 Welcome once more to Issues and Answers. Today we are looking at the National Conservation Authority, the NCA, and the NCA emanating out of Act 16 of 1999, and it has been enforced since April 30th, 1999. You know that the NCA sort of replaced what was called the Parks and Beaches Commission. With us today in studio are Jacinta Lee, who is the general manager of the NCA, and with her is Mr. Edwin, Mr. James Edwin, who is the chairman of the NCA. Welcome both of you to Issues and Answers. Thank you. Thank you. Well, maybe first of all, the NCA, Senutians would probably know the NCA as probably the authority that tends to beaches and other stuff like that of historical and national importance. Tell us a bit more about the main functions of the NCA. As you said, the NCA identifies, manages, and conserves our natural assets, and particularly our beaches and coastal areas, and that's predominantly what we do. Okay. So I'm sure that you have a lot of functions on a day-to-day basis to ensure that you really ensure that you have all beaches and pristine conditioners and all the other aspects that you take care of. Right. There are relatively large staff, about 98, and most of them are the field staff who maintain the beaches and the facilities. And so every day, well, every day of the week, we have, we call them conservation assistants who clean the beaches just to make sure there's no debris, there's no litter on the beaches. So basically components, we know that you would have administration, operations, and there's also commercial. Commercial, right. You have a commercial, what you call the vending department, and we have nearly 400 vendors across the island. So it's a whole lot. Apart from that, we maintain 34 sites. Okay. So there's a lot of things happening behind the scenes at the NCA. Well, since we have a lot to talk about on the program, so Mr. Edwin, tell us a bit about your experience as chairman coming in and having seen the mandate of the NCA. Well, yes. Since being appointed chairman of the board of management of the NCA, we as a board have undertaken a number of initiatives to, actually with the end purpose of trying to, what I would say, improve on the delivery of our services. For instance, like staffing, advocating for additional resources for the NCA, and planning ahead as to where we want to take the CDNCA progress in the future. So that we've been working on as a board, and to a limited success, but we continue to advocate on behalf of the NCA every day. Okay. Initially we're going to focus a lot on the beaches, its maintenance, the facilities, and the licensing of the vendors. So looking at the beaches on a day-to-day basis, what is the routine like for persons who are actually going to ensure that the beaches are kept attractive, it's going to be safe, and also the marine aspect as well, because I think you're also concerned about the actual marine aspect to ensure that there's no hazards in the water. So we have our staff, and as I said, they work on the beaches, and it's a half a day from 8 to 12, and they clean up, and they do a very good job. We have our contractors who are responsible for collecting the waste, and to taking that waste to the dump site. We also have on some of our beaches, we have our facilities. So at Pigeon Island, you'll notice we have a comfort station, and we have a number of what people call huts, but they're booths. At VG, we have the same thing, and we have our comfort station attendants who are there to make sure that the places kept clean, and that people feel comfortable when they visit the facility. So we try to ensure the place looks as good as possible so that people will enjoy the environment. I'm sure that, having said that, there will be a number of challenges, because in the sole aspect of you do a daily cleanup, but for the use of the public, and you cannot always manage after hours, they say there's a half day, so I know it would be like litter bins and stuff like that. I know you would also have difficulty in persons who use the beach to recreate. Not just in the water, but come to a whole activity, a lot of social events are held there. How difficult has it been for you to manage it? It's been difficult, very difficult. Because I just don't understand why people feel that they should come to the beach and just drop the litter, just drop the litter and expect other people to clean up. So we have our cleaners. People should know that they should take care of the environment. We provided bins. In the past, we've had bins on the beaches. But you know what used to happen, Ryan? People used to drop their dead animals in the bins, because it's wide. So you find dogs, you find cats in the bins, and so you could imagine what happens when our cleaners go. You have all kinds of, you know, the smell, the thing is bloated. And all of that is just not fair to them. And so they had to remove all of the bins from the beaches. We kept some. But what we've started doing, and we have on some of the beaches now, to have special bins with just a small opening so no large animals can be dropped in there. In fact, we worked with some schools, and they came up with the design of the bins, of the enclosures. And so we have that. I think that has been working well, and we're going to roll out on to all of our beaches. But it's really sad. It's really sad. If I may add, it's not only the issue of dead animals, especially on the Pigeon Island area in the Grosjele, Rodney Bay. We had instances where people would leave their homes with their domestic garbage and come and dump it in the bin provided on the beach on a weekend. Rather than keep it at their homes for when the designated garbage collection, we had people actually driving to the beach and dumping the garbage. It was really posing an unsafe environment and an unsightly environment for beach users. So I mean, it's sad that we had to remove the bins. But we had to consider our workers' health as well. So it's difficult balancing the two, you may appreciate. I could only conclude that these people are using the beaches themselves, because if you're actually using the beaches, I don't see why you're using the sun there. So they expect somebody to get rid of it for them. Like I tell them, you dump it there, maybe we should find a way so that when you come back the next day, it's there waiting for you. But it's not fair to the other users. Because that's what I wanted to find out. If there's any way that you can monitor and actually see people that are sort of in this criminal behavior and what are some of the penalties. Right. But I think probably it's a lot of education. I don't know whether we've failed because there's been so much education on keeping your environment clean. But it still happens. You have all of these cleanups. It still happens. But what I want to add to is that it's not just domestic waste. Some people bring in, I think, some contractors who they've demolished a particular structure. You would see the toilets, the toilet bowls. You would see the face basins. We've even found microwaves, something like that on the beaches. And it's just not right. Well, I certainly don't think that's a case of you feeling as far as education is concerned. I just mind boggling. But we take our first break on our program. We'll be back with issues and answers. I'm innovative. Sure. I'm competitive. I'm productive. I am creative. I constantly improve what I do and how I do it. I am output oriented. I never stop learning. I give off my best always. The National Competitiveness and Productivity Council embracing excellence. Thanks for staying with us on issues and answers. Today we're looking at matters pertaining to the National Conservation Authority. So we've really got our work cut out with the beaches and the daily challenges. But, sorry, let me just add something else. Fires on the beaches, that's another troubling aspect. But people, they light fires, not just bonfires, where they bring in pallets and lights up, and so you find at the end of the day you have nails and you have all kinds of charred remains on the beaches and people could get hurt in that way. Some people also light fires in the tree trunks to cook. And you know what happens, the tree is affected, particularly in Sandy Beach in Viewfort. A lot of that has been done. Up north, bonfires, and you want to implore people that they should not light fires on the beaches. And you know what they do as well? They would light the fires and in order to extinguish, they would just throw sand over the coals, over whatever it is. And you find people walking or you have children just playing in the sand and they could get burnt. You know, with this kind of behavior. So how difficult is this for you? I think I mentioned it earlier, to actually police this in terms of knowing peak times on the beaches to get some of your staff around the wardens and to ensure that when they see these practices that they intervene and advise persons not to engage in these practices. Right. If one of our staff, in fact, she does that, goes around just to check, because you find people are supposed to get the permission to, for any organized activity, they need the permission of the NCA. And when they do get that permission, we tell them no lighting of fires. Right. So there's a whole list of things, no use of bottles, breakable bottles on the beach, glass bottles on the beach. So the number of things we tell them. But some people, they just go ahead and have the activity without letting us know. But apart from our staff going around to check, there are people who call to say, did you give permission for this person or these people to have the activities? And then we're able to contact them. So I'll give just an example. Somebody called to say that they notice some, you know, remnants of some fire and a tent at Viji Beach. And it was a Sunday, my staff went. Although there was nobody there, she was able to track down who was responsible. All right. And the person, we contacted the person, the person came and cleaned up. They actually did a good job cleaning up. I think some people are saying that they just don't know the process. They don't know they're supposed to ask for permission to use the beaches for organized events. They just don't know. So I hope with what's happening now, with that kind of discussion we're having that people get to know that they need to get the permission. So what's the actual process if you need and to what extent of events, the magnitude of the event that they would need to come to you and what's the process? Right. If it's just a simple, you know, you have a family just going to the beach and people go, that's okay. But anything organized. So you have people with the birthday parties. They want to have a party from 10 in the night until two in the morning, you know. You have mass events, all of that. You need the permission. And it's very simple. On our website, you could call in, you could come in, email, and we provide you with the form. So there must be a form. You must fill in that form for any organized event. No, it's important that NEMO is involved. If it's more than 200 people who would be attending that event, NEMO must be involved. The police, the fire service, the echo. If there's any music, all of environmental health, if you're going to have any food. So there's a whole range of agencies that need to be involved. And particularly security as well. The life saving. So any activity, any activity that's near the water, people must provide the lifeguards. There is a life saving society. And they inform us when people apply to have lifeguards at the event. So they must have lifeguards. Yeah. You see, matters pertaining to the beach you could never exhausted. I want to go into another aspect of the vendors and the licensing, but seems like Mr. Kudai has a question. Yes, I just wanted to add, when it comes to the challenges that we face in maintaining a pristine environment on the beach for our users. We have the issue of people walking their animals, particularly dogs, and not picking up after them. And also horseback riding, that is a serious, serious problem. It is dangerous to, physically could cause physical injury. And also it's a health hazard to beach users. Some time ago, I remember in 2010, there was a commission to look at regulating horseback riding on the beach. I mean, there was a document, I knew it was submitted to the ministry, but that is a document we need to revisit and to actually regulate animals, how you bring your animals and what you're allowed to do as far as the beaches are concerned. There are some people who are mindful and would pick up after their animals, but some people would just leave it and you know what it is, like when all of this gets into the water, people step on the kind of diseases that you can get from animal dump on the beach. I'd just like to add one thing to those of the horses. Sometimes if I had people take the horses into the water and the horses defecate in the water. I mean, that's just nasty, you know? And I think people need to be, you know, just be aware of these things that you cannot do that. Yeah, okay. I would have liked to have gone into licensing, but just to finish off on the beaches and the very important aspect that we had discussed and you brought it up as well, the aspect of lifeguards, because I'm sure persons would feel much more comfortable going into the water, knowing that their lifeguards on most of the beaches, if not all on St. Lucia, how well have you been able to develop an association with the life-saving association in terms of getting a wide presence of lifeguards in St. Lucia beaches? Oh, when they organize activities, we, that's one of the things that we say, you must have lifeguards on the beaches. It would be good for there to be lifeguards. Towers. You know, lifeguards, towers, and to have the presence of lifeguards all day long on all of our popular beaches. But then at this time, it's just not possible, given our limited resources. But in most of them, well, all of the beaches where there are hotels, they are lifeguards. Okay, yeah. I want to get the opportunity to go into, just before our next break, to look at the whole aspect of defending, because you know that NC has a very big part in what happens to, particularly with the parks, as well, and maybe some of the sites around the island where visitors normally go to. Tell us how, a vendor, someone who wants to vent at a particular location that you are in charge of, how do they get themselves organized and to be in good standing to apply the trade at locations which you are responsible for? Mr. Chairman? Yeah, okay. Basically, I mean, we have a prescribed form that whoever is interested should come into the NCA. In applying, you would need to produce references, you'll need to produce certificates of character that you get from the police. It depends on your type of vending that you're applying for. Fees apply to certain categories. And then we do our background checks as well. We ask people from the community that you are originating from something about your character because sometimes your certificate of character from the police may not speak about probably how you behave in the community. It will probably only speak to you not having a criminal record, but character is very important to us. So we ask questions and we take into consideration the nature of what you're applying to undertake, whether that area is saturated, for instance, with particular people like beach chair vendors. We try to maintain an atmosphere on the beach where it's not only vending that takes place. So in applying, we also consider whether there is a need for the business that you are applying to conduct. Let me just add, in terms of, you have the water sports. People apply for boat tours, for jet skis. And we do not give the license unless they have all the proper documents from Slasper. So they must show the insurance, they must apply for hire, they must show that the vessels have been inspected, all of that, we need all of these documents before we can say yes, we will give you the license. So anyone going on a boat tour would know, okay, this boat is licensed, this boat has a necessary insurance. Insurance, signage. The person who is conducting that boat has the experience and has the skills to do that. Because we work very, very closely with Slasper in that regard. We do have to take our second break on our program, but we'll be right back on issues and answers. Any area that you want. Oi, you ever realize you step on my toe? Well do something about it. That's why I boosted in diamond. Holla! If somebody tried to cross you, and a matting start to take you, no need for all your violins cause the police there to help you. If you have trouble starting this session, all right, no need for aggression. We the one of violins in the play. Control your temper. Respect the trouble escalators, you know better. Control your temper, let no trouble escalators, you know better. Control your temper. A message from Mission Boys Studio 758, Acid Creations, and the Royals and Lucia Police Force. Thanks for staying with us. Remind me once more, you're watching Issues and Answers, and we have two guests from the National Conservation Authority. This is Jacinta Lee, who is the general manager, and we also have Mr. James Edwin, who's the chairman of the National Conservation Authority. We know that at the beaches, you have facilities to maintain, but it might be a different challenge to the other sort of facilities that have more land base. Can you tell us a bit more about that and what would you like to provide for the persons, not just the vendors, but persons who come to enjoy the facilities that you have? Yes, okay. At NCA, we realized that our primary responsibility is maintaining the beaches, and we went to encourage people to visit the beach, locals and visitors. So, we've been on a drive to actually build proper facilities on the beaches so that people can be comfortable when they go to the beach. For instance, at VG, we were able to provide this vending facility that affords people a comfort area where they could change, where they could ease themselves and have something to eat as well. Pigeon Island is the same. This is working quite well. I mean, Pigeon Island is a real success story. Locals are really enjoying the facility that we provided for them. But we have a trouble area at Rodney Bay where every year we land thousands of visitors, hundreds of thousands of visitors on this beach, and there's no real public facility there for them. Right now, we're in the process. We have plans, approved plans to build a washroom facility and also a vending facility for the vendors to get some organization into that space. Because if we are bringing people to our shores, we must provide the facilities and amenities for them. So we are advanced stages on this. Hopefully the funding will come. We are talking to a few agencies like the Tourism Enhancement Fund. We are also talking to the Tourism Authority and there are some promising discussions going on. And hopefully, if not by the end of this year, early next year, we should see some progress on this. Before we wind up, sorry, what are some of the other beaches that you're identifying right now? I noticed you did mention Sandy Beach earlier, what are the prospects of other beaches on the island which are popular with solutions that you're looking to get these stations in? Right, we also want to, because of the congestion at Rodney Bay, Pigeon Island and VG, we want to develop other areas. Kasaba is one of the area that we are looking at. Thanks to Bokai in Kaldisak, they've provided some limited amenities there. We are hoping that that area can be... Sinclusions and visitors can start utilizing that area. They have been. They have been, I don't know what to mean. Rozo Beach is a fairly nice area and that's one area we really would want to see what can be done with that area. We've been talking to the parliamentary rep as well, see what can be done to develop that area so we can open up those areas to visitors and locals, okay? I just want to add that at Pigeon Island, we really want to have a safe space for children and so we've started that process because you find vehicles, particularly on the weekend, play loud music, open the guys open the backs of their vehicles and just blast out music and you find families who just want to enjoy the beaches, have difficulty doing that. So we're trying to have a safe space for the children and apart from that, we have people who drive their vehicles very close to the edge of the beach and it's on the slant and we've seen what happened at Viji. A vehicle actually went into the water at Viji on the beach, into the sea at Viji and so we just want to caution people about parking so close to the beach. In fact, we plan in to upgrade the Pigeon Point so that there'll be designated parking for people so they can be just driving all over the place to have a really nice park at Pigeon Point. Just before we close, I know that there are a number of entities that you go very closely with, one of them would be the San Nusian National Trust. Trust, right. About that cooperation. Oh, it's been going extremely well. In fact, we started our school environmental education program and the National Trust played a key role in that area. We've also worked with like Massey Stores, Harry Spades, Caribbean, Greening the Caribbean. So it's TEF, Tourism Enhancement Fund and so the Ministry of Tourism, Department of Fisheries, Department of Planning and I must give a shout out to Mr. Poyot and his team from the actual, right, they've assisted a whole lot and I'm really thankful for that kind of cooperation and collaboration. Well, we're going to close off in a minute and a half or so but since we've discussed a lot about the behavior of solutions both on the beaches and in public at the parks and whatever, we also know that you have rangers and wardens as well as in operation and what are their powers in terms of controlling what solutions to other beaches and other parks. We wish we could have rangers on all our beaches but right now we have at Redouy, at Redouy Beach, we have our three rangers thanks to the Tourism Enhancement Fund and we would really like to expand to other beaches as well but thanks to the Royal San Lucia Police Force, we work closely with them as well, they will be having dedicated police officers on some of the beaches and so we hope in time to be able to expand to all of our beaches just to provide that security and safety for beach users. Ideally, we would love to have that. At some point there was a unit called, was it the rangers or beach rangers? I think it was under the original Parks and Beaches Commission where there was patrol and... There was rapid response. Ideally if we could have a unit like this based at the NCA, that would help us do all the monitoring and all the policing that we really should be doing as well. So a very good way for us to end up on our program this morning. Are we ending already? Yes, we are. We certainly know that there's a lot more that we can speak about. Maybe for the programs you can look at other areas or the matters pertaining to the NCA. But I'd like to thank you, Mr. James Edwin, the Chairman of the National Conservation Authority and General Manager of the Center League for being part of our program this day. Issues and answers and we're certainly hoping that emanating from this discussion will have better behavior as far as the public is concerned as they go to the beaches and enjoy the natural amenities right here in St. Lucia. This has been Issues and Answers. I'm Rana Bryan. You can join us next time for another program.