 Welcome to NTA Nightly, I am Jadal Norville, this edition's top stories. St. Lucia is set to benefit from road improvement works funded by the Government of Japan. The informal accommodation sector earmarked to take advantage of government incentives. And the island opens its borders to regional and international travel. St. Lucia is set to benefit from road improvement works funded by the Government of Japan. The Kaldisak Bridge Reconstruction Project, earmarked to begin later this month, is designed to build climate resilience in St. Lucia's infrastructure. The project includes road realignment work, expansion of the existing bridge and construction of a proposed roundabout. Anisia Antoine has more in this report. The Government of Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency JICA will be reconstructing the Kaldisak Bridge located on the west coast. At the convening of parliament on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2020, the Minister for Infrastructure, Ports, Energy and Labor, Hon. Stevenson King, explained that the project is designed to deal with the current flooding issues in the Kaldisak Basin and will be supervised by engineers from the Department of Infrastructure. Plans for the reconstruction will include creating a higher elevation and a wider span to reduce bridge closures due to flooding and is expected to strengthen socio-economic development. What the Japanese are going to do in Kaldisak, Mr. Speaker, is just not to put two I-beams across the river and put slabs on it because they have a bridge and say it costs $42 million. It's much more than this. The studies which had to be done, Mr. Speaker, to determine the hydrology of the river in terms of the flow and all of this thing, Mr. Speaker, because it's not water running down a hill, it's water settling in a flood plain. And it is likely if the hydrology, Mr. Speaker, isn't adequate, you are likely to have much more rapid flooding than ever before. The Japanese were the ones, Mr. Speaker, who undertook all of the feasibilities, all of the feasibilities, design, finance, engineering, you name it, all of the feasibilities costing, Mr. Speaker. We will merely, we will merely the recipients of donor funds. The Minister for Infrastructure explained that one of the most critical activities being undertaken by JICA is the river retraining. The problem with the Kaldisak basin, Mr. Speaker, is the fact that because the river is meandering, what you do have happening is a situation as you'd find in countries where you have, like Holland, where you have those flood plains and dykes build, not dykes, Mr. Speaker, but the flood plains build up and deltas emerge and it creates a problem and there's no use. In our case, we do have them in meandering, but the meandering causes flows on either side of the river causing flooding in both directions. So what will happen, Mr. Speaker? The river will be retrained, there will be booms established and a system that will allow for an elimination of the overflow of the banks to be able to keep the river, the basin or the Kaldisak basin free of flooding. The cost of the reconstruction of the Kaldisak bridge is estimated at $42 million. The project is scheduled to commence in June 2020 for a duration of 24 months. From the Government Information Service, I am Anisia Antoine reporting. Meantime, the Ministry of Infrastructure, Ports, Energy and Labour has announced the successful completion of negotiations and the award of contracts for three more road projects under the Road Improvement and Maintenance Programme, Phase 4. On Tuesday, June 2, 2020, official signed contracts for the following projects. Savannah Ajo Road Reconstruction Project, 762 metres. PR Development Road Reconstruction, 1,948 metres and Mondidor-Tubalata Road Reconstruction Project, 2,349 metres. These projects are expected to bring relief to all road users while stimulating employment and economic activity through the construction sector. Designed to improve climate resilience, the project's scope involves the complete reconstruction of the road surface, construction of proper drainage and residence access. The St Lucia Tourism Authority Amendment Bill was on Tuesday, 2 June 2020, passed during the sitting of Parliament. It was amended to empower the St Lucia Tourism Authority, SLTA, to take charge of its own financial affairs. Minister for Tourism Information and Broadcasting, Culture and Creative Industries Honourable Dominic Fading indicated that the amendment prepares the SLTA to expand its operations in order to collect the proposed tourism levy fee. The intention, the Minister explained, is to give the SLTA the capacity to raise its own funds. Mr Speaker, as we contemplate the reopening of the tourism sector, this is absolutely crucial. When one bear in mind that the country will be facing increased competition, Mr Speaker, as a tourist destination, because many islands are going to be competing for the recovery of the tourism business in post-COVID. And so, Mr Speaker, having a very small budget within the context of Caribbean tourism budgets will in fact, Mr Speaker, require the tourism authority to be laser-focused, to be nimble, but to also ensure, Mr Speaker, that the board optimised the very small budget in comparison to bigger destinations, Mr Speaker. The amendment will also make allowances for members of the accommodation sector to register under the new St Lucia Tourism Authority Act, which will enable the collection of the levy. Prime Minister of St Lucia, the Honourable Alan Shasne, explained that the informal accommodation sector has been problematic for years now. He added that the amendments seek to fix the perennial issues that exist. And the reason for the severity of the penalties, Mr Speaker, which are the same penalties for Mr Speaker for the VAT, and it says up to $100,000. It doesn't mean the fine is going to be $100,000. Up to, and yes, it's important that the properties be properly registered, Mr Speaker, because we have a lot of properties that are not registered and are out there selling and are grossly inadequate. And what we want to ensure is that persons who are supposed to be contributing are contributing. So to do that, Mr Speaker, they must be registered in the first place. Minister for Economic Development, Housing, Urban Renewal, Transport and Civil Aviation, Honourable Guy Joseph, highlighted the need to formalize the sector, something which the Minister indicated has become even more apparent in the face of COVID-19. When you allow things to go out of control, and then a visitor finds themselves in a place where the accommodation is worth, and you get bad reviews, you get everything, the brand, which is what the Prime Minister, the member for Meekood, South spoke about, making St. Lucia the brand that is of high quality. You cannot accomplish this, Mr Speaker, by just allowing things to go anyhow. We must set standards. You know, I heard the member this morning talk about what is happening to the banana farmers and why the bananas was not accepted in Barbados. Standards again, Mr Speaker. If people think that they can do things anyhow, the world is setting its standards, and we have to begin to measure up to the standards if we are going to remain competitive in the various industries. And so, Mr Speaker, what we see there with the tourism authority, being able to do the marketing for all of these smaller properties, being able to make that as part of the product offering in St. Lucia, what is wrong with asking these people to meet the basic required standards in order to operate as an entity that provides accommodation for persons. That was Minister for Economic Development, Housing, Urban Renewal, Transport and Civil Aviation, Honourable Guy Joseph. Effective June 4, 2020, St. Lucia opens its borders to regional and international countries. The policy includes that travelers present a negative COVID-19 test and undergo mandatory quarantine at a government institution. The Ministries of Health and Tourism will continue working together with stakeholders to coordinate this new phase of the national response to COVID-19. In addition, the Ministries of External Affairs and Tourism continue to coordinate the repatriation of nationals, which include cruise workers, students and other nationals currently seeking to return to St. Lucia. More from Manisha Antoine. St. Lucia will reopen its borders to regional and international countries as of June 4, 2020. Travelers will be obligated to undergo a COVID-19 test, airport screening and mandatory quarantine at a government institution. Donalyn Vite, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism, Information and Broadcasting, Culture and Creative Industries, noted that the protocols adopted in St. Lucia have created a blueprint for other Caribbean islands that will also be opening in June. And for us in St. Lucia, what you have seen is now the development of protocols for the airport, the development of protocols for accommodation service, for ride and share and taxi and in-train is the development of protocols for the waterway sector. So for us now, it was to critically assess the visitor journey and see what happens from the thought pattern or process of deciding to come to our gem and landed in St. Lucia, spending time and then leave. And so in looking at that path and that journey, it was to see what sort of footprints we could leave and what sort of impact we could leave with the travel agent, the tour operators, who would have that level of communication of the visitor in doing what to expect to let them know of the responsible way that St. Lucia would like to open, to get in preparations to going on the plane with that negative COVID test and what the expectations at host airport is until you get in country. With the quarantine regulations currently placed on St. Lucia's major tourism source markets, including Canada and the United Kingdom, St. Lucia in the first instance will be welcoming flights from the United States via Delta, JetBlue and American Airlines. Amy Charles, manager of air traffic services at the St. Lucia Air and Seaports Authority, noted that protocols and guidelines have been put in place to ensure the safety of the frontline staff at the ports. They have to feel the sense of safety and then for the country to feel safe because they are the frontline staff. They have to face those persons and then you want them to welcome those persons in comfortably making the persons comfortable so of course we realize okay, how do we take care of those staff and so as a result last but I realize that we had to install sneeze guards which we have already almost completed 100% to be ready for the fourth we also realize that the staff will have to be wearing masks, there will be certain staffs will have to wear maybe more PPE more protective gear because they become closer into contact some staff may have to wear face shields as well so we put all that on board knowing through the guidance of Mr. Ragnanan and his team what exactly was required. The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism explained that in the first phase, visitors will only have access to critical services which include transportation from the airport, a place to stay and limited water based recreational activity also known as coastline tours. We understand the need for everybody to regain own inner living and we're very sensitive to that but at the same time for us we need to be able to balance that level of livelihood with the self and safety and so we're asking for the cooperation of all service providers within the tourism industry we're asking for the cooperation of the public and persons who are also employees of these service providers let us take it on a step by step phase approach let us build confidence let us do it responsibly and if we all rally around each other and we're able to do so sufficiently well then we could move to adding additional services until we might be at that place where we started before Covid. Ms. Vite also noted that discussion on the repatriation of nationals is currently ongoing however nationals wishing to return home are advised to contact the Ministry of Health and Wellness from the Government Information Service I am Anicia Antoine reporting a message brought to you by the Water and Sewage Company Incorporated Wasco Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back parlement mardi commande pour parlement autorisé ministre de finance pour prêter hot back development caribla ensemble de 7 million 945 mille dollars pour financer gonchime millenium sorti balance bochime l'hôpital pour cul-de-sac et gonchime sorti cul-de-sac pour souffrir and adversely pour justifier l'on-salat pour me to stress l'agent et j'a place mais c'était 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