Opposition Leader Tillman Thomas intends to defy an order issued by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Lawrence Joseph to apologise to him for allegedly bring the house into disrepute.

Joseph issued the order after the government used its one-seat majority in Parliament to pass a motion aimed at censoring the Opposition Leader. Thomas' main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) had introduced a motion of no-confidence in Joseph's handling of the affairs of the House of Representatives.

Speaking at the just-ended convention of the congress party, the Opposition Leader told delegates that he had no intention of apologising to the House speaker and that Joseph was free to take whatever action he wanted to impose against him. Amidst cheering from supporters, Thomas said that the Speaker should be aware of his history of struggle and that anytime he took a position of an issue and felt right and strong about it there would be no backing down.

The NDC boss also used the occasion to outline some of the policies and programmes that Grenadians can expect from a Congress government once elected into office in the next general elections. He said the vision of the party for the economic development of Grenada is to strengthen the productive sectors to enhance growth and employment.

According to Thomas, the NDC believes that in order to expand the economy and generate employment, "we have to exploit our natural and marine resources". He spoke of emphasis to be placed on the key sectors of Agriculture, Tourism and Fisheries.

He announced that within 60 days in office, an NDC government would appoint a Chief Technical Officer (CTO) to play a key and pivotal role in the rebuilding of the agriculture sector. He noted that the government-established Agency for Rural Development (ARD) has been putting together a number of policy positions but nothing was being implements due to the lack of a CTO in the ministry.

He said: "Programmes are being put forward by the ARD but the ministry is not implementing anything. There is no Chief Technical Officer in the Ministry"."Within its first 60 days in government and NDC Government would appoint and establish a Research and Development Unit in the Ministry, he added.

He also outlined a package of Incentives to facilitate the Agricultural Sector.

- Concessions on Agricultural inputs, seeds and planting materials would be made available;

- Agricultural work brigades would be encouraged and supported to provide labour for the sector;

- Freezers would be (placed) at strategic locations on the island to protect and preserve farmers produce.

On fishing, Thomas said that the sector has the potential to generate more foreign exchange than "we presently realise and to create more employment for our citizens"

He stated that there is an urgent need to improve the storage capacity for fish on the island and also to expand the handling facilities.

In addition, steps needed to be taken to increase the export of Fish and that fishermen are experiencing difficulties because of inadequate storage. The Opposition Leader announced that an NDC Government would invest in fish processing technology: Technology for salting and smoking.

Thomas was also critical of the manner in which the Keith Mitchell-led New National Party (NNP) government was handling the security of the State.

He said the government is seemingly paying attention to security matters at both the airport at Point Salines and the main seaport in St. George's and not other parts of the country."....Little or no consideration is given to the other parishes of the country having all these Bays, inlets and coves. All the coastline with the exception of Grand Mal to True Blue are highly vulnerable to all types of criminal activities", he added.

"An NDC administration would take all the necessary steps to have Coast Guards in place to protect our bays, inlets and to assist our fishermen when they encounter difficulties", he said.