 The Water Resource Management Agency in partnership with the St. Lucian Division of the Jeff Crew Plus has embarked on a Component 1 of an extensive initiative to confront the urgent challenge of wastewater management in St. Lucia. The project aims to develop wastewater guidelines and implement effective solutions in critical areas prioritizing the sustainable management of wastewater. Consultant attached to the Wastewater Management Guideline project, Gordon Wike, highlights the importance of addressing gaps in the enforcement of existing regulations and ensuring that users follow proper wastewater management practices. There are significant areas of concern in terms of how these regulations play out. Okay, so we have the regulations but is enforcement adequate? Okay, do we have users actually doing the right things? Do they have the information to implement the wastewater management strategies on the ground? So this particular guidelines ought to offer a solution in terms of guidance, in terms of education, in terms of communication to users on the island so that they can benefit and they can know exactly what they need to do for the different, as we sorted, we're discussing just now the different functional groups across wastewater. The users, the treatment, the conveying of the wastewater be disposed of the wastewater. Targeting Periurban villages, Canaries and Miku, the project aims to protect human and environmental health by establishing a demonstration site on a farm in Miku. This site will showcase an integrated pig waste management system, promoting sustainable agricultural practices, while minimizing the impact of local water resources and safeguarding the environment. Water Resource Specialist of the Water Resource Management Agency Miguel Montut states that the project will also retrofit community bathrooms in Canaries with advanced technologies and best practices for wastewater treatment and disposal. These upgrades will not only minimize the impact on the marine environment, but also improve water and sanitation conditions, enhancing the overall well-being of the community. There's been a lot of interest in the rural, Periurban villages in Senjusha, particularly Canaries and Ansteri. And there have been studies which have been done in those areas and there was a particular study which was done in Canaries to basically look at intervention, the possible solutions for solving the wastewater issues. And that's primarily because a lot of the septic tanks are located near the coast and there is the interface between these septic tanks and the sea has created a lot of risks for the marine environment. So as a result the project, for the project we decided to target Canaries because we thought that there was a need for those interventions there to protect human life as it pertains to public health and environmental health. But that was one of the main reasons that we targeted Canaries. The successful execution of this project will not only enhance the quality of life for the communities involved, but also serve as a model for future wastewater management initiatives in St. Lucia and beyond. From the communications unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, I am Anisia Antoine reporting.