Ladies and gentlemen, sisters and brothers, patriots all…
As another holiday season comes to a close, and as we all look forward to 2018 as a year of further consolidation and increasing opportunities, we have every reason to give thanks as a nation.
Our Lord and Saviour has blessed us all and has watched over us, bringing us through 2017 relatively unharmed.
As Prime Minister, I have had the honour and privilege to work in your service, an opportunity for which I will be forever grateful, and one which I will never take for granted.
My inspiration has always come from you the people, who, through your determination, have been the centre of this emerging growth and prosperity.
The workers of this nation, in particular, have been primarily responsible for where we are today, having ended a 4th year of economic growth.
Your sacrifice and your efforts have afforded us the opportunity to consolidate all of our successes, and have laid the foundation for future growth that will see more people lifted out of poverty, and more of our citizens put back to work.
Take full honour for this air of excitement and expectation in our country. The benefits shall all be yours.
This coalition we have built through the united efforts of our social partners — the trade unions; churches, the business community, and the non-governmental organisations — has been admired throughout the region as well as within the international community.
Ordinary people yearning for themselves and their families have made it clear that Project Grenada cannot be abandoned; if anything, it must be strengthened. For the empowerment of our people lies in our continued unity.
With our faith restored, we are particularly hopeful about 2018. How far we can go, we know, is largely dependent on our ability to keep this united front we have built.
We must not, and shall not detour, through recklessness and wild ambition, from this path; nor test fate via speculative experiments. Nor must we take our successes for granted.
Proverbs 14 reminds us that: All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
Those of us who have been blessed must continue to share our testimony, so as to encourage our brothers and sisters.
It is often said that success breeds success.
And while we are thankful for the economic strides in 2017, we must also recognise the sterling achievements of our sportsmen and women, particularly in the last quarter of this year.
As a caring passionate nation, we applaud them for their brilliance to close out the year with impressive displays, especially in cricket, boxing, swimming and women’s football.t
Rest assured, our investment in our athletes and sporting facilities will remain a top priority in the new year.
In 2018, we must continue to look out for each other, through this growing sense of community, which we once again exhibited so well during the Christmas season.
We are thankful that we have come through the season, without any major incidences. You have shown through discipline and purpose, what this nation is about.
Let us keep it that way.
When history is written, its authors will take note of this era of Grenadian rebirth; and your children will hail your successes.
In 2018, a new future beckons, and destiny is shaped by all the people who work in the vineyard.
In the gospel of Matthew, the Lord said, he who has been faithful over a few things, shall be made master over many things.
And so, to each and every one of you, I extend my best wishes for a very prosperous 2018.
Continue to be faithful in what you have and what you do, and our God will make you master over more.
May God continue to bless you and your family; and may God bless our nation.
GIS