only on taxation. They need revenue. They need revenue, and some revenue comes through taxation. So taxation is an important part of a government's public finance policy. Taxation, none of us like taxes. But it's a serious one. You have to raise revenue for a country. You raise revenue directly or indirectly, directly for tax and directly for that, et cetera. So what the CDBO is saying to us? Isn't it me? You need to get your tax administration done properly. The equipment you have out there is outdated. You must have had issues with your tax. You can't get how much tax you owe. You can't get... So they said to me, we are going to lend you some money to reorganize your inner revenue department by using technology. And we're going to lend that money. And hopefully, when you raise that money, your inner revenue is operating more efficiently. Records are easier to get. You will be able to attract more revenue, revenue out there that you're not taking because your systems are cake. And as we move more towards indirect taxation, that's going to happen more. Like the health and security levy, like VAT, that's where the world is moving to indirect taxation, apart from give people the money and let them spend it. So when you move into indirect taxation, your systems need to be better. And that's why that's the daily part of the loan. Given the fact that, as you said, it was to raise revenue for specific by health and security, I know the initial, the end of this levy is in 2025, somewhere in 2025. Initial. Yeah. Can we see a continuation of this levy? I know you all like to say, I'm not a prophet. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Okay, I'm going to say another issue, original issue. There have been some concerns, the president of the Dominican Republic has won about Haiti on the brink of civil war. I mean, it could affect the region. Are you concerned about that? Yes. Of course, we are, for many reasons. That's why the former prime minister of San Lucia is on the eminent person's group to help with. The Haitian situation is very complicated and very, very complicated. I mean, it's historical, it's strategic, it's because Haiti is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of resources, in terms of what the capability of Haiti, Haiti is some of the world's rarest minerals. You understand? But Haiti is very complicated, very complicated situation. Solutions have been tried many times, but the problem is the Haitian people are clamoring to run their own affairs. But the situation in Haiti is complex and solutions are not easily found, have not been easily found and will not be easily found. It's a very complex situation, extremely complex. And yes, I'm concerned for several reasons. Do you think that the really character we just should be more involved in in trying to get some kind of solution? Character leaders are involved. In fact, kind of are very involved, but character leaders are limited in terms of the resources that they can put into Haiti. And I think that's a question, in terms of resources. Okay, another question for me. Recently, with a number of crimes, I'm talking about crimes in Central China, what we have seen is a number of nationals, including the Israelians, have called us, been arrested, some of them were, they have been dealt with. Are there strong reasons? But we've always said that we have porous borders. We've always said so, we have porous borders. Again, resources. You saw the fantastic display by the Marine Police this morning. They need more resources. As things level, the Health and Security Levy will be used to get money to fund the Marines. Resources. You see, the question gentlemen need is resources. Everybody has solutions. Nobody says, how do you get the resources to fund these solutions? Resources. That's a big question. We need resources. And we have to resources, human resources, in terms of people's intelligence, people's time, people volunteering, but you also need material resources. And that is what we are working to get, material resources, to add to the human resources that are in place. And I thought that's just Saturday. We have about two and 14 on the sides. One of the big things coming up from the streets on everybody is this difference of gang with it is six and seven. What can you... I'll tell you something. I'll tell you something. I've made that point several times before. There is nobody in their right senses who likes violence. There is nobody who should come up about violence or repeat the same things because they believe that somebody will get hurt. Some politician will get affected. That is, you know, if there was an easy solution to the situation, I'll be the first person to deal with it. Like all my colleagues, every head of government, and we're going to carry on next week, their problem is violence. We're entrain that, here before last, violence at a public health issue. So there is no easy solution. Anyone who pretends there's an easy solution is basically being disingenuous. There is no easy solution to this problem. You think I want to hear their mothers in this country, young lives being lost? You understand? The question is, I cannot sit down and pontificate. I have to ask for advice. I have to ask for people to stop making it sensational. And I have to ask for people to be matured in the expressions about the violent situation in this country. That's all I'm asking for. It's not easy. Why do you think, I would like to have, why even the opposition would like to have 14 mothers in this country? They won't like to have it. No one would like to. But the solutions are complex. And the solutions can be found by just talking and criticizing. It's a complex situation with many, many, many areas of concern. The violent situation is starting solution on the 26th of July. It has been there all the time. Crime has been something that has been, there seems to be a cancer that's in all the countries in the region. And that is not any source of comfort when I say in all countries in the region, but it's a fact. And we have to face it and try our best by all means necessary within the law to benefit. On the topic of crime, to bring up someone else's opinion again, because I think Dennis Springer spoke about how one of the deterrents would be to, as the, I think the death penalty is still on the books, the Iran statement of that or other forms of police escalation, could you be providing thoughts on that? The death penalty is outlawed in Europe, okay? And many countries, they align, they help for you with the death penalty. Many countries. You have to make a decision. And by the way, death penalty has not been allowed in Tunisia, you know that? It's on the books, yes. It has not been allowed in Tunisia. So what's your, so you don't think it should be used? And what's your idea? If I said that, the opposition will say, I don't know. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Because the opposition want me to be a judge now. I'll tell you, I'll tell you what the opposition would like me. They like me to make an Atlantic statement, like Kenny couldn't do it, I can. That's what they want me to do. Make an Atlantic statement. But I'm not going to do that. I am too, I am not, I am not moved, I'm focused. They want to make an Atlantic statement. You know how they quote Atlantic statements, like there was a minister who said, I'm leave my boys alone. They love me Serrat. They love me Serrat, you know? That's what the opposition wants. They're not going to get it from me. So they can try and try and try. They're not, I'm not going to make any Atlantic statement about crime. I'm not going to make it. So they can criticize me. They can say, I'm not a police. They can say, that doesn't, that does nothing to me. Absolutely nothing to me. I'm focused. I'm focused. And that's what I'm going to do. So my good friend, when you speak to them, tell them don't try. They can say whatever they want about me. I am not going to make any Atlantic statement about crime. Never. I'm not going to do it. So they're going to get off that, that, that, that. That's what they want me to do. You know, you see that? You heard what the leader of them said. Kenny can't stop it, I can. And you want him to him. What happened to him? So you like me to be that both, not me. I'm not, I'm not good at both at all. So they can try and try and try. You know, I have a thick skin. I am focused. I understand where I came from. I know where I'm going. I have a vision for said Lucia. I want to know, I know I want to take this country. I want the help of everybody take this country. So I'm not going to get sidestepped by, by, by emotion and misinformation. And that don't bother me. I mean, all the Facebook, all the media, media images and these things, in fact, I don't even look at them. You know, you know, the late, the late Sir John Compton, he says that he doesn't read the newspapers or listen to, to the news. And my friend, Rick Wayne, used to quote him all the time and say to him that John Compton says, listen to the news, people listen to the news, right? That is a thing. I don't listen to Facebook. I don't watch it. So I don't see United Park and things. So, so, so these things are not for me. I don't look at United Park and I don't look at that. People tell me about it. So no matter what they say there or what they do there, has nothing to do with me. I'm focused. I'm focused and the, and the results of my being focused have been seen. I'm going to go and see what's happening in the youth economy. 20 million dollars in there. You saw the exhibition of young people and people in the, in the, in Constitution Park. You saw it. You saw the reports in the Chamber of Commerce. You're going to hear about the hotels. The new hotel is going to be built. That's what I'm focused on. Not. Prime Minister, Dr. Kelly Anthony made some statements in the House relating to the management of funds. What? Of loans. When we get loans from certain entities and how outside entities like the, with the OECS skills project. You're not supposed to be doing the skills project? Yes, I'm supposed to be doing the skills project. Yes. So what are your thoughts on that? Dr. Kelly Anthony has made it clear that he expresses his opinion and I welcome his opinion. Dr. Kelly Anthony, I worked with him for 15 years. He was my Prime Minister. I have great respect for him. I have great respect for his opinion and his opinion. I value it and it is anything I can do based on his, an expression of his opinion. I will do it. I have absolutely no issues with Dr. Anthony sitting in his mind. Absolutely no issues with that. That is what the Parliament ought to be. The Parliament ought to be a place not to walk out. It's supposed to be a place where you sit in there and you discuss ideas. And Dr. Anthony has said he's a backbencher. He's expressing ideas. I have absolutely no problem with that. In fact, I welcome the negotiations. That is very important. Dr. Anthony made a point that this regional body should not be handling our loans. I think that there are circumstances where it should be. Some say it shouldn't be not. There is no hard and fast rule. Because you see, these things, we would like to have a perfect world. But the way is not perfect. And many times you want to do whatever you want to do. But the person who is putting the money dictates what you have to do. You have to make a choice. Whether you want to take it on their terms or compromise. But Dr. Anthony's opinion is well understood. I just want to ask you, on the crime issue, you know, the step of the domestic violence bill, more fines for possession of ammunition. And we've been to the CCJ. Now, in terms of the death penalty, would that be something long-aligned to reform? Because I mean, it will be important some stage when you go into it. But right now, it's going to not... Let's turn the books around. In fact, very soon we are going to announce the parliamentary review committee on the constitution of St. Lucia. That's going to be very soon. So we're going to be looking at it because we started with the deputy speaker. And I hope you saw the value of a deputy speaker last sitting. If like 10 years before, there would have been no sitting because there's no deputy speaker. But I hope you saw the value of a deputy speaker last sitting. The sitting went on the deputy speaker. And that decision is these are the little things that distinguish our government. That's these are the things that people must understand, difference between us. We had the fortitude to say to an elected member, you cannot be a minister, you got to be deputy speaker. And that is what leadership is all about. That's what leadership is all about. Leadership is all about clip talk and noise and leadership is about taking decisions. And Lucia, the value of a deputy speaker, the last parliament. Although, I must say it's about his baptism. It wasn't his baptism, he had a baptism of fire to use your words. But I mean, that's the value. And I think he handled himself very well. He was calm and I'll say something. I just want to make point because you, you, for you, for June, I want to make a point. There is no law in Lucia that says if you have one or two members in parliament, you must talk last. There is no law that says so. There is no law. There is absolutely no justification for any man saying because he is only one or two of them, he must choose when to speak. There is no law. In Barberas, up to last month, there was no opposition. In Guinea, up to last year, there was no opposition. Now, the law of the parliament is who catches the speaker's eye? The speaker's eye is the light. So the idea that I am there alone and these guys want me to speak second of foot, this is absolutely irrelevant. The people of Saint Lucia chose to put two guys in the parliament. The people, we can't have democracy two ways. Democracy is one way. We go to the ballot and the first pass the post system says how many people go to parliament. The people of Saint Lucia said, two of you go in the parliament. So when you get there, you are a member of parliament. Your privilege is being able to speak your mind. There is no law that says because two of you there, you must speak last or first. When I was leader of the opposition, I spoke immediately after. You understand? So this emotion about you have to work out. These guys let me speak an important bill like that. Look at what they're doing me. This is absolute nonsense. Yeah, to finish on a positive note. You want to let it go? Yeah, let it go. Yeah, let it go. And Parisa, what's the protocol for when you leave the country? To have some communication with the public. No, when the country, there's announcement goes once I've gone public business, everybody knows. No, we were not informed the last two times. What did you learn? You went to the ECC, the government, and also to Grenada for the Independence celebration. Yes, there was a pressure to Grenada. No, there was not. There was not. Grenada? Okay. No. Well, let me apologise for my press. But when in the country, there should be a release, yes, it should be. But who informs the prime minister? The press secretary will give a release. But the item I leave, you know there's an acting prime minister, I know that. The protocol is when I leave, the governor-general is written and says the prime minister is leaving, so some one act as prime minister and the press informs the press office and informs the press. So let me tell you, Uli, I'll be going to Ghana next Sunday for the Heads of Government Conference. I'll tell you where I'm going. I'll tell you where I'm going. I'm going to Ghana next Sunday for the Heads of Government Conference. I think it's 46 times the Heads of Government Conference. And then after, I go to St. Vincent for the SILAC meeting, Central American and British President, Prime Minister Gonzales in the Chairperson, and I return on the 2nd of March. So I leave on Sunday the 25th. I return the 2nd of March. OK, now, I leave sometime ago in, I'm going to find out. I go to speak to the Nationalists of Canada. I leave either on the 6th or the 8th of March. I come back in the 10th. I spend one day in Canada. I've got to come back here to deal with my estimates. I spend one day. And my hotel rate is not 2,000 pounds. That's not my hotel rate. Now, you want to be positive? No, my question was, in fact, our POB question for today is, what does PQA discipline mean to you? So I'll go to ask it to you, right? Principal of business question? What does PQA discipline mean to you? What does PQA discipline mean to you? You know, patriotism. Patriotism means putting your country first. It means, for me, ensuring that the people of this country, as many as possible, if not all, enjoy a decent standard of culture of life. That's what it means to me. It means understanding our rich history, our heritage, respecting our elders, the contribution of our elders, must be respected, and also the contribution of people, what they call unsung heroes, people who make it happen. And they are very many. I mean, when I go to the Donato School, I see unsung heroes there. When I go to St. Louis's home, and I go to all these children's homes, I see unsung heroes. To me, that is the essence of patriotism. And that's what I admire. So happy independence. See the President of Ghana. The President of Ghana is coming. I will see if I can arrange for him to speak to you. Bye-bye. Have a good day.