Prime Minister David Thompson made this clear yesterday, declaring: "We are going to hit the ground running."

He made the comment during a brief, impromptu news conference outside the office of his constituency branch in Carters, St John, before the start of a victory motorcade.

"What I am focusing on now is really constituting the Government and giving emphasis to the priorities we set out in the manifesto," he said.

High on the agenda was finalising the annual Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, he indicated.

"I have not even seen the Estimates so far drafted," he said. "I received some briefs, which I will look at a little later on the weekend."

He hinted the priorities could include tackling the problems of St John and establishing councils to deal with matters in constituencies as "that should not require a lot of the bureaucracy and could be dispensed with in a non-partisan manner".

"There's a lot that needs to be done in St John," he said, mentioning the network of roads, the housing infrastructure and the St John Polyclinic.

"There's a lot that needs to be done and we're going to get it done," he told reporters.

He also restated his Government's commitment to "put a plan in place to ensure that Kensington (Oval) is not a white elephant".

As for the party's manifesto pledges, the Prime Minister said: "We propose to stick to them."

The DLP won 20 of the 30 seats in last Tuesday's general election, with the others going to former Prime Minister Owen Arthur's Barbados Labour Party.

Yesterday, hundreds of DLP supporters, most of them wearing yellow shirts with the I Wid Dem slogan, joined Thompson in celebrating the victory with a motorcade through the streets of St John.

"We're saying 'thank you' to the people of St John for the confidence that they have reposed in me," he said.

A national ecumenical service and swearing-in ceremony for the other members of the new Cabinet will be held tomorrow from 3:30 p.m. at Kensington Oval.

The Prime Minister gave no hint as to who would be in his Cabinet but said his Government had "areas of emphasis" that were different to those of the last administration. The configuration of ministries and allocation of portfolios would reflect that, he said. (TY)