 Welcome to NTIA Nightly, I am Genelle Norville, this edition's top stories. Government expands the e-book program to include students from forms 1 to 4. The Ministry of Health provides a detailed COVID-19 response plan for the reopening of school and the DVRP aids WASCO in addressing a perennial problem in the water sector. The Government of St. Lucia continues to make significant strides in its commitment to delivering a world-class education system to the people of St. Lucia. The Government has spent millions of dollars rehabilitating school plans and in an effort to modernize schools, computer coding and robotics were added to the curriculum. Another exciting venture was the introduction of e-books as a pilot project for form 3 students. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the acceleration of the program. Prime Minister the Honourable Alan Chastney indicated that the program has since been expanded to include students of forms 1 to 4. Kids will have all of their books downloaded onto a device. There are links for them to be able to do further research and it stores all of the information and it certainly allows all the communication between the student and the teacher to be stored. So we're very excited about this program and it couldn't come into a better time. Obviously I would have liked to see it rolled out much quicker but before you introduce something as important as this it has to go through a screening process and that's why there was a pilot program in some form 3 school students and like what we've seen with the vaccine where we've now had to put an expedited express service to get this thing approved and I'm very grateful that we were able to do that and that the resources have been made available to purchase I think it's another 8,000 units in total. So basically every kid in the secondary school I think from form 2, 3, 2, 1, 4 or 1, 2, 3 and 4 will all have their devices and this is I think a milestone for this country and it couldn't happen at a better time. The program is supported by downloadable lessons, infographics and internet links. This will significantly reduce the cost of books for parents. Further with a view of bridging the digital divide the government of St. Lucia in collaboration with the government of Taiwan embarked on the government island-wide network GINET Wi-Fi zone. This allows members of the public to access free Wi-Fi in a number of districts including Canaries, Denry, Miku, Ufort and Castries. Honourable Dr. Gil Rigabet is the Minister for Education, Innovation, Generations and Sustainable Development. Like Prime Minister indicated whereas we had already started our e-book initiative we had a reason to accelerate that program thanks to COVID and to move swiftly beyond the initial pilot group in the third form to include in all third formers then to consider the remaining forms 1, 2 and 4. That process is ongoing and let me thank the IT team at the Ministry of Education for working overtime because when we receive those devices they have to be formatted and before they are distributed. Given the overwhelming positive feedback and impact on the various districts where GINET has been installed the Embassy of Taiwan announced plans for an extension to six more districts including Grozile, Ancelere, Choselle, Bawono, Castries Southeast and Miku South. Educational institutions have reopened their doors this week for the new term in strict adherence to the school-specific protocols outlined by the Ministry of Health. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sharon Belmar-George has assured that the Ministry stands ready to provide additional support to schools in this COVID-19 environment. With the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases diagnosed over the past week we understand the concern felt by students, parents, teachers, administrative staff and the general public at large. A reassuring Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sharon Belmar-George acknowledging potential anxieties over the return to classrooms this school term. The recent increase in active coronavirus cases on Island she guarantees were anticipated and accommodated for. Lateral efforts for ensuring a safe return to school compounds for the new term included the development of specific protocols for the education sector. These include the reinforcement of frequent hand washing and sanitization and procurement of requisite supplies, provision of maintenance and hand washing stations with soap, portable water and waste receptacles, strategic placement of alcohol-based hand sanitizers, compliance of teachers and students with the protocols, cleaning and disinfecting of school buildings, especially sanitary and other frequently touched facilities and frequent and daily cleaning of schools overall. The CMO appeals to parents to be cooperative and encourage the same in their students. Parents, please ensure that children are kept at home or taken to the closest respiratory clinics if they develop respiratory symptoms. Do ensure that they are given a clean face mask daily with hand sanitizer. Encourage our children to cooperative the school authorities to keep all of us safe. Keep the lines of communication open to address any fears that they may have. Dr. Belmar-George also emphasized the critical role of educators in ensuring a safe and healthy learning space for the children. We understand that Strain has been put on teachers who are managing with new modalities during the last few months and we encourage them to continue cooperating with their principals to provide a safe, healthy, academic environment for the future of our nation. We acknowledge the leadership of the principals and the Ministry of Education in guiding the sector during this difficult period of co-existing with COVID-19. Globally, the rate of pediatric COVID-19 cases is significantly lower as compared to adults. Children under 18 years represent 8.5% in the United States setting and less than 5% in Europe. Current evidence suggests that children are less likely than adults to be transmitters of disease, child-to-child transmission is uncommon and schools have not been associated with significant increases in community transmission. As at 5th January 2021, St. Lucia's school aged infected were the lowest rates among age groups representing 11% of the then 353 registered cases on island. For the Government Information Service, I am Jesse Layance reporting. Due to the continued transmission of COVID-19 globally and within the Caribbean region, the Government of St. Lucia has updated its original travel policy of September 22, 2020 based on the OECS recommendations on the reopening of borders and implements the following. All incoming passengers, including persons from the Caribbean bubble, should present with a negative COVID-19 PCR test seven days prior to travel. All non-national arriving passengers from destinations outside the bubble will be allocated at the COVID-19 approved accommodation site. All arriving passengers from destinations within the bubble will be exempt from the 14 days of quarantine if presenting with a negative COVID-19 PCR test seven days prior to travel. All arriving passengers from within the bubble must have travelled directly or been in transit for less than 24 hours from a country within the bubble and have been in that country for at least 21 days. All arriving passengers from within the bubble who have been in transit in a country outside of the bubble will be subjected to 14 days of quarantine. All returning nationals from destinations outside the bubble will be subject to 14 days of quarantine. As of January 11, 2020, the following countries, territories, form part of the Caribbean bubble. Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Effective January 11, 2020, all persons from outside this updated Caribbean bubble will be required to present with a negative COVID-19 PCR test result seven days prior to travel and complete a mandatory 14 days of quarantine. Tourism Minister Hon. Dominic Fede has spelt out the stark reality of the pandemic's economic impact as a result of plummeted revenues and COVID-19 response expenditure. The pandemic has pushed the global economy into a deep recession, adversely affecting trade, tourism, commodity and financial markets and economic growth. The managing director of the International Monetary Fund estimates that it could take until 2023 the global economy to return to its pre-coronavirus levels. St. Lucia is one of 170 countries that have entered negative economic growth since March 2020. The last figure that I saw suggested the government owed different suppliers over $100 million and this really is because of the reduction in tourism revenues. I know that the Treasury every day, it's a big surgery that they have to do to be able to determine how they're going to pay their obligations. We would have borrowed since the pandemic began, somewhere in the region of about $300 million. That would have certainly impaired our fiscal health. Our debt to GDP has gone up significantly and that is because we're feeling the effects of the reduction or the significant declines in tourism revenues. The Tourism Minister indicates the full extent of this economic impact will soon be conveyed to the public. The next budget presentation, when those numbers are made very clear to the country, you will see the irreparable harm that the annihilation of tourism has caused to the fiscal health of the country. Last year we were at 59% of GDP and I think that the projections are showing by the end of the financial year we're going to be somewhere at 95% of debt to GDP ratio. So that answers the question in terms of our dependence on tourism and how critical it is across the spectrum of the entire economy. The United Nations has won that without aggressive policy action, the COVID-19 pandemic could turn into a protracted debt crisis for many developing countries. This is Entian Knightley. Please stay with us. COVID-19 is a new pandemic disease as declared by the World Health Organization. It is transmitted directly by respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes or indirectly through rubbing the face with contaminated hands. There is still no specific treatment or vaccine against COVID-19 and as such, the farming community should adhere to some special recommendations. Stock up on essentials such as animal feed, fertilizers, pesticides enough to last for about 30 days. Stock up on fuel and oils for farm equipment. Ensure that tools and vehicles are serviced to prevent breakdowns and to ensure that farming and food production remain steady. And protect yourself and your workers by ensuring you take all necessary precautions to remain healthy. More than ever before, your important role as gatekeepers of St. Lucia's nutritional health and food security should be taken seriously. When you exercise these precautions, you not only safeguard your health but also continue to allow St. Lucia's access to freshly grown fruits, vegetables and other local crops. Remember, it is our responsibility to ensure our nation eats fresh St. Lucia's best. Welcome back. The Disaster of Renovability Reduction Project DVRP continues to support the island's crisis management plan at all levels. Recently, the DVRP collaborated with the water and sewage company Wasco in addressing a perennial problem in the water sector. We've all seen them. Broken pipes, busted main pipes, overflowing drains of fresh water. Precious natural resources wasted. Non-revenue water is water that has been produced and is lost before it reaches the customer. This may be due to illegal connections, misuse of fire hydrant systems, vandalize or bypass consumption meters, corrupt practices of beta readers and breaks in Wasco's intake and distribution lines. The non-revenue water situation was causing Wasco to lose more water than it supplies to customers. As most people would know that Wasco's system is old and aging, you do not know what exactly the demand is. A lot of the non-revenue water figures say we are at 55%. So it's basically saying that you're losing 55% of the water that you're producing and that's 55, well, it'll be more than 55% of our revenue. If you know what you're producing, which areas that demand what's necessary, because some places we send too much water, some places we don't send enough water. The Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project aims to measurably reduce vulnerability to natural hazards and climate change impacts in St. Lucia. This includes various activities related to institutional strengthening and training, as well as the execution of several civil works projects to retrofit or protect national assets. The DVRP has responded to Wasco's need for an acute reduction in non-revenue water. $1.1 million of funding was provided through the World Bank to procure and install special meters that would allow Wasco to better monitor the supply of water in their distribution system. We have two aspects of the materialization. You have the materialization on the consumer end, the consumption end, and you have the materialization on the distribution end, which includes treatment and abstraction. There's some aspects of the materialization on the treatment and abstraction point where we consume, we burn energy in terms of electricity through pumping. And if you abstract water and you pay or consume energy to produce and treat that water, you need to account for that revenue. With the new thrust towards significant reduction in non-revenue water, Wasco has divided its distribution system into a series of smaller subsystems or district metered areas for which non-revenue water can be calculated individually. These smaller district meter areas are hydraulically isolated so that the volume of water within each area can be calculated. These new meters serve one other vital role. This is the chemical room used for the dosage. These are the two meters that come in on the T-off or the split-off from the main eight inch line and you have two meters that each goes to two different separate chambers for treatment. This is a display for each chamber and this is the mag meter which registers the amount of water coming in for treatment. Each meter has a separate display to show the volume coming in for treatment so we know how much is going in and then we know how much is treated and what's going out for distribution. Wasco produces approximately 13.6 million gallons of water per day. Of that 7.4 million gallons were being lost daily thus severely and negatively impacting the company's efficiency and by extension the cost of water to the final consumer. With assistance from the Climate Investment Fund, the European Union, the World Bank and the DVRP, the efficient and sustainable supply of high quality water to commercial, industrial and domestic users at an acceptable pressure with minimal loss through leakages will be a reality for the company with benefits to all households. This 1.1 million dollar investment is also a vivid example of cross-agency collaboration for the achievement of measurable reductions in man-made and natural vulnerabilities. From the Government Information Service, Rajvaro Lawrence reporting. The Transport Division, Department of Economic Development, Transport and Civil Aviation has been directly impacted by the novel coronavirus COVID-19. In an effort to reduce the risk of further spreading this disease, the public is informed that a deep cleaning exercise has been scheduled at the northern extension of the division located in Union castries from the 11th to the 15th of January 2021. As a result of this, all in-person services will be suspended during this period. Services remain accessible at the division's southern extension and via DigiGov E-Services platform, digigov.govt.lc. The division can also be contacted via 468-4951 or email address transport at govt.lc. That brings us to the end of NTN Nightly. Join us next time at 7 p.m. with a repeat at 7 a.m. You can also catch up with us anytime on the Saint Lucia Government Facebook page or YouTube channel. I am General Norville.