 The St. Lucia Air and Seaports Authority slasper expressed confidence that upon completion, the Hiranora International Airport HIA Redevelopment Project will meet the demands of the aviation industry and rival neighboring Caribbean islands as one of the best airports in the region. Officials of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Ports Energy and Labor, along with Infrastructure Minister Hon. Stevenson King, recently made their first official visit to the site. The visit provided them an opportunity to witness firsthand the progress of works being conducted. Slasper's Communications and Community Liaison Officer for the HIA Redevelopment Project, Peter Lewis, explained that the officials were also profited the opportunity to make inquiries and witness the quality of the product in the foundation stage. We were able to work the Minister through, for him to get an appreciation for the piling process, how far we've progressed in terms of how that affects the timeline and timing completion of the project, the fact that we've taken the environmental concerns into consideration to enact this project and to ensure that it is completed the way that we as inclusions and the wider world will be proud of. Also, the Minister got a chance to ask questions first-hand from the project-side engineers and to witness the true progress of the facility. And I think the Minister left very pleased and he was very happy, but also for officials of the Ministry of Infrastructure, they were able to get a grasp of the full extent of what partners like CBRE, HIRI and ECMC who are also partners on this project are doing. And to get an appreciation for the sheer expanse and effort that it is going to take to realize this project. The communications and community liaison officer indicated that the airport project will meet international standards whilst providing all required amenities for a safe and comfortable experience. The airport project is on the way and Celusia will soon be able to experience all the trappings and thrills of a new state-of-the-art facility and everyone is committed and excited to push the project through. And so soon from now, all of us will be able to experience greater parking accommodation and Wi-Fi and all the little things that we want, more space, more technology involved, cute systems and state-of-the-art technology throughout the facility, which is modern and to allow us to rank amongst the best in the region. Minister for Infrastructure, Ports, Energy and Labor Honourable Stevenson King, highlighting the quality of the works being executed, expressed elation at the progress thus far. He explained that significant progress is being made and with the noted improvement in efficiency, the project may outperform the expected completion time. We also realized that in the five packages, the first package which is being done at some time and once it's on time, then it means the next set of packages from the pile driving to the shell package to the interior, to the airside and landside, we are hoping that St. Lucien's won't be disappointed, not only in the architecture and the environment that has been put together, but in terms of the delivery so that St. Lucien now can boast of having an international airport that is second to none in the entire Caribbean. The minister commending all involved parties stated that he is proud of and impressed with the work being conducted, as well as the competency of Slasper. Honourable King also stated that the project is beneficial on many fronts, providing employment opportunities for residents of the south. Already the numbers that are being counted here, the OECC Meridian has about 150 to 160 workers that they have employed. We are anticipating that we will see an increase in numbers as they continue to do their part of the job. OECC has about 30 to 40 in number. So really speaking about 200 workers at this time, but of course it's really the spill-off in terms of what is happening on the periphery of the construction site, in terms of catering and food, other services, beyond that accommodation and the list continues, we will see certainly an improvement in the numbers when the other phases of the project commences and hopefully the anticipated or projected numbers that have been spoken of is anything near to 550 to 600 persons being engaged during the construction phase. Beyond that, the other things will happen. The official site visit was conducted on the 10th of June 2021. From the Government Information Service, I am Janelle Norville.