 Welcome to NTN Nightly, I am Genelle Norvell. This edition stops stories. The Ministry of Education to embark on an academic recovery program to offset the impact of COVID-19. The Chairman of the COVID-19 Management Centre addresses issues surrounding the national response to the pandemic and government pursues a landfill-free inclusion by 2030. The Ministry of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training is reporting a successful return to the classroom for the nation's student population. The school term resumed in the physical setting for all students on Monday 8th November 2021 as the island draws nearer to resolution of the fourth wave of COVID-19. The Ministry of Education has also announced that it will be embarking on academic recovery and accelerated learning programs to compensate for lost instruction time. Details in this report by Hermione Mark. Students across the island returned to the physical classroom setting on Monday. Instruction had to be conducted via virtual platforms for students with smart devices and internet connectivity following the onset of the fourth wave of COVID-19 in St. Lucia. Officials from the Ministry of Education took the opportunity on Monday visiting various schools with a view of ensuring that students had a seamless transition back to the classroom. Honourable Dr. Pauline Antoine Prospep, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training explained that several measures have been put in place to ensure the health and safety of all students. Well, we would know that last year we had a tomb where all the students were back and most schools have refined their protocols to ensure the safety of all students. So you have students wearing their masks at school. We have the social distancing at the schools. We also have where social distancing is masked, we have different at the gate. You would be welcomed by someone who would take your temperature and ensure that your hands are sanitized and there are different parts around the school compound where students can wash their hands and sanitize to ensure that their hands are clean at all times. Acting Education Officer Sarah Cipal indicated that the Ministry of Education is also embarking on an academic recovery program. The program aims to ensure that no child is left behind as a result of disruptions in instruction. What is important now is the academic performance and along with that now the social upbringing and emotional psychological aspect of it with reference to school. So returning face to face, it has more to it than just simply the knowledge aspect of it. And then now with this now we are also considering you have the learning loss that may have taken place because of the distributed learning because as you know yes the teachers were doing their best to try to get everybody with the online platform but there were some children we could not reach so because of that there would have been some learning loss. So therefore we are putting a program in place for the academic recovery to take place and along with that now we are going to put another program in place called Accelerated Learning. So we are going to have the academic recovery under Accelerated Learning working together so the children can be where they are supposed to be. Acting Chief Education Officer highlighting the importance of students' return to the classroom explained that students' holistic well-being was considered during the decision-making process. In the school setting, the psychological component with it, most children when they are at home we don't know what they are going through, we don't know the conditions they are at home how much learning is really taking place, they want to learn but then the environment with which they operate, you also have to consider the psychosocial aspect of it you also have to consider the nutritional aspect of it because remember we have a lot of the children especially the primary school who depend on the feeding program of the Ministry of Education to get a good meal. So all of these components and as I said now we had a number of children who were getting the packages from the schools however we could not give them any feedback because we had no interaction between the teacher and the students so although they would receive a package but they were not getting the feedback so that one month and that's why the Minister had said we are not going to have end of term exams but we are going to have interaction with the children from the one of this month until the last day so then now the misconceptions that they may have got during the packages that they got or probably where there was internet connectivity issues and then they may have lost on certain things and that one month would actually bridge that gap and prepare them now for next time we are hoping that things will be okay that we will continue the face to face. Principles the island over have welcomed students return to the classroom principle of St. Mary's College Don Howell assured that the school in collaboration with all stakeholders have put in place the necessary measures to ensure the safety of all students schools across the island including special education schools and tertiary institutions resumed in class instruction as of Monday 8th November 2021 using a face-to-face modality via whole school or alternate day approach from the Government Information Service, Humedi Mark reporting Meanwhile the management of the COVID-19 pandemic requires a multifaceted approach and multi-sectoral involvement. The Government of St. Lucia recognising this necessity ensured that the National COVID-19 Management Centre was comprised of professionals and representatives from a societal cross-section. The entity is responsible for advising the Government on the best strategy for the management of the pandemic. During an appearance on Issues and Answers aired on the National Television Network NTN Chairman Cletus Springer explained that his background in epidemiological analysis plays a major role in fulfilling the requirements of the position. My role is to examine the intersection of epidemiology and the strategy that is needed to combat this. So my focus is on where the hotspots of infections and what is happening there relative to the movement of people from that point to other points is their link between the infections in the transportation system from the hot points to other points. These kinds of considerations are what I bring to the table. So it's my planning background, strategic planning, my communications and my knowledge of the public service and my understanding of the people of St. Lucia. The Centre's Chairman in providing insight into the decision-making processes of the Centre highlighted the significance of protocols to maintaining low COVID-19 positivity rates. If you're seeing a trend that says to you if that trend continues your capacity to cope will be overwhelmed. Your bed space in the hospitals, your intensive care capabilities, your availability of nurses, your availability of doctors, the ability of the government to buy oxygen and all of the treatments that are required. If you see that trend you are on an obligation to do something. In a situation like that doing nothing is not an option. Now where all of the tensions arise is what is the something you must do and how effective that is. And people have their own views on how effective confinement which is not a nice term but how effective these are. In our case I think the data is very clear. At the peak of our fourth wave I think we had about 7,000 just over 7,000 cases. In the third wave we had about 5,000. So it's very clear that the fourth wave has been far more severe than the third. But we are in a situation now where from that peak of about 7,000 cases we are now down to just about 350 active cases. Now you might argue what has brought this about? Is it the lockdowns? Is it the confinement? Is it people's strong adherence to the protocols? It could be any or all of these. But the fact is we have now a situation that is more manageable than we had before. Another important factor in the management of the pandemic, Mr. Springer noted, is vaccination. He indicated that the country's low inoculation rates may be as a result of conflicting schedules and inadequate ease of access. An issue he said the COVID-19 management centre is working to address. Meantime the reconstituted COVID-19 management centre will hold its inaugural meeting on Thursday November 11, 2021. The meeting which will take place at the financial administrative centre at Point Seraphine will be addressed by Minister for Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs, Honourable Mozi Jabatist. Members of the COVID-19 management centre will receive a report by the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Sharon Belmar George, on lessons learned from St. Lucia's experience during the fourth wave of the pandemic. It is expected that representatives of the private sector on the COVID-19 management centre will share their perspectives on a policy and strategic framework for handling the pandemic in a manner that will protect lives and livelihoods and promote a healthy economy. The meeting will be telecast live on the National Television Network from 10am. The Ireland's Minister for Sustainable Development has been assessing the existing systems and capacity for waste management. Minister for Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training, Honourable Sean Edward, accompanied by management of the St. Lucia Solid Waste Management Authority, recently conducted a tour of the Declos Sanitary landfill. Minister Honourable Edward indicated that the government of St. Lucia to achieve its goal of a landfill-free St. Lucia by 2030 must overcome the many challenges that currently exist. One such challenge is that the St. Lucia Solid Waste Management Authority is currently without a general manager. The Sustainable Development Minister explained that the government of St. Lucia will be looking to appoint a general manager to lead such a critical agency. The ultimate objective is for us to have a landfill-free St. Lucia by the year 2030. Moving forward, there is also a very robust education plan and campaign that will be rolled out by the Solid Waste Management Authority. Generally speaking, I think St. Lucia's have adapted well to Solid Waste disposal and as I said, it is just a matter of ensuring that whatever we do, it is done in conformity with the best practices that exist in other parts of the world. As we speak, there's a situation where we are hauling waste from the south of the island all the way to the Declos landfill. I do not believe that this is the best practice and this is something that we have to revisit as a new administration. It has cost the government of St. Lucia somewhere in the region of $2 million just to hold waste from view for two-day glow and in an environment where the government does not have too much fiscal space in which to maneuver and to roll out programs with the rapidity that we would have liked as an incoming administration, this is something that we have to review and we believe that the $2 million that has been expended so far in trucking garbage from view for two-day glow is money that could be used in other areas of national development to provide relief for the citizens of this country. The government of St. Lucia, in addressing the issue of hauling waste from view for two castries will be reviewing its agreement with Desert Star Holding, DSH to allow for changes where possible and necessary in the best interest of citizens. The Sustainable Development Minister also explained that efforts will be channeled towards improving the work conditions at the landfill. When I came here a couple days ago, well, probably I should say that from time to time I make an impromptu stop at the landfill just to get an appreciation for myself in terms of what the workers go through when the cameras are not around and there's no oversight being provided by management and you get a much truer picture of what obtains and I must tell you that when I came here two-some days ago I was not particularly thrilled with some of the conditions that I noticed the workers had to endure. I have brought that to the attention of management day two, well aware and it wasn't deliberate action on the part to have the workers enjoying the conditions that are obviously not favorable but moving forward we have all recognized that there's need for improvement and I can assure you that the next time you come here you will have the workers at the landfill and just workers at solid waste generally speaking much more favorably in terms of the conditions under which they have to work. Acting general manager of the St. Lucia Solid Waste Management Authority Lorianus Les Flores explained that the landfill has been faced with the issue of waste not being covered resulting in increased pests. He noted, however, that this would be addressed over the next two months. The Deglo Sanitary Landfill was commissioned in 2003 with a 20-year lifespan. Operation of the landfill comes at a monthly cost of $45,000 for equipment rental and wages as the authority does not own any equipment. Based on the current situation, the authority is looking at an additional 9 to 12 years lifespan for the landfill providing that a number of provisions are made including the reduction of waste coming into the landfill. If we reduce the volume of waste coming into the landfill, organic waste make up over 50% of the waste as deposited there. Now the authority have a plan in terms of doing composting at the landfill and I will show you the site that we have prepared for that. In the coming months we will be encouraging households and businesses to undertake composting. So our objective is to have very little compostable waste coming into the landfill. With regards to the other waste streams, example cans, plastic bottles, metal, we have a plan to do some segregation of that waste at the household level but that's in the long term. So those measures would increase the life of the landfill considerably so that hopefully we could achieve, like the minister said, zero landfill by the year 2030. The St. Lucia Solid Waste Management Authority also explained that some 20 incinerators were procured however it has been facing a number of challenges with their operationalization. Four of the incinerators were commissioned in February 2021 however as of now only one remains operational. As such, a significant effort will be made towards rectifying existing issues with the incinerators. From the Government Information Service, I am Janelle Morville. The livelihoods of Fisherfolk have been brought into sharp focus by the Minister for Fisheries as he continues to lay plans for the sub-sector. We hear more in this report by the Ministry of Agriculture's Anissia Antwan. Approximately 25 Fisherfolk from the Souffre area participated in a consultation headed by the Minister responsible for Fisheries Honourable Alfred Prosper and the parliamentary representative for Souffre Honourable Emma Hippolit to discuss on what challenges and concerns they face and what intervention may be required from the Department of Fisheries. Minister Hippolit has given the assurance that her commitment remains working with the Department of Fisheries to resolve the myriad of issues Fisherfolk in the Souffre area face. I gave them a commitment that I will address some of the issues that they've raised but I felt it was formal to give them the respect so that they can meet the Minister responsible for Fisheries, let them add their views and their concerns and we sit here and hide the Minister making some commitments and saying how as a government we will attempt to address the issues impacting Fishers in Souffre because in Souffre they've got some specific problems as well as Fishers in the entire country. Some of the main issues highlighted by the fishermen include the deterioration of the coral reefs, the high costs of deploying fish aggregating devices commonly referred to as fads as well as the illegal use of gillnets within the reserves. Minister Prosper emphasised the importance of involving other sectors impacted by the fishing sector such as tourism and finding solutions to issues confronting the marine environment in Souffre. Our fishermen work very hard. They take high risk. They go out to sea and most times they don't make much but yet there is very little coverage in terms of health insurance if they are sick or if they get injured at sea or if they are lost at sea very little or no benefits are affordable for them. I am also concerned based on what was mentioned today the issue of sale of fish. I was not aware that the issue of moving the sales depot from the centre of Souffre to this area would have impact the fishers. And this is something I believe must be addressed as soon as and I am looking forward to my ministry working with the fishermen of Souffre not just Souffre but the entire country to see how we can work with them and assist them and to make lives better for them. Minister Prosper also affirmed his commitment to assist in sector agencies such as the Souffre Marine Management Authority as the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development works to improve the livelihoods of all those affected by the sector. From the communications unit of the Ministry of Agriculture I am Anisia Antoine reporting. This is NCR Nightly. Primers Hutchinson is up next. Stay with us. I got the COVID-19 vaccine to save the return to my dance class. I wanted the vaccine because I really missed being at school. I got vaccinated so that I can go visit my grandparents without having to worry about them getting ill. I asked my mom to be vaccinated after reading and realising this was the best way to keep my family and friends protected. We all look forward to doing the things we love once more. The COVID-19 vaccine gives us this hope. The vaccine is protecting us and will protect you too. Vaccinate for you, for yours, for us. Welcome back. We join Primers Hutchinson for the NCR News. Thank you very much, General. Thank you, Madam Department of State University for the information on the government of the GIS, the National Television Agency of NTN, for the NCR News. For Primers Hutchinson. The government of the GIS, the National Television Agency of NTN, for the NCR News. For Primers Hutchinson. I have just noted the information that was made on social media, like the hospital OKU that explained the big battle and the corona disease. The OKU manager explained that they have to continue to operate in a safe way for one service to increase the number of people in this sector. According to the management of the OKU, with all the past businesses, the hospital is OKU, I have told the Corona Department, but they have to continue to fight, to protect the workers and also the people who have been treated at the hospital. The management also explained that they have to take care of the workers and the sick very carefully. That is why I have established the protocol to limit the people who can be treated at the hospital OKU and the corona disease. They have to expose the workers and the sick to the corona disease. The people who have been treated at the hospital OKU have to continue to test the workers, to see the results and to see if they can be treated. The protocol also explained that if the workers who have been treated at the hospital are not treated, it is positive that the workers are treated immediately. According to the management, they have to sanitize the workers who have been treated at the hospital and the people who have been treated at the hospital and the people who have been treated at the hospital and the people who have been affected. The management of the hospital OKU has advised the public to follow all these protocols, such as the treatment of epidemics, the service of sanitizers, the service of masks, the service of COVID-19, the service of social distancing, the service of the sick, and the people who have been treated at the hospital and the people who have been treated at the hospital to continue the fight against epidemics to help the people with the bad situation. This is the work that they have been doing to find a doctor, to take care of the local produce, to serve and eat, and to provide good health and to improve the quality. These are agricultural and chemical products I'm actually more concerned about money. Because for employment, just to get a job, we would like to have given our people to be manual jobs, otherwise of course normally they would wait for me to take a job. It's just for transportation, the way I work is I have to get some job and no one would ask me to hire me. It's very easy for the government to make it available to make it a reality. The government is a shayteh. The shayteh is not a factory, it's a factory. But it's also a shaymongi that does agriculture. And the government, I don't think it's very important to have a land bank. Because if you don't have a job, you can't even buy a shimai. And it's not worth it. You can't think of how many different types of land you'll live in before you get a land bank. The shayteh that the government is making it available to people. Because the shayteh that the government is making it available to people. And the shaymongi that we live in there, I don't know yet. I think it's a way of living. If the shayteh that government is making it available to people, it's like a factory, because as you can see, model. I decided to have initiatives to try to combat the coronavirus as soon as possible. Particularly, during the observation, I was a professional, ex-fabrikator, several models had been linked, or split, or divided, or even divided. I was able to take advantage of the opportunity to expose the virus to the public. But the coronavirus changed all of that. I was not just a business and an organization model, as I said, I was a Joyce Meryk. I explained that this was an initiative that started in February to make the country more remote and more effective, and to encourage the country to pay more money to come more sensitive to the virus. But as the pandemic has affected all of these places, and these areas have been linked, I decided to go out and to create a new model to expose the virus to other models that can exist in this country as soon as possible. But these areas have been linked. So we are going to do all the necessary things to encourage this country to wear a shirt or a shirt made by you. He probably gave me a shirt and it was made by me. But to bring awareness to make it... To appreciate what we do. To appreciate what we do. Because we don't know what to talk about this talent. But we can do it. We can do a lot of things to appreciate it. The only way we can do that is if we are able to talk about how much we can do in this country. So we hope to help those who are tired and want to do creative arts in this country. Hello Momsel Madrid. This is the initiative to help people to buy. But we can't do it. We can't do it. We can't do it on the first step. We can't buy things. But we can do it. We can start from the internet. We can do it in a different way. We can tag our fashion council. We can hashtag fashionfriday. Just tag us. I think it's important for us to understand what we are doing, because if we are not able to do our job, we will not be able to do our job, we will not be able to do our job, we will not be able to do our job, we will not be able to do our job. I am very happy to be here today, thank you for your invitation, I would like to say thank you to all of you, and may God bless you and the world. YouTube channel. I am General Novel.