 Coming to you from our GI Studios, I'm Misha Charles and this is your Midday News Brief. The unemployment rate in St Lucia is continuing on a steady decline. For the first quarter of 2019, overall unemployment was registered at 15.5% compared to 21.8% in 2018. Prime Minister the Honourable Alan Shasne made the announcement adding that youth unemployment from January to March this year also declined from 38.78% in 2018 to 25.9%. Government has also been able to realize a drop in the overall deficit to under 1% while achieving a primary surplus of 2%. The Prime Minister said the deliberate policies of the government are beginning to have the desired impact on the economic landscape, also the decision to reduce the value added tax rate from 15% to 12.5% has proven sound. The Denry North Constituency Council and Vinci Construction and Collaboration of WASCO and the Government of St Lucia has announced that the Denry North Water Supply Project phase 2 pipeline installation works commenced on Monday 27th May 2019. The works begin at the entrance to Austin Hill into Montparnage, Denier-River. These works are expected to run for a period of 8 weeks. Motorists and pedestrians are asked to access these areas with extreme caution. Communities in Castry's southeast, Denry and Miku are to benefit immensely from a disaster vulnerability reduction project. Project consultant Lester Arnold tasked with producing detailed designs for the works says the Disaster Risk Reduction Initiative, particularly for residents of Mark Bexow and Environments is timely, given the traumatic experiences which they have faced over many years whenever it rains heavily. The EC $6 million slope stabilization and drainage projects under the DVRP are expected to last for 6 months and will generate employment for scores of residents in the targeted communities. Other communities expected to benefit from similar initiatives under the DVRP, including Miku North and the Denry Village. And that's all for this edition of the Midday News Brief, thanks for tuning in.