 Welcome to Nation Beat. I am Janelle Norville bringing you this brief on the pearls of our nation and highlights around the heart of St Lucia. Government demonstrates its commitment to assisting low-income earners become home owners. Hundreds of St Lucians gathered at the Derek Walker Square for the traditional Festival of Light celebration and the St Lucia Fire Service received a boost with 45 recruits. As the year draws to a close, the Government of St Lucia has demonstrated its commitment to not only increasing the housing stock on Ireland but improving the living conditions of nationals. Earlier this week, the Cabinet of Ministers approved an alternative location for persons who occupied lands at the La Clare Estate. Government through the National Housing Corporation will be undertaking a long overdue development project on the Crown Lands. Minister for Infrastructure, Ports Energy Labor and Parliamentary Representative for Castries North on Rebel Stevenson King made the announcement Wednesday during the final sitting of Parliament for the year. Government has been able to identify lands within the Castries North constituency and those lands will be made available to those who are still in need to be able to reconstruct their home based on the assistance given to them and to move in comfortable surroundings that I am sure they very much will be happy. Out of the 41 households who occupied the estate and an additional 15 or so who occupied the lands, there are about 12 who have requested assistance and they will be given first choice to occupy those lands a plot of some 6.7 acres which will be subdivided and made available to those persons on special terms and conditions as established by the Government. Meantime, Government's injection of 4 million US dollars for low-cost housing development has been lauded. Minister with Responsibility for Foreign Affairs and Castries Central MP Honourable Sara-Flat Bobra told the Parliament that for far too long low-income earners have been left behind in home ownership. We have to have a program where even persons who cannot face a bank, even persons who do not have collateral, even persons who do not have a guarantor should be able to access a minimum standard of housing. That is very tall order because you are talking about resources but it is time to have a program to find a creative way to reach the poorest of the poor and it is possible. We have some ideas in Castries Central which have already been discussed with the Minister of Housing. I am hoping we can do a pilot to do that and it is really important. Parliamentary Representative for Castries South Honourable Ernest Hillay welcomed the thrust of the Government. Because I would love to see a housing project for the persons of old cemetery. Fuashou, Mon Latok, Monkey Tong, Firehouse. They have so many areas Mr Speaker. I left out that a member of Castries North original area of residence. Mr Speaker, but we need to focus on it. This is a serious matter. I know the benefit of persons from lower income earning families getting to own a piece of land and a house. It can truly transform lives Mr Speaker. It can truly transform lives and I want to appeal Mr Speaker that we focus on that sector in our country and ensure that they too can get support and the provisions for them to own their own houses Mr Speaker. Government is to engage the private sector on the housing initiative. Prime Minister Hon. Alan Shastney has indicated that Government will make lands available for leasing, offer incentives as well as purchase up to 10% of building stock to turn over to low income earners in set packages. In more news out of the Parliament, Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, the Hon. Alan Shastney was authorized to guarantee a loan in the amount of US $100 million from the Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China, Taiwan. The St. Lucia Air and Seaports Authority for the purpose of financing the Hironora International Airport redevelopment project. The Prime Minister explained that St. Lucia stands to benefit significantly with the upgrade of the airport. If we don't build the airport, we can't get any new hotel rooms. If we don't build the airport, there's no possibility of getting the cruise ship hub in St. Lucia. So in essence, the airport itself had become a constraint to growth at a bottleneck. And so every day that goes by and that we're not, don't have a new airport terminal, we're losing opportunity cost. So even when the member from Labry was talking about a hub, we made it very clear in my first presentation. We believe that we can be a hub for Grenada, St. Vincent de Grenadines, Martinique and Dominique. The reason is because they don't have enough hotel rooms. We can create the volume. And the fact is that we're closer to those locations than Barbados. Prime Minister Shastney also highlighted that St. Lucia is poised to capitalise on the many advantages of its capacity and strategic location. Today, Vincentians clear their customs and emigration here in St. Lucia. So while they're waiting, we actually have their officers here. So when they arrive in St. Vincent, they're pre-cleared already. That's the relationship we have with those countries. And the fact is, is even though St. Vincent has an international airport, it is going to be years before that airport is going to be used to its full capacity. Because they don't have hotel rooms. So even the flight that's coming in on American Airlines is once a week. We now have two flights a week. We have daily flights year round from Atlanta, daily flights year round from Charlotte, daily flights year round from New York. We've now got two flights coming in out of Chicago and we're growing that number. We're up to five flights a week out of Toronto. We have 14 flights a week on BA and Virgin. So St. Lucia actually has critical mass and if we're now able to add more rooms, bring the cruise ships in, we believe that we can grow it even more significantly than we have. So there's no point reacting to it, it's to anticipate that potential. And Minister for Infrastructure, Ports, Energy and Labor, Hon. Stevenson King, emphasized the importance of the redevelopment of the Hironora International Airport. St. Lucia, he said, still holds the competitive edge and should move quickly to secure its position. Notwithstanding the fact that St. Vincent now has an international effort, we still have an advantage over St. Vincent because St. Vincent doesn't have the room capacity to be able to attract the number of aircraft into St. Vincent because there's just a few hotels there. So we still have that advantage. But they also can have an advantage on us. On the other hand, if they decide to go and hub at all, they're able to pretend the necessary facilities, the proper facilities, and to be able to do hubbing throughout the region, with Liat being the regional carrier and St. Vincent being one of the shareholders. So we cannot allow this opportunity to happen, to go away. Minister King, indicating that a number of countries such as Barbados and Antigua have taken the lead to redevelop their airports. St. Lucia, he argued, must not be left behind as the south of the island stands to gain a great deal with the execution of the project. Hundreds of St. Lucia's gathered at the Derrick-Walkard Square for the traditional Festival of Lights celebration, assuring in the Christmas holiday season and a national day. The Festival of Lights, the last of the December Festival's three-part series, officially opened the Christmas season. Hundreds were treated to a variety of food, a wide display of artistic creativity, and thousands of lights. The festival this year was held under the theme, Les Mersetlesies, Hope for a Better Tomorrow. Mayor of Castries, his worship mayor, Peterson Francis, encouraged individuals to grasp the opportunity to reflect on their lives as they enter the new year. For the beginning of this Festival of Lights guides our character, personality and dreams into the first full season, the new year and beyond. Because you are taught with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which has been corrupted by the stifled desires to be made new in the attitude of your minds, and to put a new self, created to be like God in true rightlessness and holiness. Ladies and gentlemen, make use of this opportunity, not just to celebrate tonight, but to be made new in the attitude of your minds. Minister with responsibility for culture and creative industries, Fortuna Belle Rose expressed her satisfaction with the lanterns showcased at this year's Festival of Lights. The lantern festival gives you the artists and those aspiring to become artists the opportunity to be innovative with your lanterns. Your creative pieces also help keep the traditions alive, as well as showcase who we are and what life is about. And you saw that in some of the lanterns that came through here this evening. So we must continue to thank those creative people who work with our youngsters to get them to be thinking in that creative realm consistently. And so we thank the CDF for the work that they have done in that regard. Kirk Peter emerged as the winner of the Most Outstanding Senior Lantern Award, while Ethan and Shana of the Grizzly Secondary School captured the award for the Most Outstanding Junior Lantern. Chairperson of the Independence Committee, Honourable Jeanine Girodi McIntyre, stated that the signature event has also officially launched St. Lucia's 40th anniversary celebrations. 2019 will be a year of praise and thanksgiving, a year of taking pride in our nation's many achievements, a year of remembering our journey since that faithful day in February 1979. It will be a year of tribute to our heroes, excitement, festivities, and a year of introspection, reflection, discussion about the development of our nation and our people. With this in mind, I will tell you the theme. We have chosen the theme all in our journey, our future. The festival ended with a spectacular display of fireworks. From the Government Information Service, I am Manicia Antoine reporting. This is Nation Beat. When we come back, the St Lucia Fire Service welcomes a new batch of officers. Everyone is at risk forgetting a foodborne illness. While most foodborne illness cases are mild and go unreported, long-term health complications and even deaths can occur from a foodborne illness. Foodborne illnesses are caused by contamination of food at any stage of preparation. If you are a food handler involved in home-based food production, meat, fish, chicken or a big shop, as a food vendor, how you prepare food can put your customers at risk. Do you know the risks and how to avoid them? The St Lucia Bureau of Standards can help you. For more information, contact the St Lucia Bureau of Standards at 456-0546 or email SLBS at candw.lc or visit the website at www.slbs.org.lc St Lucia Bureau of Standards, making quality and standards our way of life. Welcome back. The St Lucia Fire Service has received 45 new staff members. As we hear in this report for the first time, the recruits are coming in fully trained as emergency medical technicians. Forty-five young persons on 22nd July 2018 embarked on a journey to become firefighters in St Lucia. They had beaten a field of 330 other applicants and passed through a very thorough application process that included medical examinations, physical tests, background checks and an interview to be considered ready to train as firefighters. The training duration was 14 weeks of firefighting training and an additional six weeks of EMT emergency medical technician training to make one of our longest programs today. This training took the form of recruits waking up every morning from 5 a.m. to Saturday with physical training followed by theoretical and practical sessions which included squad drills during the day and with night sessions as well to ensure that the training was voidsome and complete. The recruits were also introduced to some new training areas such as swift water operational training, sign language, hot-fire drills, as well as the traditional holes, ladder and squad drills, vehicle extrication and search and rescue. During the course of your career, you are likely to encounter tremendous challenges and uncertainties. Some of these may be life-threatening and in unfortunate circumstances, life-ending. Such is the nature of the profession. However, we rest assured that you can prepare yourself to better handle these trials by continuously seeking knowledge and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Professionalism and empathy in the dissemination of their duties was drilled into the batch of recruits. For the first time in recent years, recruits graduated as fully qualified emergency medical technicians. Fire and emergency services are becoming more urgent. The public is more demanding. Modern firefighting is becoming more and more complex. The job is a stressful one. This job is a very jealous mistress. And for you young people, you may find yourselves that you have to ensure that your boyfriends, your girlfriends, your wives and husbands understand the nature of your job. You may not always be available for those romantic dates and parties because work comes first. This year's graduation was held under the theme through our sacrifices great accomplishments are realized. From the Government Information Service, Lisa Joseph reporting. Lisa has gone out for you to nominate fellow St. Lucia's who deserve to be honored for service to community and country. The National Awards will on the 22nd of February 2019 commemorate St. Lucia's 40th independence. The Order of St. Lucia provides for the grant of awards to citizens and other persons who have made contributions of significance to St. Lucia. With nominations for the Order of St. Lucia being currently accepted, the National Awards Committee found it fitting to provide information and details of the process for nomination. Senator Mauricia Thomas-Francis is the chairperson of the National Awards Committee. In that regard, I'd like to state that nomination forms are on the Government website. Madam Secretary in a while will give the details of that website and walk people through how to get to that. We also have forms at the various social organizations, Country Club, Lions Club, Kiwanis, at the banks, at the credit unions. We have nomination forms also at the town and village councils, Government offices and what have you. So anyone can access a form and as well they can access a form from the Prime Minister's office through our Secretary. So they can access the forms and the forms are very easy to navigate. The form provides information on the various categories of awards. So one has to be cognizant of that to select for the right category of award. And also it requires that one provides a sort of a CV or background on the person who has been nominated. Senator Francis stated that a good nomination is not based on the duties that individuals were paid to do, but should capture what an individual did beyond their line of duty to create value selflessly. We have a number of young persons who have actually excelled in the field of sports, in the field of business and what have you. Some of them have received accolades, but we would like also for citizens to use this media to sort of nominate some of our young people such that they can continue to inspire and be inspired to continue to do better and do well. Forms should be neatly filled out and signed so that nominations will be legible. The deadline for National Awards nominations have been extended to the 4th of January 2019. From the Government Information Service, I am Anisia Andruan reporting. The Environmental Health Division in the Department of Health and Wellness is reminding butchers and livestock farmers of the arrangements regarding the inspection of locally slaughtered animals during the Christmas season. The Environmental Health Division is urging the general public to be vigilant of the set procedures put in place to ensure the delivery of safe local meats to consumers. Inspections by the Environmental Health Division and the Department of Agriculture will be carried out to ensure safe, slaughtering standards are met. Environmental Health Officer Euni Piers says it is necessary that all persons desirous of slaughtering animals during the Christmas season visit the offices concerning the requirements for slaughtering. We have offices in Badoache, Souffre and Ufort. They need to come in early to be able to register with us because there is a process that they need to follow. This process entails that they get health certificate as well for them and they help us. The reason they need to come in advance is that they need to have adequate time to ensure they need to also visit the police. Upon registering with us, they need to make a declaration of the police because the police are the ones who actually give a poachers license. So if they purchase the animal, they will have to bring that receipt to make that declaration of the various stations where they are located. From there, the animal will also have to get an anti-mortem inspection. Piers says it is necessary that the veterinary division in the Department of Agriculture conduct an anti-mortem inspection as to examine the animal before slaughter. They are required to have the animal on site 24 hours before slaughter date. The reason for that is that that animal, as I indicated earlier, must have an anti-mortem inspection and that anti-mortem inspection prior to slaughter. That inspection is important and once that animal has been deemed fit and can proceed to slaughter, the veterinary division will also issue a certificate. The environmental health officer also reminded consumers that a post-mortem inspection will be undertaken immediately after slaughter to determine if the meat is deemed safe for human consumption. They are also making a plea to the public not to purchase meats that have not been inspected because if they do so, they may be at risk of... because if that meat is not inspected, we don't know if it is diseased, if it is fit for human consumption. So they need to look out for the stamp. Once the meat has been inspected, it will be stamped by the inspecting officer in the absence of a stamp or should that part where the stamp is be chopped, they will also have a certificate of wholesomeness that the butcher would have in the custody. The Environmental Health Division encourages the public to visit the Bois de Wage, Souffre and Viewport offices for more information on the meat-slettering process. Reporting from the Communications Unit of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, I am Funa Neptune. That's Nation Beat, our final program for 2018. Join us in the new year as we continue to fill the pulse and heart of our community. Remember though, you can catch any of our episodes on the St. Lucia Government Facebook page or YouTube channel. I am Janelle Norville. Happy Holidays!