 The COVID-19 pandemic has had severe social and economic impacts globally. In St. Lucia, the impacts have been devastating, given the island's heavy reliance on the tourism industry, which is the main revenue earner. The effects of COVID have fallen disproportionately on the most vulnerable sectors of the population. And by most vulnerable, I refer to people living in poverty, the working poor, women and children, persons with disabilities and other marginalized groups. Since the start of the pandemic, the government has employed several measures to manage the spread of the virus. Numerous response, recovery and resilience strategies have been implemented to provide immediate relief to citizens adversely affected by the pandemic, strengthening the country's economic recovery and enhance resilience to shocks in the medium to long term. Today, we are here to witness the inaugural handover of a check that will symbolize the start of another measure to buttress the social assistance system. Cabinet has granted approval to establish a social assistance fund within the SSDF to assist persons who have unfortunately been excluded from the other social assistance programs due to limited resources. The general expectation is that this fund will create a new line of funding and interventions that will also benefit vulnerable persons in our society. In a few minutes from now, you will witness a donation by the St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited. It is our hope that this generous contribution will serve as an impetus for other private sector partners in considering a similar type of decision towards supporting the national effort in responding effectively to the pandemic and other shocks. Ladies and gentlemen, please help me welcome Mrs. Veldor Octav Joseph, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Equity to deliver the opening remarks. I also have the distinct honor of warmly welcoming all of you to this special gathering occasioned by the formalization of a public-private partnership between the government of St. Lucia and the St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited, Lucille. An arrangement which is in the interest of vulnerable individuals and households and is in support of the ministry's comprehensive agenda on social protection. I am particularly pleased to extend a special welcome to the Honourable Prime Minister and other members of Cabinet who have joined us here today. Thank you for being here despite your very busy schedules which I am sure your portfolio commands. We do appreciate your presence. From the outset, let me indicate that the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice and Empowerment is extremely pleased with this initiative, the purpose of which aligns perfectly with the vision and mandate of the ministry and which supports our efforts at improving our social protection system with short adequate access, but also to ensure that we are providing assistance to those who need it most. And I am sure you keep on hearing that a lot from the ministry we are about providing assistance to those who need it most. We believe that the establishment of a social assistance fund capitalized with the assistance of the private sector, and of course in this case Lucille, will allow for the extended reach of the ministry given the growing number of vulnerable households in dire need of assistance as a result of the prolonged impact of COVID-19. And at the ministry we see it on a daily basis, the demands, the requests that keeps on increasing and we can tell you we leave it firsthand the increasing demand for assistance from the Government of St. Wusha. We see this facility that is the fund as a mechanism for providing relief to persons when needed, for allowing persons to meet their most basic needs and for extending a helping hand to families until they become steady enough to be able to steer their sheep on their own. And this is extremely important to us at the ministry as the lead government institution with responsibility for matters relevant to social protection or social issues in general. Certainly we do not want to leave anyone behind as we advance in our social development and arrangements such as this one helps to promote and to facilitate inclusion. I will therefore take the opportunity now to express our thanks and appreciation to Lucille for joining with us again and supporting the social sector. I am saying again because Lucille currently is sponsoring the Our Boys Matter program which is a program that is being implemented through the SSDF. We look forward to your continued support Mr. Lucille as well as other partnerships in support of a sustainable social assistance fund which will be administered by the SSDF to the benefit of our vulnerable brothers and sisters. We also anticipate greater synergistic relationships with other private sector entities as we develop and implement programs and projects towards improvement and advancement of our social protection system. Thank you and God bless all of you. There is no question that government cannot do it on its own. Government will never have the resources to be able to provide all of the assistance that is needed because I can tell you offhand that notwithstanding the fact that you assist about 3,000 people with educational resources every year is still not enough, we still miss people and housing assistance, you name it, there are needs for these sorts of interventions. I think it's apropos that Lucille is the first contributor to this fund and whether or not it was the catalyst for this initiative was the COVID-19 pandemic, the reality is that it is long overdue. The SSDF began a relationship with Lucille coming out of this very need because about 3 years ago, the SSDF recognized that government funding over the years had been decreasing in terms of our subvention and the number of people coming to the SSDF was increasing significantly and so we sought to tap into the private sector and one of the first major initiatives we had was your boys matter program that Lucille joined with Massey stores to co-sponsor and they are still the co-sponsors today. I think this is very significant now that this fund is going to be at the SSDF, house at the SSDF because we have the wherewithal to be able to do it. That is the nature of our business. The SSDF is really a social investment fund in and of itself, so this is the nature of our work. Our relationship with Lucille and other private sector partners highlight the need for what is going on now. I want to also make the point that what will really drive this of course is the success of this new intervention and we need to make the business community aware of the fact that no longer can we look at corporate social responsibility and from the business perspective as merely an ethical responsibility to give back. There is more to it than that or even for that matter an opportunity for PR because business has a vested and must have a vested interest in the development of people especially as we sit there in St. Lucille and I think the Our Boys Matter program is an excellent example of that. In terms of the profitability of organizations or growing their customer base and I want to just speak a little bit about just mention a graduation in July 2021 a care graduation 12 of the boys that graduated from care with part of the Our Boys Matter program and one of the boys gave a testimonial that really spoke volumes and he said he didn't know what would have happened to him without the Our Boys Matter program well of course he didn't know what would have happened to him without the sponsorship of Lucille and the massive stores and the government of St. Lucille also the reality is that we see every day well most nights on TV we see some killing and invariably it is young males and that's one of the reasons why the Our Boys Matter program targets just boys because it was seen, recognized at the time that the young males were the most vulnerable group in St. Lucille and so we sought to bring resources to bed to be able to to enable poor children from poor homes boys, vulnerable boys to be able to have access to resources that the average student may have access to and with psychosocial support and that sort of support to see whether we could save these boys but in terms of Lucille and the private sector when I look at these 12 boys that graduated and by the time they graduated they are already secured jobs these are persons that will be gainfully employed it means that these are young men who would patronize the businesses a number of businesses the supermarkets utilities, you name it they will patronize that and I'm saying the reason I use that example there are a number of other boys that the SSDF helped on their Our Boys Matter program but the point I wanted to make here is that if we look at saving young children by first of all sending them to the proper education institution because there are a number of them sitting in traditional secondary schools that have other interests and so they do not perform very well and then first to be able to bring together resources that they need for them to succeed now the reason I say that the private sector has a critical role to play because we know that government cannot do it on its own we also know that private sector organizations make a lot of contributions in terms of their corporate social responsibility but it is not really targeted a lot of it is not and so through a PPP with government through the SSDF we could have more targeted interventions that could really bear meaningful fruit and so it helps these businesses to create a widened customer base which invariably will assist them in terms of their profitability and of course it also helps to decrease the criminality and these sorts of things that can make Saint Lucia unattractive to investors or to tourists coming into Saint Lucia having said that I know that the ministry has a number of very important programs perhaps the after school program is a very good example of that perhaps one of the best that we make funding for and this program is very important because what I am so a lot of these kids after school what I am so them when the parents looking at hotels or wherever and there is nobody at home so through the after school programs they can go on and get involved in assistance with school sports and these types of things but where they meaningfully engage and so that it leads to boys invariably it leads to things that are not good so these are the sorts of things now at DSSDF we have programs like the micro enterprise program which seeks to assist families or persons with micro enterprise establishments so they can take care of themselves again these are programs with some funding additional funding we could increase the numbers and these are persons that could go on as buyers, purchasers, sellers in our economy so I want to say to Lucilleck thank you very much I am very happy that Lucilleck is a company that is making that first contribution and I certainly hope that we can get other organizations to come on board and join Lucilleck together we can do it government cannot do it on its own together we can do it to the private sector and they have a vested interest or they should have a vested interest in assisting in social interventions of that nature thank you very much it is indeed a pleasure to be here and to thank you wish to thank you for the opportunity to speak briefly on this occasion which is of immense significance to me as minister for equity, social justice and empowerment but permit me before diving into these brief remarks to convey my sincere condolences and prayers to the people of Cooley Town only this morning I visited the horrible crime scene and as the families given account of what transpired at the party last night where three persons died I dare say that they were my friends some of them I knew very well DJ Yellow Tamara from Massey supermarket as well as Princess from Marigold and quite a few others are nursing gunshot wounds it is with this back to this backdrop I permit me to share a quote from a professor from Singapore he said it is difficult to separate the work of government civil society and the private sector these days but that may be less important than the need for them to create complementarities among their activities to achieve a given outcome today ladies and gentlemen we are here because this need for complementarity which professor Asha referred to has been realized between the government of St. Lucia and Lucillec for the purpose of achieving an important objective of assisting the most vulnerable among us I therefore not only welcome this partnership but fully embrace it given the potential for providing relief to households in need thus allowing them in many cases to meet the most basic needs ladies and gentlemen on Fridays I sit in the constituency of Castry South West and while I see many individuals there are some stories that will remain with me for a lifetime I think of the grandmother who visited me to Fridays ago and said that she has nine grandchildren because she also has two daughters who are mentally challenged and as a result she in 76 years need to care for nine grandchildren a number of them are young men and the house is not adequate in terms of its structure to accommodate them I recall on Friday of this two teenagers one is a single mother just 19 who said to me that she needs to fix the house and when I asked her where is her mom she said she doesn't know because the mom is mentally challenged and she said she is not too worried that because she only got to know him as that just a few weeks ago every story like this that I encounter on a Friday gives me strength vigor and courage to wake up and to walk through the corridors of this government and to advocate and to beg and to ask my colleagues to support initiatives that will reach out to those who are most vulnerable so I take this opportunity to encourage others other stakeholders or the business partners to come on board and to engage in initiatives that will support each other as now perhaps more than ever we look to building back after this terrible COVID-19 crisis we see the need for strong partnerships an enduring relationship that will support public purpose in meaningful and impactful ways Ladies and gentlemen as you know Saint Lucia faces a myriad of issues which needs urgent attention I just spoke of crime and violence climate change and exposure to hazards, poverty and inequalities food insecurity etc and whilst we recognize the important role of government in addressing these critical issues we are also cognizant that true partnerships and purposeful coordination with a diversity of stakeholders is necessary if we are to make significant progress towards tackling them it is my belief that only through strategic alliance and cooperation can we ensure a healthy and prosperous future for all Ladies and gentlemen this government is one with an agenda that puts people first and in this regard since assuming office the government has been working to provide relief to citizens to build resilience to future shocks we understand fully that the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 and other shocks and porn vulnerable households we are aware of the growing number of households who have been negatively impacted by the pandemic and now seeking assistance as highlighted previously by P.S. and we are also aware of the range of needs to which urgent responses are required consequently ladies and gentlemen the government will continue to work to those realities in a manner that supports and protects its citizens today following discussion with Lusek the companies donating a sum of $450,000 towards a social assistance funds which will be administered through the Sandrusha social development fund and of course Mr. Matri can attest only on Friday when I met members of the board of the staff in fact the discussions about how we strengthen the operations for transparency accountability to ensure that the proper procedures for access of the funds are put in place and are communicated to the general public it is my humble expectation from the department of directors and management of the staff of the SSDF that systems and procedures for access and management of this fund will be shared as soon as possible for guidance to the public also the issue of ensuring that we are efficient is something that we need to continue to look at while we are happy that there are many programs within the SSDF we need to ensure that the cost of intervention matches the size of the management of the organization we cannot have a very expensive management but with very little interventions to support its existence and therefore we are looking at strengthening our organizations with a view of being more efficient we want for Sandrusha to benefit tremendously from the programs but also that the cost of doing so is and therefore we will be looking at to streamline the management of the SSDF so that when donor agencies look at the SSDF they can recognize an organization that is very let's say small in head forward for one of a better word or low management cost but with high impact in terms of delivery of services to our people again I want to extend my gratitude to Lucille for being the forerunner in this regard as we work collaboratively towards creating and sustaining a brighter future for everyone thank you ladies and gentlemen I want to thank you this morning welcome you this morning rather and just thank you for the opportunity which you've given me to be part of this ceremony one may ask what is the connection between Lucille infrastructure and equity and social development and for me I somewhat classified as a kind of cross-fertilization of sectors and that in itself Madam Chair will give you an idea as to how this whole idea was born Lucille can the ministry or department of infrastructure under the energy rubric which we are responsible for have had an institutionalized arrangement of meeting regularly most times on a quarterly basis more or less to plan, plot guide and drive the energy sector in Central Asia to see how best we can lower the rate of energy through sustainable means and Lucille I think while it is known to be the main and single most producer, generator and distributor of electricity in this country has been working with us in an endeavor to achieve some of the goals set out in our national energy transition strategy which we have committed to at one of our meetings sometime I believe it was in October to raise the idea of Lucille take given consideration to the law of of electricity to particularly our vulnerable people vulnerable households and after much discussion on the matter trying to find a strategy and to circumvent the potential conflict that this initiative may have with the regulators that probably more detail should be brought to bear on the initiative and that I should write Lucille and to convince them of the intention Lucille later requested a meeting with the Prime Minister and ourselves to discuss among other things some of their own initiatives and the effort that they are putting towards renewable energy it was at that meeting that the idea was further discussed and Lucille committed to giving it some thought and maybe redirecting the idea in a form that would allow the government based on its own intentions and mandate to determine how best to utilize the value of a reduction in electricity in this country so therefore it was Lucille's brainchild to come up with the proposal to establish a social assistance fund I'm very pleased to welcome the initiative and I must indicate that Cabinet itself has welcomed the initiative of establishing the fund so today this morning's Seren Money is a game-changing exercise one in which this government is taking some targeted action to combat the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic on the very fabric of our society the COVID-19 pandemic placed tremendous strain on many persons in the society particularly the vulnerable households and persons this in Lucille Electricity Services Limited, Lucille was approached to lead the charge in providing some much needed assistance in the community by way of some donation to a fund aimed at assisting the members of our community who are reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic Lucille was very responsive and took this material matter to its board of directors who responded by approving an amount of $450,000 E.C. dollars as a donation to a social assistant fund this matter was well received by the government and of course upon presenting the initiative to Cabinet Cabinet approved the establishment of the social assistant fund within the structure of the St. Lucia Social Development Fund which will receive today's donation from Lucille as well as other future donations from not only Lucille but from other private sector donors to this end the minister responsible for commerce and myself having been the pioneer of this initiative have been mandated by the responsibility of developing an approach to the business community in this regard so very soon the minister for commerce and myself will set to develop this strategy as to how to approach the wider business community in St. Lucia in responding and participating in the social assistant fund we are seeking a positive response from such corporate partners as the government establishes the enabling legislation to ensure that we have a successful and impactful program with the SSDF I must indicate at this juncture that only this weekend a business man consulted with me and indicated how excited he is and how excited many others are already getting in as far as their participation in the social assistant fund and therefore Mr. Mathre I see a great horizon for those in need in this country by a government who has taken the decision and who has made it the mantra of putting people first and so the government of St. Lucia will determine the nature and programs to be funded via this proposed fund however the general expectation is such that this fund will create a new line of funding for various social protection programs and interventions that will benefit the most vulnerable in our society today and beyond it is expected that the SSDF as we term it will benefit from the existing administrative structure of the social development fund that is the SSDF and will also benefit from synergies that emanate from existing and future types of programs at the SSDF and I believe you Mr. Mathre when you spoke about the various programs which you are conducting I think within the SSDF within the architecture of the SSDF the social assistant fund if that is the official name that we shall give it will benefit from your administration and the structures which exist within your organization let me therefore in closing thank Lucia for the quick response to the request and the appeal and for being the trailblazer not only in this regard but as a public utility agency in this country I thank you this morning we are participating in the official launch of a program that will benefit some of the indigent members of our society as we do so I encourage everyone to broaden your perception of who that is it's not just the people we all traditionally think of no, COVID-19 has given rise to the new needy COVID-19's immediate and protracted impact has stressed many into a position where they need social assistance that is one of the reasons Lucilleck is pleased to respond to a call from the government of St Lucia to establish this social assistance fund for the provision of food and basic necessities for those who need it most Lucilleck will contribute $450,000 in total towards this social safety net program and it is our hope that this fund will grow quickly as other corporate entities join us to contribute to yet another effort to help families through the extended impact of this pandemic I see another effort because the private sector has been supporting the government and the people of St Lucia in responding to the impact of COVID-19 in various ways since this pandemic hit our shores in early 2020 as a collective the private sector Lucilleck included has provided cash contributions spearheaded food or grocery donations and feeding drives contributed to providing laptops tablets and other digital devices to allow students to participate in remote learning contributed to providing personal protective equipment to emergency first responders and contributed to providing testing equipment and supplies to our hospitals to enable quick turnaround of COVID-19 test results and care for COVID-19 patients among other initiatives for Lucilleck between April 2020 and August 2021 we've contributed more than three-quarter of a million dollars to the local COVID-19 pandemic response of which just under 650,000 was direct assistance to the government of St Lucia and its agencies and for more than a year we did not disconnect customers for arrest and we continue to work with customers to manage payment on their accounts I see all of this to point out that we all understand that we all are going through a challenging period with this pandemic and we are doing what is within our power to assist those affected and the country through this pandemic obviously some have been more impacted than others but none of us has been unskilled by this pandemic it is our understanding that contributions to this social assistance fund will not get lost in the consolidated fund but will be managed directly but will be managed directly by the social by St Lucia's social development fund or the SSDF as it is more commonly referred to we also advise that the fund will seek to target those persons who are not already receiving support from the Ministry of Equity's public assistance program but those whom the pandemic has pushed below the poverty line we are very pleased that the fund will be managed by SSDF as we have a long standing relationship with the SSDF over the years and we continue to be satisfied with the level of reporting and accountability on the contributions we make to them our contribution to this program is very monthly instalments of $150,000 each we look forward to hearing how people will qualify for assistance under the fund and how the money will be disbursed by the SSDF it is our distinct privilege to be part of this most important and worthy initiative and we thank you for the opportunity to continue to demonstrate our power of caring thank you I want to join the speakers before me who have stated we all are painfully aware of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic the pandemic has further exposed the poor living conditions of the vulnerable persons in our country and the need to provide tangible support in cash and in kind to those persons have become even more critical now more than ever now we require a moral a moral and social response from those of us who can bring some measure of relief to the dire situation or some of our citizens in this regard the Sinusha Achilles Services Sinusha Achilles Company Ltd. Lucille has responded to the call from the government to assist and as my cabinet colleagues can tell you and I want the people in the private sector and even the some public servants to understand the pressures that elected representatives go through it's a pressure that you will not understand he who feels it most knows it we don't understand the pressure that we go through that demands that are made on us and I know sometimes our actions are misread I know sometimes public servants believe that we are pushy in this phrase we are political it's not most of us or all of us feel the pain of the persons who come to us there is no need to be political I'm pretty good at it so there is no need to to be political it is the pain that we feel from the people who come to us on a daily basis the minister of equity gave you some examples and I can give you I mean I can give you a library I can give you a library of I can give you a library of experiences that we go through as elected parliamentarians so sometimes public servants and members of the public and the private sector it's not a matter of we wanting to extract or wanting not to follow processes it's a matter when we go to the constituencies or when we walk the streets that demands that sometimes these demands even get on the bring of being violent because people I need and they believe that must give it to them further being the prime minister is a belief that the government treasury belongs to you so you find constituency to you bossman you are the prime minister which means I can go in the government's treasury and just take it so we are witnessing today an act of generosity from a company who clearly believes that charity should start at home that Lucilleck has decided to make this contribution through the social assistance fund is a reflection of the importance it attributes to social responsibility as a corporate citizen and the executive of Lucilleck I know they understand they are sensitive to the needs of the people of San Lucia because the Lucilleck High Command they are from San Lucia they lived among San Lucia they understand the difference between the have and the have not is that sensitivity I'm sure that has caused the management of Lucilleck to impress upon the board that they should get involved in such a venture and I want to thank them publicly for that the government of the challenges arising from the COVID pandemic requires a collective response from all sectors of the society including the private sector NGOs, churches, trade unions financial institutions, charities and the government working together to combat the effects of the virus and to rebuild our economy I'm in the process of preparing the budget or the estimates of expenditure for the next fiscal year and the constraints that are put on us even by people who want to appear to be the constraints that are put on us for little money real little money money that is spent in some countries basically on an hourly basis little money the constraints the way the minister of finance the way his hands are tied behind his back and his legs are tied also for little money so the constraints of the budget are something that the people of St. Lucia need to understand and I know you said to me that we've borrowed over 300 million dollars for COVID response that is true we did borrow over 300 million dollars for COVID response but most of that money was spent in recurrent expenditure and for some capital projects most of it I think nearly over 75% of that 300 million dollars was spent for recurrent expenditure and for some capital projects mainly the construction of roads so the impact of that heavy borrowing was not felt directly by many people even if the government had to pay for quarantine facilities which took a heavy chunk of that money but the impact because of the economy which had declined by 26% the sixth highest decline in the world the solution economy experience 26% so that is the situation that we came into government with on the 26th of July a heavily borrowed economy but the effects of COVID was still there live and live in color as was displayed by the absence of devices in schools and it's only now that the governments with the minister and the ministry of education we are trying to make an impact in that hopefully by the end of next month we probably will have 10,000 devices in the hands of the people of the children of St. Lucia so when we speak we speak glibly about certain things we have to understand the reality of governance the reality of the fiscal situation that we have to deal with the reality every month the government of St. Lucia's disposable income is less than 20% of what we have to spend so as soon as we pay our salaries and we pay our debts what we have left is basically about 20% of the budget that is a situation that we have to manage every day and then comes the demands I know that you are concerned about the crime situation the crime situation is worrisome it is very worrisome what makes it worse is the callousness in which these crimes seem to be committed the response to crime has to be enforcement but also there has got to be a social response as Dr. Marches stated it's surprising that some of us believe that we can stigmatize the crime and speak about these areas and believe that if you stigmatize it and you say you avoid these areas and you call these people the people that we call these people we call them all kinds of names we ostracize them we believe that that will solve the situation it will not it has not and it will not we need to have and I know it's cliche it has got to be jointly private sector government churches getting together where we have to make the people understand that we care for them and the slogan putting people first must not only be seen as a political slogan it's got to be a way of life a feeling, a mentality that we have to put people and all the people some of us have escaped some of us have escaped and we tend to have forgotten where some of us came from or where the people that we left behind where they are we have escaped so we've gone we have to help these people we have to assist these people so on behalf of the government people of St. Lucia I would like to thank Lucille for their quick response and for the contribution of $450,000 to the social assistance fund I believe that the company has set the right tone for other corporate entities to follow I also want to assure you that a tremendous relief which Lucille has given has provided to households and businesses during this pandemic by way of not disconnecting has not gone unnoticed by the government I hope that the people of St. Lucia understand that Lucille also is a corporate entity and they have to report to the shareholders I want to use this opportunity to underscore the importance and necessity for giving, caring and contributing to the welfare of the less 40 citizens of our country we should resist the temptation to be unconcerned and even oblivious to the plight of the needy persons among us as we become a more developed and our personal situation changes My administration's guiding principles of putting people first is rooted in the belief that true and lasting development has to be people-centered and that in the process of development no one should be left behind therefore we must, as a matter of necessity address the needs and concerns of the unemployed the at-risk youth and the different disabled persons the single parents and the isolated elderly persons who are an integral part of our communities and I speak particularly about the elderly persons who are lonely and there is some level of support through the health aids and the community workers but most of these people are left alone on weekends and again something you have to feel but I don't think when some of us go to our homes on weekends and we indulge in the finer things of life that there are people out there who have been left from Friday and they will see no one until Monday when the caregivers come reality how we can hide it is the government's hope that we can extend the caregivers program so these people can get some support on weekends when they are left alone as a government and this safety net and this safety net is coming from a social assistant fund which will be administered by the SSDF to provide for the variable persons in our country and it's not by coincidence and I note Mr. Luis's admonishment the money should not disappear in a consolidated fund it will not although the Minister of Finance is tempted sometimes when he is being strangled by international financial institutions to pay up sometimes he is tempted but I can assure you this cabinet and this Minister of Finance will ensure that people come first and the social assistance fund will be used for the people of solution while they are given and receiving I want also to tell the citizens that we have to get some of our priorities right we have what we receive we have to give understand what our priorities are and there's I don't know if I'm right the sociology among us will tell us there's a hierarchy of needs a long time ago and this hierarchy of needs I want to say to the people of solution priority rise sometimes you cannot get everything you want at the same time we have to understand what's important and we have to get our priorities right as a government our priorities will be right that is why in our first six months we have put our priorities right by ensuring that we do things at the level where people will feel it and where people will get the benefits and this is why we have our housing program this is why we paid CXC fees this is why we helped in facility fees and I want to just take a moment to talk about facility fees because some of us have tend to just think about a single parent, just think about it a single parent with three children and most of the time there are more the minister of education tells me five children think about a single parent with five children both of these parents worked in a hotel they were out of work doing covid and school starts and they have to pay facility fees let us say the average facility fees $1.50 that is $750 that household had to extract to pay facility fees and again some of us will say all this government is just paying politics but you know as Bob Marley says he will feel it most knows it that single parent the savings of that $750 you will not understand that did to them and to the household and we are very proud that the government took that position and will continue to do it every year we will continue to pay these facility fees so in Sanking Lucille I want to say to the people of Saint Lucia let's get together let us stop the ranker let us stop the unnecessary criticisms let us understand that the people of Saint Lucia have changed the government the people of Saint Lucia will get an opportunity to do that again in the next 5 years let us stop the ranker and the lies and the deliberate efforts to cause Saint Lucia to go in a direction that it should not go covid let us do our share I call again on all the people of this country let us get together to help the vulnerable to help the poor to help the dispossessed and I thank Lucille profoundly for that contribution and hope that other members of our social and our economic infrastructure will assist