Government will also this year review the Citizenship Act of 1984 and devise a policy to govern media broadcasting.

Minister of Tourism Rene Baptiste in early January told Parliament she wanted a legislation to mandate that motorcyclists and their passengers wear helmets at all times when on the roads. Her comments came after the death of a 21-year-old constituent, who succumbed to injuries he sustained when he crashed his motorcycle in Kingstown.

And Governor General Sir Frederick Ballantyne said, “With such an ambitious legislative programme the Attorney-General’s office, the Public Service and Parliamentarians are in for a very busy year.”

The Throne Speech is written by the prime minister, the head of government, and read in Parliament by the Governor General, a ceremonial Head of State

Among the laws that are to be brought to parliament are Reform of the Family Law; Finance and Procurement Regulations; The Non-Governmental Organisations Bill; The Education Bill and related Regulations; The Police Bill and related regulations; and, The Prisons Bill and related regulations.

In addition to these, legislators will seek to enact a review of the Banana Industry Act and the Arrowroot Industry Act; a Public Service Act to incorporate the Civil Service Orders and the Public Service Commission Regulations; The Labour Relations Bills; The Occupational Health and Safety Bill; The Harmonised Banking Bill; and the legislation for Cricket World Cup 2007.

The other pieces of legislations to be tabled in Parliament are The Milton Cato Memorial Hospital Governance Bill; The Reform of the Physical Planning Act; The Small Business Development Bill; and, The National Tourism Authority Bill.

The Governor General noted that there were multiple tasks to be performed in the overall quest to develop this country in a sustainable manner in the interest of our people’s humanisation.

“In carrying out these many tasks it is necessary and desirable for the institutional capacity of the government to be enhanced,” Sir Frederick said, noting that government would continue the process of institutional change, administrative reform and capacity-building in several critical areas of the state administration.