Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698075097055.pdf (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
House of Assembly IN MOTION Issue 2 - June 30th 2022 INSIDE THIS ISSUE PG - 1-2 India’s President visits SVG PG - 3 About Parliament PG - 4-5 Community Initiatives Fun fact INDIA’S PRESIDENT VISITS SVG “India and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines have historical relations established by our forefathers, years ago, even before our countries had become independent.” His Excellency Shri Ram Nath Kovind On Thursday 19th May, 2022 a special Sitting of the House of Assembly in honour of the official visit of His Excellency, Mr. Ram Nath Kovind, President of the Republic of India was convened at 11:15 a.m.
This was an historic event being the first official visit to St. Vincent and the Grenadines by a sitting head of State of the Republic of India.

The special Sitting commenced after His Excellency had inspected the Guard of Honor and was escorted to the Speaker’s Office by the Speaker of the House, the Honourable Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.

1 With leave granted by the Honourable Speaker, the Honourable Prime Minister moved a motion for the suspension of the Standing Orders.
The Speaker then officially commenced the sitting by extending remarks of welcome to his Excellency Mr. Ram Nath Kovind and members of his delegation.

Addresses were also made by the Honourable Prime Minister and the Honourable Leader of the Opposition, both of whom spoke of the excellent longstanding diplomatic relations between the Republic of India and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
His Excellency then addressed the Parliament of St. Vincent and the Grenadines where his message was one premised on India’s steadfast commitment to sharing its experience, knowledge and skills acquired in its journey of development, with fellow developing countries.

Following the adjournment of the Honourable House, His Excellency was introduced to Members of the House by the Honourable Prime Minister, before his departure.
2 PRIVATE MEMBER’S MOTION of In the regular course of business in the House, Government Business is given precedence except on the first day of the third meeting of any new session- often, but unofficially called Private Members’ Day.

The meeting of the 5th May, 2022 saw the moving of a motion by the Leader captioned, the Opposition Concerning Opposition to the Development and Operation of a quarry at Richmond in North Leeward.

Ordinarily, Private Members Business is concluded by 5 p.m.
However, by the consensus of the House, the debate on the motion was extended to facilitate the agreed 1.5 hours of debate for each side of the House.

The sitting however was prematurely interrupted (See of Bats and Standing Orders) and the suspension was taken at 8:30 p.m.

The debate continued the following day and concluded on the morning of 10th May 2022.

When put to the vote, the motion was lost.


OF BATS AND STANDING ORDERS An unknown author wrote a poem entitled Bippity Boppity Boo which, at the end, is designed to encourage young students to add rhyming lines.

The poem is replicated below and the reader is urged to add his or her own final word to reveal the most unusual state of affairs with which the Speaker of the House, Rochelle Forde was confronted as a bat made his/her mark on the Standing Orders of the House.

Bippity Boppity Boo!


A bat flew over to you!

Bippity Boppity Bee!

A bat flew over to Me!

Bippity Boppity Boo!

A Bat flew over the Speaker and left some ____________!

TEMPORARY PARLIAMENT BUILDING UPDATE On 26th April, 2022 the Speaker and members of staff of the House of Assembly made an official visit to the site which will house the Temporary Parliament Building.
The building works are steadily progressing and the Speaker and her Staff were treated to a guided tour by Alister Browne, Senior Technical Officer; Jarett Francis, Senior Civil Technician and Sharie Roberts-Dougan, Project Officer during which time the general floor plan was explained.

We say thank you to the officials from the Ministry of Transport, Works, Lands and Physical Planning and the Ministry of Urban Development and look forward to moving into the new facility.
ACTS The following Bills were passed in the House during the period 1st April, 2022 to June 30th, 2022.
May 10th, 2022 Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act, 2022 Customs Duties (Amendment) Act, 2022 Excise Tax Amendment Act, 2022 Virtual Asset Business Act, 2022 The following Bills were sent to Select Committee: ❖ Electronic Communications Bill, 2022 ❖ Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Bill, 2022 3 INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY ON THE ROAD TO YOUTH PARLIAMENT The House of Assembly is pleased to announce that the first Annual Summer Internship Programme will commence on the 25th July 2022 for a four-week period.
Students from the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College Division of Arts, Science and General Studies are invited to apply.

Those most suitably qualified will be shortlisted and interviewed.

For more information, please contact Mrs. Samantha Rouse, the Grenadines Registrar at Community College.
The deadline for submission of applications is 1st July, 2022. the St. Vincent and that members of the public who are allowed to be in the House of Assembly during a sitting of House of Assembly are referred to as Strangers?

The House of Assembly is pleased to announce that on the 21st July 2022, the first Youth Parliament under the auspices of the Speaker of the House of Assembly will be convened.
The proceedings which will commence at 9 a.m. at the House of Assembly will see participation from - Bishop’s College Marvelous Trumpet Kingstown; Shakari Daniel - Georgetown Secondary School; Afe Lucus - Intermediate Secondary School; Justin St Rose - St Clair Dacon; Ronaldo Jackson - St Joseph Convent Marriaqua; Christian Gleowansingh - St Vincent Grammar School; TeAndre Primus - St Joseph Convent Kingstown; Shervena Maloney - Thomas Saunders Secondary School; Grace Francis - Troumaca Ontario Secondary School; Gailan John - Central Leeward Secondary School; Jrmaine Ballantyne - North Union Secondary School; Jamaldo Farrell - West St. George Secondary School; Jirahmae Kennedy - St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College; Zomara Lewis - Sandy Bay Secondary School and Dervin Warner - Questelles Government School.
These students have all been participating in training exercises over the past few months, and have demonstrated sharp wit, keen understanding of the Youth Parliament standing orders and dedication to excellence.

We wish them all a successful meeting!

The Youth Parliament will be streamed live page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=10007 9704404491 Facebook our on The Bill for debate will be posted on our Facebook page in the coming days.
4 SANDY BAY SECONDARY SCHOOL On Wednesday 20th April 2022, as part of Initiative the continuing Community Programme, the Speaker, Clerk and other members of staff of the House of Assembly together with the then Senior Education Officer Kay Martin-Jack, travelled to the Sandy Bay Secondary School - which is currently housed at a temporary location at Mt Young.

The Speaker had an opportunity to speak with the Principal and members of Staff prior to her presentation to the students.
Much to the surprise and delight of the Speaker and her team, the entire school population present on the day, was able to receive the presentation and engage in hearty discussion regarding Parliamentary Procedure.

GEORGETOWN SECONDARY SCHOOL The second school visit on the 20th April 2022, was to the Georgetown Secondary School.
Once again, the team from the House of Assembly was welcomed and had the opportunity to speak briefly with the Principal and Staff before moving into a vibrant discussion initiated by well thought out questions posed to the Speaker by members of the student body.

The session ended at 3:20 p.m. as the students were their excited and determined questions answered before the departure of the team.
to have CONGRATULATIONS CONGRATULATIONS Congratulations to our team member Mrs. Kay Martin-Jack on her promotion from Senior Education Officer to Chief Education Officer!

Congratulations to all our nation’s children who sat the CPEA examination.

We especially extend congratulations to the children from the Bequia Sunshine School for Children with Special Needs and the Georgetown School for Children with Special Needs, who performed well and were successful in the CPEA 2022 exams.
We are so proud of you all!

5