Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1694419842363.pdf (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY ORDER PAPER No.12____________________________________________________________________________34 THURSDAY 29th JULY, 2021 __________________________________________________________________ PRAYERS OBITUARIES CONGRATULATORY REMARKS CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES OF THE SITTINGS HELD ON TUESDAY 6TH JULY AND THURSDAY 8TH JULY, 2021 ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE SPEAKER STATEMENTS BY MINISTERS REPORTS FROM SELECT COMMITTEES PAPERS 1.
House of Assembly Paper 6 of 2021 Roads, Buildings and General Services Financial Statements For the year ended December 31st, 2014 (with Comparative Figures for the year ended December 31st, 2013) (Honourable Montgomery Daniel/Minister of Transport) 2.

House of Assembly Paper 7 of 2021 National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (NTRC) Annual Report 2020 (Honourable Camillo Gonsalves/Minister of Finance) QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWERS 1.
Dr. the Honourable Godwin Friday, (Leader of the Opposition) to the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Technology: The report for the 2018 poverty assessment has not been released to the public by the Government but was made public by Members of the Opposition last year.

This generated much public interest and discussion.

At that time, Members of the Government responded that the report was not yet complete.
Will the Minister please state: 1 No.12____________________________________________________________________________35 (i) Whether the 2018 poverty assessment has been completed; (ii) If it has been completed, when the report will be released to the public and; (iii) If it has not been completed, explain why it has not been completed.

2.
2.

Dr. the Honourable Godwin Friday (Leader of the Opposition) to ask the Honourable Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Sustainable Development and Culture: Last year, the Government announced that Virgin Atlantic would begin air service from the UK to SVG by June this year.

The commencement date has been pushed back to later this year.
Will the Minister please state: (i) (ii) What is the arrangement between the airline Virgin Atlantic and the government for operating the service; whether the government has agreed to pay for seats that are not sold on each flight; (iii) if so, what will be the cost of the arrangement to the government.

3.
3.

Dr. the Honourable Godwin Friday (Leader of the Opposition) to ask the Honourable Minister of National Mobilisation, Social Development, Family, Gender Affairs, Youth, Housing: The Paget Farm Community Center was built under the NDP Government for use by members of the public for their various activities.
Over the years, it has been regularly used for wedding receptions, funerals, church crusades, youth group meetings, Government departments meetings, Red Cross meetings, exercise classes, community concerts and other activities.

Several years ago, the ground floor was taken over for use as the police station and more recently, the main floor has been used as the Court house.
Now, construction work has begun to divide the main floor into smaller sections that will make the center no longer usable for the purposes mentioned above.

Will the Minister please state: (i) (ii) (iii) How will the remodelled Paget Farm Community Center be used; Whether members of the public will continue to have access to the center for their activities; and How will members of the public conduct the various activities in the community that the center previously accommodated.

4.
4.

The Honourable Terrance Ollivierre (Member for the Southern Grenadines) to ask the Honourable Minister of Education and National Reconciliation: The Honourable Minister of Education has stated that standardised assessment in Language Arts and Mathematics will be administered for Grade 2 to Grade 5.
Will the Minister please state: (i) (ii) The percentage of Primary School students who took the Covid-19 Test as recommended by the Ministry as a requirement to sit the exams; The percentage of Primary School students who were present examinations; and for the (iii) The results of the assessment in the subjects examined.

2 No.12____________________________________________________________________________36 5.
The Honourable Terrance Ollivierre, (Member for the Southern Grenadines), to ask the Finance, Economic Planning and Information Technology: Will the Minister please: (i) State how much money and material assistance the Government received for relief in response to the eruption of La Soufriere; and (ii) Provide a breakdown of the sources from which the assistance came.

6.
6.

The Honourable Major St. Clair Leacock, (Member for Central Kingstown), to ask the Honourable Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, National Security, Legal Affairs and Information: The constituency of North Central Windward which registered 5724 electors in 2005 showed a decline to 5680 in 2020 in contrast to its Northern and Southern neighbours of North Windward from 5481, a lower figure than that of North Central Windward up to 6887, a higher figure than North Central Windward in 2020.
Just as South Central Windward with 6173 in 2005 to 6345 in 2020.

These eligible registered voters in North Central Windward make it the only constituency that did not increase numerically in 2020 over its 2005 statistic.
(i) What explanation can be provided for this seeming anomaly or inconsistency; (ii) How does this compare with the census data for the intervening years; and (iii) In 2005 Polling Station G, Surnames A-I Community Centre Park Hill had a number of 301 registered voters and in 2020, North Windward at Pearl Best Early Learning Development Centre the figure rather remarkably had move by only a single digit of one (1) voter.
Again, how do we explain this rare phenomenon of no movement in a community over 15 years.

7.
The Honourable Major St. Clair Leacock, (Member for Central Kingstown), to ask the Honourable Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Information Technology: As we share the ECCU vision for Socio-economic transformation will the Honourable Minster please explain his recent revelation that Friendly Societies have deposits of or around 12 million in deposits in St. Vincent and the Grenadines by letting us know: (i) (ii) The amounts held by Credit Unions in both the Aggregated and disaggregated numbers specifically GECCU, KCCU, Teachers Credit Union, Police Credit Union, others in the banking system; and Which state companies are being prepared to go public by way of share offering over the next four years to enhance wealth creation.
8.

Honourable Fitzgerald Bramble, (Member for East Kingstown), to ask the Honourable Minister of Prime Minister, Minister of National Security, Grenadines Affairs and Legal Affairs: The La Soufriere Volcanic eruptions in April 2021 have caused extensive damage to the physical and social infrastructure as well as the economy of St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
(i) Can you kindly state the extent of the damage to St. Vincent and the Grenadines caused by the eruption of the La Soufriere Volcano in April 2021; (ii) What is the total cost of the damage; and 3 No.12____________________________________________________________________________37 (iii) What procedure was undertaken to assess the damage and is the cost estimate final and conclusive.

9.
9.

Honourable Fitzgerald Bramble, (Member for East Kingstown), to ask the Honourable Minister of Health, Wellness and the Environment: The Government of St Vincent & the Grenadines imposed a COVID-19 protocol making it mandatory for travellers to the country to quarantine in a Government approved hotel.

The protocol was discontinued but has been reinstated a few weeks ago.
(i) Can you indicate how many persons have been quarantined in Government approved hotels since that protocol was enacted back in December 2020; and (ii) Why was the protocol discontinued and then reinstated.

10.
10.

Honourable Fitzgerald Bramble, (Member for East Kingstown), to ask the Honourable Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Information Technology: (i) What is the fiscal position of the Government for the second quarter of 2021; (ii) Kindly outline the key factors which affected this position and what measures were taken to mitigate or enhance these factors; and (iii) Kindly highlight the differences, if any, between quarter one and quarter two which impacted this position.

11.
11.

The Honourable Israel R. Bruce (Opposition Senator) to ask of the Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Rural Transformation, Industry and Labour: The fishing industry plays a vital role to fisher folk.

Recently, there have been episodes of fisher folk missing at sea.

One of the main issues raised was the lack of communication device to locate these fisherfolk.
Will the Honourable Minister please state: (i) (ii) What is currently being done to assist fisher folk address the problem with communication device and lifesaving amenities such as VHS radio and life jackets etc; Is there any planned training by the Ministry of Agriculture to assist the fisher folk organisations in the capacity building of their members; and (iii) If not, will there be such an undertaking.

12.
12.

The Honourable Israel R. Bruce (Opposition Senator) to ask of the Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Rural Transformation, industry and Labour: The La Soufriere Volcanic eruptions have caused immense damage to the agricultural sector.

While farmers who live in the red zone will be receiving six (6) months financial assistance, there are farmers who are not living in the red zones, but are farming in the red zone.
Will the Honourable Minister please state: (i) (ii) What arrangement has the Ministry of Agriculture put in place to ensure that these farmers receive the six (6) months assistance, since their livelihood is also disrupted; and If no arrangement is in place, how soon can we expect these farmers to benefit from this assistance.

4 No.12____________________________________________________________________________38 13.
The Honourable Israel R. Bruce (Opposition Senator) to ask of the Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Rural Transformation, industry and Labour: In March 2020, the Minister of Agriculture made mention of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Corona Virus Food Security and Mitigation Plan.
Will the Honourable Minister: (i) Give an update on the ongoing implementation of that plan; and (ii) Outline the role played by these stake holders: Secondary School Agriculture teachers, farmers and the churches.

14.
14.

The Honourable Shevern John (Opposition Senator) to ask the Honourable Minister of Urban Development, Energy, Airports, Seaports, Grenadines Affairs and Local Government: The communities above the Rabacca Dry River have been severely impacted from the La Soufriere explosive eruption and by Hurricane Elsa.

As a result, many homes were destroyed and there was structural damage to others.
Would the Honourable Minister please state: (i) The policies in place for the restoration of electricity to homes in the red zone; and (ii) The assistance that will be given to home owners to enable them to rewire their homes if required.

15.
15.

The Honourable Shevern John (Opposition Senator) to ask the Honourable Minister of National Mobilisation, Social Development, Family, Gender Affairs, Youth, Housing and Informal Settlement: Social Protection policies are implemented by Government to help reduce poverty and vulnerability in the country.
Could the Honourable Minister please state: (i) (ii) The percentage of persons from the red zone who are benefiting from the Government’s Public Assistance; and Why persons are removed from the Public Assistance list without them being Informed.

16.
16.

The Honourable Shevern John (Opposition Senator) to ask the Honourable Minister of National Mobilisation, Social Development, Family, Gender Affairs, Youth, Housing and Informal Human Settlement: The people south of the Rabacca Dry River have resettled into their communities and psychosocial support is needed in these communities to help affected persons cope.

To this end, physical space is necessary to host community activities.
The community centre in Dickson, North Windward, has been in need of renovation over ten years.

Will the Honourable Minister please state: (i) If there are plans to renovate the community centre; and (ii) how soon this work is expected to begin.
5 No.12____________________________________________________________________________39 ORDERS OF THE DAY (Government Orders are marked thus*) BILLS 1* Investment Fund Bill, 2021 1st Reading (Honourable Minister of Finance) 2* Securities Bill, 2021 1st Reading (Honourable Minister of Finance) 3* Eastern Caribbean Securities Regulatory Commission 1st Reading Agreement Bill, 2021 (Honourable Minister of Finance) 4*.

Medical Officers (Amendment) Bill 2021 (Honourable Minister of Health) 5*.
Public Health (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (Honourable Minister of Health) 1st Reading 1st Reading ADJOURNMENT 6