 Several entities partner to help bolster St Lucia's resilience to natural disasters. Anisia Antoine has the details. With the hurricane season forecast to become more severe each year, it is paramount that St Lucia takes the necessary steps to mitigate and build resilience against natural disasters such as hydro-materialogical events, pandemics and droughts. In that vein, the National Emergency Organization, NEMO, has partnered with the Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project to improve water storage capacity. In excess of 300 tanks will be distributed to a number of its affiliated agencies, organizations and individuals. Doreen Gustave, director of NEMO, stated that the need for more effective water storage is even more crucial during this period. Most of the water tanks will be installed at buildings such as churches and human resource development centers that are used as shelters. And agencies such as the National Council for Persons with Disability, the Blind Welfare Association and Council for All the Person will ensure that the members who are most in need receive these tanks. The need for effective water storage to combat the impacts of drought and other extreme weather events was occasioned by St Lucia's declaration of a water emergency on May 18, 2020. These newly procured tanks will go a long way in strengthening the resilience of the recipient communities, agencies and individuals. The Ministry of Economic Development, Housing, Urban Renewal, Transport and Civil Aviation and NEMO have signed a tripartite agreement to ensure the tanks are used for the purpose intended. Minister for Economic Development, Housing, Urban Renewal, Transport and Civil Aviation, Honourable Guy Joseph expressed gratitude to the World Bank for its support. Given the COVID situation, we triggered the emergency part of this fund and we were able to go into direct contracting and I have to compliment Bryce and Company. Over the years we've had to order water tanks every time we need them out of St Lucia and it is quite bulky and it drives the cost upward to be able to ship these water tanks from other islands to St Lucia and then they have to build them in different sizes so they can fit into one. When I looked at the technology being used by Bryce, it is one single tank so everything is cast as a whole so it becomes a stronger, more durable tank that we have. With the low levels of water available and the vulnerability of WASCO's water system during this period, Minister Honourable Joseph also encouraged rainwater harvesting. Since the building of the Rosodom, almost every catchment area was abandoned so those who are from the Wavin-Puerson area would know going to the Miami area there was a water catchment area but that was abandoned. Then we had the gravity flow from the millet intake that was abandoned. Until 20. But what has further compounded the situation for us in St Lucia is that the water levels in these rivers have dropped so considerably that where you used to get a million gallons of flow a day now you're getting under half a million flow. So I am saying all of this to highlight the importance of rainwater harvesting and storage of water during the dry season. The hand in over ceremony of the water storage tanks took place on Friday June 19th, 2020 at the Financial Administrative Centre. From the Government Information Service, I am Anisia Antoine reporting.