 Minister for Youth Development and Sports Honourable Kinsen Kazumi has expressed his commitment to strengthening the relationship between his ministry and to the National Youth Council NYC. The Youth Development and Sports Minister, who met with the executive of the NYC earlier this month, stated that he held youth development very close to his heart. He added that St. Lucia's youth needed to have a greater input in the development of their country. For me, it is very important that the youth gets to sit at the table, the youth gets the opportunity to share their perspective on how we develop this land, simply because the way we develop this land will ultimately affect their generation and the generations after. So I've always been one who's part of the youth movement in my community and so it's something that I treasure and I hold a lot of fond memories from. President of the National Youth Council, Anya Edwin, welcomed the opportunity to meet with the ministry officials. Tree-rehoping that whatever comes out of this meeting will be a very, very beneficial discussion that is going to redown to a lot of action and not just talk for the young people of St. Lucia. Meanwhile, Honourable Kazemi, commented on the importance of the youth being given the same concern and regard as shown to other stakeholders and prominent members of society. He urged the NYC to constantly speak out and to ensure that their voice and the voices of the youth of St. Lucia are always heard. So you let me speak a lot about, for instance, given persons in the creative industry, persons in dance, performing arts, the same amount of attention as you would give a dance army, the same amount of attention you would give to a journal Eugene, that sort of thing. That is how I see youth development and I don't see youth development coming from the top down, which is why we are meeting here today. I think it has to come bottom up and it has to be symbiotic. It has to be at a level where there is always conversation and consultation and so if anybody heard my false contribution to the Parliament, I championed the call for from St. Cabinet ensuring that if you are going to be dealing with a scourge by COVID-19 that affects young people a lot and we are dealing with a dynamic where we have a variant that seems to be affecting persons within the age range of youth that we must have a young person at the seat of the table. Minister Kazemi plans to meet more regularly with the NYC to ensure that his ministry's goals for the organisation are achieved. Julia Tepita reporting for the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports.