 Welcome to Nation Beat. I am Janelle Norville bringing you this brief on the pulse of our nation and highlights around the heart of St. Lucia. The Government of St. Lucia has made a major investment in the justice system with a $1.5 million rehabilitation of the Niagara Court. A new development project is coming to the south of the island and the Sufra Farmers Market revealed. The Government of St. Lucia has made a major investment in the justice system in keeping with pronouncements to improve conditions in the judiciary. Minister for National Security, Home Affairs and Justice, Senator Hon. Herman Gill Francis, on Monday 21st January 2019 announced the reopening of the Niagara Court following a $1.5 million rehabilitation. The Government continues to make strides towards improving St. Lucia's judicial system. The Minister for Home Affairs, Justice and National Security during a press briefing on Monday indicated that the Government had made a significant injection of funds into the renovation of the Niagara Court. According to National Security Minister, Senator Hon. Herman Gill Francis, the Court has been furnished with the necessities. We have now been able to spend $1.5 million renovating Niagara Court and by the end of this month you would see a refurbished Niagara Court, a fantastic area now that we have looked at it and configured for a courthouse. Arrangements are being made to utilize the court at the Bodilay Correctional Facility in Denry. Minister Francis noted that there are some issues to be ironed out in order to have the court functional. The Bodilay Correctional Facility will be an addition to the Niagara Court of three chambers, as explained by the Minister. There is a backlog, and like I said, the Niagara Court is now going to be, the three courts are going to be there. They don't have criminal cases. They don't have criminal matters. We have the courthouse in Bodilay and sometime this week or next week we are going to be meeting with the Chief Justice to see how we can utilize the Bodilay Courthouse because it is one of the best courthouses in India and it's just the distance that the judges have to travel. But we have to make a sacrifice. Everybody must make a sacrifice for the betterment of St. Lucia. So even if it is far, it is far for the police, it is far for the witnesses, it is far for the judges, all of us must accept that it is time that we bring down the backlog of the cases. The Government of St. Lucia remains committed to improving St. Lucia's justice system. The Ministry of Home Affairs, Justice and National Security and by extension the rules in Lucia Police Fort assures the public that everything is being done to not only calm down on crime, but to bring perpetrators to justice. Minister for National Security Senator Honourable Herman Gil Francis expressed condolences to the family of the late Bob Hathaway, adding that law enforcement has been working assiduously on the case. We would always find negative press when one of your loved ones or your countrymen have come to an end in the manner in which Bob passed away. So I think that is understandable but we as a local press and we have to look at it and maybe look at it in such a way that we send the truth out there and make persons in the wider world know that St. Lucia is not as dangerous as persons are claiming it to be. If you look at the list that came out with the 25 most dangerous countries in the world, St. Lucia is at 19. There are several other Caribbean countries that are way ahead of St. Lucia. That is no comfort to us. We need to get out of that list completely and we are working towards that. The Minister for National Security also assured that the safety of nationals and visitors alike are of top priority. When you look at the circumstances, I think our tourists are safe. They come to St. Lucia and they enjoy themselves. Bob has been here for a number of years and like I said, I treat him as a local, a St. Lucia. So it is not that we are attacking or getting at British individuals or visitors. That is not so. So I don't think there would be any big fallout from that incident. Senator Honourable Herman Gill Francis, Minister for National Security. A new development project is coming to the south of the island and Invest St. Lucia has expressed immense excitement touting the project as one of the people at its centre. The project forms part of a host of developments being facilitated by Invest St. Lucia. Invest St. Lucia, the official promotion agency of the Government of St. Lucia, held a press conference to update the public on the ongoing projects, pipeline projects and investment opportunities for 2019. The pull of the Caribbean, a fully integrated development in viewfort that includes the Royal St. Lucia Tuff Club, is currently under construction and approximately 100 workers are employed. A luxury resort branded by Femont is being constructed by the GP Group and is expected to be completed in 2021. The project will be located in Sunset Bay Schwazel and will be the second Femont in the Caribbean. Roderick Cherry, CEO of Invest St. Lucia, explained that Femont St. Lucia will compromise up 93 rooms, 43 bungalows and 40 villas. The project has approval in principle from the DCA and have completed an EIA on the site which highlighted some development issues that would impact the project, as such the design and layout of the hotel had to be recommissioned with the approval of Femont. The redesign required additional property which was then vested to Invest St. Lucia and the property has been transferred to the investor and we are working in conjunction with the residents to effect relocation. Point Saab lands owned by Invest St. Lucia were initially emacked for the DSH project, however the lands have been repurposed and will be used for a new development by Invest St. Lucia. We have entered contractual arrangements with a company called OBMI and they are doing the master plan concept for that area. So I think in a couple of weeks time we will introduce OBMI to you and thereafter we will be facilitating discussions with the community so they can have input into the design of what we finally put in there. Cheri also explained that a business hotel at Point Seraphine, a luxury hotel at Cannell's Miku and a fixed based operator FBO facility at the Uranora International Airport are all in the approval stage. From the government's information service, I am Anisia Antoine reporting. No one ever reads the fine print but if you use a cell phone, landline, the internet or cable TV, read the terms of the service contract carefully and pay attention to the type of service, the length of the contract, contract renewal, penalties, fees for services, termination and reconnection, fee increases and how much notice is required, the option not to receive advertisements and sharing personal information with third parties. Do not sign a contract that you are not satisfied or comfortable with. This message is brought to you as a public service announcement by Ectel, the NTRC and this station. Welcome back. In keeping with changes in international oil prices and the government's application of the modified market pass through petroleum pricing mechanism, the retail price of LPG 20, 22 and 100 pound cylinders, kerosene, gasoline and diesel remains unchanged from Monday, January 21, 2019. The 20 pound LPG cylinder is $32.91, the 22 pound, $36.48, the 100 pound remains $204.95, kerosene is $9.50 per gallon, gasoline and diesel remain $13.95 per gallon at the pumps. The next adjustment of the retail prices of fuel products will be Monday, February 11, 2019. The constituency of Grozile now boasts five ICT centres thanks to the efforts of Parliamentary Representative Hon. Leonard Montute and over in Souffre, a new farmers market is on stream. GIS's Davina Lee has more in this roundup. In the span of just two weeks, the Hon. Leonard Spider Montute, Member of Parliament for Grozile and Minister for Equity, Social Justice, Local Government and Empowerment opened five ICT centres in the communities of Le Bon, Deramo, La Fe, Riviameter and Grand Riviera. According to the Minister, he looks forward to our youth utilising those centres not only for recreation but also to access educational and entrepreneurial opportunities. On Wednesday, January 23, 2019, the Department of Infrastructure will officially sign contracts and launch the Millennium Highway and West Coast Roads Upgrading Project. This signals immediate commencement of work and will inject approximately $115 million into the local economy. Work will include the complete rehabilitation of the Millennium Highway, reconstruction of the West Coast Roads from Curvy Sack to Souffre, design for the construction of the new Anselary Bridge and a robust island-wide road safety programme. This work will be done with grant funding from the United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Fund UKCIF. The Hon. Harold Stanislaus, Member of Parliament for Souffre and Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Physical Planning, Natural Resources and Cooperatives recently shed plans for the Souffre Farmers' Market. In accordance with the government's policy of no sector left behind, a permanent sheltered facility on Old Trafford will be constructed to create a safer and less restrictive atmosphere for the town's produce vendors to conduct business. The facility will accommodate weekday and Saturday vendors. Construction will commence in the coming weeks. Wasco went above and beyond to say thank you to the individuals and departments who played a crucial role in the company's growth and development over the last financial year. As the sole provider of water in the country, General Manager of Wasco, Edmund Rages, felt it was more than necessary to keep employees motivated and to recognise them for their individual and collective efforts to improve customer service, operations and the overall image of the company. Tonight is indeed extraordinary because it is a night dedicated and set aside by the Board and Management for all of us as one to celebrate our collective achievement to recognise our standing team and individual performances to dine and to relax. This date, 12 December, has become linked and associated with Wasco's annual dinner and recognition ceremony. And so we would like to keep it that way, meaning that you mark your calendar every year on this occasion, the 12th, as Wasco's Day. Over 20 employees were recognised for their outstanding achievements in various categories, including long service, excellence in customer service, department of the year, company driver of the year and manager, supervisor and employee of the year, respectively. Chairman of the Board of Directors Francis Denbow congratulated employees for their sterling contribution to the company to date. This year was particularly challenging as we were tasked in the execution of several important water redevelopment projects in Barbano, Dennery, the JCD, Meekood and within short the Viewfort area. On August 2, 2018, we had the first successful annual general meeting of Wasco since the incorporation of the company on November 1, 1999. The Honourable Minister for Natural Resources Ezekiel Joseph was present at the ceremony and highlighted the significance of recognising those who go the extra mile to boost the development of an organisation, particularly one as important as this one. That provide a very essential commodity, water. And I've said before and I'm going to say it again, I can live in a house without electricity, but I cannot live in a house without water. Wasco officials also took the opportunity to announce the commencement of several huge projects including the judging of the John Compton Dam and the $65 million water redevelopment programme to start in the first half of this year. That's Nation Beat. Join us next time on NTN at 7.30pm with a repeat at 7.30am and on this station as we fill the pulse and heart of our community. You can also catch up with us anytime on the St Lucia Government Facebook page or YouTube channel. I am Genel Norvel.