 Hello guys and welcome to another exciting interview with me, Danielle, for Stepping Up and today we will be focusing on DigiGov. I'd like to introduce my guest. His name is Marlon Narciss and he is the Acting Director for Public Sector Modernization. Good day. How are you? I'm good. Thank you. Thank you so much for joining us here today and we know that DigiGov has been the phrase everywhere. We've been hearing about it so we want to really get to zone into what exactly this is. So if you don't mind, let us know a little bit about DigiGov and what is the genesis of DigiGov. Okay, thank you very much. I'd just like to thank you first for inviting me to your show. It gives me an opportunity to further let the public know of what's happening with the DigiGov platform and what's happening with the Department of Public Service. Again, thank you. DigiGov is short for Digital Government Platform. And in 2018, the government asked us to develop an ICD roadmap for the implementation of ICD, any government, throughout government. And we thought that we can use the DigiGov platform as a catalyst for the growth of the ICD industry. We were actually in the process of doing a national ICD policy and sectoral strategy alignment refresh. And we thought that if we could implement an integrated service platform, that would spur a lot of interest in the national ICD policy, but also provide government a path towards digital transformation and also to get buying from the public and support through access to government services online. What can you describe your activities? What are some of the activities that were undertaken to now be able to launch DigiGov? Yes, so we undertook a very vigorous process. So before we even began any implementation, there was an initiation phase for the project, which focused on four primary areas. One was the business process re-engineering exercise that needed to take place to identify the various services and processes that needed to be re-engineered and revised. Secondly, we looked at the legal and regulatory framework that exists currently, identified the gaps and then made recommendations on what needs to be put in place from the legal regulatory angle to support the implementation of the DigiGov platform. We also looked at the infrastructure requirements to support the platform as well. And also- When you say infrastructure requirements, what are you talking about? We're referring to the broadband networks that currently reside in St. Lucia and this was timely as well because the government just finished the implementation of the government wide area network and this network would support our common platform to be able to launch the DigiGov from. So this was timely, as I said. The other component was the change management for user adoption framework. And this focused heavily on persons, the users, the internal users, the government workers, the public servants, who will be able to- who will be now going for this paradigm shift on how they provide services. We needed to make sure that we had re-trained them, re-skilled them, re-tooled them so that they would be able to provide that back and supported the platform once somebody applies for services in government. So as you mentioned that, I was not coming to how are St. Lucia's ready to benefit the platform that you guys have been creating. And we know as of recent that you guys have launched the licensing, being able to access paying your fees, etc., to get the new licensing. So why should St. Lucia's- what's the importance for St. Lucia's to jump on board? Okay, government has recognized for many, many years now that the expectations of its citizens have shifted. We all use social media. We all use shop online. And so it was important for the government now to step up to the plate. We needed to be able to provide our citizens the same kind of convenience of access to government services, interaction with government. And so this is one of the the underlying principles behind the development of the platform. And so at the Department of Public Service, we conducted several surveys in order for us to understand exactly what were the needs of the people. And this was one of the critical things that we undertook in just trying to justify the process, justify the project and see how best we can implement this platform to meet the needs of the citizens. What were some of the things that you discovered during your research phase? Actually, the question is, we did some online questionnaires as well as in-person questionnaires and we found that over 80% of persons indicated that they would be willing to access a government service online. And that actually is indicative of what we're seeing today. So for example, we've been online from the 25th of June 2020. We have had over 700 registrations and over 390 transactions of persons either applying for a new license or replacement of a driver's license. And what is key is that 40% of those transactions are actually online transactions. So this is very, very encouraging. And we anticipate that once the platform continues to material and we put more and more services online, we would get more and more persons actually using the service as we intend it to be. Key as well with this process is that for our digital transmission journey, we want to ensure that nobody's left behind. So even if you are, for example, you're not too familiar with the process or even familiar with using a computer, or you're an unbanked individual who don't have a credit card that could actually go online and pay or debit card that you can go online and pay, we still allow for you to be interfaced with the platform. So you could actually go online, apply for the service and once you've gotten to the point to pay, you could select to pay over the counter. And that over the counter process would then allow you to go to any Treasury office to pay for that service. So that means it's almost like you register, you do your thing and you get a receipt to pay or an invoice to pay rather so that even if that you don't have the card, you could still come up. You could still go and pay. Once you've registered and you've made that application, the platform also interfaces with you directly. So to notify you that your application was received, when you pay it will say that we received your payment, your application is being processed. Once it's approved, we also allow you to know that it's approved or once that your driver's license is printed, the platform also alerts you and informs you that you can then come to collect your card. So there will be no longer a situation where somebody is guessing by wondering if my card is ready, if it's printed or not and several of the activities that will unhindrance to the timely service like the camera is down, we now allow in the citizen, the user, to put their own picture online. So you could take your own picture, how you like to see your face. Once it's in, once it's according to the specifications, you could then upload that to the platform and that would be what we have come up with. So you're almost aggregating your own profile. Correct. So my next question for you is, due to the nature of the project, what can you say to St. Lucians who have concerns about being protected online? And we know that, you know, new levels, you have new levels they like to say that you have new problems and you know how to create ways to protect persons, personal information. And what can you say to that to St. Lucians who are very wary? Because you know on the first part of it too, you have a lot of St. Lucians who don't like online at all, you understand. So what is it that you have to say to encourage them and what your office has been doing to do so? Right. So one of the key aspects of the project was the legal and regulatory framework. So in our gap analysis, we recognize that in 2011, the government of St. Lucia enacted three pieces of legislation, e-government legislation. One was the Data Protections Act. The second was the Electronic Crimes or the Computer Misuse Act and also the E-Transactions Act. All of them were passed in 2011. However, only the Electronic Crimes Act was commenced in 2018. And so there was more or less this big gap that existed between legal protection for electronic transactions and also legal protection for data as we said. So essentially government was operating the banking sector, the business sector was operating without these pieces of legislation commenced. So one thing that we, one of the developers of our project is to have those pieces of legislation commenced. So on the 25th of June of this year, the E-Transactions was commenced, was made effective I should say. And also we're currently speaking with the Ministry of Information to have the Data Protections Act also commenced sometime in June or July of this year. So once this is in place, we would have the part of the legal protections in place to provide some sort of ease of concern for the public. So you know that government as a data controller has certain requirements, certain obligations to protect your data. And likewise there are also specific remedies for persons, for the individual whose data is being shared. So you share your data with government, government has a certain responsibility and vice versa. Yes, also going along with the maturity of the project there are several other pieces of legislation that are going to be coming into force soon because we'll be doing more and more integrations. We want to ensure that you are custodian of one side of data, I'm a custodian of another side of data, but we need to share that data, we need to collaborate. So there is an electronic data interchange legislation that we also want to focus on. As well there is a national authentication framework which will come up in the forefront of the project, which would allow for every citizen to have an electronic on e-profile on the platform. And with that e-profile you will be able to interact with government at your convenience. We're also looking at education of the citizens this is key for security and for safety on music. So we have a aggressive education campaign that we will be following to ensure that we provide safety tips for persons as they go along on the platform. And the platform itself is very safe, we've taken, we've left no stone unturned rather to ensure the cybersecurity of that data that exists on the platform. And the integration process will just continue and we will go from strength to strength building on the security as we go along. Nice. And you heard from the man himself, step up and join the platform guys, we'll be right back. Introducing DigiGov, the government of St. Lucia's online platform that allows any resident of St. Lucia to access and pay for government services via computer, tablet or mobile device. Using DigiGov is very easy and secure but you must create a DigiGov account before you can get access to DigiGov e-services. Here's what you will need to create your DigiGov account, a valid driver's license, an NIC number and a valid email address. To create an account, open your web browser and type www.digigov.gov.govt.lc. In the top right corner of the page, click the sign up button. Next, complete the form provided enter in your nationality, ID type, NIC passport and driver's license number and then click the check button. A self registration screen will open and will display your existing information. Now enter a valid email address in the email field and click the submit button. An email will be automatically sent to you with your new login and password details. Take note of your username and password. Return to login page and login using your NIC number and password sent to you via email. Next, create a new password by typing your password in the new and confirmed password field. Click submit. After creating new password, you will be redirected to your profile page to update your home address and contact details. Click submit to update your profile. A notification screen will pop up indicating you have successfully updated your profile. Click OK to complete the profile update process. Congratulations! You have successfully created your DigiGov account. If for any reason you are unable to login, please visit the Division of Transport with a valid form of ID, a valid email address and your NIC card for assistance or call Division of Transport at 468-6300, DigiGov, serving people and businesses of that island alone. Welcome back everyone and if you're just joining us, we are exploring the world of DigiGov and I'm here again with Mahler Narsis and he's the Acting Director of Public Sector Modernization. So before the break, we just had a long discussion about what exactly DigiGov is and how it has a lot of benefits for citizens. Now I want to talk about, because this is the direction the world is basically going, do you anticipate that a lot of people lose their jobs and you know, have you guys considered that? Yes, we have. So this is a two or three-prong response to that question because I noticed something that persons always think of especially if you are an officer working in the department and there is a lot of ICT type of initiatives, you don't wonder but you know, am I going to lose my job? And the answer is no. So the DigiGov ecosystem is going to catalyze the improvement in government services, make government more efficient, more productive, allow customers to access the service at their convenience and in doing so, it would now require government to be a lot more responsive to the needs of the citizen. And so our response to this is to retrain, retool, reskill the staff that are currently within the department and also as part of our ecosystem to build value around the DigiGov platform and grow this ecosystem that we anticipate that will. When you mentioned grow value around the system, give us some examples. Okay, so a couple of examples. We're going from grassroots way up to the highest paying jobs that you can think about software development, mobile app development. So you know, we would encourage the private sector to build DigiGov apps that are specific to some of the functions that we anticipate that will occur as the platform materials, right? So somebody could build an app to support the police work. So one of the key features of the driver's license, which I will look to later on, is the development of that QR code. So our vision is the QR code. I'm sorry because you know, the whole technological world, you know, that's not my forte, but you know, we had to learn and to know to get it. So QR code. Yes. So it's similar to those barcodes you see the behind your groceries and stuff like that, right? So you're going to scan that code and get the bio data of the whole of the card, right? Yeah. So over time, we anticipate that we will move into e-ticketing, for example. And again, it goes back to your e-profile. You have an e-profile on the platform, government know who you are, you provide us with your contact information because you need to come in, we need to contact you when you contact, when you apply for a service. So these, all of these types of things would be integrated. So we could send out bids so that we can, we could get a developer to build that, that as part of the, so that will support the platform. So we're building the ecosystem. At the grassroots level as well, and we're talking about jobs, at the grassroots level as well, we have a concept within the platform which is called service bureau agent. And in the infancy now, we would have service bureau agents situated at the department of transport. Remember earlier, I spoke about persons not being able to complete the entire transactions on their own because they may not be, we don't be familiar with the platform or the technology. They could use the, they could use the service of a service bureau agent to assist them if applying, right? But this is just one component when you're at the department. We want to grow this to where you have a service bureau agent situated within an ICT center, a human resource development center. So we're going to the communities with this concept and also allowing an individual to say, okay, can I function as a registered service bureau agent for government services and start your own business with that? So in every community you could have two, three, four, five, six service bureau agents who assist the public in applying for the government service. And in tune, they would then have their own business and be able to get pay for that service that they will be providing. So it's almost like a transaction cost that the citizen would pay to that service bureau agent for assisting them in applying for the service. Again, we're recognizing that a large part of our population is unbanked, persons are not equipped with the technology. So it is twofold in the sense that we're creating more jobs and also we're providing an opportunity for persons to be able to interact with the platform. And to support the platform. And to support the platform as we go along. And the mobilization. Exactly. The call to action. The call to action. So as you said, a lot of solutions has to be unbanked. What are some of the lessons learned in this entire process of implementation? What can you say to the solution psyche when talks about technology and the way we think about e-commerce and being online? So what are some of the lessons that your team has learned going through this process? I will start by speaking of what's on the inside, what we've seen through our change management processes. We recognize that the user adoption is very, very, very important. Train, train, train, coach, coach, coach, guide, guide, guide. And I say that because, you know, we had one, I can give you one example of what occurred on the 26th of June in both North and South, almost simultaneously. There was an issue where the users were not, the backend users, the transport, the Department of Transport users, they encountered a scenario that was not anticipated. And the very first reaction, knee-jerk reaction, was to go back to what they knew. And there was an error where they actually printed some of the old cards during the course of the day, when from the 25th we had planned not to print any old cards anymore. So any existing cards that were already printed had to be disbursed, but the plan was not to print any cards. So the staff's first inclination was to go back to what they knew. And we recognize that it is part of the change management process that it is something that you have to massage continuously and allow persons to grow into the platform. So you only go into the platform when you get that confidence in the use and you understand and appreciate exactly what the platform can do for your work and how best and how it can improve your productivity and your efficiency in conducting your day, your work on a daily basis. So that's one of the things that we recognize very early on in our once we roll out. We also look at our modes of communication. The public chose to communicate with us a lot through social media. And these mediums we interact on a personal level with the public as well. Because going back to our tagline, serving people and businesses with that island love. And so we interacted on social media, but also encouraged persons to email us. So we emailed them to give them direct feedback on the questions that they had. And also the suggestions. We got a lot of valuable suggestions, which were actually factored into the platform in the subsequent versions of the platform. We probably have like two or three small minor changes that were done based on the feedback that we received from the public already. We forgot to do the other components where we recognize going forward. Some of the lessons is the mode of communication. Persons enjoy primarily contacting us through the social media platforms. But we wanted to try to make it a little bit more personal. So we respond directly to every question, legitimate question, and also send email feedback to persons once we recognize the input. And we've factored in several new features into the platform based on that feedback that we've received from the public thus far. SMS is also a good feature that we've been using. Unfortunately, in our requirements gathering, WhatsApp was not available for our region for business. So it is still a work in progress for us to get at least WhatsApp notifications onto the platform. But all in all, we've been having a lot of good responses thus far from the public. Good feedback that we've adopted onto the platform. And we think that that heightened expectation that we know that the public has also fueled our motivation to really do our best and to provide a platform that really gets the public engaged and excited with just connecting to government and accessing those services and their convenience. I like to say that because when we go on Amazon, we're chilling home, we put our smartphones and we're shopping, we're surfing the internet and we want to be able to have that similar type of experience once somebody connects with government to access government services. Well, I for one, I look forward to not having to take that long line at transport board to do these sort of things. And I think it has been a long time coming for these services to be accessed online. So kudos to you guys. We're going to be right back, guys. The government of St. Lucia is making it easier to transact business online with DigiGolf. DigiGolf is a safe and secure platform that you can use 24-7 with reduced processing time. Renewing your license is now easier than ever and it is quick and convenient too. Renew anytime and anywhere using a mobile, tablet or desktop. The use of a single window allow you to input your information speedily. Pay for your license renewal online with a master or visa card and receive notifications of your application process in real time via email and SMS. Never get caught with an expired license again. Renew today with DigiGolf. Welcome back, guys. And right now, we are going to join the DigiGolf platform. Mr. Narces, take it away. So you said every solution should and is asked to join the platform. So just once again, let us know the importance of joining the platform and then give us a first-hand view of how we can join the platform. Thank you for that. So it's very important that everybody registers onto the platform. Our proof-of-concept services is from the Department of Transport for renewal of your driver's license, as well as the replacement if the driver's license is lost or not damaged. So the first thing is that you could register and if your license is going to be expired in the next three months, you could actually apply from now. The main advantage now of applying for registering is that once you register on the platform, the platform will send you a notification or reminder of when your driver's license is going to expire. So at least you will not have any reason to go be driving on the road without a valid driver's license. The other major component of this also is that we're going to be implementing the national authentication framework where every solution on permanent resident will have an electronic profile with government. And with that profile, you'll be able to apply for all government services, you'll be able to participate, send government feedback on different initiatives that will be coming on. In fact, I could also mention the government is setting up a payment process so that we could have to support the telephone. So any telephone in the future, somebody could pledge online on the government platform as well as pay if they want to pledge and pay immediately. Would it be fair to say that joining the platform is like having an online ID card? Yes, you will have your multipurpose ID. So again, as I said, the eventual goal with the national authentication framework is to have a unique multipurpose ID number that represents you at every agency of government. So within the civil status registry, within IRD, within NIC, within the electoral department, your record will be established within the platform to point to all of these databases. So it is very, very important to register, not just because it's a driver's license, but there are so many other benefits coming on the road once the platform goes through maturity and the implementation process. So let's see how easy it is to join. Using DigiGov is very easy and secure, but you must create a DigiGov account before you can get access to DigiGov e-services. Here's what you will need to create your DigiGov account, a valid driver's license, an NIC number, and a valid email address. To create an account, open your web browser and type www.digigov.govt.lc. In the top right corner of the page, click the sign up button. Next, complete the form provided enter in your nationality, ID type, NIC passport, and driver's license number, and then click the check button. A self-registration screen will open and will display your existing information. Now enter a valid email address in the email field and click the submit button. An email will be automatically sent to you with your new login and password details. Take note of your username and password. Return to login page and login using your NIC number and password sent to you via email. Next, create a new password by typing your password in the new and confirmed password field. Click submit. After creating a new password, you will be redirected to your profile page to update your home address and contact details. Click submit to update your profile. A notification screen will pop up indicating you have successfully updated your profile. Click OK to complete the profile update process. Congratulations! You have successfully created your DigiGov account. If for any reason you are unable to login, please visit the division of transport with a valid form of ID, a valid email address, and your NIC card for assistance. Or call division of transport at 468-6300, DigiGov, serving people and businesses with that island love. With the implementation of the QR code for on the driver's license, the police would download a secure QR code scanner that will be provided by the DigiGov platform and only the police would be able to use this QR code to scan this QR code. So even though you try to use your regular QR code scanner, it will not scan this QR code. So if I could just give you a demonstration. Once you scan the QR code and then all of the information to the front of the card would then be displayed on the QR code information here. So this would allow the police to validate the card information. And as I said in the future, we're going to be having real-time connectivity to the database so the police would be able to validate in real time the current, most current information that you would have on your profile. Like if the license is valid, if you have any outstanding tickets. If it's lost, all of the damage just comes very, very handy because an individual may see my driver's license is lost and it is not lost and try to get another one and try to receive the police. In that way, once the police scans the lost driver's license, the QR code informed them, hey, this is a lost driver's license. So essentially, you could now then prosecute this individual for using. For lying. Exactly. Also with the implementation of the QR code, the police would be able to, as I said, monitor the validity of your driver's license to see what is lost and what damage. As well as if you have any offenses there because eventually we will be integrating with the courts. Coincidentally, the same company that we're working with for this platform also just recently built the platform for the courts, the elitigation platform. So integrating there would be seamless for us going forward. So we want to again indicate to the public that, hey, you have a responsibility as a digital citizen to yourself and to others. So it would be better if you pay online and not get fined. But don't you think that might be a deterrent now for people to not want to be a digital citizen because that means they have direct continuous access to anything about me. And as you said, the courts, if have any warrant for arrest or anybody, it can be a deterrent. Well, I think it's just a benefit of modernization. And as we go along, I think more and more integration of our daily lives will occur with technology, both for our social lives as well as our interaction with our government. Thank you very much for that, Daniel. I really appreciate the opportunity to be here to further give the public some more information about the DigiGov platform. We have a self-registration process that is absolutely important, and we want to encourage everybody to register online so that they can beat the line. With DigiGov, we anticipate to rule out another 152 services within the next two years. And it is to the benefit of everybody. So we'd like you to register at www.digigov.gov.govt.lc. The registration process will not be seamless for everybody because based on our review and assessment of the current database at the Department of Transport, there were some anomalies where you may have found one or two persons with the same NIC number and vice versa. Because in the past, it was an electronic platform, but then there was a lot of manual keying of data so you know the errors occurred in that process. So we want to clean up that data in order for us to move along to the national authentication framework where we'll be guaranteed and assured that hey, whoever is applying for a service is the actual person behind the computer. So once again, I would like to invite everybody to register at www.digigov.govt.lc and encourage everybody to follow us on social media at www.digigov.govt.lc. So again, Tanya, thank you very much. I'm really happy to have been here and be your guest on the show. And I'm hoping that once we get to our next phase or exciting rollout, we're going across the spectrum for local and for businesses as well. Application for your passport is also on the agenda as well. So we've done all of the groundwork. The government has been fully supportive of this project. We have the finances, so we're moving along as a very rapid pace. At full speed ahead. Well, I must say that I am looking forward to beating the line. And I know all of St. Lucia is looking forward to beating the line in the near future. Once again, thank you very much. Thank you guys very much. I hope you enjoyed our interview with Mr. Malanasis as we dig into the world of DigiGov. Don't forget to step up and join the platform so you can enjoy all the ease and access to governmental services online. And now it's time for Linkup. For this episode, we'll be having a chat with the High Commissioner for St. Lucia in the UK. So you know, for Linkup, we like to reach out to our diaspora and to just find out how everyone is doing. And of course, for the past few segments, we've been basically reaching out to the different ambassadors. So I must thank you so much for allowing us to chat with you this morning, you know, this morning and this afternoon over there. But you know, we want to find out what exactly your office has been doing, you know, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. And I want to start off by zoning into the rules and the responsibility as High Commissioner and what exactly has your office been up to? We have learned to adapt. It is since March that we all have been working from home, but we have still been able to facilitate our solution diaspora. And also, of course, who have relatives who are stranded in St. Lucia and persons wanting to know what's going on in St. Lucia. The High Commission is the center where everybody calls and everybody wants to know how they can get help. And so it has been difficult. It has been tough. But we have learned to adjust. And so we have set up our London chat room. So all of our staff, we are on one chat room and we share information that way and we keep in touch. And then when we need to go into the office to process passports and persons wanting those certificates or whatever, we go and get it done and come back out. So far so good. All of our staff members are in good spirits and we are continuing to facilitate our role up here as the High Commission. Nice. So how do you continue to represent St. Lucia? Because as much as the pandemic has changed the face of how everyone is working, how do you continue to represent St. Lucia at the WTO, the IMO, the Commonwealth? So just share some light with us in terms of the things that you continue to do despite just facilitating St. Lucia's who make requests all the time and supporting them over there. My life has now become a just spending all my time on my laptop or my computer at virtual meetings. So the WTO still continues to function despite the fact that the offices are closed. The Commonwealth Secretariat still continues to function. The IMO continues to function. And so we meet, I said, virtually, nearly every day there are different meetings taking place. But we're still getting the job done. Your Excellencies, so we know that you've held a post for this over four years. Can you share with us what would you say is some of your successes or some of the things that you're really proud of that I guess your office has been able to accomplish in these past four years? In terms of accomplishments, as I've pointed out, it's a lot of my work as a High Commissioner is in terms of representation. So WTO is an important trading organization and where a lot of trade issues are discussed. And if you're not at the table, especially at a small island developing state, you get left out and your voice is not heard. So I've made it up points to be at those meetings. And we have been pushing our own agenda at those meetings. For instance, we have been promoting the need for greater consideration for small island development states like ours, developing states like ours, and trying to implement some kind of resilience yardstick for our small island states. Because as you know, climate change has a major impact on the world and one of the things everybody is discussing. And the way you measure one's economic performance or state is they use your GDP. And we keep saying that that is not a true yardstick to measure small island developing states like ours, where despite the fact that we are not the main contributors to climate change, but we feel the impact. And as we've been discussing even at the Commonwealth, and we had what we call the force meeting a couple of weeks ago, again, that these are the small island states within the Commonwealth. We are looking at what are the new measures and how can we get additional support for our small islands. So in addition to seeing about the needs of our diaspora and nationals in the UK, making representation to various departments of the United Kingdom and some countries in Europe, we still have to make our voices heard at forums like the World Trade Organization, like the Commonwealth, like the IMO, where we seek to get benefits for St. Lucia. For instance, we have been in dialogue with the IMO to get St. Lucia to get our ship registry and to be able to get training for our young people on working to get them working on freight ships, just like we've had training for them at the I'm working on to work on the cruise lives. We have been discussing with the UK how we can improve on trade with the UK now with brexit having been done. And we also have the responsibility to dialogue with our counterparts in Europe on how we can collaborate to see what's going on in Europe, because at one time we only with the European Union, but we've written out of the European Union and wanting to play a bigger role within the Commonwealth, a lot of dialogue is taking place there. So there is so much on our plate that we have to do. But at the same time, we have to continue to collaborate with our diaspora, keeping them informed of developments in St. Lucia, encouraging them to invest in St. Lucia and not just investing in terms of sending remittances back to St. Lucia, but investing in the development, the economic development of the country by investing in government bonds, investing in in small hotel development. And I've been employing them to have a change of mindset. Instead of those of them who want to retire in St. Lucia when they've completed their work here, the old thing has been to give somebody to build a house for them and then the house sits empty and then people break into the houses, etc. And I keep telling them that mindset has to change. They need to invest in housing, up to the house into a housing pool for rent and it becomes an asset to them and it can generate income for them while they're here. So that can help pay their mortgages and then whenever they need their home, it's theirs. They're free to get it. So a lot of work is being done. Well, kudos to you and your office and thank you so much for always doing what you guys do because we do know that the High Commission office in the UK for St. Lucia plays a very important role in protecting and supporting our St. Lucia's in the diaspora. As we wrap up and also we had the closing of the borders, etc. We had all the issues with the repatriation of our nationals and working with the airlines to get them back to St. Lucia. We have a list of more than 160 St. Lucia's who were desirous of coming home. So we had to then shift them to British Airways and ask them to book in there because that's much cheaper for them. Years they have to wait, they'll have to wait a little longer but when you think of the cost, it makes sense for them to and the borders being open. They are going to come down and we know for a fact that British Airways will be coming down regularly as of the 25th of July because St. Lucia has handled the COVID-19 situation so well. We have been rewarded by being one of those islands. So I want to congratulate our government, I want to congratulate all of the persons who have been working hard in St. Lucia. Those on the front line to make St. Lucia a safe place and a place that everybody wants to go. I mean every time we get St. Lucia, everybody wants to go to St. Lucia. Everybody wants to come to see Lucia. It's true. Yeah but I have lots to do still. I want to see that all of our St. Lucia's go home. Right now everybody they're still calling to know especially now that we require COVID tests before they can travel. They want us to tell them how they can get it, where to go. I mean we are inundated with requests for support from our nationals but we are happy that we can facilitate them despite the fact that we have to do it virtually. Your Excellency, thank you so much for chatting with us this morning. My technician always says don't mention the time but you know it's a habit of persons so thank you so much. Very good and we know that you're doing an amazing job. Continue to keep stepping up and thank you very much and keep safe. Thank you so much for joining us for this week's episode of Stepping Up. If you know anyone who's doing anything amazing in your community feel free to send me an email at steppingup758 at gmail.com. Once again I'm your host Daniel DuBois. See you next time.