Saint Lucia Deputy PM gives remarks in 2023 Assembly budget

Castries, Saint Lucia: Yesterday, the House of Assembly Budget Debate occurred in Castries, Saint Lucia. During the Assembly, Deputy Prime Minister Ernest Hilaire gave his remarks on May 02, 2023, at 1 pm.

On day 3, Part 1, the debate focused mainly on the Appropriations Bill for 2023/24. Deputy PM Ernest Hilaire came with Saint Lucia Prime Minister Philip J Pierre and Member of the House of Assembly of Saint Lucia Richard Fredrick. 

The House of Assembly Budget debate was live-streamed on various social media government channels, like Youtube and Facebook. 

Deputy Prime Minister Ernest Hilaire invited all the citizens and people to come and take part in the Appropriation Bill 2023/24 debate through the government’s social media channels. 

In his opening remarks at the House of Assembly Debate, Deputy Prime Minister Ernest Hilaire expressed warm greetings to the audience, his fellow ministers, and the members of the House of Assembly of Saint Lucia. He also welcomed his fellow ministers to the session and acknowledged their presence.

He acknowledged the previous speeches delivered by the attendees of the debate. He said, “I agree with my colleagues who have spoken before me in expressing our support for the budget proposed in the Appropriation Bill for 2023/24.”

He also highlighted that all the members eloquently talked about the presented this year’s budget by the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLLP) is by far the best budget ever introduced.

Deputy Prime Minister Ernest Hilaire stated that the presented budget follows the tradition of budget statements made by previous Prime Ministers of the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLLP).

He also discussed some special points in which he talked about the code of conduct, which should be respected and followed by all the participating members. 

He was also instructed to maintain the decorum of the assembly; he also followed all the instructions even though he felt to be correct. He added that members who participate in the assembly deserve respect. 

It was observed that the budget is meant for various sectors of the country, including tourism, taxpayers, and businessmen, as well as the working population of the island nation. It aims to benefit all the people.