 Good morning. Good morning. Happy Monday to all of you. Well, of course, like you would have heard from Prime Minister's presentation in the budget, yes, public assistance. One of the most important safety net for our social protection responsibility I've received this year pretty close to about $26 million. It's very important to understand that we are we are targeting, we take a lot of interest in targeting and assessing persons who are on public assistance and to ensure that we have more effective coverage. Some people believe that anybody can be on public assistance now. There are a lot of persons who may qualify as vulnerable but would not be on public assistance because of the nature of their vulnerability and other persons who are competing or who are worse off than them. So we continue to target, assess persons to be on public assistance. We do have persons who are currently on public assistance who are not deemed qualified but they are placed there in time past. We are going to cabinet today to approve a graduation strategy to get persons of public assistance who are not to be and allow persons who are on the waiting list who qualify to get on. This household support, we are providing support to households. It ranged from about $200 approximately to $400 depending on the size of the households and the issues surrounding the households and their vulnerability. So I'm really happy and solutions should be extremely happy that the government at this time can increase the amount for public assistance so that we can better take care of our vulnerable population. There are times persons would ask the question in terms of mendicancy, dependency syndrome. I am not afraid about when we support persons that they become dependent on it. My experience with households, a lot of persons are looking for ways out for them to do better for themselves. So the perception of persons wanting to remain, that is not my experience. Persons are looking as to how they can do better. Some people are, and the numbers are encouraging. So some years ago I recalled when we did a survey. I recall some households, I think it was about 42 households being surveyed. Nine out of 42 households said that they did not need, they were deemed indigent, but they said they didn't want money. I asked them what they really wanted, they said they wanted a passport. So some people are thinking that if they can migrate, they can take care of their problems. So people are very complex in how they see their problems and how they see solutions to their problems. Solutions who are indigent, who are very poor, not all waiting for handouts. They are very complicated or they are very complex in coming up with solutions to their problems. You just have to speak with them and assist them in getting without. Our graduation strategy includes using some of the windows of support like the microenterprise, the MSME, the bell fund, you know, using the TVET where we can provide persons with training. People are asking to be trained, you know, so that they can seek employment. In some households they believe if the older ones who is now at A level can find a job that too would qualify them to get out, they would be able to take care of some of the bills if one person in the house can work. So they are discussing things in a very positive way that's encouraging for solutions. So I do not want for solutions to believe that the 3,600 persons who are on public assistance, and again it's a very small number when you take into consideration that 25.6% of our population were deemed poor based on the last poverty survey. And of course another 24% of the population is vulnerable based on shocks. And of course indeed and in fact we had this major shock of COVID that has dislocated so many livelihoods. So one would imagine that if you're looking at a current poverty assessment we would be looking at more than 25% of our population being poor under the poverty line. So if we have 3,600 persons on the public assistance, receiving public assistance, I think the numbers are not, we shouldn't feel that it's out of this world, it's scary. But of course I'm happy that the government, our prime minister, can find the space to provide this extra money space so to speak to allow for more persons to be on it as we internally at the ministry look to graduate persons out of public assistance and to bring on board persons who are extremely in need of public assistance. Yes, minister. We know that you've been very influential with the Boyce Training Centre. Prior to your transition, the health commission, you spent time with them, what would you say has been the development in terms of the social welfare, the way we are looking for a jazz program and you need to stay in the football, the army doesn't look at them as a coach. What are the prospects that you see for them getting into more stability and more productive? Thank you for asking. We have plans for the Boyce Training Centre or for the whole juvenile environment, rehabilitation of all young people who find themselves in conflict of the law. The new Child Justice Act allow for persons who are in conflict with the law to be at the Boyce Training Centre. We do not have the space currently to accommodate them. So probation of the people at the prison would tell us, hey, they have some young men that ought to be with us at this point in time. We do not have the space to accommodate them. We are working towards addressing this problem and we need to decide to what extent that we have a proper detention centre as part of our juvenile rehabilitation centre. To what extent that we bring together both what is happening at Optone Girls because we have a unit, the Optone Girls is governed separately to the transit home at Kazaba and you have Boyce Training Centre. So you have three different units catering for juvenile boys and girls. We are looking to harmonise, rationalise, bring all of that together and to provide the best training for our wards and our young leaders. So if we have sewing, this is not gender specific. So both boys and girls would want to become a tailor's or same-stress or whatever you. We provide in training, providing all of this. We also auto-mechanics. Auto-mechanics is just, it shouldn't be male dominated so it's not available for just the boys but of course the young ladies were interested. So the cabinet of ministers providing us with the child child secondary school as a place of providers with an opportunity to provide a lot more for our young people when conflicted along. In terms of music, all of the various TVET training will be able to do that. We also will be able to separate those who are in conflict with the law and those who are there for care and protection. At the moment, we are not effective in doing this. So the separation is not just in terms of the physical space but in terms of who are serving. We want persons who are serving, those who are there for care and protection and not those who are serving, those who are in conflict with the law so that the attention, the focus, So you're saying that on social welfare practices we have to re-estimulate violence? Yes, there would be. So we have the support of USAID on the YRE and the OASIS a program that was launched in the region for OASIS to provide us with support to develop those programs to do the capacity building, training of the persons who would be working there. We're looking at making changes in the management structure of the current organization. We have somebody in-house who currently need input in the various elements of that together. We're looking at the legislation, the program, the rebranding. So the name Boys Training Centre would disappear, may just be a caring centre but to remove the stigma associated with what it has been referred to in the past. And of course that would happen by having various professionals coming together, approved by Cabinet that would guide and provide oversight for the complete process where we interface with the Caribbean Development Bank would be providing funding for this initiative. So I am excited about what the government is doing for this whole issue of juvenile issues, both boys and girls and not just the boys. So I expect there to be one institution, hopefully a statutory organization as against having three government entities doing similar things, having almost six managers and you may have five or ten girls of the opt-in girls, but you have a manager for ten girls, two councillors then you have an assistant manager, you have five at the transit home, you have two managers, then you have maybe 10, 15 boys at Boys Training Centre, you have another two managers. We need to rationalize that this is a lot of money getting enough out of that kind of investment. So we are going to rationalize that and ensure that we get a lot more for the government, what the people of San Luis are investing in caring for our juvenile and have better accountability, have it also for a statutory organization that you can move quickly with issues and address both human resource as well as other issues associated with the operations of the centres. Sorry to bring it back to you. I know some time ago there was mentioned about some operations manual to improve efficiency and sometimes there are payments and the timing and then the different ways of facilitating those payments. So I know we've just received this the largest obligation that we have, but what are your works ahead in terms of improving getting that money to individuals maybe when they need it? Absolutely, you're correct. Very important that the operations manual in fact to the Cabinet hopefully I hope that it gets approved but we're dealing with the whole issue of our social protection policy. That document is completed and of course it's supported by the World Bank and what happens once the Cabinet approves this the bank will give to the government of San Luis US$5 million US$500,000 US$500,000 The second component is the operations manual for public assistance and for social protection. That doesn't require Cabinet's approval it's at the level of the Ministry but once it's done and it's endorsed by the World Bank again we would get another US$1.5 million into the Treasury. So today Cabinet the social protection policy in its complete form so that Cabinet will give its endorsement and hopefully in the financial year of the bank June we will get going into our Treasury so we are working with the bank and there is that co-responsibility as we do our part the bank is saying well done, has some money for doing this so our operations manual certainly as we visit public assistance I think is critical we really want to in everything we do we think of how to uplift our people in how you provide them with the resources the little what you call Kakada and hopefully you would want them to be able to use an e-card or as against curing up at the town hall and giving cash and what have you now in 2023 but some of our people they want to remain some of our senior people love the cash they have no confidence in that plastic thing you give them and tell them they have doubts so when they have the money in their hands they must have money so you dealing for our people and our ocean ways of how quickly we move into this whole digital world for some of us we are still aliens and myself having some little challenges with the phones at time and I have to seek guidance from my children so I understand why we need to be patient with our senior people that we serve and hopefully we will get on you know in the long run in terms of getting doing things differently but my own vision for this I would like to see the time when persons receiving public assistance this is done through some e-card through the bank and they are all in the bank financial system and they swipe their card and it's there as against having the difficulties of doing cash transfer in a time like now almost 12 months or a year ever since your ministry struck an arrangement with flow the ICT service up to 5000 holes are eligible at the time how is that program going and benefiting it is going on not moving as fast as we would like it to but as I speak I know that I do not have the actual numbers but persons are making use of this of the $20 monthly flow bundle and what flow has also done with this is that they going through their homes they recognize that even when the government has made devices available to some households that not every child there are a number of children but so flow has again increased the number of available devices you know about 1000 to compliment what government is doing which we welcome in terms of providing these devices in homes where they are putting in the flow bundle so that is going on very well one more question the yes well the usual pre-hurricane works I'm expecting that to roll out by the Ministry of Infrastructure it's an area that I'm also concerned about you know I have deep interest in from a technical standpoint at every year we have to spend large sums of money removing salt and when the heavy rains you know comes most times you still do not cannot even appreciate the investment made you still get the flooding and I know the people in this part especially in the Cromland's Bexar area would like to see something that's done that can really alleviate the impact of flooding on these communities so I am thankful that we have the resources to do some mitigating works but I am looking down the road in terms of new bridges being built in that part of Cromland's to allow to lift this bridge higher that you do not have this inconvenience every time you have heavy rainfalls so that is a matter that is currently being discussed and I'm hoping one of these days that we can realize this the issue of the population being sensitive I notice they have some people have notwithstanding the experiences of flooding over the years even with small shelters they have chosen to remain in certain locations and just build back repair or clean and move on so they are making that kind of decision whereas we respect that we also have been very vigilant and new persons who are building currently and speak with planning to avoid persons to just establish on the river banks and it becomes a cost to government every time there is heavy rainfall to address these issues Well, first of all we have started the process of looking at wages looking at people's income you may know that last year we formed a review of the minimum wage we've changed that slightly in that we want to have a minimum liveable wage the legislation speaks to a minimum wage but you think that we speak about a minimum liveable wage I understand that the commission has its reports they are reviewing it and the report will be becoming the cabinet very shortly and hopefully the cabinet will make a decision on that we are involving all stakeholders everyone, it's not a matter of the government or the unions everybody is involved in that discussion but you see when there is an increase in wages everybody benefits the people who get these wages because most likely when wages are increased for people at the lower incomes they spend more they spend more and the quality of life will improve so we are very excited about it and we hope that we can get a joint agreement everyone can agree so we can have a wage that will not be a disincentive to investment of the people of Celusia and lead to wealth creation we have to start at the basics the basics is you give people a liveable wage and then it leads to wealth creation so these are the basics then comes the education and this is why we have the T-Fed program where we are trying to encourage people who are not I hate to use it academically inclined it's the word that I hate to use academically inclined I don't like it but sometimes you have to use it and we can train them so they can get particularly young people and talking about young people we are very excited about the youth economy I don't know if you have been following it it's been doing extremely well it's been doing extremely well we got a review by the CDB and hopefully we should get some funding from this family CDB but we are very excited about the youth economy so it shows how again wealth creation young people who become entrepreneurs who will expand and who will employ more people so all in all the future looks because of these sweets we speak about crime crime crime we are very concerned about crime but one of the basic problems is when your resume gets somewhere to put them the last government destroyed the custody sweets and no one has accounted for it why would you destroy a holding self a holding place for people who are arrested we are we started working it and hopefully we should get the custody sweets in the next nine months we should have the police as far as being able to defend people when they are arrested but right now if there is somebody in custody you have to be able to marry go, ancillary, denry as far as suffering to hold them or just release them and these are the excited things that happened and we pay for it these are the things you destroy a building with absolutely no care in the world not knowing where you house the people that's the problem but we have been at and talking about police who work on the view fort headquarters starting as we speak and notice the grocery police station has been demolished work is going to start they have been told we should go to planning next month we should start work very soon so we get the infrastructure for the police together and the halls of justice we want to we want to sign our ascension to the CCJ when we break the sword when we turn the sword for the halls of justice the hall of justice is going to be located by the old courthouse building across the street using the mental education building right in town but we discussed that many times before the police objected and as usual we have government at least we let courthouse and going across the street on the side yes on the side very very very very very very very very very very concerned I am told that the homoside that happened by the mall I am told that the people are known to the police that's what I am told that's what I am told you see I am told I am told but that's what I was told I was told that the people who involved known to the police that doesn't mean it's gone that's what I was told I was briefed by the police the who? oh the dead city that's what happens when you have I don't want to get involved in US politics but happens when you have opposition people you know what I am saying we need to have a middle rule example in St. Lucia we had a successful jazz festival very successful but the middle rule would mean that everyone should see it's good and let's follow let's see how you can improve in next year but in St. Lucia what's happened now is the opposition has condemned it useless waste of money you know I saw you led jazz you saw certain opposition people who were surprisingly there enjoying it did you notice no I didn't I didn't so I think what the GOP in the US has taken an extreme position and as I was reading this morning CNN that could probably lead to a massive recession in the entire world what happens when you take extreme positions I'm hoping that good sense can prevail and if the US defaults you know in the US defaults the US never suffers you know the US do things for them to survive we are in this island we don't want to suffer but we hope it will happen well most of our debt our currency is pegged to the US dollar now if it leads to devaluation of the US dollar we will we may suffer it's too early it's too early it takes some time the knock down effect it's some time so we have to monitor the situation I just want to mention upliftment in the many celebrations moving forward it's going to be bigger next year bigger next year next year the unions are going to be given a stipend to have a massive media celebration better unions because they are going to lead the charge June 1st phase one of the US dollar will be set to our paternal and child services will be expanded very excited about it if you know that St. Lucia our buff rate is beginning to decline in fact it's been steady and that has repercussions for the population repercussions for our NIC repercussions for the future of our country so what are we trying to do and I want to congratulate the Ministry of Health we start in the universal healthcare program at the child level at maternal care so we can have mothers being able to get all the necessary tests all the necessary examinations so that they can have healthy babies and we can start from there it's just a start of a process for our UHC program starting at that level and going forward where all these tests we can do it's said that children the best time in their life at a time when all the situations are rectified or middles it's between conception and it's a 5 or 6 years old that's what they said so we try to make sure that we keep this we make sure that they get all the tests because so what you want to do is try to avoid illnesses avoid them particularly the NCDs the non-communicable diseases we want to avoid them so if the mothers get their pressure checked the mothers get their diabetes checked the mothers get all these kind of checks hopefully they'll have a healthier baby and a healthier generation let me just get one extra what's the thinking when you decided to make health care for the 18 and above 3 because we're living in a very we won't live in a society of ages where people believe as soon as you get 50 years you should go and die that's not supposed to happen it's the serious thing it's very serious are we timing ages 55 in the public service in the public service if you're not contributing to NIC at 55 years old now we found that the population is getting older you may think that 80 years old President Biden is going to be 84 after the election 84 86 President Trump is going to be 82 Nancy Pelosi is right now 81 the guy who is the president who leads the in the senate is 80 so it's 80 over 80s old man there are more than 80 who are alive and who need to be taken care of most of them they need the basic things as freeing, private pressure etc that is what the program will take care of very necessary all categories once you register you over 80 once you access the health care community health centers you get all these things free all government centers 80 years old it's free in fact it went since reality is still not since reality is still my question we did I'll be going in a different direction but we've seen this development with the legal of the opposition that is issues in the house with the speaker I mean we've refrained from asking you about it and I was happy you did but I'm happy I have more than the opportunity to ask you now so I'm just I'll tell you something in politics there's something called politics and diversion okay I think it's happening in the parliament the leader of the opposition is just trying to divert from the issues just diversion the leader of the opposition is looking for relevance he's looking to find something to make him relevant I mean how can the leader of the opposition be annoyed with the people for looking at two of them in the parliament how can that be I don't speak any sense he cries wolf it's only two of us here two of us here the people of the country put two of you in the parliament that's the system you under how you can be annoyed with the people doing that so I'm not in for you see we have a lot of things to say about in this country we want to implement our budget we have we have an 18% growth right we may not have the same growth this year but hopefully I want to have I want to sustain that growth I have things to do I'm not going to be diverted what the leader of the opposition wants to notice he wants to divert us from the issues and we're going to remain focused we have a lot of work to do you understand we want to continue St. Jude by the end of this week we'll have some good news for you on St. Jude I'm very hopeful about it next month when I come I'll be laughing news will have you may have on St. Jude right we're working on on HIA right I'm going to be making a statement in HIA very soon so I don't have time to get diverted what's happening there just excitement just to be relevant letter people get to be the speaker I can't again I'm not getting involved in that this anybody wants to drag me in that way I'm not going let's talk about the future of the country I will talk to you at any time about the 18% growth I'll talk to him about how can we sustain it I'll talk to him relevant about the crime situation I will speak to him about it I will speak to him about how we can complete St. Jude I'll speak to him if he can account on the Padua letter I'll speak to him all these things but I'm not getting involved in semantics and things in this speaker run this parliament you don't know what's happening in Antigua you don't know what's happening in England so why am I getting involved in that I have no time for that the country is on a trajectory that I want to keep it going and I want all men of goodwill including the opposition elections are over the opposition will defeat them I wasn't the one who defeated them the people defeated them it's the people, not me our system says that the people elect you every five years the people elected towards them they have all the rights and privileges of the opposition we give them their papers on time we give them a share in our CDP we give them a share we treat them with respect they do not treat us with respect we treat them with respect we have not gone in any witch hands we are doing things properly so I'm not getting involved in any sides too so any sideshow is okay I'm focused why are you going to give bad news for the John Company sitting project was supposed to be complete it's not these are the things the opposition should account for should tell us why it's not complete tell us why we spent all that money why? this is what these are the contradictions I want to have with the opposition not contradictions about behaving child child in the house of assembly these are the questions and you ask a good question very soon we've commissioned a report the report is going to be public in a very short time and by the way give some news this application is before the legal and civil justice commission as soon as you get it the AG will decide what happens to it the AG will decide what happens to the report we've commissioned the report I understand the report is complete I hope you note how we did things we didn't just go ahead and accuse people and make wild statements and speculate we were systematic all the issues reports have been commissioned St. Jude Hospital the report was done by by a committee of persons right now we have another one the first one said that we should continue on the original site the second one now is going to deal with the financial vacations that will happen at St. Jude so we're not making noise and accusing people we're doing it systematically and I'm going to tell you my job is to get the truth and to treat everybody fairly it's not weakness not going across not going about accusing people and shouting loud making all kinds of threats it's not weakness it is being systematic it's being fair and it's wanting the best outcome for the people of St. Lucia this is my concern not me I have no divine right to be Prime Minister of St. Lucia I don't think that I'm entitled to anything the people made me Prime Minister and they removed me when they want to so we've done these things in a systematic way I want you to follow how we're doing it and you will see the results systematic not witch hunting or shouting or screaming not to look into police investigate which one you talk it was done by a group of forensic accountants not yet you get that very soon not yet what did you call that that still mean they sing against us they sing against us I don't want to get involved in it I will allow the people who make the people think the best will do that I wanted one thing to happen and I'm glad that they agree I wanted to open the jazz festival that statement had to be done we had to make a statement it's more than a it's a philosophical statement you see what's happened in St. Lucia we have begin to lose a philosophical and an ideological position on things and life you understand we had that philosophical position and this is where the government is the government is built on a philosophy of seeing about people the community tourism program this is why we have the youth economy this is why we have the small and medium sized enterprise loan it is to be built on the backs of the people of the country must benefit starting the jazz festival in Caches East was a philosophical statement in that the people should benefit from one of the biggest mass events in the country that's all, philosophical and the whole world saw that people could come to Caches East have a nice time and go back home safely, that's philosophical remember the last the last person spoke about Caches East said that they should go and demonstrate in Marchion that is what they saw Marchion good for these are the people who want to run this country they said that Marchion is good for demonstration you remember when the jazz festival was taken away from Caches East when the question was asked why at the same time there was a demonstration happening and somebody said I leave you to do that research why don't they go to demonstrate in Marchion that's what Marchion was good for demonstration further the Marchion main road was down to be repaired about two years ago they refused to do it that road was repaired long before the jazz festival but you know the question is you repaired the road because there's jazz in Marchion always trying to beat the people of the country so starting the jazz I make no apologies for that we had to make a philosophical statement and that's where I stand by the rest the special prosecutor we've got an application in and the person the choice is going to be made by the legal and judicial commission that's what we're waiting for it's not chosen by me it's chosen by the JLDC were they both local and regional applicants they were both local by the way before you go I think that you're second that ends in fact we have a big meeting in June so I hope we can end with a bang ok thank you