 Welcome to NTA Nightly, I am General Norville, this edition of Stories. Nemo announces national lockdown due to Tropical Storm Elsa. The Government of St. Lucia continues to strengthen legislation to combat human trafficking and the celebrating 17 years of the Peters as a World Heritage Site with a future in mind. St. Lucia has readied the National Emergency Response Mechanism as Tropical Storm Elsa approaches the Win-Won Islands. The system is expected to begin to affect the islands including St. Lucia from early Friday morning. Andres Roy is the Director of Meta Services. If the system passes over at 30 to 45 knots, then you would get seas of 69 feet, which is rough seas. So the projections would not allow seacraft to traverse. The Intermediate Advisory at 11 a.m. The location of Elsa was at 10.1 degrees north and 51.4 degrees west, which is about 680 miles east of St. Lucia, or east southeast. And the maximum sustained winds was 45 miles per hour. That was an increase from 45 earlier. And it's moving westward. So if it stays on that track, then it would definitely pass south of St. Lucia. And for watches and warnings, the islands that put out storm warnings, which is a storm warning is when winds would be impacting the island within 36 hours, those islands are Barbados, Martinix, St. Lucia and St. Vincent. And further out, you'd have Guadaloupe and Grenada and Grenadines having watches because they won't have the serious impact that we might have. So for the winds, we expect storm force winds on Friday. And one of the issues that will be compounded is the rainfall. We already had a system which passed through on Wednesday with significant rainfall. And if this system affects us with the rainfall, that is expected. We would have about three to six inches, which would definitely cause some concern and flooding in the area. On the forecast track, the system will pass near St. Lucia on Friday and move into the eastern Caribbean Sea late Friday. As a result, a meeting of the National Emergency Management Advisory Council, NIMAC, on Thursday agreed to several measures in response to tropical storm Elsa. There will be a national shutdown from 4 a.m. till 2 p.m. on Friday, 2nd July 2021. Cabinet Secretary Benjamin Emmanuel is the chairman of NIMAC. We are however based again on the advice of Met, projecting that the all-clear could potentially be given somewhere about two o'clock, but it will only be after the all-clear is given that the shutdown is going to be discontinued. So rather than speaking specifically to the hours of the shutdown, we will announce the commencement of the shutdown on being 4 a.m. until the all-clear is given. From a planning perspective and with the agencies with various responsibilities, we are projecting that it may be possible for that to be lifted somewhere about 2 p.m. But it will be when the all-clear is given that the national shutdown will be ended. We've also agreed that in respect of operations both in the public and private sector, in the public sector, the essential services may be resumed when the all-clear is given. And of course we are not talking about the essential services that operate 24-7, like our police hospitals and so on that will continue right through. The national shutdown would not impact that, but of course the planning and operational logistics will take into consideration that there is a national shutdown, but both in the public and private sector, any resumption of normal business activities will be determined after the all-clear is given in terms of what is feasible and appropriate announcements will be made. In terms of airport operations, the Air and Sea ports authority will communicate to their interests, both Air and Sea ports' interests, maritime and civil aviation interests, the times of operations of our Air and Sea ports once the all-clear is actually given. Due to the expected passage of Tropical Storm Elsa and the national shutdown from 4am to 2pm Friday, schools will remain closed and all examinations have been suspended. Banks and credit unions will remain closed. Other business interests will not resume operations until the all-clear is given and may do so based on their individual assessments. Meantime, the Ministry of Infrastructure has mobilized its resources for response following the passage of Tropical Storm Elsa. Heavy equipment and teams are on standby. So too are members of the St. Lucia Fire Service and the Royal St. Lucia Police Force. The Ministry of Health and Wellness has also readied its system. Jenny Daniel is the Deputy Permanent Secretary. We measured the preparedness by way of the availability of food supplies, fuel supplies, water supplies, medication and the overall structural integrity of the buildings. So we have found that most of them are ready to face impending storm. There are a couple of our institutions and that includes the Respiratory Hospital and the Souffre Hospital where sandbags may have to be used to mitigate against flooding if it comes to that. Structurally, we have most of our centers having been assessed with a few issues in terms of leaks, roof leakage and so on but these have been mitigated and will be mitigated against. All of them have five-day supplies of food, water and fuel at least. All of them have their medication available for the next five days. Our communication system is up and running. Once again St. Lucia and the rest of the Windward Islands are bracing for the passage of Tropical Storm Elsa. St. Lucia is expected to begin to experience strong winds early Friday morning with rains beginning at about 6 a.m. Elsa is expected to produce rainfall totals of 3 to 6 inches with maximum totals of 10 inches across the Windward Islands. A national shutdown will come into effect for St. Lucia from 4 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, 2nd July 2021. The public is urged not to venture out until the all-clear is given by Nemo. In other news, the government of St. Lucia is continuing to strengthen legislation and systems to combat human trafficking. Kamadi Mark reports on the latest efforts. The government of St. Lucia continues to intensify efforts to clamp down on the crime of trafficking in persons by recently adding more teeth to the Counter-Trafficking Act. The newly amended Act is now cited as the Counter-Trafficking Amendment Act 2021. This legislation first came into force in 2010 and sets out to protect victims and to prosecute traffickers. The Counter-Trafficking Act also applies to anyone involved in aiding and abetting the perpetration of crimes of exploitation against human beings. Permanent Secretary in the Department of Home Affairs and National Security, Mr. Szilisabeth Bailey says the amendment is in fact a very significant step in ensuring the legislation sends a strong message about the seriousness with which the law regards the exploitation of human beings. The objective of undertaking the amendments to the Counter-Trafficking Act was to remove certain sentencing provisions that allowed fines in lieu of imprisonment for sex trafficking offenses. The Counter-Trafficking Amendment Act was assented to by the Governor-General His Excellency, Sir Neville Snack, on May 12, 2021 from the Government Information Service, Hilmadi Mark reporting. In an era when wildlife heroes are needed more than ever, the Department of Agriculture joins the Disney Conservation Fund in recognizing Melvin Smith, one of the latest recipients of the Disney Conservation Award. Every year, the Disney Conservation Fund recognizes the dedication and hard work of individuals and groups working to conserve wildlife and protect wild places around the world. Melvin Smith, one of the 20 individuals and teams honored in 2020, joined the ranks of more than 200 passionate, dedicated Disney conservation heroes who have been recognized in more than 50 countries around the world to date. Melvin, a naturalist by birth, identified 400 new wild plant species on the island that had previously gone undocumented. He also contributed to the restoration of the Sandy Beach coastline by growing 800 individual plants in his own nursery to help revegetate the coast. Praising the work of the naturalist, country manager and forest management advisor for the Caribbean America's Fauna and Flora International FFI, Adams Toussaint, explains that upon discovering a small mountain top population of pencil-sealer trees, an endemic species nearly extinct in the wild, Melvin cultivated new saplings through patience and a fierce determination to bring the species back from the brink of extinction. This species was recently discovered on the edge of a cliff at Petipito. So what Mr. Smith has singly hundredly done is to actually take some of these germ plasms and break down and now he's able to grow over 1,500 plants in a nursery. In its original habitat, there are just about 60 plants left. So that was the world, I would say, repository on that Petipito itself. So now we are able to now grow these plants and now be able to restore the species in the wild and now solutions can be able to use this plant as a Christmas tree. And this is why we have called it the Petipito Christmas tree because it is, in the past, used as Christmas trees. Recipient of the Disney Conservation Award, Melvin Smith, expressed gratitude to all parties who contributed to his success. I'd like to say a special thanks to Fauna and Flora International, especially Jenny Daltry, Sophia Stell and Adams Toussaint. Also thanks to the Forestry Department and Disney and everyone who supported me in some way to make this event possible. Let me mention two names, Niley Campton and Roger Greaveson. In this unprecedented moment, I'd like to say to the citizens of St. Lucia, there should be no tremors about making up your minds to help your country rise to a position in the mannerism world that will help challenge the attention and command the administration of this world. Melvin, a true conservationist, is not only assisting in the conservation of rare species, but he also hopes to teach and inspire others to appreciate and care for St. Lucia's ecosystem. From the communications unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, I am Anicia Antoine reporting. St. Lucia is celebrating the 17th anniversary of the inscription of the Petal Management Area PMA on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Wednesday 30th June marked the 17th anniversary of the inscription of the Petals Management Area PMA on the UNESCO World Heritage List. UNESCO will be lending support to facilitate the updating of the PMA Site Management Plan. This support forms part of an important initiative by the UNESCO Cluster Office for the Caribbean to assist Caribbean member states and associate members and their respected World Heritage properties to have management plans which reflect current threats to cultural and natural heritage and specifically those associated with natural disasters. Marcia Simforian is the Secretary-General of the St. Lucia National Commission for UNESCO. In order to address the risks, the office will be providing funding to assist with the updating of management plans to incorporate climate change components to the plans where these exist. It will provide support to update and where these do not exist to develop those components. It will also provide support for developing components regarding to, in respect of managing disasters within World Heritage sites. The National Commission is pleased to be able to provide this support at this time, especially now that we have started the hurricane season and having had experiences in the past with the impact of the disasters we've experienced in St. Lucia on our World Heritage site, especially the Souffre Suffer Springs area in particular, as well as within the site itself. The Secretary-General explained that this initiative is being developed in support of the five objectives identified in the strategy for reducing risks from disasters at World Heritage properties. These include strengthening support within relevant global, regional, national and local institutions for reducing risks at World Heritage properties, using knowledge, innovation and education to build a culture of disaster prevention at World Heritage properties, identifying, assessing and monitoring disaster risks at World Heritage properties, reducing underlying risk factors at World Heritage properties and strengthening disaster preparedness at World Heritage properties for effective response at all levels. This initiative, we believe, will allow not just for the incorporation of those two major components but also provides an opportunity for the PMA office and indeed the Government of St. Lucia to revise, review the existing management plans with a view to ensuring that it adequately meets the criteria for proper management of the site. We are pleased therefore as National Commission for UNESCO to make this support available to the PMA office in celebration of the 17th anniversary of the inscription of the site on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The PETOS management area has been chosen as one of the pilot World Heritage properties in the Caribbean to implement this activity. The St. Lucia National Commission for UNESCO will work alongside the PMA office and PMA Advisory Committee to ensure the successful implementation of this activity. Public sessions will also be conducted with stakeholders in order to discuss the outcomes of this process as well as to promote stakeholder awareness and buying. This is NTN Nightly, our next primers Hutchinson with the NTN Nouvelle Quaiol. Here at St. Lucia Distillers, we produce an award winning range of rums and rum products. We export our rums to the Caribbean, North America and Europe. Standards facilitate our entry into overseas markets. In the rum business, it is critical that our distillers and blenders get it right. St. Lucia Distillers is HASAP certified. We use two standards from SLBS, the standard for labeling of pre-packaged foods. SLNS 1-3 2014 and the National Specification Forum. SLNS 12 2003 We are also a registered member of the West Indies Rum and Spirit Producers Association, WISPA. SLBS ensures that we are up to standard and world class. This message is brought to you by the Commonwealth Standards Network. Welcome back. We join Primers Hutchinson for the NTN Nouvelle Quaiol. Ladies and gentlemen, this is G.I.S., National Television Network, NTN Nouvelle Quaiol. This is Primers Hutchinson. This is a preparation for the other movements that are working here with the WISPA. This is a recommendation and preparation. I have proposed that we can start the operation at 4 o'clock in the morning on the 12th of July 2021 for just a biological methodology that we have decided that we will be able to live on the operation that we will be able to do in the afternoon. Before this decision, I said that the organization will conduct a preliminary set. We will have Alan Chastney, Capsack, Chef Nimo, who will decide to engage with several agencies in the private sector and the public sector. We will provide health departments, medical departments, commercial services, police, local authorities, and public utility. We will also provide the system that we will be able to do all the operations that will be required for the services that are always needed in this private sector and the public service that will be accessible to us in the event that we may be able to live on the operation. All the examinations that we have passed yesterday and the administration have agreed that there is no possible for the spirit services to be possible Silence last but not least, Europe can not start operations while all assessments are made if there is a problem with the affected player. Even if there is no permission for the player to start operations. Last but not least, we need to determine what is the best way to open the operation and export of the boat services. It depends on the gender, language, and biometeology in this case. If there is a problem with biometeology or a bad situation that is in place before the sale of the boat at the age of 60 a year, then we can close the business. The fishermen, the large amount of pressure, the cooperative, the fishing and other activities that have been done by the fishermen to celebrate the rest of the country as they are making progress. Make sure you make the fishermen pay. Like the fishermen, it's not easy. It was in 2019, in 2021. This is the fishing industry that has contributed to the economy here in order to save money, to work, and to make money. This is why the fishing department has continued to build resilience and capacity for fishing with technology. It is also a program to build the fishing department first. The fishing department has assisted fishing in several ways to improve its production. I have found equipment and training. I have also learned new methods. I have also assisted fishing in order to benefit from this. This is why the radio has been used for the first time in its communication. More than 1,400 people have been assisted by COVID-19. The fishing department has continued to build the fishing department to improve its operation in order to improve the fishing economy in order to develop its fishing sector. In addition, the fishing department has also contributed to the activity, to the service of the sea, to the education of the fishing department, and also to the money to be invested in the fishing department, which has found the victory in the fishing competition. Mr. Egbert Stevens has declared that the fishing department has played a critical role in the fishing industry. This has opened up the resources for fishing. This is a challenge that will affect the fishing industry. Mr. Stevens has said that the fishing department needs to improve the fishing sector and also to provide the service that is very important to the employment and financial benefits. In order to help the people with COVID-19, the secret service to the fishing company, and to the fishing department, I have forced the cooperative commitment to work and to support the fishing department, and to provide the best association for the fishing department to be able to provide the best support to the fishing department. I would like to thank all the farmers for the first time in their lives to try to get the animals to live in disaster. I would like to thank the Chief Officer of Extension, Camille Jebatis, for giving us the opportunity to discuss the program of agriculture and movement. Mr. Jebatis, I would like to thank the farmers for giving us the opportunity to get the animals to live in disaster. I would like to thank all the farmers for the first time in their lives to try to get the animals to live in disaster. I would like to thank the Chief Officer of Extension for the first time in their lives to try to get the animals to live in disaster. I would like to thank the Chief Officer of Extension for the first time in their lives to try to get the animals to live in disaster. I would like to thank the Chief Officer of Extension for the first time in their lives to try to get the animals to live in disaster. I would like to thank the Chief Officer of Extension for the first time in their lives to try to get the animals to live in disaster. I would like to thank the Chief Officer of Extension for giving us the opportunity to get the animals to live in disaster. I would like to thank the Chief Officer of Extension for the first time in their lives to try to get the animals to live in disaster. I would like to thank the Chief Officer of Extension for the first time in their lives to try to get the animals to live in disaster. I would like to thank the Chief Officer of Extension for the first time in their lives to try to get the animals to live in disaster. I would like to thank the Chief Officer of Extension for the first time in their lives to try to get the animals to live in disaster. I would like to thank the Chief Officer of Extension for the first time in their lives to try to get the animals to live in disaster. Thank you very much for your time, and I hope to see you again in the next video. Merci apel primus. That brings us to the end of NTN Nightly. Join us next time at 7pm with a repeat at 7am. You can also catch up with us anytime on the St Lucia Gulfman Facebook page or YouTube channel. I am General Norvel.