 Prime Minister visits schools as new term opens under strict protocols. Celebrating the success of Darin Sami and the Sambusha Zooks. Prime Minister Lordev for chairmanship of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee and new Taiwanese Ambassador gets acquainted with local projects. Let's flip the pages on some of the events in the Prime Minister's weekly diary. Knowing that the first day of the new school term amidst the COVID-19 pandemic would be an anxious one for students and teachers, Prime Minister Hon. Alan Shasne sent a message of calm while also visiting some schools on the island. Redmond has focused on ensuring safe and healthy schools with specific protocols in place at all educational facilities. On Monday, the Prime Minister spent the morning going from class to class at the National Sports Academy and the Groesley Primary School to get feedback from students and teachers on the reopening of school and to reassure them of the government's commitment to keep them safe amidst the COVID-19 pandemic this academic year. Last year, more than 31 million people visited the Caribbean. Coronavirus has deprived the region of tens of billions of dollars shutting down airports and cruise ship docks and closing restaurants and shops. Well, one place where the effect of the pandemic has been devastating is St Lucia. Two thirds of the economy is reliant on tourism. Let's speak to the Prime Minister of St Lucia, Alan Shasne, who joins us live. Prime Minister Shasne joined the BBC World News to speak on how St Lucia has managed the pandemic to date and what holidaymakers can expect in the phased reopening. The Prime Minister continued to call on airlines and countries to move the meter forward on pre-testing to help build consumer confidence and to boost tourism. You said the number, there's 30 million people traveling to the Caribbean on an annual basis and that's just the Caribbean. I think if we're to see a return globally to travel that we need to do what happened after 9-11. Imagine after 9-11 if in fact we did not have the security protocols in place. I don't think it would have recovered as quickly. I think the same thing applies here. Economically, for both sides of the pond, both in the UK as well as in the Caribbean there's a significant benefit if we can now bring people's confidence back to traveling and that's solely going to stimulate. This week, Prime Minister Shasne handed over chairmanship of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee to Honourable Camilo Gonzalez, Minister of Finance, Economic Planning, Sustainable Development and Information Technology of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The incoming Chairman and the Committee lauded Prime Minister Shasne for his leadership. Prime Minister Shasne has been a titan in these battles to have the voice of the Caribbean heard and the specificities of the Caribbean properly understood as we all embark on a developmental journey that is unique anywhere in the world given our size, given our openness, given our debt burden, given our vulnerabilities and Prime Minister Shasne has been an eloquent advocate for the region and has certainly advanced the cause of Caribbean development during his two years at the helm of the CDCC. ECLAC has been an excellent advocacy body. It's been an excellent body for statistical compilation and analysis and now it is working very hard with us on solutions, not only internally, but as we face the world in creating solutions crafted by and for the people of this region. So I hope that we can advance your work, Prime Minister Shasne, advance the work of ECLAC and advance the ideas of the region so that we can produce practical, workable, pragmatic solutions that are nonetheless revolutionary and transformative on their impact on the region. So thank you very much and I hope to do half as good a job as you have done, sir, during your tenure. Thank you very much. On Thursday, Prime Minister Shasne joined members of his constituency to watch the St. Lucia Zoox play in the finals of the 2020 CPL T20 tournament. It was a morning of emotional ups and downs as solutions tuned in to watch the Zoox in their first final since the tournament began. Although the Zoox did not win the tournament, the Prime Minister said that all solutions should be proud of Captain Darren Sami and the team calling them diligent ambassadors who showed us that we can achieve what may seem impossible when we work together, remain positive and work hard. Later on Thursday, the Prime Minister joined in West St. Lucia for the agency's latest venture towards its goal of securing 600 new land owners for the financial year. The Bosia land development sits on 11 acres of flat land puzzled into 59 residential and commercial lots. Prime Minister Shasne concluded the opening ceremony with brief remarks expressing his gratitude to invest St. Lucia and excitement about the new opportunities now available to residents of Miku South and EnviroNs. Increasing St. Lucia's housing stock is a priority of the government of St. Lucia and counting this latest addition as a fourth land development ready to provide private and commercial ownership opportunities for citizens. To apply for land ownership from any of invest St. Lucia's developments, visit investSt. Lucia.com. Also this week, Prime Minister Shasne took time to show new Taiwan Ambassador, His Excellency Peter Shen, some of the projects funded with the aid of the Taiwanese government, including the new wing of the St. Jude Hospital. The Ambassador, the Prime Minister, and Minister for Economic Development Honourable Guy Joseph toured the new facility currently under construction and also visited Sites Airmark for Development in the south of the island. As the week came to a close on Friday, discussions centered on regional travel and an update on testing requirements for the travel bubble of Caribbean countries. The Caribbean Public Health Agency CARFA made a presentation with recommendations to heads of government and health teams from around the region. That's it for your update on the Prime Minister's week. Join us every week for the Prime Minister's weekly diary. Reporting for the Office of the Prime Minister, I am Nicole MacDonald.