No. 5 THURSDAY Second Session 28 th March, 2002 Seventh Parliament SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES THE PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) ADVANCE COPY OFFICIAL REPORT CONTENTS Thursday 28 th March, 2002 Prayers 6 Announcements by Speaker 6 Obituaries 6 Congratulatory Remarks 9 Minutes 12 Announcement by Speaker 13 Motion 13 Statements by Ministers 13 Motion 25 The Spiritual Baptists’ (Official Recognition of Freedom to Worship Day) Bill, 2002 (First, second and third readings) 25 Reports from Select Committee 44 The Finance Bill, 2002 (First, second and third readings) 45 The Commissions of Inquiry (Amendment) Bill, 2002 (First, second and third readings) 46 Carnival Development Corporation Bill, 2002 (First reading) 71 Internationally Protected Persons Bill, 2002 (First reading) 71 Act against the taking of Hostages Bill, 2002 (First reading) 72 Adjournment 73 THE THE PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES OFFICIAL REPORT PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE FIFTH MEETING, SECOND SESSION OF THE SEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES CONSTITUTED AS SET OUT IN SCHEDULE 2 TO THE SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES ORDER, 1979. th TWELFTH SITTING 28 March 2002 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY The Honourable House of Assembly met at 10.15 a.m. in the Assembly Chamber, Court House, Kingstown. PRAYERS MR. SPEAKER IN THE CHAIR Honourable Hendrick Alexander Present MEMBERS OF CABINET Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, Planning, Economic Development, Labour, Information, Grenadines and Legal Affairs. Dr. The Honourable Ralph Gonsalves Member for North Central Windward Attorney General Honourable Judith Jones-Morgan Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Commerce and Trade. Honourable Louis Straker Member for Central Leeward 3 Minister of National Security, the Public Service and Airport Development Honourable Vincent Beache Member for South Windward Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Honourable Michael Browne Member for West St. George Minister of Social Development, Co-operatives, The Family, Gender and Ecclesiastical Affairs Honourable Girlyn Miguel Member for Marriaqua Minister of Agriculture, Lands and Fisheries Honourable Selmon Walters Member for South Central Windward Minister of Health and the Environment Honourable Dr. Douglas Slater Member for South Leeward Minister of Telecommunications, Science Technology and Industry Honourable Dr. Jerrol Thompson Member for North Leeward Minister of Tourism and Culture Honourable Rene Baptist Member for West Kingstown Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports Honourable Clayton Burgin Member for East St. George Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands and Fisheries Honourable Montgomery Daniel Member for North Windward Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Commerce and Trade Honourable Conrad Sayers Member for Central Kingstown Minister of Transport, Works and Housing Honourable Julian Francis Government Senator 4 Honourable Edwin Snagg Government Senator, Parliamentary Prime Minister’s Office, Special Responsibility for Labour and Grenadines Affairs OTHER MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE Honourable Juliet George Government Senator Honourable Andrea Young Government Senator/Deputy Speaker ABSENT Honourable Arnhim Eustace Member for East Kingstown/ Leader of the Opposition Dr. the Honourable Godwin Friday Member for Northern Grenadines Honourable Terrance Ollivierre Member for Southern Grenadines Honourable Gerard Shallow Opposition Senator Honourable Major St. Claire Leacock Opposition Senator 5 SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY THURSDAY 28 TH MARCH, 2002 PRAYERS The Honourable Speaker, Hendrick Alexander read the Prayers of the House. STATEMENT BY SPEAKER HONOURABLE MR. SPEAKER : Madam Clerk before we deal with the obituaries, I have received further, I wish to inform the House that I have again received from the Leader of the Opposition, a letter indicating that they are boycotting this session of the House again protesting the presence of the Honourable Minister of Tourism and Culture and further to that they consider this meeting of the House as being religiously insensitive. I am somewhat appalled by that -- and I think I need to chip in here. I would want to believe that when we meet at Parliament we are working and today Thursday the 28 th March, known as Holy Thursday is also a working day in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. I do not know if we can say to the public servants or the persons in the private sector not to come to work on a Holy Thursday and see nothing as being anti religious for this House to be meeting on a working day in St. Vincent and the Grenadines even though it is regarded as Holy Thursday. [Applause] And I would want it to be in the record that I am not accepting that as a valid excuse for the Opposition not being in the House of Assembly here today. We are all working, we are being paid for job we do, some of us quite handsomely and I think that we have a duty and a right to be here in the House to conduct the people’s business. It is not a public holiday. It is a working day in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Thank you. OBITUARIES HONOURABLE MICHAEL BROWNE : Mr. Speaker, let me preface this by saying that I share the sentiments which have been expressed by the Speaker, and to note this particularly auspicious occasion it being the first anniversary of the very progressive Government of the Unity Labour Party. Mr. Speaker, I wish to pay tribute to a colleague of mine who passed away on March the 12 th at the time I was oversees in Washington attending a workshop seminar called by the World Bank, and which was subsequently attended on my return by the Minister of State. I had learnt of her death on my return and I took note of the fact that a tribute had been paid by my ministry and not without significance incorporated into a statement marking National Heroes Month which was sent to the schools on the 13 th of March, that statement for that occasion incorporated and 6 paid a small tribute to Miss Viola Thomas. She was buried on Saturday 16 th of April, I attended the funeral. She being a very good working colleague of mine she was almost 67 at the time of her death. She was born Mr. Speaker, in 1935 at a time when both St. Vincent and the Caribbean were going through certain upheavals based on a number of factors which we do not need to go into at this time. In her contribution to education has been noted in the eulogy about her which was read in the church on Saturday 16 th by my predecessor the Honourable John Horne who had worked with her and I would like to ask people to refer to the Searchlight Newspaper which carried a very extensive, or the full coverage of the tribute paid to her by Mr. Horne. I therefore do not intend to give those details at this time but just to note that her role in education was situated in what I will deemed as the second century of Vincentian education. The first century being of course the 19 th century which can be deemed the century of primary education in St. Vincent and the Grenadines that was when the primary school system was substantially established. Even though the embryo of that system existed in the 18 th century, but substantially the primary school system was established in 19 th century and therefore that century from the standpoint of our educational history will be deemed the century of primary education. The 20 th century, the one which just left us, is deemed the century of secondary education. That is when we established quite fulsomely the secondary school system in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. There is a certain logic to that because the primary system of the previous century laid the basis of the secondary school system of the 20 th century and of course, when the third century the 21 st century as far as education is concerned, and I can assure you and the nation that this is the century of tertiary education, but another time for those details, Mr. Speaker, just to say that Viola Thomas’ work was in the last century and she contributed in terms of the consolidation of the primary school system by her own role at different stages and positions in the educational system, and she also contributed to the on going process of consolidating secondary education during the last century. She was the first female Chief Education Officer, having worked between 1986 to 1990 and it is an interesting coincidence that we are now having our second female Chief Education Officer in the person of Miss Laura Browne, so she follows in the footsteps of Miss Thomas. I think Viola truly captured the essence of educator and I am basing this on the old original Latin origin of ‘educare’ where a teacher, an educator was understood to be a person who brought up a child, reared a child, guided a child, in other words, that concept in the original Latin sense captured a holistic approach to education and I think that is how Viola tended to operate. This comparison may suggest Mr. Speaker with a more modern concept where education is equated with coaching and training, especially for examination. We tend to lose that broader perspective which ought to characterize education but she came out of that vein, and we would like to pay tribute to her and indeed a tribute to her can best be paid by us recapturing the essence of what she stood for educationally. I had the privilege to work very closely with Viola at the Teachers’ College along with her sister; I believe it was the first and only time that two sisters worked at the Teachers’ Training College, they were both there at the time and we had some very, very fond memories at the college and in her efforts to build a home and establish it and that’s another story which we do 7 not need to go into.