 The songwriter John Lennon has captured the spirit of Christmas in his song as he expressly stated and I quote, so this is Christmas. I hope you are fan the old and the young. Today we have reached another milestone in our lives. God has gifted us with the privilege to see and enjoy another Christmas as we reflect upon the joyful both of Jesus Christ. It provides us with an opportunity to show compassion, love, peace and happiness to one another, especially the elderly, disabled and the vulnerable among us. It gives me great pleasure to express seasons greetings to my wife, children, my extended family, my constituents, both here and in the diaspora, my parliamentary colleagues, my staff at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development and the wider St. Lucia. Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. As we bid the year 2022 goodbye, we can reflect on the challenges, our resilience, the achievements that we were able to accomplish together. I am extremely fountful to God the Almighty for the health, strength and guidance that was given to me as I navigated this year. I am grateful for the encouragement and support that I have received from my family, friends, denari self-constituents, parliamentary colleagues and the staff of my ministry. Thank you. In my capacity as the Minister of Responsible for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development, my ministry has embarked on the following key initiatives for the year namely the Food and Nutrition Security Policy, the provision of subsidies for fertilizer costs, the continuous promotion of local products for festivals including the banana, mango and seamos festivals as well as the honey show, the second phase of the seven crops project and the carbonate approval of the new fisheries policy. Whilst we were able to make some general progress in agriculture, I am also mindful of the setbacks some farmers face from the 12th on the 6th November 2022. This weather event further reminds us that all the hard work of our farmers can easily be evaporated by any weather event without prior warnings. On the constituency level, in my capacity as the parliamentary representative for denari self, we were able to achieve the following, our annual beach cleanup campaign, the revamping of the Saturday Night Fish Fiesta on the last Saturday of each month, the provision of short term employment for over 300 persons in the constituency, the annual children's Christmas Toy Drive, the annual support for the back to school program and the housing repair program for our elderly and vulnerable persons. In the new year, we will be focusing on giving attention to upgrading the following areas, the beachfront facility, the Mandeli tourism facility, the Lapoint tourism facility, the upgrading of selected footpaths and drainage projects and the children's playground. We will also be assessing the old police station building and the other building opposite the IRDC in Lakai to ascertain how we can convert the buildings into useful spaces that will respond to the immediate committee needs of Lakai and Lima. My fellow Saint Lucians, I echo John Lennon by saying, so this is Christmas, I hope you are a fan, a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. Let's make it a good one without any fear. May God bless you as you enjoy this festive season.