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Contact:
Rose Marie Harris
Wednesday, April 09, 2003 - The issues of governance continue to be
viewed as a major challenge to government in the redefinition of development. It
is for this reason that government will undertake three major incentives in this
financial year.
In delivering the 2003 Throne Speech on Tuesday Her Excellency the Governor
General, Dame Pearlette Louisy, disclosed that the first major challenge is
reforming Saint Lucia’s Cabinet to make it more policy oriented, giving
Ministers greater responsibilities and making them more accountable in the
execution of their duties.
This strategy Dame Pearlette explained should encourage Cabinet to play a more
pro-active role in addressing strategic national concerns while exercising
greater supervision in the operations of government.
The Governor General said “Related to the first measure is the acceleration of
the process of public sector reform. A Task Force on Public Sector Reform
comprising some of the top public service managers as well as representatives of
the private sector and the public service unions is already in place. It is
charged with the responsibility of guiding the reform process and ensuring that
every public servant is challenged to play an active role in that process. My
government is clear that public sector reform is not a top-down process but one
that requires the broadcast and widest participation of all public servants in
identifying the bureaucratic and other bottlenecks that impede progress and in
shaping solutions for greater productivity and public accountability.”
Yet another challenge facing the government during this financial year is
developing an agenda for law reform and law revision, and to enact new laws to
empower the nation to respond more effectively to recent events which threaten
the peaceful development of democratic. “During the year just passed, work on
the revision of the laws of Saint Lucia continued on schedule and I fully expect
that this vital project will be completed on time, according to plan. It will
indeed to a great day, Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, when policy makers, judges,
magistrates, legal practitioners, law students and the general public can be
assured of an up-to-date set of laws in the conduct of their business.”
Government will this financial year, also continue to pursue the modernisation
of the island’s civil law which is already well underway. “During this session
of this Honourable Parliament, the first phase of the Civil Code Reform Project
will be completed and the process of drafting a new draft Civil Code should
commence early in the year 2004. My government expects that broad public
consultation on the draft Code will commence during the second half of that
year. In this new Session of Parliament, in addition to completing the enactment
of certain laws carried over from our previous session, my Government intends to
pay particular attention to the following areas: laws affecting regional and
international trade; laws to deal with the threat of terrorism; laws to offer
greater and more effective protection of our children and juveniles; laws to
introduce greater efficiencies in the administration of justice,” the Governor
General ended.
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