00:00Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley has announced that he will be resigning from office on March
00:0916th.
00:11But before he does that, the PM says he will open the central block of the Port of Spain
00:15General Hospital on March 10th and the A&R Robinson Airport project on March 15th.
00:22He made the announcement at the commissioning of the renaming ceremony of Lisa Morris Julian
00:26Boulevard, formerly known as O'Mara Road.
00:29The former MP and government minister and two of her children die in the fire at their
00:34home on December 16th.
00:37The Prime Minister spoke of her public service before making his big announcement.
00:42As Prime Minister, I too am ending my tenure of public service, thankfully not sadly, but
00:55with a certain amount of satisfaction that I have been able to have colleagues around
01:01me and given the responsibility to chart the course of development of this country for
01:08a period of time.
01:10As he reflected on his political life, Dr. Rowley said not many people in public life
01:15realize it is for a short period.
01:18And as I conclude a number of assignments in these weeks, I do so with some satisfaction
01:27that my presence among my colleagues and the national community would have contributed
01:34to national development and I would have done something good with you and for you.
01:40The PM also spoke about the challenges of leadership, particularly the difficulty of
01:44managing national projects with limited resources.
01:49Like in the household, the national budgetary process is one where there is never enough
01:58to do all the things you want to do, especially when you want to do them at the same time.
02:05So therefore we have to accept that it is not feasible that we can do all that we want
02:11to do at the same moment that such things are required to be done.
02:17We have to plan.
02:19We have to execute.
02:20We have to prioritize.
02:21Dr. Rowley says that every government minister or local government councillor advocates for
02:27the completion of projects for their constituency, as he reflected on the work his government
02:32has done for the benefit of the nation.
02:35You would see that we've done work in the east on the Toco Main Road, the upgrade of
02:40the Toco Main Road.
02:41That's still going on.
02:42We've done phase one.
02:43It should be on phase two now.
02:45And when you travel on phase one, you'll see the difference that it makes to go there
02:52and be on an upgraded piece of roadway.
02:56We've done in the west.
02:57You heard mentioned this morning of the Diego Martin Highway, the overpass, and the turnings
03:01around West Moorings, which has created a completely new town centre area in the west.
03:08We've done so in the southwest on the Modern Highway 2.14.
03:13We're working around Chagwanas, and of course, we are on the main north-south road.
03:24During the ceremony, the Prime Minister paid a tribute to Lisa Morris-Julian, in whose
03:29memory the road was renamed, describing her as someone who was hardworking, humble, faithful,
03:35visionary and respectful.
03:38We named this connected road in honour of the representation that she gave in her short
03:47public life in Parliament, acknowledging that she did serve much longer at the local level
03:56And throughout, as a teacher, her entire adult life in the Arima area and in the national
04:04community was one about service and dedication to the people she loved so much.
04:11We continue to talk about her.
04:14We continue to miss her.
04:17But in naming this connected road in her honour, it is said that once you are remembered, you
04:24are not dead.
04:27And if that is so, then Lisa Morris-Julian will remain among us and generations to come.
04:37Charla Kesto, TV6 News.
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