 Welcome to the NTN Nightly. I'm Nisha Charles. This edition stops stories. The Denry North redevelopment project is nearing completion. The Ministry of Health and Wellness to implement a perinatal information system. The education component of the roots and soul festival gets underway. All that plus the latest in youth development, sports, and the NTN Nouvelle Acquio. The Government of St. Lucia sought to strengthen the Gaming, Racing, and Betting Act with a number of amendments made to the Act at the last sitting of Parliament. Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Economic Growth, Job Creation, External Affairs, and the Public Service, the Hon. Alan Sharsney, indicated that the move was necessary to ensure greater clarity as it relates to betting and gaming in St. Lucia, especially as the Desert Star Holding Project, which includes a horse racing track, comes on stream. I think it's good for me to be able to make that distinction, is that there's going to be a race course operator, which establishes rules for the race course. But the regulatory agency is concerning itself with regards to the betting. So the integrity of the betting. In terms of doping, blood tests, and meeting international standards. So that's the difference between the two people. Section 44D Act which provides for interference with license and rules of racing has been strengthened and it now provides for interference of a race course operator, betting provider, and an official performing a function under the rules of racing or rules of betting. Following the amendment of the Act in 2018, it was tested for six months after which it was realized that several adjustments were necessary such as the modification of definitions and board stipulations to name a few. Hon. Sharsney expressed gratitude to the staff of the Attorney General's office whom he stated would to many hours, all in an effort to ensure that the legislation was up to par with international standards. The state's responsibility is to make sure that all of the wagering that's being done in St. Lucia is being done to an international standard and that people are being held accountable and that there's clear separation between the people who are running the horse racing and who are going to be providing the gaming that we're going to be the oversight of those entities. So a lot of the changes that were made here are really definition changes and to bring greater clarity to people's roles in being able to separate those separate entities. The Prime Minister indicated that the lottery will soon be included as part of the overall authority. The government's intention is to have one authority with the necessary skills and capacity to oversee three different acts. For the government information service, I am General Norville. Agriculture Minister Hon. Ezekiel Joseph and a delegation comprising WASCO lead officers and key personnel of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources recently visited the Denver North Redevelopment Project for a first-hand look at the progress made thus far. Here's Amanda Faye Clark. We are satisfied. So says Chairman of the Board of Directors of WASCO, Francis Thimble, when asked to give his impression of the work already completed as part of Phase 2 of the Denver North Water Rehabilitation Project. Set to be commissioned by mid-January of 2020, Phase 2 is just about 60% done. Have it now installed a 100,000-gallon water tank in Denye Riviera. Plans to install two other water storage tanks with the same capacity are running on schedule, which will bring the total count of storage tanks for the Area 2-7. Now, this is good in that the more capacity you have to store water, it's better for the residents, particularly during the hurricane season or during heavy rainfall. You'd have that capacity. As you're aware, the Denver North Area has suffered the most in terms of the number of years. 60 years, I believe. These people have suffered. And we've made a commitment to redevelop this area, the water infrastructure in this area, so that the people could obtain good quality and well-treated water. Manager of operations attached to Wasco, Gordon Wikes says, the goal of providing 1.5 million gallons of safe, reliable water to Denver North residents will be achieved, as the design of the project, he explains, will provide 24-hour uninterrupted water treatment through the water treatment plant. By the end of the year, we expect to reach the testing commission phase in terms of having all infrastructure completed and the contractor will be ready to test and commission the various elements of the project, and project completion is essentially due by mid-January of 2020. So at that point, we should be delivering a supply of water to the residents. Agriculture Minister Hon. Ezekiel Joseph says his government remains committed to updating water infrastructure and services across St. Lucia and isolated with the progress of work being done in the Denver North constituency, bringing an end to decades-long suffering from an inconsistent and inadequate supply of fresh quality pipe-borne water. Based on the presentation that we received and the thought that I have been involved with, looking at the respective infrastructure development on the ground, we are very pleased as a ministry that the work is going as planned. We have been informed that we are on target as it pertains to our deliverables and, of course, within budget. And I'm sure by January next year, the entire valley will be benefiting from a reliable, good quality supply of water. And that's critical. Sustaining agriculture-based livelihoods in Denver North will become even more achievable through the successful commissioning of the Denver North Water Rehabilitation Project. From the Ministry of Agriculture, I am Amanda Fey-Clock reporting. The Ministry of Health and Wellness in collaboration with the Department of Affairs is coordinating a humanitarian mission visit by the United States Naval Ship Comfort from September 23, 2019 to October 2, 2019. While in St. Lucia, the ship will be berthed at Port Cache Trees with two walking clinics for general services, one at the OKEU Hospital and another location which will be confirmed in September. Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Sharon Belma George says these services will be free of charge and open to all who need medical care. General services will be provided at the clinics which include medical check-ups, and treatment, preventative medicine, dental cleaning, eye care with the provision of eye glasses as well. I wear distribution, internal medicine, pediatrics, dermatology, women's health, physiotherapy, and the provision of medication as needed. The ship's hospital which will be berthed at Port Cache Trees will be providing diagnostic services which include ultrasound, CT scan, echocardiogram, x-ray services and also interventional radiological services as well. Minor surgery will also be done on the ship. Dr. Sharon Belma George notes, however, that a request from a local doctor is needed for diagnostic procedures and a referral from a physician is needed for surgical procedures as these procedures are pre-scheduled. Our local health professionals will be working with the U.S. medical teams as well. And with light persons to note that the U.S. health professionals are also going through the process of licensing and registration as for our local health professionals. So we are very grateful for this opportunity. The ministry is very pleased to be collaborating with the U.S. Naval Service for this opportunity and we encourage persons who need medical care to take advantage and to access cable services are available for everybody. For everyone who needs the care, you are free to come in and to take full advantage of this opportunity. During its deployment in the region, the ship will also visit Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, St. Kitts, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and the Latin American countries. Meanwhile, in preparation for the implementation of the perinatal information system, the Ministry of Health and Wellness is taking a proactive approach to train personnel in the health sector on the use of this system. More on this report from Phenyl Neptune. The training workshop on the perinatal information system is expected to strengthen the capacity of healthcare workers in the gathering of data on pregnant women and newborns. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Millen-Fedrick Jean says this system is extremely important as it will assist with enhancing the quality of maternal and child health services and outcome at the various health facilities. With this system, aim to improve further the way we monitor pregnant women. With this system, it will be very easy for us to look through and see whether a woman has misvisits during pregnancy or whether blood investigations have been requested and those haven't been done. We will be able to see very quickly whether she's high-risk because we know that there are certain conditions during pregnancy like hypertension and persons can bleed, etc., which are high-risk conditions. So it's very easy to flag this and ensure that the women are receiving the appropriate care. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Millen-Fedrick Jean says she's very pleased with the system and believes it is an effective tool for monitoring mother and newborn healthcare. This system is a tool that will provide uniformity across the board as it relates to data collection when mothers and newborns receive healthcare in the primary healthcare centres and also in the hospitals. The Perinatal System will contribute to better monitoring and improve the quality and outcome of maternal and child care in St. Lucia. The workshop on the Perinatal Information System was facilitated by the Pan-American Health Organization PAHU and the Latin American Centre for Perinatology and Human Development Club. Reporting from the Communications Unit of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, I am Fenel Neptune. The events company of St. Lucia is the host of the latest series of workshops targeting the youth and the creative arts industry as part of its activities leading up to the Roots and Soul Festival. The organisation held a performance poetry workshop at the Miku Public Library with London-based performer and poet Kermia Lisette as its facilitator. We have more from Anise Antoine. So we're going to start with exploring a free right. Now a free right is simply what it means. A group of students from the Miku community were treated last week to not just an early performance but an entirety of learning about creative writing from St. Lucia-born London-raised poet and educator Kermia Lisette, who will be taking the stage on Friday for the opening night of the 2019 Roots and Soul Festival. According to representative Minova Ross of the events company of St. Lucia, the collaboration is about giving artists a platform to give back and ultimately the development of the creative arts industry in St. Lucia. Last year as well, for 2018 we had a series of workshops and this year we're very excited about introducing new workshops to the summer festival. In fact, coming off of St. Lucia Jazz we had a series of four high-class master classes I would say with the likes of Christian McBride, Etienne Charles and others and it was really, really an interesting exercise to see our young musicians get involved. So for Roots and Soul we decided to do it again and this time around our focus is performance poetry. The workshop was centered around the theme of home and get towards developing creative writing and performance skills of participants. Kermia Lisette, who hails from the community of Miku says it was a very fulfilling experience for her to be able to speak to the lives of children in the community where she grew up. Creative writing is something that we need to pull out of them a bit more. So I give them these exercises for them to work through to hopefully generate writing from anything. Some of these pieces that they've pulled together wrote a whole poem about a missing bed or a bed being gone and it's something that is completely you wouldn't know that that's what I asked him to write about from reading the poem so it's about giving them things that they can relate to things that they can take from their own experience and then generate writing from that. Natural beauty is what I see brown eyes to compliment her soft skin a smile that's wide and makes her very pretty a small head. Some of the students present described their experience of the workshop as an opportunity to share some of the things they're feeling deep down inside. I don't know how but every time I get painted on paper it's like it opens doors for me because I like writing songs I like writing stories but I never share them. It was a very special one especially for me just hearing everybody's poems now individual everybody is and their voice even if we had the same theme with the same picture everybody took it a different way and it just made me feel like like home like everybody's different yet still we all have a passion for the same thing. The Roots and Soul Festival is the third component of the St Lucia Summer Festival and will also be featuring another free performance poetry workshop this Thursday at the Bay Gardens Hotel for students over the age of 11. Registration begins on site from 9am From the Government Information Service I am Anisia Antoine reporting and this is the NTN Nightly coming up a closer look at St Lucia's participation in Cara Festa 14 but first Ryan O'Brien has the sports If you are in receipt of an abnormally high bill it is highly possible that you have a leak that leak may not always be visible Before you contact Wasco conduct a do-it-yourself test 1. Record your meter reading 2. Do not use water for 30 minutes to 1 hour 3. Take another meter reading If the reading changes, you have a leak Contact a plumber to identify and fix the leak at the earliest A message brought to you by the Water and Sewage Company Incorporated Wasco Welcome back We join Ryan O'Brien for the latest happenings in youth development and sports Welcome everyone to your update from youth development and sports on the NTN Nightly News I'm Ryan O'Brien President of the Confederation North Central American and Caribbean Associations of Football Conker Calf Victor Montagliani is optimistic that St Lucia is taking the right approach in developing football and that there will be continued success if the initiatives currently been undertaken by the government of St Lucia and the St Lucia Football Association continue I think it maybe it's not a coincidence that I land here the day after the U-14s when the U-15s when the Conker Calf our Conker Calf Championships at U-15 in Bradenton so you can see I think the sort of the philosophy that President Cooper and his team are taking of really investing in the youth and building it brick by brick is the right way to go I think and as you can see he's already starting to see some results even in a short period of time but I think with his vision and some of the people he's surrounded himself with his coach Jamal I think you're going to see some great results for St Lucia in the future Mr Montagliani stressed that the focus on developing the skill sets of the youth is the right way to go to build football I think the motto is the same motto as we adopted a Conker Calf vision where unity is important there's also going to be differences of opinions but in the end we need to all roll in the same direction and I think St Lucia football is doing that under the leadership of President Cooper and I think that needs to continue and I look forward to coming back in the very near future The Conker Calf President was in St Lucia recently for a brief visit while accompanying the president of the Federation of International Football Association's FIFA Giovanni Infantino on a tour of a number of Caribbean nations affiliated to the two organizations The Winner Island Schools Games continues to provide a platform for young students to have an experience of the glory of sports in shaping their future Matilda Angeloni a member of St Lucia's winning Winner Island Schools Games Contingent 2019 spoke about how the experience in Dominica this year left her with cherished memories The Games this year have been honestly for me as a player the hardest Games I've ever played in my entire life especially the Winner Games Dominica because that was the country that was always coming for us and always defeated us and their chance were the worst of those they were able to put us down within one point and make us feel like oh well, we've lost and this year that team St Lucia that we came with they showed Dominica up and I'm so happy so happy that they did that and I'm so happy in the way that they did so I didn't hear a single word from them from the time we got onto the court because St Lucia just took them down so all in all it really was just an amazing experience Angeloni recounted the experience on behalf of her team-mates during a reception in their honour after returning home as Winner Island Schools Games Champions 2019 and that's your update from Youth Development and Sports for today I'm Ryan O'Reilly Thanks Ryan Interest is mounting in St Lucia's offerings at this year's Carre Fester We join the Government Information Services Roger Lawrence for the details Carre Fester 14 got off to a festive start last Friday afternoon in Port of Spain Trinidad with participants from more than 20 countries from the region and beyond parading almost halfway around McQueen's Park Savannah deemed the largest roundabout in the world St Lucia joined delegates from countries within the region in the parade numbering around 80 with fashion designer Christine Samuel carrying the nation's flag The St Lucia delegation included cast members of the theatrical productions a little folk tale bel-alesh and silent scars poets, writers, band members art and craft vendors and the media During the opening ceremony Trinidad and Tobago's Minister for Community Development Culture and the Arts Dr. Nyan Gadsby Dolly welcomed delegates and patrons who filled the stage of honor. She told them that the Twin Island Republic's preparations to host this year's event was done feverishly to elevate the region's foremost cultural festival that celebrates the arts. We have all worked feverishly to further elevate this regional cultural celebration. Strategically positioning our cultural identities into a 10-day festival became a herculean task Relative to the rest of the world, we are a small territory with larger-than-life cultural legacies Our voices, shared memories fiery spirits and artistic wonders are all unmatched Dr. Gadsby Dolly also noted that Carrie Fester serves as a vehicle to foster greater cohesion within the region This inception in 1972 Carrie Fester has maintained its status as one of the region's most successful models for cultural integration It is a biennial exercise in self-rediscovery for the Caribbean people while sensitizing global audiences about the Caribbean's cultural DNA Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley thanked Carrie Com Secretary and all other agencies and individuals for their support towards making Trinidad and Tobago's fourth hosting of the festival a reality He noted that the festival is essential in validating the need for one people, one space It's the showcase of our food our dance our song our artists our intellect and our indomitable Caribbean spirit but there's a change of sadness that we could only note and move on for the moment and that is we are still separate sovereign states when it could have been better maybe one border around us all identifying us as one people might have given us a little tangier taste to our Caribbeanness Rehearsals continued daily for the various productions being staged by the St. Lucian talent here at Carifesta including a little folktale written by Monico Geese and Jesse Mayers and directed by Drenia Frederick and Silent Scars written and directed by Hayden Ford Minister with responsibility for culture and the creative industries Senator the Honorable Fortuna Bell Rose Adam Tobago for Carifesta 14 visited cast members at rehearsals also joining the delegation is executive director of the Cultural Development Foundation CDF Ramona Henry Wynn and that was GIS's Roger Lawrence and stay with the NTN Nightly Up next, Primus Hutchinson is here with the NTN Nouvelle Arquio I'm innovative I'm competitive I am productive I'm creative I constantly improve what I do and how I do it I provide excellent customers to visit I never stop learning I give all my best always the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council embracing excellence Welcome back We join Primus Hutchinson for the NTN Nouvelle Arquio Mr. Bidam, the Department of Universities and Information is here with the GIS and the National Television for NTN for the Nouvelle Arquio for Primus Hutchinson The residents of Valais Mabuya are more active to serve the water that is the highest level Minister of Universities and Agriculture to serve the water I am Joseph The government is working on the second phase to serve the water as I have been in Valais Mabuya for so long to find a good service I am very grateful that I have been in Valais for so long to find a good quality for the government that has been necessary to continue to serve the water in Valais Mabuya We are now in phase one and then phase one is over and then phase one is over to find a good value that we have to do in phase two and then we have to to make a statement that phase two is coming and not only phase two but also the quality of the water we have to decide about what to do but of course We are very happy to see the development we have done for FISTO. We are very satisfied with the way we are doing it in January 2020. We are very happy to see that everything is going to be okay. We want to thank Joseph for his support and for his government decision to employ his contractor and for the work he has done for FISTO. Because of FISTO, we want to thank the contractor for the opportunity to work and to assist and develop the community. We want to thank the contractor for his support and for the work he has done for FISTO. We want to continue our work in January 2020 so that everything will be okay. We want to thank the contractor for the work he has done for FISTO. We want to thank the contractor for the work he has done for FISTO. We want to thank the contractor for the work he has done for FISTO. Thank you. We are going to ask the government to establish a motion to authorize the Ministry of Finance to lower the cost of the government to be able to cut $2 million to finance the rehabilitation and employment of the people. The agency has launched a setback, a setback of $8,900,000. The first setback is $4,600,000. The first setback is $4,400,000. The second setback is $24,600,000. The third setback is $24,600,000. The first setback is $4,600,000. The second setback is $4,600,000. The third setback is $2,600,000. The third setback is $4,000,000. The third setback is $2,600,000. It is estimated that $6,000,000 will be allocated to support the decision to authorize the agency to control the operation. We must have the ability to serve the public, please. And for the children who are in place to assist the workers in the service. The department has already declared that it will receive more than 100 testimonies from the clients who are working well to support the participants and their families. The Department of Public Services will be very excited. We are very excited to receive these answers from these clients and other groups who have supported the program, including Feng Shui, Espoir, Mangumun, Total Fitness, Nikita Pilots, Eden Herbs, Credit Union Reservoirs Civil, the Medical Worker, Chef Wilesiaz, and a lot of people with disabilities who can serve the program. The program is for the workers. The Public Service established in March 2016 is a professional organization, especially for the government, especially for those who have experienced a lot of difficulties and who have affected the performance of the work. The program offers six sessions of advice without any risk. One for the workers and the family, for their professions, for the work situation, for the difficulty of the work, for the abuse of alcohol, for the health problems, for the violence of domestic violence, for the problem of marriage, for the pain, for the problem of illness, and so on. We have three new employees, one is Mr. Otra, and the other is Mr. Gade. We have a lot of new employees. We have a lot of new employees. We have a lot of new employees. Mr. Opel Primus, and here's a look at what's happening to us, whether wise. Partly cloudy skies occasionally becoming cloudy with widely scattered showers and a slight chance of isolated thunderstorms. A tropical wave will cause some cloudy periods with widely scattered showers and possibly thunderstorms over the Leeward Islands during the next 24 hours. Another tropical wave over the Central Tropical Atlantic is moving westward near 15 miles per hour or 24 kilometers per hour. Tides for Castries Harbor, low at 12.51 p.m. high at 7.22 p.m. Tides for Viewford Bay, low at 2.18 p.m. high at 8.29 p.m. Seas, slight with waves 2 to 4 feet or 0.6 to 1.2 meters. The sun will rise Thursday at 5.51 a.m. And that brings us to the end of the 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'm Nisha Charles.