 Colleague members of the St. Lucia Civil Service Association, my fraternal friends in the trade union movement, members of the government and opposition, workers of St. Lucia, members of the public. I take this opportunity to wish all a prosperous and productive New Year 2022. I ask that God bless us as we chat the way forward for our country. 2021 was a year with many misgivings. It can also be characterized as a year of successes and failures. Some of us either lost our jobs or were employed for short periods. Some of us were either sick or lost loved ones. Some of us had to be the ones to take care of the entire family, including friends. This happened due to COVID-19 continued presence and the hardship it posed to our health and to our financial situation. 2022 has started and yet again COVID has not eased the burden on our societies. Notwithstanding these challenges, I urge all of us to remain vigilant and do what is best to protect ourselves and by extension our country. I now turn my attention to the members of my union. I am hopeful that the environment will improve so that we may have a better future. As we come to the end of our collective agreement period in March of this year, I look forward with optimism to improvements in our lives and livelihoods. This progress will come only if we all play our part in ensuring that we continue to be productive, taking part in saving lives and providing the kind of leadership that is needed to drive our country on a growth path. I am hopeful that improved livelihoods would be realized as a result of our quest to achieve the following. Income increases to pensioners, public officers and all other workers. Duty-free concessions to traveling officers and other categories of workers. The regularization of the workers at the OKEU. Improvement to the working conditions of all workers and the health and safety of all citizens. I have listened to many, including members of my union, who in the face of the global pandemic have not made up their minds as to how they intend to effectively deal with the COVID situation. Some of you are still debating whether to be vaccinated or not. This decision, of course, is yours to make. I can only encourage you to educate yourself first and then make up your minds on the way forward for the safety and health of yourself and your families. What I do know, however, is that if we continue to be in this phase of indecision, we may see more peril and continued economic hardship. As more persons become infected and hospitalized, we will continue to see most, if not all, of our resources being targeted towards health and very little towards other developmental aspects of our lives. In that regard, I urge all of us to consider getting vaccinated. I urge all of us to talk to our doctors regarding our health. I urge all of us to put our country first. Let this year be a year where we create meaningful change in the way we do things and the way we respond to things. Let this year be the year we transform our lives into being innovative thinkers, productive characters, self-starters, go-getters, the list goes on. I know we can achieve these things with understanding and cooperation. Let's not vacillate. Let's be resolute and unwavering in our pursuit of a better Saint Lucia. May God bless and keep you. Long live the CSA. Long live the workers of Saint Lucia. Long live the CSA.