 Welcome to NTIA Nightly, I am Genelle Norville, this edition's top stories. The National Crime Victimization Survey to Direct Efforts at Citizen Safety. St. Lucians are now obtaining their driver's license through e-services and carry come countries to have full access to medical supplies in combating COVID-19. The government of St. Lucia is taking a more evidence-based approach to crime fighting and citizen security. The St. Lucia National Crime Victimization Survey has been completed and handed over to the government. Heres Anissa Antoine. The government of St. Lucia has partnered with the United Nations Development Programme UNDP, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the United States Agency for International Development to complete the St. Lucia National Crime Victimization Survey 2020, the SLNCVS. The survey forms part of the carry secure project which aims to improve youth crime and violence policymaking and programming in the southern and eastern Caribbean through the use of quality comparable and reliable national citizens security information. The project which was funded by the USAID is in keeping with the sustainable development goals, including sustainable cities and communities, peace, justice and strong institutions. Sean Mathraire, director of the Central Statistical Office, explained that the SLNCVS focuses specifically on the levels and nature of both personal and household crimes. Ultimately, our objective should be to have a functioning crime and criminal justice statistical system that will provide the required data to support strategies to design, to support strategies designed to address the socio-economic development issues associated with crime and victimization. Fundamentally, those strategies should be guided by some critical questions for crime prevention, such as what are the levels of crime and what are the characteristics. Has the level of crime changed over time? What are the characteristics of victims and perpetrators? What are the risks of becoming a victim? Has the perception of risks and security changed over time? How many crimes are reported to authorities? And in the case they are reported, why does this happen? And in the case they are not reported, why does this happen? Are the crime prevention policies working? In this context, the information generated by the Crime Victimization Survey allows for the carrying out of more comprehensive analysis of the criminal phenomena and will contribute to monitoring the progress of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The SLNCVS estimated that 18% of 134,901 persons were victims of at least one of the 14 crimes being recorded within the reference period, September 2018 and August 2019, with an estimated 34.2% of cases not being reported to a competent authority. The Minister for Economic Development, Housing, Urban Renewal, Transport and Civil Aviation, Honourable Guy Joseph, commended the Central Statistical Office for establishing data that will assist the government in making more informed policy decisions. Now, crime is no longer an isolated incident in St. Louis. It appears that crime has become a part of everyday living and in various communities in the homes, in the business place. It is something that we have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. And I think that the approach towards dealing with it also needs to change because no longer can the policies and the approaches taken to crime fighting many years ago may not be applicable today because of the age of the Internet. Just as we are meeting virtually, I believe that there are virtual crimes that can be perpetrated in one way or the other. And we need to be very much aware of our surroundings because if we are not sure of what is happening, how do we prescribe the right approach towards crime fighting? Honourable Minister Joseph reaffirmed that the government will continue to modernise and revamp the existing policies to ensure that the legislation is in keeping with the present time. From the Government Information Service, I am Anisia Antoine reporting. Several drivers on the island have begun taking advantage of the new Government e-Services platform which now allows the holder of a St. Lucia driver's licence to apply for a renewal or duplicate licence from any location. Moim this report from Jolita Peter. The Department of the Public Service has embarked on a grand digital project that will enable you to access Government services online from the comfort of your home or any other location. The Digital Government Integrated e-Services platform or DigiGov, as it is called, is being implemented using a two-year phased approach with the intention to make available 154 services online by 2021. Phase 1 includes renewal and a duplicate of a solution driver's licence. One of the users of the new online service, Mr. Karbin Lee, who is the Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Department of Infrastructure, Ports, Energy and Labour, had this to say. Registering on the DigiGov platform for the new system was quite an experience actually. Very simple. The user interfaces are very user-friendly and was quite easy to navigate. I like the various backgrounds and what not. It's easy on the eyes. So it helps with trying to get through this. And I think for new users or persons who are not so tech-savvy, it's encouraging and simple enough to use and register. The process was very simple, took just what, just a couple of minutes really, to register in the system and that went pretty well. Licensing Officer at the Transport Division, Southern Office, in Lucentia, Shalmine, said the project is beginning to gain momentum in the Southern town. So far, things have been going much better than I expected. We have not been getting too many online registrations, but customers have been coming into the office to renew all of their driver's license. And we have been able, with just a few minor hiccups, we have been able to facilitate the renewal of the driver's license into the new system, which is the DigiGov system, so we have been able to facilitate that. And also we have been able to give customers the newly designed driver's license card. Ms. Shalmine described the features of the new digital driver's license. The colors that we have on the license is reflecting of our national flag. On the front of the card, we have all the basic information of your driver's license. We also have the national bird. At the back, we have the pitons. And then we also have the coat of arms, which is its security feature, so it is not easily recognizable. At present, the turnaround time for the processing and collection of the new digital driver's license is five days. In order to create a user account, you can simply undertake the self-registration exercise by logging onto the DigiGov website, which is www.digov.govt.lc. From the communications unit of the Department of the Public Service, Julia Peter reporting. The National Insurance Cooperation's NIC's Economic Relief Program, ERP, has been extended for the period of three months to include July, August and September. The NIC will continue to pay 50% of monthly salary, subject to a maximum payment of $1,500 and a minimum of $500, and subject to deduction of money received from the employer for the period of payment. Claimants who previously applied for the ERP are not required to reapply. However, employers are required to provide updated information in the employer portal on NIC's website on the status of the employees. Director of NIC Lincoln, Matthew Mathre, has assured that the extension of the program will not affect NIC's long-term financial sustainability. We solicited actuarial input to determine that whatever we'd be spending would not compromise the fund. And based on that, we were able to decide on the three-month program where we sort of projected the cost of between $30 to $80 million for the three months. And that depended on which scenario we followed. So if it was at the low end where we thought maybe a few or number of persons would have been unemployed, then we were looking at the $30 million figure. In fact, looking at it now, the projections for the three months are looking in the region of $35 million. And if we were to go the six months, we're looking at an amount not exceeding $80 million. So the figure we have projected for the three months as a maximum worst case scenario figure is a maximum we now expect for the three months. So on that basis, all the conditions were in the slot for the board to agree to an extension of the program. The NIC has already processed over 21,000 applications and made over 18,500 payments to individuals at an average of $830.16 per payment. A grand total of $15,367,932 has been paid to the qualifying applicants. Given the delays being expressed, the NIC has taken measures to improve payouts. Suan Shaari Payne is the head of Group Internal Audit. We have increased the number of persons who are engaged in processing and verifying, definitely as one of them. We do recognize one of the areas we could have improved on is the timeliness of our communication to the applicants. We know that and we have been making strides, like the director said, to automate that process. So one of the responses to the delayed response in getting feedback from the NIC is to attempt to automate. Because of the number of different reasons why, say, somebody's claim is inquiry or has been disallowed, programming it obviously needs a lot of fine-tuning. So in attempting to have it be automated, we are working on that. And we do recognize that there have been a time lapse that would be unreasonable for most, and we do apologize for that. But we are trying to do better at that with our automation. The ERP was first announced on April 9, 2020 as the NIC's response to help workers navigate the economic hardship arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. The legislative amendments that were published on April 24, 2020 provided the NIC with the authority to execute the program. This is NTN Nightly. Please stay with the broadcast. We'll be right back. Be aware of and follow water conservation practices. Here are a few tips to help you save water. Wash dishes in a basin of water instead of a running tap. Soak pots and pans instead of letting the water run while scraping them. Check toilets for leaks by putting dye in the tank. If color shows in the bowl without flushing, there is a leak. A leaking toilet can waste thousands of gallons of water. Use a bucket instead of a hose to wash cars. And reuse grey water from laundry to water plants. Water conservation reduces energy consumption and strain on the water distribution system. Conserve water whenever possible. And remember, every job counts. A message brought to you by the Water and Sewage Company Incorporated, WASCO. Welcome back. St. Lucia is receiving assistance in the development of the agriculture sector. Anisia Antoine reports on the technical and marketing support from key allies. The Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund, ICDF, and the Inter-American Institute for Agriculture, ICA, have signed an agreement to promote agricultural development in St. Lucia. The agreement will focus on marketing support and also provides an opportunity for the different stakeholders to contribute to the improvement of St. Lucia's agricultural techniques and productions, especially in commercial compost production, under the food supply chain. Greg Rawlins, Director of the Eco-Office in St. Lucia, stated that the organization will continue to strengthen partnerships that increase their effectiveness in an effort to improve and advance the agricultural sector in the Caribbean. We have found in the Taiwanese technical mission to the Republic of China, Taiwan, one excellent partner who we are very proud to be able to sign an agreement with this afternoon. Last August in St. Kitsunivis, I had the privilege of signing an agreement with the International Cooperation and Development Fund, Taiwan ICDF, and this agreement this afternoon is being signed within the framework of that broad agreement, and it seeks to encourage and promote cooperation in technology-related and management areas to the benefit of both the Taiwan ICDF and ICA and accelerate the improvement of agriculture, agro-processing, and rural development in St. Lucia and the wider Caribbean. The Ambassador of the Republic of China, Taiwan to St. Lucia, His Excellency Douglas Shen, reaffirmed Taiwan's full support and commitment to assisting the agricultural sector in St. Lucia. The partnership we witness today is a win-win-win situation for everyone on board. We expect it to taste the fruit of such partnership in the very near future. Dear Minister, friends and hard-working farmers, this pandemic has not yet ended and we must remain vigilant even when it ends. If its impact will linger on, Taiwan is committed to support the growth and development of fair health agriculture and the rural economy, and we are not only talk and talk, but we will also walk the walk. As part of an effort to assist farmers in mitigating the risks of the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure local markets remain open, the Embassy through the Taiwanese technical mission has donated a total of 10,000 face masks to farmer organizations in St. Lucia. The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Physical Planning, Natural Resources and Cooperatives, Honourably Zika Joseph, expressed gratitude to the government of the Republic of China, Taiwan for their donation and continuous support in the agricultural sector. Let me, on behalf of the farmers who will be receiving this gift this afternoon, express our appreciation to you Ambassador, and to your technical mission and of course the government people of Taiwan for considering that donation and to of course to assist us in continuing the work that we are involved with as it put into our agriculture. Like you said, you all walk and talk and of course we know based on the relationship that we have had over the past years with Taiwan that Taiwan has been a faithful friend as it put into our agriculture and of course in other areas as it put into our policies and of course our programs in St. Lucia. The face masks donation and ICDF ICA signing ceremony took place on Tuesday June 30th, 2020. From the Government Information Service, I am Anisia Antoine reporting. The newly launched Love St. Lucia campaign is aimed at returning buoyancy to the local economy for the consumption of homegrown goods and services. The COVID-19 pandemic has left no part of the world untouched, bringing down even the largest of economies. St. Lucia as a small island developing state was in no way spared from its wrath as the island continues to grapple to find its economic footing. St. Lucia's highest revenue earner, the tourism industry, is one of the hardest hit globally. The island's implementation of measures get towards protecting the public all with good intention have further crippled St. Lucia's domestic industry, so said Minister for Commerce, Industry, Investment, Enterprise Development and Consumer Affairs Honourable Bradley Felix. He noted that adding insult to injury at the rising cost of imports further worsening the situation at hand. With jobs being lost and the country's economic situation worsening, the government was placed in a position to not only respond to a health crisis but to respond to the accompanying economic crisis as well. Honourable Felix explained that the Love St. Lucia campaign plays an integral role in getting St. Lucia back on its feet and to be successful, the campaign requires the support of all stakeholders including but not limited to the public, the private sector and civil society. The campaign aims to reignite the love that both locals and visitors alike have for not only St. Lucia but also to reduce goods and services as well. In the short term, the campaign will contribute to stabilizing the local economy by cushioning the impact of reduced foreign income and decreased domestic spending power. This is achieved by pivoting towards domestic consumption ahead of imports thereby increasing the circulation of already limited currency within the economy. In the medium term, a sustained increase in domestic consumption will stare enterprises towards increasing production capacity and improving quality standards which will continue a trend of import substitution leading towards an enhanced share of this domestic market. The long-term strategy afforded by this campaign is to use this enhanced domestic market share as a platform for more of our local manufacturers and service providers to venture into exports. The St. Lucia Coalition of Service Industry welcomed the Love St. Lucia campaign. Executive Director of the St. Lucia Coalition of Service Industry Yvonne Agard explained that it offers an opportunity to encourage support for services and goods produced locally and to evaluate the contribution to the local economy. The Love St. Lucia movement is seeking to change the perception of our micro and small businesses. It's educating consumers about the difference locally owned businesses make in their community and in our country. It's about uniting small businesses to embrace competition and succeed by creating a mindset among consumers that homegrown is our own. It's authentic, it's original, it's fresh, it's healthier, it's better. The Love St. Lucia campaign shines the spotlight on our small businesses. They make a measurable difference in their communities and consumers are paying attention. The Love St. Lucia campaign was officially launched on Tuesday 30th June 2020. St. Lucia and the rest of the curriculum states to benefit tremendously from an agreement initiated by the World Health Organization, WHO. The announcement was made by the outgoing chair of Caricum Barbados' Prime Minister, Honourable Mia Mortley, as she handed over chairmanship at the 20th Special Meeting of Caricum Heads. The meeting was held for the first time virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO initiative facilitated access by Caricum and African medical supplies platform. That will allow the smallest of our countries to be able to access PPE in vitro diagnostics, therapeutics when they come, vaccine when it comes, in the same way that the largest of the countries of Africa will be able to do so, and in the same way that we will be able to ensure that what transpired in March, April and May will not be repeated going forward because we have access to the suppliers who can supply for us at the scale that we need. And more importantly, a country like St. Kitts with 40,000 people will be able to procure goods at the same price as Nigeria with over 200 million persons as their population base. So that opportunity to be onboarded on the African medical supplies platform gives us a tremendous change for our individual countries, our hospitals, our polyclinics to be able to fight off the worst ravages of COVID-19. Prime Minister St. Vincent and the Grenadines and incoming chairman of Caricum, Honorable Dr. Ralph Gonzalez, reiterated the challenges of COVID-19 in the region and the mammoth task ahead. On the agenda continues to be the challenge of COVID-19 and its four interconnected dimensions of health, the economy, society and security. The coordination of the delivery of a sufficiency of regional air transport in quality, affordability, safety and sustainability. The socioeconomic recovery of our region, the strengthening of our region's resilience against multiple vulnerabilities, the building of a better, more equal, more inclusive global order in full recognition of a properly articulated small state exceptionalism and the further upliftment of our Caribbean civilization in every material particular within our region and in our interface with others. Incoming Chairman of Caricum, Honorable Dr. Ralph Gonzalez, Prime Minister St. Vincent and the Grenadines. That brings us to the end of NTN Nightly. Join us next time at 7 p.m. with a repeat at 7 a.m. You can also catch up with us anytime on the St. Lucia Government Facebook page or YouTube channel. I am Genal Novel.