Govt of St Lucia seeks to extend state of emergency

Saint Lucia: The government of St Lucia seeking to extend state of emergency.

A meeting of the House Of Assembly is settled for Tuesday, February 9th,2021, with proper paperwork conducted by Prime Minister Allen M Chastanet and Minister for Finance, External Affairs and the Public Service, Economic Growth, Job Creation, Minister for Commerce, Information Minister, Broadcasting Minister, Enterprise Development and Consumer Affairs Minister and Minister for Tourism and creative industries.

In this scheduled meeting, there some motions which will be considered and discussed:

Parliament supports the declaration of the state of emergency that was declared in the Gazette on February 3rd, 2021, as Statutory Instrument No. 27 of 2021 containing a statement that a public emergency has emerged as a consequence of the occurrence of 2019-n CoV, an infectious disease commonly known as lethal coronavirus for a further period of ninety days originating the 11th day of February 2021 and ending on May 16th, 2021.

Parliament, by approving the resolution, allows the draft Value Added Tax (Amendment of Schedule 3) Order, which amends Schedule 3 of the Act to unrestricted imports of personal items, food, clothing, toys, and other household consumables, contained in vessels for the period February 1st, 2021 to March 31st, 2021.

Discussion on COVID-19 protocols and management will also be scheduled, and the jury will talk about the current situation.

On the other hand, PM Chastanet posted about the recent activity in St Lucia. He wrote, “Got to Vieux Fort at 7:00 am this morning to witness the installation of the exterior Cladding Panels on the St Jude Hospital project.”

Furthermore, he added, As shared via an earlier post, 800 panels have to be installed to complete Phase 2 of the project. Simultaneously, work also continues on the electrical, sewerage, and other components of the project.

He stated this new construction type has several benefits, including energy efficiency, climate change Resilience, and mold resistance due to the cladding’s unique composition.

A Facebook user commented, “I appreciate the update and the progress — if as accurate as described. Nonetheless, I hope those claddings are made from high-quality heatproof, flameproof, fireproof, and smokeless materials … because we are talking about hospital patients here. Many of whom will be bedridden. It is known that some of the companies that manufacture such claddings do not observe the safety regulations and standards for the products they manufacture and often use cheap unsafe and hazardous materials to construct claddings.”

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