 Welcome to NTN Nightly. I am Genelle Norvell. This edition stops stories. The Ministry of Infrastructure works to restore the Badlil after a major landslide. The SLDB approves $1.5 million to households and businesses under the Economic Recovery and Resilience Plan and Rotary Club of St. Lucia partners with CARBOT to aid St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The National Emergency Management Organization, NEMO and the Ministry of Infrastructure, Ports, Energy and Labor continue to assess damage sustained following the heavy rains that occurred during the early hours of Thursday morning. The rains were due to a combination of weather systems. Amid to upper-level trough together with an upper-level jet stream, the main access route between the north and south of the island, the Badlil, was damaged disrupting travel. Overnight teams work to stabilize the section of the road in the aftermath of a landslide. Hermadi Mark has that story. The Ministry of Infrastructure is beheading an emergency response to a landslide that occurred along the Badlil as a result of high-intensity rains early Thursday, April 29, 2021. Minister for Infrastructure Hon. Stevenson King at a media briefing said the situation is being managed as contractors are undertaking remedial works to bring relief to residents and commuters. Today, as you've been told, we are here. There is a contractor onsite attempting to bring what I call temporary relief to the situation. And that includes the piping of the existing drain northbound to the left to allow for the continuation of the water to flow. But preparing it in a way that will increase the carriageway to allow a two-way traffic in the next few hours and for the next few days and maybe weeks while the geotechnical investigations are done and the necessary engineering and other design activities are taken for possible future intervention. Speaking to the seriousness of the situation, Deputy Chief Engineer in the Ministry of Infrastructure Len Leon says the landslide revealed erosion of the undercarriageway. The situation, he explains, requires further assessment to decide upon a permanent solution. However, plans are underway to mitigate the issue and allow flow of traffic. As you can see, behind me is works going on to extend the carriageway on the other side of the carriageway. This is being done using crushed stone. We've already embedded wasco pipes underneath to continuously have the surface runoff water being able to continue down the Badlil. We are filling up right now with crushed run. We shall compact it and stabilize it and then we shall put an asphalt surfacing on the top to make the actual carriageway hopefully at least 6.3 meters wide allowing vehicles to move in both directions. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Infrastructure Ivor Daniels says they are working with utility companies to ensure these services are restored. I believe the power is restored. The water supply, I do not believe that there is much of it going through here but I think the other utilities like flow perhaps are now trying to restore their own utility but I think one of the critical ones is electricity, it is energy. So that has been restored in this area making it as safe as possible because we also need to maneuver sooner or later on excavator below there and it has to maneuver very safely to ensure that we can restore everything more. Superintendent of Police Elvis Thomas on the safety of pedestrian says there are mechanisms in place to accommodate emergency personnel and people travelling to and from work using a shuttle system. So what we are doing, we have persons on either points managing who comes in. Persons can walk to a certain point. There are shutters that are available. We have persons on the ground who will manage how persons walk through the area. It is not just a matter of coming through but they will have designated areas to go through. There are persons who are assigned to ensure that those persons walking through are safe and no accident happens. So we want persons to be rest assured that we are doing everything in our power to work with them to ensure that they get to work but at the same time the work here is completed. The superintendent cautions the public against spectator visits to the site and asks for cooperation and patience as the situation is being remedied. From the Government Information Service, Puma Di Mark reporting. The Med Office is urging the public to be cautious as the weather system will continue to cause cloudiness, showers and isolated thunderstorms over the eastern Caribbean region. The St. Lucia Development Bank has to date approved blended finance of up to $1.5 million to households and the business community as part of interventions under the Economic Recovery and Resilience Plan, ERRP. Under its pillar to stimulate the economy, the Government of St. Lucia has partnered with the SLDB to offer $8.4 million in loan and grant support to medium, small and micro enterprises with a focus on food security and adaptation of digital technologies and a 5 million work in capital injection program. Managing Director Vincent Boland indicates that the programs have drawn tremendous response by the public. We totaled about 119 inquiries. We have generated applications of about $2.5 million. We have approvals of up to $1.5 million and we are dispersing that as needed, as persons get all the information that we need, we are able to disperse. It's a broad spectrum. We've seen people come from the preschools, we've seen farmers, we've seen hairdressers, we've seen small restaurants, medium-sized restaurants, people who were able to collate their information and then come to us and say, listen, this is what I need. And they've received the grant as well as the small loan and you're seeing that they're looking at working capital to be able to reposition their business to pay some of their staff. Despite the immense reception by the public, the majority of the combined allocation of the two programs, $13.4 million, has yet to be taken up by households and the business community in the wake of the pandemic. Boland explains a critical factor in pitting the application process. Persons don't have records readily available. Okay. So we ask for, hey, the World Bank, certain conditions were put in. For instance, you had to show that you had a 30% reduction in your revenue. Yeah? Wow. Now, most businesses will tell you, yes. They feel a pinch. We had a drastic decline and we're saying, okay, well, let's see that, let's see your management accounts. Now, it's for the smaller business. It's not that readily available. They have to either go and take their bank statements and then come up with the information to show, listen, this is what I earned before and this is what has happened to me now. So we're still grappling with that and working through and we have actually adopted an approach internally to try and see how best we can assist them in generating the information. SLDB's managing director, Vincent Boland. The bank continues to welcome applications for the two programs. As St. Lucia joins the Americas in commemorating the 19th Vaccination Week during the period of the 24th to the 30th of April 2021, the Ministry of Health and Wellness is sensitizing the public on the importance of vaccines. During a panel discussion held on Friday, Assistant Principal Nursing Officer and National Immunization Manager, Tecla Jabatis, explained that the National Immunization Program in St. Lucia is some 44 years old, having begun in 1977. The program commends with just about three vaccines and has since expanded to what exists today. Jabatis indicated that while many successes have been recorded to date, there have been challenges as well. You know, it's really a good thing to say that, you know, we've maintained vaccination coverage of approximately 90 to 99 percent, you know, in the various antigens. Of course, we have some challenges and I will continue to say that our challenges is more or less with the over one year olds. This is when we tend to see a decline in the coverage for various reasons. You know, some people feel after a child has passed a year, it's almost like for them they're out of the woods. You know, they tend to kind of be a little, they tend to be a little bit back at that point. But of course, we've noted it as a, I won't say a gap, but something of concern. And for us in the program, we continually monitor, evaluate, re-strategize to ensure that we sustain and we maintain the coverages, the recommended coverages. Medical officer of health, Dr. Glensford Joseph, noted that while various vaccines may be available for the same virus, the doses to achieve the desired effect may vary. Dr. Joseph explained how medical experts determine the dosage. Those, they would recognize that the body's immune response would, you know, move to a certain level in terms of the level of antibodies being produced. And would recognize that if they give a second dose, then the level of antibodies or the immune response is even more robust. And so that if one dose is going to give you some, let's say 60% or so, efficacy or effectiveness, then priming that response with a second dose would allow you to get to a higher level. Now with the AstraZeneca, we have seen that the second dose would allow us to have some 70% or so level of efficacy or reducing the risk of developing the severe form of the illness developed, that is, by some 70%. Common side effects of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine include fever, chills, headache, and malaise, to name a few. These, according to the National Immunization Manager, should subside in 24 to 48 hours. However, if side effects persist or become more severe, the individual is advised to seek medical care. Community pediatrician Dr. Ugan Lusi explained the cause of the side effects. Those side effects are the result of the reaction of the vaccine in the body because as it's inside the immune response, to produce what Dr. Joseph said, antibody as some cells, there are also some old innate response that would be incited like production of cytokines. So we know when anybody gets a vaccine, those would be incited to, and those are some of the things that would cause the fever, the headache, the feeling unwell. So usually, it accompanies all of those vaccines and the physician will prepare whoever is thinking that you may feel this and you may feel that. And we see that with other drugs. St. Lucia has administered over 24,000 first doses and over 1,000 second doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine to date. As the ministry continues to roll out the campaign, everyone is encouraged to get vaccinated. A sitting of the House of Assembly is scheduled for Tuesday, May 4th, 2021, with papers to be laid by the Honourable Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Economic Growth, Job Creation, External Affairs and the Public Service, and the Honourable Minister for Commerce, Industry, Enterprise Development and Consumer Affairs. The House will also consider a motion for Parliament to further extend the state of emergency. The proposed extension is for an additional period of five months, commencing from the 17th day of May, 2021 and ending on the 16th day of October, 2021. In accordance with Section 176 of the Constitution of St. Lucia, Cap 1.01, St. Lucia has been under state of emergency approved by Parliament that commends on the 11th of February, 2021 and ending on the 16th of May, 2021. A number of bills are also down for consideration including counter-trafficking amendments and tourism stimulus and investment amendment. Tuesday's sitting is scheduled to commence at 10 a.m. The sitting of the Senate is scheduled for Thursday, May 6, 2021, at 10 a.m. In keeping with the protocols established for the management of COVID-19, members of the public will not be allowed in the chamber gallery during the sittings. The public can view the live proceedings on the National Television Network NTN, Channel 122 and Government of St. Lucia Facebook page and YouTube channel. The Afia Foundation JetBlue and the Commission of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, OECS are working together to deliver much-needed relief supplies to the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The first in a series of shipments arrived in St. Lucia on Friday, April 23 via JetBlue for immediate onward shipment to St. Vincent. The relief supplies include urgently needed items such as face masks, face shields, blankets, gloves, isolation gowns and adult diapers. Director-General Dr. Didikus Jules thanked the organizations for their generous contributions and collaboration to expeditiously get supplies to St. Vincent. The OECS Commission would like to express its sincerest appreciation to the Afia Foundation for sending US$206,000 worth of medical supplies that include adult Pampers and face masks and PPE gear and particularly masks that may be helping people with respiratory problems in the face of the ash in the air to manage the situation. We are particularly grateful to JetBlue for having shipped that stuff to St. Lucia free of cost for the Foundation and we are responsible for ensuring now that it gets on to St. Vincent and the Grenadines in good condition. We also want to express thanks to the medical professionals on the move and Direct Relief who also played a role in helping us to link up with the Afia Foundation in order to have that support provided. Volcanic eruptions began in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Friday, April 9, 2021. Two weeks later, sporadic eruptions accompanied by pyroclastic flows continue to force residents from the north of the island, the Red Zone, to seek refuge in shelters and in neighboring islands. The OECS Commission has launched the Stronger Together campaign as an official emergency response on behalf of the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Meanwhile, the Rotary Club of St. Lucia has partnered with Cabot St. Lucia to provide assistance to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. More in this report. The St. Lucia business community continues to exercise their corporate social responsibility, contributing to relief efforts in St. Vincent. The latest show of support came from Cabot St. Lucia as they collaborated with the Rotary Club of St. Lucia to supply water and water storage thanks to St. Vincent and the Grenadines Relief Program. CFO of Cabot St. Lucia Ritter-Hocken says the company is delighted to collaborate with the Rotary Club of St. Lucia as they both prioritize service to others above self. We've donated water and water tanks because water is an essential element of life and we understand now St. Vincent does not have much water. Everything is contaminated with ash and so we thought that this would be the first spot of call. I mean we may look at some more aid down the road as things progress but at the moment we think water is important for the people and it's the reason why we made this donation. Speaking on the partnership with Cabot St. Lucia the International Service Director of Rotary St. Lucia Albert Daniels says he is tasked with creating linkages to help bring relief to individuals in distress. We were really happy when Cabot reached out to us and offered to make this donation of water to our brothers and sisters in St. Vincent because across the district of the 70-30 we have a family of Rotary with Rotarians on the ground in every country ready and willing to respond to disasters. So we're very grateful to Cabot for making this donation and our sisters and brothers in Rotary Clubs in St. Vincent will be the implementing arm in ensuring that this donation from a fantastic corporate citizen will go a long way to meeting the needs in this time of disaster. Lindi Eresthe Acting Deputy Director of the National Emergency Management Organization, NIMU says the entity is heartened by the efforts and support received from Cabot and the corporate community. We are very much aware that it is in times like this that we all need each other and we are happy that they have made a contribution in reducing the pain and some of the pressure of our colleagues and our sisters in St. Vincent and the Greta Dins. We are very grateful even more so if I may add that their collaboration with Rotary Club of St. Nusha in assisting and ensuring that our persons in St. Vincent life is a lot easier for those persons and even more so that they'll be able to return to a state of normalcy in the near future. Eresthe encouraged the populace to continue the positive trend of lending support to the neighboring island. From the Government Information Service, I'm Hermione Mark. This is Entian Nightly. Up next, Primus Hutchinson will be Entian Novella Quiole. Entice was really nice and she told me that my friend is very important. Renting in water gets rid of in-between your teeth which can protect you from getting cavities. No way! So after I eat Audrey any food is a good idea to rinse out my mouth with water. Yes! Make sure to spit out the water after renting because swallowing will only bring the germs into your body. Remember, water is an easy and cost-effective way to instantly boost your health and a healthy body to fight any diseases. Welcome back. We join Primus Hutchinson for the Entian Novella Quiole. Thank you so much, Janelle. Thank you, Madame Departement of the University of Sable for the formation of this government. This is GIS. It's the National Television Summit at Entian. Thank you again to Quiole. Thank you to Primus Hutchinson. Welcome back. I'm Badelele. This is the end of this episode. I wish you all the best. I wish you all the best. I offer the best assistance to the Government. emotionally. Thank youcolor. Thank you. Thank you for the invitation. Good evening everybody. Thank you for your hard work. I visited Damajla yesterday afternoon. The second appointment of the Minister of Health and Development, Mr. Iva Daniel, talked about the situation in Salah with the march that I took to address the situation. He did that with confidence, and then the media, who were able to take care of the same side that had to be done. According to Mr. Daniel, what I did was that I had to push Mr. Wal-Martin at the end of the day to do the same job, and work from home and working from home. What I did was have a friend, who was happy to see him here, to see him from home, to see him in a clean bath and wash dishes. He used to have Columbia, So, we estimate that in the future, we will be able to do the same. We will be able to use all the machines that are available in our machines. But after that, we will be able to use the official machines that are available for ambulances. The people of the country will contribute to the transportation of the people they want to use. We must keep in mind that we will not be able to take the resources to use a lot of our machines because we have to work on it. We are not able to take the resources to be used because we have to take care of them. in order to observe a week of the vaccine. It was done, and then even cut for the throat, in order to prevent the vaccine from bringing us together. It means that the vaccine will bring us together to fight the disease, and also to protect us. Our great-grandfather, who was also responsible for the national operation of the vaccine this year, that's our great-grandfather, explained to us that the health department should think about the situation that came out last year to help the poor. Our great-grandfather, who was also responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, explained to us that it was good for him to do what he did. He also explained to us that it was good for him to do what he did last year. He also explained that it was good for him to find the vaccine, which ultimately means that the vaccine will protect us from the COVID-19 pandemic and all the complications that we have suffered. Our great-grandfather announced that this year I will have more than 2,400 doses of the vaccine and more than 1,000 doses of the vaccine. As this year, we will have a social activity and we will have a better education. We will have to encourage everyone to get the vaccine service. According to our great-grandfather, we will have to change, we will have to succeed in finding the vaccine and we will be able to pass it on to help the sick, such as Colaco-Cliche, Thetanus, Laouijol, Appamilote, and in the same way, we will have the vaccine service to help with the COVID-19 pandemic. But to do this, more people in this society will not be able to take doses of the vaccine. This is the only way we can help the sick people to stay here and eat, to get as much as possible to go to the hospital. It's always worse than death. Our artists, Café et Yon-Appel, to help this year to change the importance of the vaccine service and the importance of this for the family, for the examinees, especially for the younger people in the society. Fama, with the help of Syomiel, this year, you participated in the week of certification in the best way to support Syomiel. It was during this time that the 26th of August 2020. For the government to support these artists in this way to follow the rules that are in place to support Syomiel. It was for this program. It was to ensure that these artists are more aware of the diverse necessities that the sector needs to embrace to always develop for the product that is needed to gain the advantage of the program of exportation. It is an effort to just export St. Lucia that, despite these artists who have been certified by Syomiel, it is a great experience. I would like to thank you again to come to the regional and international place. Chief Executive Officer for Export St. Lucia, Mamzele, Syomiel Tudaniel, I would like to thank all of you for coming to the place and to support and support the international place that you are doing. It is a result of the health situation and the way it has existed in the field. Daniel, you understand that the area that has come here is even more sensitive to the fact that it has come to protect and to provide more and more new services for the people to eat and serve. For example, this is a good position to support Syomiel's production in an international way. Mamzele, Daniel, you know the demand for Syomiel is higher because the area that has the Bapéia is for the reason that it has to support Syomiel's creativity to produce more and more. And for that reason, Daniel explained that to provide more and more to support these facilities that have been certified in Syomiel's production to ensure that Syomiel's production is well certified and that it has been done in an international way. Welcome, everyone, because there are initiatives that have been developed in the Syomiel in an international way. I would like to thank you for your cooperation. I would like to thank you for your efforts and for the support that has been done. Thank you so much for your good work. I hope that Syomiel's production will be well-received and that Syomiel's production will be well-received and that Syomiel will be well-received. Thank you. So catch up with us any time when the St. Lucia government is on the page of YouTube channel. I am Daniel Norvell.