 The Pierre administration has finalized an EC $22.9 million grant agreement with the Japanese government to redevelop the Shoazel fishing port. And the repairs to the Shoazel complex is well needed because that sedimentation that has plagued all parliamentary representatives for Shoazel, every parliamentary representative for Shoazel, and Bradley not being different always complains and needs and speaks about the sedimentation and the fishing complex. It's an age-old problem that's continued for years and regardless of how you distil it comes back all the time so I hope you can get a more a more poor man's solution to this issue in Shoazel. Sedimentation at the port entrance continues to be a perennial obstruction for Shoazel fishers. I am aware that for many years the facility has been experiencing sedimentation at the entrance of the port and the pond area. This issue has been affecting the ability of the fishing vessels to go in and out of the port effectively. As a result, continuous dredging work at the entrance and inside of the port had to be undertaken. Therefore, the government of St. Lucia is indeed pleased to have received support from the government of Japan to conduct data collection surveys on the current situation in Shoazel and to consider technical feasibility of countermeasures to recover and improve the effective functioning of the port. The Shoazel fishing port was built by the Japanese government in 2001. The St. Lucia government has spent the last two decades routinely conducting dredging operations to alleviate the sedimentation density at the port entrance. Addressing this challenge together means the improvement of the lives of the almost 200 registered Fisher folk in Shoazel who will be able to make a more consistent living from the sea. Limited fiscal space restricted government's ability to implement long-term countermeasures at the Shoazel fishing port. An effective post-COVID economic recovery strategy in this country requires the easing of the limitations on fiscal space. Hence, grants like the one that you have pledged to assist St. Lucia in will ease the dead burden of our country. I must also commend the nature of the cooperation grants which demonstrates that our advocacy as seeds is not falling on deaf ears. St. Lucia's decades-old relationship with Japan and its continuing technical cooperation through the Japan International Cooperation Agency, JICA, has yielded a potential solution to what has been a decades-old problem. Submerged breakwater and dredging as well as the second breakwater will be constructed at the port. They will overcome the sand accumulation at the port entrance which has presented a costly, frequent inconvenience to the government of St. Lucia. The sand accumulation also limits the potential for economic activity and prosperity for Fisher folk and those who rely on Fisheries sector. I believe that through the construction works under this project, users of the Shoazel fishing port will enjoy safer and more consistent operations. JICA is spearheading the project and has already completed data collection and preparatory surveys at the Shoazel fishing port. I must commend the Minister of Agriculture and his trust for promoting food security. It's something that we hear him speak about all the time. And when we speak of food security, most times people think of what we grow online. But we must also remember the blue economy, which is something I know that all governments are focusing on now and with the facilities that we are going to be receiving from the Japanese government, it will make life a lot more easier for our fishermen to promote and maybe get bigger catches and stay out longer because they know when they come in now, they will not have to go down into the water to pull their boats. So I am extremely grateful. Prime Minister Pierre and JICA officials formally signed the terms of the grant agreement on November 10. The construction phase of the project upon commencement is expected to be completed within 10 months. JICA will continue to monitor the project for a further three years after its physical completion. From the office of the Prime Minister, Rihanni Isidou.