 The first batch of St. Lucien's involved in the informal sector have begun receiving their much anticipated payout of $1,500 under the Government Income Support Program, ISP, via the safety nets for vulnerable populations affected by the coronavirus project. Overseen by the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice and Empowerment, the ceremony on December 22, 2023 saw over 300 ordinary St. Lucien's receiving financial assistance that will help them in their economic recovery, a crucial financial helping hand as they continue to grapple with the challenges posed by the persistent impacts of COVID-19. You know, I had a look of the persons where they would see ordinary St. Lucien's farmers, you would have seen persons, part of the informal sector, and having a glance of these individuals this morning was a great joy for me to see the ordinary persons who make St. Lucien what it is. They, of course, sometimes we speak of the formal workers, those working in establishments, but those persons who are earning a living on their own, you know, running micro businesses, the vendors and a host of them, these people are very, very important to the Prime Minister and to our Government and we care about them so much and we want to make this small contribution and like we said to them, it is not a lot of money, but $1,500 have received it at this time of the year, it's a wonderful gesture for most of them. While over 170 of the 300-plus full set of beneficiaries receive checks, others benefited from direct deposits into their bank accounts. Commenting on the number of men receiving this latest financial aid package, Minister Henry sees the occasion to once again appeal to men to be financially prudent and help grow generational wealth. I think it's an area of discussion, an area that we need to continue to speak about because we understand that our poverty level has remained the same for so many decades in spite of the tremendous, you know, the growth of the economy and like I've said that the fathers play a significant role in the creation of generational wealth and the mothers on the other has held things together for the family in spite of the challenges. I shared that because a lot of men were here today receiving the $1,500 and I'm kind of exultant to look at closely at how they can make that sacrifice together with the mothers of the children so that the next generation actually is a lot stronger and better than this generation in terms of the creation of wealth. In light of the high level of interest from the public, the deadline for submission of completed application forms for the ISP has been extended to January 31, 2024 to accommodate more applicants, to date over 3,000 have applied to the program. To submit an application, interested individuals can visit the government website at www.govt.lc and click on the income support link. The project is financed by the Inter-American Development Bank, the IDB and administered through the Caribbean Development Bank, the CDB. In the coming months, more St. Lucian's will receive payouts under the income support program, bringing the total number of recipients to approximately 5,000.