 The Energy and Public Utilities Division of the Ministry of Infrastructure, in conjunction with the Secretariat of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, has provided the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice and Empowerment with 2,000 energy-saving light bulbs for distribution to 650 vulnerable households that are registered on government's public assistance program. At the Ministry of Equity, what we have witnessed is a rapid increase since COVID-19 of demands from all of our various areas where we offer social services. And sadly to report, we are not in a better place to respond to those increased demands with the amount of resources allotted to us. The utility bills are among the most inadequacy that these vulnerable groups experience on a day-to-day. Through the ages of several international development partners, the Ministry of Infrastructure, Ports, Transport, Physical Development and Urban Renewal is implementing the Renewable Energy Sector Development Project. The project brings together several key players like the World Bank, the Climate Investment Fund, the UK Foreign Commonwealth Development Office and the Canadian Clean Energy and Forest Carbon Facility, which all bring to the table the unique experience and expertise in the renewable energy sector. Energy really represents a significant operating cost for the public service, for the residential sector and for the businesses. And we see so many opportunities for us in this region, given that we are blessed with natural resources such as solar, geothermal, and given that when you look at how we actually operate, how we use our energy, there's still quite a bit of wastage, there's still a large opportunity for us to become more energy efficient and for this to really help us to realize energy savings and ultimately financial savings. The project's unique design reflects St. Lucia's ambition to transform its energy sector for a long-lasting positive impact on its people. The initiative will address the gender gap and also the poor and endogened in the energy sector and through a partnership of the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice and Empowerment will reach out to vulnerable households and communities throughout the island. Using the energy efficient devices so that the LED light bulb, the poor and the vulnerable can contribute to that global trust and what we need them to do is to reduce the energy's intensity and to reduce their consumption. So we definitely want to encourage them to use those devices. We want to encourage them to get their homes retrofitted. In the long term, the benefits to St. Lucia will include low electricity bills for consumers, increased economic competitiveness and job creation as well as energy resilience and independence. At 44 cents per kilowatt, electricity prices in St. Lucia is among the highest in the world with the average family on island paying three times more to power their home than other countries like the United States. The high cost of electricity exacerbated by the dependency on expensive imported petroleum products also has a serious negative impact on the island's competitiveness and growth as it contributes to the high cost of doing business and deepens the country's financial vulnerability. The current energy crisis coupled with the mounting pressure of climate change only further exacerbates existing fragilities.