At a sitting of Parliament on Tuesday 10th March, 2020 the Prime Minister Hon. Allen Chastanet started with congratulatory remarks for several outstanding persons, groups and institutions in Sports and Banking.

The Prime Minister started by highlighting the recently passed 41st Independence Anniversary Celebrations stating that: “This year’s activities were among the best, both in terms of organisation and execution. We wish to say a big thank you to the various organizations and groups which played prominent roles in organizing these events. Thank you to the people of Saint Lucia for turning out once more to enjoy the various events celebrating our Independence.”

Prime Minister Chastanet went on to laud the excellence of our sporting personalities at home and abroad. Expressing that these amazing feats remind of how important it is to provide the necessary facilities and support to pave the way for others to grow, develop and excel nationally and internationally.

“Recently we` sent a team of young swimmers to the UANA Swim Cup in Peru and their outstanding performance shows the abundance of talent that we have here. Overall, the team won 6 medals, 7 Silver Medals and 1 Bronze medal. They ranked 5th out of twenty-five (25) countries, with Team Saint Lucia ranking second in overall points, thus setting new records in that competition.”

Special mention was made of Julien Alfred who continues to break national and international competition records.

To conclude his opening remarks to the House of Assembly, the Prime Minister focused on the outstanding achievement of 1st National Bank and their formidable presence regionally. Chastanet stated: “It must have excited all Saint Lucians recently when the news broke that our very own 1st National Bank had led a group of Indigenous Banks in the Eastern Caribbean in purchasing the operations of the Royal Bank of Canada in the sub region,” the Prime Minister continued. “This we consider a tremendous achievement for our Saint Lucian bank which has been around for over 80 years. This stands as a tribute to the vision and sense of nationalism of some outstanding nationals of our country who started what was known as the Saint Lucia Cooperative Bank or as the Penny Bank.”

The Prime Minister noted that the achievement is even more meaningful as our country marks our 41st Independence Anniversary.