My fellow St. Lucians, brothers and sisters, fwere ec seurs...

On this occasion, I have decided to address you from the brand new Conference Centre situated in the NIS building overlooking Castries Habour.

As you have been hearing for many weeks now, St. Lucia will be the host for the Nineteenth Meeting of Heads of Government of CARICOM. The meeting takes place next week, right here from June 30th to July 4th. This major annual event in the life of our Caribbean community also coincides, in 1998, with the silver jubilee of CARICOM. CARICOM will celebrate its twenty-fifth birthday, here in St. Lucia.

Some of you will recall that it was in 1973 the Treaty of Chaguaramas was signed in Trinidad, giving birth to the present association of Caribbean peoples. At our meeting, St. Lucia will assume Chairmanship of this highly respected body of fifteen nations that includes Suriname and Haiti.

You have also heard I’m sure, that we shall have the honour to welcome to our shores many distinguished special guests. Among these are His Excellency Dr. Rafael Caldera of Venezuela, His Excellency Rene Preval of Haiti, Mme. Louise Frechette, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, the Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, the Honorable Sir Alistair McIntyre. By now, there must be few people in St. Lucia or the region who have not heard that we are also preparing to welcome the much revered elder statesman, President Nelson Mandela of South Africa.

OPPORTUNITY TO BE GRACIOUS HOSTS

I believe that this meeting of CARICOM, in the presence of leaders like Mr. Mandela, is a wonderful opportunity for St. Lucians to gather together as gracious hosts of our Caribbean family. It is an opportunity for a self-respecting, dignified and mature presentation of ourselves to the regional and international community as a serious people who stand as equal partners with others on the world’s stage. It is an opportunity to demonstrate that we can manage such an occasion with efficiency, quality and a high degree of professionalism. I am thinking not only of those who have been directly involved in many weeks of organising for the meeting, but every citizen who, at some time in the next few days, may have the chance to be a part of this event. You may have to guide a visitor, drive a dignitary, provide accommodation for the international press, even usher one of our world leaders to a seat. Whatever it is you do, I encourage you to give a very good impression of St. Lucian hospitality to those you help. Let us embrace our visitors with warmth, kindness and generosity. Other Conferences, other leaders, other media may well return to St. Lucia because of your kindness and willingness to provide efficient and courteous assistance.

CARICOM DISCUSSIONS

At this meeting, several matters will be discussed which will directly benefit St. Lucia and members of CARICOM: the deepening of the integration process in the Community through the formation of a Single Market and Economy; signing of some of the Protocols amending the Treaty of Chaguaramas; external relations with the European Union and African and Pacific countries; the development of trade relations with South Africa; the need for the Caribbean to move faster and with a greater sense of purpose if we are to meet the challenges waiting around the corner of the new century. I myself, as Chairman of the Meeting, will encourage fellow Prime Ministers to ensure that we pay great attention to implementing decisions taken at our meetings.

If St. Lucians and other Caribbean nations are to benefit from CARICOM, we must all move decisively on decisions taken, and we must all abide by agreements we have voted on together. I believe that we St. Lucians and our Caribbean family, must move with a greater sense of urgency, a more professional attitude, a mature approach, towards the great challenges that face us all at home and abroad. The lesson of Mr. Mandela’s well-known experience is that we can overcome the severest of hardships. But this will not be done if we continue with a business-as-usual approach. The recent problems with the banana industry under the WTO rulings are a case in point. I am happy to say that fresh approaches and creative thinking about those specific challenges are slowly leading to a more secure future. As we in St. Lucia look to the new area of financial services, surrounded by great competition, we will also need to move together in a way that is new, purposeful, mature and united.

LOCAL PREPARATION

In terms of our own preparations here at home, let me tell you what has been happening. As I believe you have heard in news reports, a Coordinating Committee chaired by Mr. Earl Huntley, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has been in charge of organizing all arrangements. Sub-committees were formed to handle everything from opening and closing ceremonies, transportation, hotel accommodation, liaison, the conference site, programme of activities, media coverage, gifts, tours for our guests, security, traffic control and so on. Senior public officials have the responsibility to chair these subcommittees. Earlier this week, I met the Committee coordinating all arrangements, and can report to you that everything is in place.

I can also inform you, with satisfaction, that a major Conference Centre has been created on the sixth floor of the NIS building. This facility is a wonderful statement of the genius of our own architects. I want to congratulate the St. Lucian architects and various workers, led by Mr. Neville Skeete, who have worked in record time to prepare this Centre for the Meeting. The Saint Lucian worker is as good as any other worker anywhere in the world. I am proud of our workers. I hope you too are proud of them.

Thanks to the National Insurance Scheme, St. Lucia now has a conference venue, well placed, accessible, very comfortable and well equipped, which can attract major regional and international conferences. Not only will this be a financial asset, but in today’s fast moving world, it raises our profile as a business capital, able to get the attention of those who can help us tap needed resources for all our people. While St. Lucia does have some basic infrastructure, and a modern telecommunications system, which served us reasonably well in the eighties, the world of the twenty-first century will demand some major upgrading, and the acquisition of more modern infrastructure. The Conference site will be only the beginning, I hope, of new developments in this crucial area of our social and economic progress.

Major preparatory work has taken place in other venues. Mr. Gray Jackson and a team have been renovating the Cadet Pavilion. Mr. Calvin George and several workmen have been taking care of the Cultural Centre where the opening ceremony and a number of other events will be held. Cable and Wireless technicians are ensuring that the local, regional and international media have all the equipment they need. A well-equipped Communications Centre has been completed on the ground floor of the NIS Building. Mr. McStephen Aubertin has been supervising the construction of stages at the Mindoo Phillip Park where the closing ceremony will take place.

COST OF CONFERENCE

In all this preparation for such a major occasion, you must have questions about the cost to Government. Let me share some figures with you. The roads, which have been paved, are covered under the normal 1998/99 budgetary allocation of the Government. Government had planned to rehabilitate these roads for the people of St Lucia, conference or no conference. The overall cost of hosting this CARICOM Conference, excluding, as I indicated, the cost of road rehabilitation, is in the vicinity of Two million and seventy two thousand, five hundred and forty six dollars ($2,072,546). Of this, the contribution of Government is one million, five hundred and one thousand, six hundred and eighty eight dollars ($1,501,688). The local private sector has been overwhelmingly supportive, and their total contribution amounts to five hundred and seventy thousand, eight hundred and fifty eight dollars ($570,858). Cable and Wireless, The St. Lucia Air and Seaports Authority (SLASPA), the CL Financial Group including CLICO and Rodney Bay Ltd. are among major sponsors. I want to publicly express my gratitude to the local private sector who have so unselfishly and unreservedly helped the Government of St. Lucia to meet these costs. Such support will help in strengthening the bonds of cooperation and understanding between the public and private sectors. There is so much we can accomplish when we work together.

DISRUPTIONS IN TRAFFIC

During the next week, our daily routine will be affected. Some disruption will occur in the flow of traffic, particularly from Gros Islet to Castries. While our traffic department has put all necessary arrangements in place to ensure a smooth flow of traffic, motorists will encounter delays as delegates travel to and from the meeting site. I urge you to be understanding, courteous, and patient. Such attitudes will contribute to the success of this conference.

PROGRAMME OF EVENTS

The programme of events, much of which will be broadcast live to the region and beyond, includes a sports and communication night in which Caribbean sportsmen will be honoured; a Literature night in which the works of our Nobel Laureate, the Honorable Derek Walcott, will have a place of honour among the works of major Caribbean writers. A number of prominent Caribbean citizens will be awarded the Order of the Caribbean Community. Included among these will be Sir Garfield Sobers, thought by many to be the greatest cricketer of them all. Others are the President of Trinidad and Tobago, His Excellency A.N.R. Robinson; the former Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Rt. Hon. V.C.Bird, and the academic and historian, Sir Philip Sherlock of Jamaica.

One night I’m looking forward to, and encourage you to plan to take part in, will be the closing ceremony on Saturday, July 4th, at Mindoo Philip Park. This will be a special night of Caribbean music and culture. Sometimes, the business of CARICOM, its meetings, its signings of protocols and so on, can often seem to be far from the ordinary life of our Caribbean citizens. This is unfortunate, since it is the people’s business that the leaders are working on at these meetings. We have ensured that during this Conference, on CARICOM’s Jubilee, room will be made for the participation of our people. At that ceremony on Saturday, President Mandela will speak to St. Lucians and the Caribbean. So too will the Prime Minister of Jamaica, Hon Percival Patterson. The Caribbean Broadcasting Union will broadcast the gathering at Mindoo Phillip Park by satellite to all the world. A number of major St. Lucian and Caribbean performers will be on hand to entertain us after all the hard work of the Conference is completed.

CARIBBEAN ARTISTS IN OUR MIDST

I have been informed that some of these artistes include Herb Black, Mary G., Boo Hinkson and friends, as well as the reigning calypso king Ashanti. From Trinidad, we shall have Calypso Rose, Chalkdust, Relator, Gypsy and the Amoco Steel Orchestra. From Jamaica will come Marcia Griffiths and Break and Lace, with Fab Five. From Haiti, the famous and popular Tabou Combo and from Barbados the group Krosfyah are also scheduled to be here. Keep listening to the news for more details. Let me tell you that many of the CARICOM governments have met the expenses related to the appearing of their performers here. A token fee of EC$10.00, charged for entrance to the Park, will go to help our brothers and sisters in Montserrat.

CRICKET MATCH

Let me invite you to a special event - a cricket match! A number of CARICOM leaders will be playing a match against the University of the West Indies this Sunday, June 28th (before the Conference starts). This is happening at the Gros Islet playing field from 1.30 p.m. This should be a time of fun and relaxation before the Conference opens. I intend to score more than sixteen runs this time.

PRESS BRIEFINGS

Throughout the Conference, there will be daily press briefings to keep you and our Caribbean Community abreast of matters being discussed by the Heads. A major press conference with Mr. Mandela is being planned for the morning of July 4^th. Many of the Heads will also hold press conferences while they are here. All of this will be aired live locally, and via the Caribbean Broadcasting Union to our people everywhere.

In closing, let me say a heartfelt and sincere thanks to all who have worked so hard to make this Meeting in St. Lucia a success, Not only our Coordinating Committee and its subcommittees, but all of you are even now fixing the roads, beautifying the buildings, planting flowers.

I wish to thank also, our police force, our public officers, the architects, painters, carpenters, gardeners, the traffic authorities, the telecommunications people, the hotels and those who will be driving, transporting and taking care of our distinguished guests. Thanks again to the private sector who are contributing so very generously to the Meeting in St. Lucia. Let us all give a good account of ourselves.

By the way, I have been told that many people are pulling up or stealing the plants that have only recently been planted around the city and near the Conference site. It is more than time that such vandalism and thoughtless behaviour come to an end.

Mature citizenship means that we take pride in our surroundings and that we help each other to keep our cities and streets and villages clean and well decorated. Surely, it is more than time that we police ourselves in these matters. Please help hard working and conscientious St. Lucians by striving to build up, not to tear down.

Pray for me, our Government and the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, that God may help us to keep serving you with integrity, discipline and hard work. As your Prime Minister and incoming chairman of CARICOM, I intend to represent you to the best of by ability. Let us together give CARICOM and the Caribbean one of the best Conferences they have ever had. And let us reserve a special welcome for President Nelson Mandela and his delegation from South Africa.