 Welcome to Take 2, the Government Information Services Monthly Review, where we take a second look at the major developments and activities which occurred throughout the month in St. Lucia. I am your host Geraldine B. S. Joseph. The month of March is always awash with an array of events and activities that stand out significantly in their own right. This year was no exception, with the thrown speech, the beginning of the budgetary debates and of course, International Women's Day. The achievements and contribution of women in St. Lucia were celebrated as activities marking this year's observance of International Women's Day, kicked off with a national church service at the Dairy Soul SDA Church. An emotional gender relations minister, the Honourable Dr. Gail Rigabet, addressed a gathering of well-wishers expressing her commitment to take action to deal with the injustices faced by women and girls in the country. I am motivated to correct the wrongs meted out to children in school, forcing girls to drop out of tertiary educational institutions because of sexual abuse and harassment by teachers, little boys who are damaged for life because of the unscrupulous behaviour of the very teachers they trusted, women who are forced to leave their job because of the sexual advances made by fellow colleagues or employers. This cause that I have embraced is not for my sake. It is to ensure that little girls all around St. Lucia, those from Kappa State, Dairy Soul, Forsajak, Delce, Piero, Miku, Forestier, all over this beautiful country of ours, that girls can have the hope and confidence that they have a fair chance of realising their potential and their dreams. Governor-General and Chancellor of the Order of St. Lucia, His Excellency Sir Neville Snack, made 37 appointments to the Order of St. Lucia in respect of Independence Day 2018. The Order of St. Lucia Investigator Ceremony has been one of the highlights of the independent celebrations ever since the National Honours and Awards Act was introduced in 2000. The Act provides for the conferment of awards to individuals of distinguished and outstanding service or achievements. Today, therefore, is indeed an opportunity to remind ourselves that there are real people behind the great things that are happening in our country, people who rise up to help when the community needs them, people who go way beyond the call of duty to serve, by using the God-given talent to improve their lives, that of their families and the entire community. These are the qualities our honorees who are here today represent and those before them. Building resilience today to secure our future was the theme for the Governor-General's Throne Speech on the occasion of the 3rd session of the 11th Parliament on Tuesday, March 20, 2018. Julie Tepita has more in this report. This year's Throne Speech was a highly anticipated one, as it was the first for Governor-General His Excellency Sir Neville Snack, who was sworn into office on January 12, 2018. The Throne Speech sets the tone for the subsequent debates on the revenue of estimates and expenditure and articulates the policies of the Government's work agenda for the next fiscal year, expanding on the theme Building Resilience Today to Secure Our Future. The Governor-General said this was an appeal for citizens to collectively reaffirm their commitment to Sandusia, his book of the Government's commitment to improving health services in a more modern and equitable manner. President Mr. Speaker, while my Government continues to invest heavily in health care, many of our people are suffering poor health because of the inability to pay for essential health services. The National Health Insurance Scheme, which my Government envisions, will assist in establishing a balance between sustainable financing of the health sector and providing our people an avenue for accessing health care services without having to pay at the point of use. Proposed legislation for the Central Regulatory Agency will give power to this agency to oversee the implementation and regulation of the National Health Insurance. The National Health Insurance Bill will mandate health insurance coverage for all eligible persons. A proposed health records and reporting bill will also form part of the Government's health agenda, and this initiative will make new provisions to regulate and obtaining, upholding, use or disclosure of health-related information of individuals. Madam President, Mr. Speaker, my Government has been working assiduously to prepare amendments and regulations related to the Health Practitioners Act in a manner which reflects continued commitment to upholding best practice standards in medicine, dentistry and other health professions. These amendments are expected to be passed in this parliamentary session. The Governor General added that the Government of Salusha will be taking measures to strengthen primary health care services as a strategy to reduce the burden on Victoria Hospital as well as the new Owen King EU Hospital when it is commissioned. Enhancing the provision of critical dialysis services in the south of the island is another priority area for the Government. This, according to the Governor General, will be achieved by ensuring the provision of additional dialysis machines. The thrown speech was followed by the parliamentary debate of estimates. Mr. Speaker, we are called upon today to debate and comment on the estimates of expenditure for the fiscal year 2018-2019 as presented by the Minister for Finance and having been reviewed by the Standing Finance Committee of this House. Mr. Speaker, I must take this opportunity to commend the Minister for Finance for his stewardship, his exemplary and cautious behaviour and application of the principles of management. St. Lucia's Governor General, St. Emmanuel Neville Snike, accepted the letters of credence from Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden, her Excellency Elizabeth Eklund. Taking into account also your vow to work for good and prosperous relationship between us, but all our efforts can only come to naught, where provocation by even one nation causes a nuclear war with devastating consequences to the world, not easy to contend. St. Lucia will spare no effort, therefore, to denounce such in the United Nations. The world's only hope where it has been demonstrated over and over that your jaw is better than war. Public-private partnership is responsible for those amazing achievements and more. Any country pursuing the public-private partnership path can only be on the right track. Poised as St. Lucia is now for such a takeoff, St. Lucia would be well advised to look to your country for safe landing. The month of March turned the spotlight onto health and wellness, with the occurrence of World Kidney Day, World Tuberculosis Day and a sudden turning ceremony for the Denver Polyclinic. Persons with TB normally have a cough, which lasts for over three weeks. They may cough a blood, they may have chest pain. Other signs of tuberculosis include night sweats, sweating profusely at night, very poor appetite, or they eat a lot less, they don't have the desire to eat. As well as loss of weight, so persons experience weight loss. Anybody can get TB if they are exposed, however there are specific groups who are predisposed or who are more likely to contract it because of their immune system is not as strong as there is. So persons very young, children, very old individuals, persons living with HIV, persons with cancer, with renal disease or with diabetes, whatever the condition that weakens your system, makes you more likely to contract tuberculosis. Today being International Women's Day, coinciding with World Kidney Day, under the theme women kidneys and women's health include valuent power, we thought this was the perfect place to get with, I mean the budding young women, our convent girls, and if it is so many people here who have come in just to talk a little about kidney health. I know that many people in Denver, they are very familiar with the Denver hospital and I know it is in a beautiful location, but I think that it has outlived that location. I believe that the community has grown and this hair will be a better location for your poly clinic. Therefor this health facility is a priority to the government and to the people of Denver Village, Denver Valley, Larry Seuss, Richpo and its environs, taking this into consideration The PCU will ensure that the works are completed within the agreed period of 18 months. The St. Lucia Association of Retired Persons, SLOP, is being challenged to change the current perception of retirees and the agents. This is a challenge that they seem to have accepted, as was evident at a two day exhibition organized by the association. This exhibition is one of the activities that we have planned to mark this milestone and as you look around what you see is pure evidence or testimony of the talent, tenacity, creativity which we still possess and we have every reason to celebrate. So I salute you today and I want to hear you a resounding round of applause for who we are. Following alarming vibrations experienced in blocks B and C of the Schroesel Secondary School, particularly after the 2007 earthquake, a structural assessment concluded that the two blocks were structurally unsafe. It was recommended that the blocks be demolished and not retrofitted. Recently a high level team comprising of government ministers and technocrats undertook a site visit to obtain first hand information of the progress of works which commenced in 2016. We're very pleased with the progress so far and in speaking to the consultant on the ground he has indicated that work is moving according to the plan. At the stage it's at they're very happy and I have been told that we will definitely have the school blocking operation before the new school year. What we can see here is we have what you call a resilient building. We see the concrete roofs so it's something new for the community or I think it's for the education school system. I think that may be the first of its kind and this school is also promised to be one of the more advanced school in terms both of the technology that will be applied to teaching here in terms of the IT facilities etc. So we're very happy that we're one of the leaders in this thing. People might say we are testing ground but knowing Shua Zell, the teachers and the capacity of the students, I'm very certain that we will prove to be a good example to start with. So all in all we are very pleased with what we've seen so far. ADAPT, CHANGE, TAKE ACTION NOW or act now St Lucia is the slogan being used to emphasize a public education campaign on climate change. The campaign is endorsed by the Department of Sustainable Development, was designed by Right Angle Imaging, funded by the Japan-Caribbean Climate Change Partnership and the United Nations Development Program. So the reason why we are here today is not to launch the full campaign but to introduce two components that we thought were very useful in terms of, in the way that they highlight the importance of a multi-sectoral approach to dealing with climate change, to advocacy on adaptation, what people must do to adapt to the impacts of climate change. And this is where we end our recap for March 2018. Join us next time as we look back on the month of April, especially all of the activities for Youth Month. On behalf of the entire production team at the Government Information Service, I'm Johnny V. S. Joseph. Goodbye.