 Welcome to NTN Nightly, I am General Norville, this edition's top story. The island's chief medical officer emphasizes the need for adherence to the COVID-19 protocol. Government's land rationalization extends to Bhutto and Canada deepens relations with the OECS. The Ministry of Health and Wellness is cautioning that St. Lucia is still in a critical position as it relates to the coronavirus. The country remains vulnerable to the introduction of COVID-19 and variants of concern from the developed countries and neighboring Martinique and transmission in country due to inconsistent compliance to protocols. Chief Medical Officer Dr Sharon Belmar George noted an increase in the social activities across the island, especially on weekends, and a general relaxation of the public health measures. We continue to advise the public to remain vigilant and adhere to the protocols that are put in place to keep us safe. These include regular hand washing, the use of the face mask in public places covering the mouth, nose and chin, avoiding crowds and people with respiratory symptoms and keeping frequently touched surfaces clean. We are privileged to have access to vaccines in the COVID-19 fight. Vaccination remains the most effective public health measure in managing infectious diseases. The AstraZeneca vaccine has been proven to be safe and effective in protecting people from developing COVID-19 in severe forms, complications, hospitalizations and death. We continue to urge the public to access the various sites to get immunized at the soonest. The vaccine is available free of charge to the public at many venues on a daily basis. The Ministry of Health and Wellness continues to manage COVID-19 cases in country, collaborating with various ministries to ensure the safety of the public as the country strives to return to a state of normalcy. As of the 31st of May 2021, the island has recorded a total of 5,072 COVID-19 cases. 185 of those cases were recorded over the last 40 days with the majority of cases in the southern region of the island and in the north in Barbadoe and Gracilé. We continue to manage numerous outbreaks emanating from local bars. The Ministry of Health and Wellness continues to support and collaborate with the Ministry of Education in the safe reopening of schools and is pleased with the progress for the last month. The school administration and teachers are encouraged to continue working with the students to ensure a safe educational environment is maintained at all times. The continued diagnosis of cases noted is of concern to the Ministry of Health and Wellness as we continue strengthening the necessary public health systems to manage at this point. The Ministry of Health and Wellness is encouraging the public to get immunized so that everyone can be protected. The vaccination campaign continues on Wednesday, June 2 at the VG Sports Complex and then remittances pre-school and on Friday June 4 at the Darren-Sarmy Tricket Grounds, Jackmel Wellness Centre and VG Sports Complex. Member of Parliament for Sufre Force Ajak Hon. Herod Stanislas has been working steadfastly to ensure that the lands in Bouto Sufre, owned by the Catholic Church, are made available for ownership by the residents of the community. Hon. Stanislas has been in constant discussion with the Catholic Church for rationalizing the Bouto lands. Hon. Stanislas strongly believes that land and property are among the most valuable assets for self-empowerment and advancement. The lands will be surveyed and apportioned for residential and related uses. Additionally, Bouto is being considered for the expansion of the Sufre Cemetery, which currently has limited space. This land rationalization initiative in Bouto will bring about ownership to the residents and the Sufre community at large, thereby giving them an opportunity to own the very lands that they have occupied for generations. The Sufre MP says facilitating land ownership for residents is vital for housing, business, industry and other uses in the development process of the constituency. Today, the first of June St. Lucia joined the region in observing Caribbean Nutrition Day. Health officials are this year shining the spotlight on the importance of food labels and the rights of consumers to know what is inside food packages. Tamadi Mark reports. Caribbean Nutrition Days observed every year on the first of June, followed by a week of activities. The theme for this year is healthy eating, active living. Be a good label detective, read it before you eat it. This theme brings into focus the pertinent role that labeling of pre-packaged foods play in assisting persons in making healthier decisions. The Caribbean, including St. Lucia, is making strides towards introducing front-of-package nutrition labeling on packaged foods. Lisa Hunt is the chief nutritionist in the Ministry of Health and Wellness. Typically, nutrition information is placed on the back of food labels where consumers do not usually pay attention. The front-of-package labels will present nutrition information on the front-of-pre-packaged foods in a clear, simple and easy-to-read format. This will highlight critical nutrients, including saturated fats, trans fats, sugar and sodium. These critical nutrients are the drivers to diet-related, non-communicable diseases which are the leading cause of death, disease and disability in the Caribbean, including St. Lucia. From 2018, the Bureau of Standards across the Caribbean region have been working on improving nutritional labels on food products purchased in various shops, stalls and supermarkets. Senior medical officer in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Dr. Shanna Sir-Philbut says the intention is to support consumers irrespective of their ages in making healthier food choices. We at the Ministry of Health endorse and support this initiative as it is key to achieving an enabling environment for both people living with and without NCDs. It will support children and adults in making informed decisions about what they consume. The process of voting for octagonal front-of-package warning labels on pre-packaged foods is currently underway in the Caribbean region. The Ministry of Health as well as many national health allies and stakeholders have voted. Octagon-shaped front-of-package nutritional warning indicates if a product is high in critical nutrients. It allows consumers to quickly and easily identify products with unhealthy nutritional contents. They are recommended by the World Health Organization because they are effective and efficient in communicating to consumers at the point of purchase and encourages healthy diets. A number of countries have implemented octagon-shaped front-of-package nutritional warnings to address the growing global burden of diet-related non-communicable diseases. From the Government Information Service, I'm Hermione Mark reporting. St. Lucia's Ministry of Health has won a 2021 World No Tobacco Day Award in the Americas from the World Health Organization, WHO. The Ministry of Health is one of six winners of the award in the Americas, receiving recognition for achieving key advances in tobacco control efforts. Congratulatory messages were issued by the Pan-American Health Organization, World Health Organization representatives for Barbados, and the Eastern Caribbean countries during a virtual award ceremony held May 31, World No Tobacco Day. We congratulate the government and the people of St. Lucia as recipient of 2021 World No Tobacco Day Award from the World Health Organization for the meritorious achievement. The Ministry of Health was instrumental in adoption of the public health smoking control regulation, which established a smoke ban in closed public places, workplaces, and public transportation. This was preceded by the amendment of the Public Health Amendment Act, which was passed by the St. Lucia Parliament in June 2019. With the adoption of its quick tobacco regulation, St. Lucia became the eighth country in the Caribbean and the 22nd in the Americas to adopt regulation in keeping with Article 8 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which asserts that people should be protected against tobacco smoke in indoor public spaces, in no workplaces, and workplace transportation. Minister for Health and Wellness, Senator Hon. Mary Isaac shared her convictions about the island's tobacco control legislation. When we passed this legislation, we got quite a bit of pushback from producers of charcoal. But then when I visit our hospitals and I see our COPD patients gasping for air trying to do what comes so easy to many of us, I know that the Ministry of Health had taken the right decision. The observance of World Node Tobacco Day 2021 marks a significant milestone for St. Lucia. We are the proud recipients of the WHO World Node Tobacco Day Award to recognize outstanding contributions to tobacco control. I take this opportunity to express sincere gratitude to PAHO and WHO for this most prestigious award. Thank you, WHO. Congratulations, Team Health, without whose hard work this would not have been done. Well done, Team Health. Honourable Isaac assured that the Government of St. Lucia remains committed to the outreach programs and other activities associated with tobacco control in St. Lucia. Her Excellency Lillian Chatterjee, Ambassador of Canada to the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, OECS, presented her letters of credence to Dr. Dedekas Jules, Director-General of the OECS, at a virtual ceremony on Friday, May 21, 2021. The High Commissioner drew focus to the benefits of diplomatic relations between Canada and the OECS. The historical and people-to-people ties between Canada and OECS members run deep. And our shared cultural legacy of French and English colonialism profoundly shaped Canada and the Eastern Caribbean's development. The past that is thriving even today, trade in sugar and salt fish have given way to other sectors. Canada is home. Canada has committed continued support to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and contributing to relief efforts of natural disasters in the region. Her Excellency Chatterjee commended the OECS for rallying to Assistant Vincent and the Grenadines after the eruption of the La Sofia Volcano. We too are responding and it will take all of us working together to address the immediate basic needs of those affected by the volcano and to recover. The crisis has exposed the fragility of global value chains and inequity of market access, including access to essential goods like PPE and vaccines. We must tackle these challenges as friends, partners and neighbors. We know the OECS is committed to our partnership. We are also actively looking for opportunities to engage more directly with the OECS as an institution. Director-General of the OECS, Dr. Didikus Jules noted the importance of the Canada Caribbean Seasonal Agricultural Workers Programme to the livelihoods of OECS Nationals. And let me say parenthetically that since COVID and as well the volcanic eruption in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, this programme has really proved the solidity of its benefits because we have had a couple hundred workers leave the OECS by special charter to engage in employment in Canada. A significant portion, I think over 80 per cent of whom came from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. So indirectly Canada has made a huge contribution in a humanitarian way but in a way that also preserves human dignity by enabling persons from St. Vincent to go earn comparatively better wages than they would have earned even within the Caribbean at a time of such critical importance. Canada has also contributed to the development of the OECS region through several other initiatives including the provision of scholarship programmes and providing technical support for the advancement of statistical systems in the region. Canada recently made a contribution to the Pan-American Health Organisation in the sum of Canadian $50 million to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic. This is NTN Nightly, up next, Primer Hutchinson with the NTN Nouvelle Aquéor. 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 labelling of prepackaged 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 Primer Hutchinson for the NTN Nouvelle Aquéor. Mr. Otter-Jeanelle, Mr. Mdm, University of St. Lucia Distillers for information on the government of SLBS, the GIS, the national television network, and the NTN Nouvelle Aquéor, the Primer Hutchinson. I would like to ask you, Mr. Lucia, how did you start your last preparation for SLNS? I started my first preparation for SLNS in May 2021. I was the first one to start my first training. It was a year ago. It was the 20th of May. But it didn't take a week for my life and my property. I was also the director of the done service physiology and regra interior director of SLBS. I was the first one to start my first training. I was also active as a second head of SLBS. I did primary research and I was very busy. The organization also declared that there is a possibility that 70% of the activity that has been moved will be more active. The organization also declared that there is a possibility that 12% of the activity that has been moved will be more active. The organization also declared that there is a possibility that 90% of the activity that has been moved will be more active. The organization also declared that there is a possibility that 12% of the activity that has been moved will be more active. The organization also declared that there is a possibility that more activity that has been moved will be more active. The organization also declared that there is a possibility that 12% of the activity that has been moved will be more active. The ministry of health, the ministry of health, said that there is a possibility that there is a possibility that we will be able to do well in the next six countries. on the Earth, who received a goal on the Salah for the success that I have done to control the service of the country. Congratulations to the government on this, on the accomplishment of the Salah, and that this year I have done a greater contribution to the country that has led to the implementation of the control of this service of the country. Ministry of Health adopted a regulation in the year 2020, which was established to meet the priority of the service of the country for the operation. It is also famous for smoking in public places, in workplaces, and also for public transportation. This regulation also managed to manage the priority of the service of the country in facilities for the service of the government, children, education, and equalization. I also established a program to help people who are living in the country. The country that has led to the operation of the Salah is Costa Rica. About three agencies in the government, such as the public service of the country, Paraguay, also a Uruguay, and start California, a city Beverly Hills, a Manhattan Beach, a cure doctor at Buehazel. The cultivator thing, I have already said the farmer thing, said let's see, who is used to the old-quality thing as well as the place, because it is an aspect that is the most weird, for example. The Ministry of Agriculture, PESH, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Joseph, who made the declaration of Salah. The Minister of Agriculture, Parmafig, who still has good quality, because he is not able to pass the Mulewaz-U.S. Salah, but because he is capable, he can make his mother, son, and have good quality, and sell it in the place. Minister Ezekiel Joseph D.O.C., the Minister of Agriculture, to employ more official extensions for the work of the Air Force, for the key initiative of Salah, the new initiative of Salah, it was successful. The money that we have is from the BIP, the IPOJ, which is the name of the government. The NFTs are coming soon, and we have all the extension offices, including your umbrella. The money that we have is from the direct or rib-deployed extension offices, or for assistive farmers, because sitting in the family of farmers, we bridge that to be rejected. So we really buy farmers from the field, to educate, to make sure that they serve, because it is important, and to do business. We do business to make sure that we have the opportunity to join the farm from the people who buy the farm, to do business. So farmers need to open that, where is the BIPOJ, the BIPOJ of inputs, and we can see it from technical advice, but we see it from the work of the government. The work of the government is done by the farmers, it is done by the government, and it is done by the farmers, and it is done by the government, and it is done by the industry. Thank you, Mr. Bidam, it was the Minister of the Government of the Agriculture, the PESH, and the Fawia, that brought us to the end of this video. And 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 same Blue Shadow Man Facebook page or YouTube channel. I ask General Norwell.