 On Friday, May 19, 2022, men attached to the Department of Infrastructure, Ports and Transports Road Maintain and Steam, commonly called the Ports Holding Unit, were treated to a men's retreat. The event which was held at the Bethells Blessing Event and Conference Center in was aimed at showing appreciation to the hard-working and more visible departments. Len Leo is the Deputy Chief Engineer at the Department of Infrastructure with direct responsibility for the Road Maintenance Unit. As a form of wanting to understand their concerns, the constraints, and if we come together in a setting such as this, I think we can achieve a lot. Also with us today are some motivational speakers because even in recent times we have had untimely death of one of our dear colleagues and it has affected the Ports Holding Unit. I have seen it emotionally, particularly a lot of tears and crying and absenteeism. The Deputy Chief Engineer says that the retreat provided the platform for the men of the Road Maintenance Unit to exhale on the issues affecting them that they are otherwise silent about. The tragic death of beloved colleague Valence Trini Alexander while executing his duties has weighed heavily on the team. The retreat was born from a suggestion by the unit's supervisor. I think they recognize and they are very close with the workers and saw a need. That need channel for me was brought to the attention of the Chief Engineer and by extension the Minister of Infrastructure and Permanent Secretary and as a result today was deemed a suitable day for such a retreat. Approximately 60 members of the Road Maintenance Unit of both the North and South participated in the retreat. Patrick Ferron is a councillor with the Government of St Lucia's Employee Assistance Program. It's a retreat for men and we know that generally speaking men are very reluctant to talk and to share what's really going on in their lives and to really deal with their presenting problems at the root. So what we're hoping is that by the end of today the men from the Ministry of Infrastructure who are here today we are going to be getting to the root of a number of things. We'll be looking at the fact that men need help and how men need to accept the fact that they need the help and to access that help. Among other items on the agenda were team building exercises and what the councillor called identification of self and understanding the importance of each individual's role in a team setting. As far as the men are in tune with us I don't know maybe because their wives are not here or their girlfriends are not here but men are talking and men are asking some questions which normally if you have a group of men and women they would not necessarily be coming forward like that so the reception has been excellent and we know that it will continue to build on what we have so far and by the end of the day we'll be seeing where the men will truly be out of their shells and we'll be talking even more freely in the furtherance of the help that they definitely need. The councillor expressed the hope that retreats of this nature become a formal part of the employee assistance program curriculum. He says it should not be a one-off event but rather one of consistent follow-ups and interventions were required. Reporting for the Department of Infrastructure, Ports and Transport, I am Miguel Favre.