 Welcome to NTN Nightly, I am General Norville, this edition, Stop Stories. The Ministry of Health and Wellness wants that St. Lucia may experience a fourth wave of COVID-19 infection if protocols are not adhered to. The Minister for Education gets a first-hand look at the successes of the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College and tapping into the power of music to shape lives. The Ministry of Health and Wellness has issued a bleak warning to St. Lucia. Observe all control and prevention protocols for COVID-19 or St. Lucia may be set for a fourth wave of infection. The warning came as officials updated the nation via the Information Command Center on NTN on the status of the in-country infection, transmission and recovery from the coronavirus. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sharon Belmar George explained that the risks for community spread include non-adherence of visitors to hotel protocols, reduced use and poor use of face masks in public places, increased mass crowd events across the island, non-adherence to establish protocols at business places, and the crowding of public buses without the use of face masks. The Chief Medical Officer noted that due to the non-compliance to protocols, the country may be heading towards another COVID-19 outbreak. Previously, we were managing with a rate of transmission of 1.1. We have gone up to 1.54 and we see the upward trend towards a fourth wave in country. We are at a very critical point and we want to ensure that everyone is aware of where we are and our actions at this point is really going to determine how we continue to manage. We can end up getting to a major outbreak as we are seeing happening in the rest of the world. The CMO further explained that the very communities in which a majority of the protocols are being breached are the ones recording increased COVID-19 cases. Everyone must take personal responsibility and adhere to all COVID-19 protocols for the safety of the citizenry. There's been a general relaxation of the measures during the month of May. I think if we all take an honest look around what's happening on the ground within the communities, the social activities and there are specific areas which we have flagged and picked up the outbreak of our cases, there are certain services that are higher risk where we get more cases when there is one detected. So it is really important that we as a country do what is necessary. We take personal responsibility to ensure that we protect ourselves and our family. The Ministry of Health and Wellness noted that while a general decrease in COVID-19 cases has been observed over time, the possibility of an outbreak looks as members of the public continue to disregard the protocols. The world over people are being encouraged to get vaccinated against the coronavirus in order to regain some semblance of normalcy to their lives. But accessing the COVID-19 vaccines remains a challenge for small and developing states like St. Lucia. Prime Minister the Honourable Alan Chastney is among many leaders challenged with the procurement efforts for additional vaccines outside the COVAX facility. He says the difficulties have been compounded by international developments, including new waves of the pandemic. Every time you think that you have a deal, then it changes. So for instance, many times we've had arrangements thinking that we're going to be getting the vaccines and then all of a sudden you had the significant outbreak in India and all of a sudden India needed additional vaccines. You had a fourth wave taking place in Europe and you found yourself competing against some of those larger countries for those same vaccines. And then you have the other situation where you have some larger countries which are making sure that you vaccinate their population before they export any vaccines. So it is a significant powder. Every day of mine is being spent on trying to procure and secure additional vaccines. I know that that is the critical step for us to turn a major corner in this COVID battle. I certainly want to protect and make sure everybody's protected. So the first responsibility of the state is to make sure that we have access to the vaccines. Thanks to initial donations as well as procurement through the COVAX facility, St. Lucia has enough doses to inoculate 20% of its population. Residents are encouraged to get vaccinated at the earliest from the Department of Health's current stock while the government seeks out additional batches. I think the next couple of weeks will really tell the story in terms of solutions, willingness to take the vaccination. But I'm hoping that just even the recent events where we've seen an uptake, an increase in a number of cases, this fight is not over. And the only way we can fight this battle and win is by people becoming vaccinated. It was very sad, a football team from view 4 that had been practicing for months to be able to go off to the tournament. A day before they were supposed to go, five of the players tested positive and their trip was cancelled. So this is the level of investment we're all making and it's being marginalized because of COVID. We still now have to find vaccines for at least another 60% of the population to get to herd immunity. We are seeing the success in Israel by getting herd immunity. Sadly, Seychelles thought they had reached herd immunity and then now there was a significant outbreak and they were at 60% vaccination. So again, the more people that can become vaccinated, the ideal being everybody being vaccinated, then I think that's the only time that we can assure sole protection. Prime Minister, the Honourable Alan Chastney. That's the Alpha Lewis Community College recently presented the Minister for Education with a blueprint of its successes as the institution curves a space for itself locally, regionally and internationally. Harmody Mark reports. The Minister for Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development Honourable Dr. Gail Rigabat recently visited the Seychelles Alpha Lewis Community College. She was updated on the current developments, successes and plans of the campus. The Minister visited the Derek Walcott Library, a new installment at the college, and the school's eLearning Academy. Dr. Keith Nurse is the principal of the Seychelles Alpha Lewis Community College. We're also able to share with the Minister the upcoming developments to establish an innovation hub here at the college, which would house four sub-labs. The first lab that we are establishing is an environmental sciences lab. We're doing testing of everything from water quality and air quality to soil and other environmental areas. The second lab is a food sciences lab or food tech lab, which will allow for both agri-process facilities as well as, again, testing, certification in the area of food processing as well as food development. The other upcoming projects shared with the Minister include a media technology laboratory focused on application development and robotics. Additionally, Seychelles Alpha Lewis Community College hopes to establish a virtual reality laboratory to aid in teaching subjects that traditionally require hands-on training. Dr. Nurse also shared with the Minister plans to set up a café in the centre of the college courtyard with the goal of making the campus more hospitable. The goal there is to make the centre of the campus a more hospitable place for students and staff as well as the institutions that surround us. We're talking about CAFA, the Caribbean Regional Public Health Agency, which is situated on our campus. We also have neighbours like HTS, Helen Television Systems, which is right across the road from us. The OECS Secretariat, which is adjacent to us. As well as the UU Open Campus. And so the goal is to create a magnet where we invite both our neighbours as well as our staff and students and the general public to come up to the campus and experience our culinary delights. The principal explained another goal of the project is to host a farmer's market on weekends. This will allow the college to sell the produce from its farm. Concessionaires ranging from crafters to food producers and agro-processes will be invited to sell local products. Honourable Dr. Rigabet applauded the college on the revamping of its associate degree programmes. The advancements made in digital education and the modular approach currently used in 60% of the college's classes and the introduction of four new bachelor degree programmes from the Government Information Service, Humadi Mark reporting. The Youth Empowerment programme has held its first activity under its component titled Creative and Expressive Arts for Peace and Development. Sherroy Marius has more. Acknowledging the power of music in influencing young people, the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice, Local Government and Empowerment has teamed up with the Community Relations branch of the Royal St. Lucia Police Force to host an extempo challenge under the Youth Empowerment project, YEP. This project is jointly funded by the Government of St. Lucia and the Caribbean Development Bank, CDB. This initiative targets youth within castries and is intended to provide an avenue for them to creatively express themselves on social issues with a focus on identifying youth-oriented solutions to some of these issues. In preparation for this challenge, the Ministry is hosting a series of training workshops geared towards sensitising the youth on matters relating to the impact of crime and violence on the society. The workshops which are being hosted at the Castries Town Hall will commence on Saturday, April 24th, 2021 and will continue every Saturday until the end of May, 2021. Inspector Alex Morgan of the Royal St. Lucia Police Force and one of the programme facilitators emphasise the importance of young people finding alternative ways to express their views on social issues. For your involvement, we could know where we're going as a country. Crime and violence as it impacts our community and we're also looking at what we can do as individuals to ensure that we address that situation of crime and violence. In the process, we'll be looking for information from you as we speak as to what you think we can do about crime, okay, what you think is working, what you think is not working and from there we can take it and you can also use some of that same information in your music when you do your extemp. A pleasant good morning to everybody. Welcome to the extemp. Order programme partners and facilitators include Dr Stephen King as well as Mr Gilroy Isai Hall, reigning extemp. Monaco St Lucia and Ms Karen Tobie who are assisting participants with the compositions of their extemp. lyrics. The workshops held thus far have yielded encouraging results as participants have actively participated in discussions on possible solutions relating to crime and violence in their communities. One workshop participant commended the ministry for a job well done. I'd like to thank my mother for introducing me to the event telling me to come. So I came ahead and I must say the event was very empowering. It really spoke volumes to me. It was really uplifting to see the information that I grasped and the knowledge that I grasped. I also realised, Lord, there are a lot of young people involved so that's a good initiative because of lifting the young ones is always a good thing for the future. Well, I learned violin about robbery. I learned about the community and safety and violence, well we need to stop the violence you just need to tell people to stop and if you don't tell them to stop it will just continue happening. The Permanent Secretary and the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice, Local Government and Empowerment Mrs. Valder-Joseph is pleased with this initiative which she believes will not only help to foster a sense of awareness of the impact of social issues among the youth but also engender creativity and critical thinking. One, two, three, four, five. One, two, three, four, five. One, two, three, four, five. One, two, three, four, five. The Youth Empowerment Project which is currently being administered through the Ministry of Equity is one which has the youth as one of its primary target groups as well as families by extension. That project has several components and several initiatives attached to it some of them ongoing and some to commence shortly. The Ex Tempo Challenge is one such initiative that is ongoing and I think it is a really creative way of engaging the energies of young people in thinking about the social issues that confront us and also in giving thought to the mitigation measures that can be implemented to reduce the risk and the impact of those issues. We welcome the initiative at the Ministry we commend the organizers and we want to say to the young people thank you for participating we do recognize that you have answers to some of those issues we do recognize that your contributions are meaningful and that you can play a key role in the sustainable development of your community. The Ex Tempo Challenge will be held on May 30th, 2020 reporting from the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice, Local Government and the Empowerment, I am Chivri Marius. This is NTN Nightly, stay with us. As a single mother, I do a lot of ironing knowing that the iron that I'm using is safe is important to me. The St. Lucia Bureau of Standards tests electrical appliances being imported into the country. SLBS will soon adopt 35 new standards on electrical equipment to ensure that consumers like you and me are safe. If your iron does not come with a British 3-pin plug it should be sold with a compliant British 3-pin adapter. If you buy any appliance that is faulty report it to the Bureau. This message is brought to you by the Commonwealth Standards Network. Welcome back. On Friday, May 14, 2021 the Royal St. Lucia Police Force Welfare Association along with the Office of the Commissioner of Police visited the police in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. During the visit of financial contribution along with water and other supplies were made to the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Welfare Association from the St. Lucia Contingent. The donation was made possible through contributions made by police officers in St. Lucia who wished to provide support to affected members in our sister island. The contingent also visited with local officers from the Special Services Unit who are currently posted in St. Vincent. The police marine unit subsequently made a donation of supplies to the St. Vincent Coast Guard. The Royal St. Lucia Police Force will continue to render any assistance possible during this time to St. Vincent and the Grenadines and encourages anyone able to make contributions to do so through Nemo St. Lucia. Main time St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister calls for renewed multilateralism in addressing peace and security. He made the call as the global community observed International Day of Peace on May 15. More from Toussaint King, English Francis. Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines doctor, the Honourable Ralph Gonzalez has called on all states to work together within the framework of international law and with the support of the United Nations to achieve the vision of global peace and security. Prime Minister Gonzalez was the only head of state who addressed a United Nations Security Council high-level video conference briefing on maintenance of international peace and security, upholding multilateralism and the United Nations-centered international system. The meeting was one of the signature events of China's presidency of the UN Security Council. Prime Minister Gonzalez said the COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the imperative of renewed multilateralism steeped in inclusivity, equality and justice. He called for bold and innovative steps to alleviate human suffering caused by vast and expanding security challenges globally. Capacity building and development assistance should be scaled up and national ownership over peace and political processes strengthened. Practical, inclusive, people-centered and climate-sensitive solutions ought to be developed and implemented in line with national needs and priorities and in accordance with the sustainable development goals. It is necessary and desirable that all states must work together constructively and within the framework of international law with the support and assistance of the United Nations and relevant regional and sub-regional organizations to achieve this vision of a more peaceful and prosperous world. Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Honorable Dr. Ralph Gonzalez with the Caricum News Time Report.