House Of Assembly Convenes Tomorrow

A Sitting of the House of Assembly is scheduled for Tuesday, November 21, with papers to be laid by the Honourable Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Economic Development and the Youth Economy, Justice and National Security; the Honourable Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture and Information; the Honourable Minister for Public Service, Home Affairs, Labour and Gender Affairs; and the Honourable Minister for Commerce, Manufacturing, Business Development, Cooperatives and Consumer Affairs.

The Motions for consideration are as follows:

1. BE IT RESOLVED that Parliament by affirmative resolution approves the draft Value Added Tax (Amendment of Schedule 3) (No. 3) Order which amends Schedule 3 of the Act to —

• (a) exempt imports of personal items, food, clothing, toys and other household consumables, contained in barrels for the period commencing from the 1st day of November, 2023 and terminating on the 29th day of February, 2024;
• (b) exempt imports of toys, food supplies and care packages by a member of the House of Assembly for the benefit of children, the vulnerable and needy persons in the constituency of the member of the House of Assembly, for the period commencing from the 1st day of November, 2023 and terminating on the 31st day of January, 2024.

2. BE IT RESOLVED that Parliament authorizes the Minister of Finance to borrow an amount of USD6,000,000.00 (the loan) from the African Export-Import Bank to finance the construction of social infrastructure and other facilities damaged or destroyed by Tropical Storm Bret, under an Education Rehabilitation ClimateLinked Facility;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that —

• (a) the loan is repayable in seven years commencing from the date of disbursement of the loan inclusive of a grace period of two years;
• (b) the loan is repayable in equal semi-annual instalments on the 30th day of June and the 31st day of December of each year after the grace period;
• (c) interest is payable at a rate of six per cent per annum.

3. BE IT RESOLVED that Parliament authorizes the Minister of Finance to borrow an amount of USD1,203,224.00 (the loan) from the CARICOM Development Fund (the Fund) to finance the Patience Community Water Supply Project;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that —

• (a) the loan is repayable in ten years commencing from the first due date after a grace period of two years following the date of the first disbursement;
• (b) the loan is repayable in forty equal or approximately equal and consecutive quarterly instalments;
• (c) the loan payments commence on the 30th day of March, the 30th day of June, the 30th day of September and the 30th day of December of each year;
• (d) the interest is payable at a rate of three per cent per annum on the amount of the loan disbursed and outstanding.

The following Bills are down for consideration:

1. Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment)
2. Invest (St. Lucia) (Amendment)
3. Climate Change
4. Civil Aviation (Amendment)
5. Regulated Substances

Tuesday’s Sitting is scheduled to commence at 10:00a.m. The Sitting of the Senate is scheduled for Thursday, November 23rd, 2023 at 10:00 a.m.

SOURCE: Office of the Parliament