 My fellow salutions, I know it has certainly been a challenging, emotional and impatient time for many of you having to deal with a pandemic, none like we have ever seen before. Your lives have been changed in the blink of an eye. To those of you who have lost their friends or loved ones to COVID-19, I wish to extend my sincerest condolences and pray that the strength of the Lord is bestowed upon you in this trite time. I've seen the test of strength of our people and admired those who continue to press on. With this new SLP administration, we continue to pledge our support and will do what we can to assist our people as we journey together on this road to recovery. As your Minister for Youth Development and Sports, I immediately went on the ground across St. Lucia to assess our sporting facilities, to meet with youth groups like the NYC, to ascertain the issues facing our young people and to gauge our responses as a ministry to improve the lives of this and the future generations. St. Lucia, what you can look forward to is an actual sports policy, a facilities management policy, the implementation of a youth policy, all of which will guide how we move forward as a nation to develop our young people, to achieve the standards that are required internationally to compete and to thrive in a world where we know we will be made proud. I'm so proud of each and every one of our athletes, our coaches, our support teams, our communities, our administrators. St. Lucia, as we enter this festive season, I encourage you to stay safe, follow the protocols, practice social distancing, wash your hands, sanitize. We are not there yet, but we will get there together. To my people of Grosally, thank you for placing your trust and confidence in me. I'll continue to do my best to serve you. I wish each and every one of you a safe and enjoyable Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.