 Welcome to the NTN Nightly, I'm Nisha Charles. This edition stops stories. Saint Lucia inches closer to reducing its debt-to-GDP ratio, citizen safety gets a boost in 2020, and a healthier environment for students and staff at the PI Combined School. Saint Lucia is on course to reducing its debt-to-GDP ratio. This was revealed by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank recently as they engaged media personnel offering some insight into the economic landscape of the Eastern Caribbean Central Union, the ECCU, as well as a scorecard for Saint Lucia, highlighting its economic position and prospects. Economist Leon Bullin highlighted that the ECCB is working towards shared goals under this theme, transforming the ECCU together. So what's the shared vision of the ECCB? One strong ECC dollar. I would imagine that you all appreciate and value the strength of the ECC dollar, because without that we'd have price uncertainty, right? What you buy and store today would not be the same price when you go back tomorrow if we did not have a strong ECC dollar. So this is something that we place a lot of value on. Two, a strong diversified and resilient financial system, which is the cornerstone of our economy, coupled with, of course, a strong dollar policy. Three, sustainable public finances. And this is critical, because without that, our debt to GDP, we're likely to have runaway debt to GDP. And of course, when that happens, we all pay for it, right? Through our markets, through taxes. And so it's critical that we have sustainable public finances. For a single economic and financial space, right, we are much bigger than you realize. And if we are to grow, we have to leverage the fact that we're one, we're one economic union, right? And in order to grow to that 5% and above, we need to leverage the fact that we are eight islands and we can do a whole lot more if we work together than if we work individually. Five single-digit unemployment. Now, while this seems like a very lofty goal, because we know we have very high rates of unemployment in these countries, we believe that with consistent effort and application of, with consistent application of effort, we can actually get to single-digit employment, especially if we, if we undergo the digital transformation and other structural reforms that we've been talking about. Bullen explained that according to the world's economic outlook, global growth for 2019 was reassessed from 3.0% to 2.9%. However, it is expected to bounce back in 2020 with a 3.3% global projected growth barring any extenuating circumstances. He says this is good news for the ECCU, whose own growth fell in from 3.9% in 2018 to 3.2% in 2019. Debt to GDP ratio for the ECCU, however, tends to be on a downward trajectory from 68% in 2018 to 65.4% in 2019. Telenousha recorded a number of economic improvements in 2019 over 2018, including its capital adequacy ratio, which stood at 19.1% in 2018, and increased to 21.1% in 2019, while above the benchmark of 8%. We are intent on being the advisor of choice to our participating governments in the pursuit of fiscal and debt sustainability, and I'll give you some data towards that. So in respect of debt to GDP, I would have mentioned this earlier, Telenousha appears to be on course to attain the 60% debt to GDP target by 2030. We do understand that it will be ramping up some of its capital investments in 2020 and in 2021 with the Hewanoa International Airport redevelopment and expansion, the Millennium Roads, the West Coast Highway, St. Jude Hospital, and some other critical infrastructure. So we do anticipate a marginal bump-up in debt to GDP over the next year or two, but over the next 10 years, we do believe that St. Louisia is on track to get into that 60% debt to GDP by 2030. The government of St. Louisia is hitting the ground running in 2020, in tackling the issue of citizen safety. On Wednesday, government officials, along with the Royal St. Louisia Police Force, held its first community meeting for the year in Grosjele. They outlined their strategic plan moving forward to now novel reports. The police are the public and the public are the police is the principal being embraced by the Grosjele Police Subdivision and by extension the Royal St. Louisia Police Force, RSLPF, as it embarks on its policing my community forum. The division in collaboration with the office of the Prime Minister on Wednesday held a community forum in Grosjele where the RSLPF and members of cabinet sought to engage members of the public and inform them of upcoming developments. Prime Minister Vionable Alan Shasne while assuring that the government was doing all in its power to provide the RSLPF with the required tools indicated that the assistance of the public is paramount to fighting crime. But I can assure you that my government is doing everything that we can, and I'm not just saying that to say to you to comfort you, but we're seeing the results. And I can tell you that I am so enthused and so proud of the police officers in this country who I think that go too often unappreciated and we're not understanding the weight that they're having to carry, we're not appreciating the sacrifices that they're making, doesn't mean that I'm not going to be tough on them, I am, but I want us as a society to work together because we cannot do it alone. But we are going to fix this problem. Cannot grow this economy without solving security. We believe as a government that every single solution regardless of where you live, the standard of security that you have should be the same. Minister for Equity, Social Justice, Local Government and Empowerments and Parliamentary Representative for Grosjele Hon. Landmontout explained that the government is discussing the construction of a new police station and court in Grosjele. He asserted, however, that despite the many interventions being made to combat crime, the community too has its part to play. If we can do so, become our brothers keepers, I think we would do ourselves a bit of justice. We would do the neighbors, a lot of justice, we would alleviate the pressure on the police and of course reduce criminal activity. Criminal activity goes a long way in terms of your well-being, the quality of life that you experience and of course, let us not forget, it has a direct impact on our economy. Our economy in particular being a service-driven economy where tourism is the mainstay of our economy and while the commissioners indicated that we are not putting measures in place specifically or solely for tourists, we first and foremost have to see about our security and safety but at the same time, if we are to welcome people to our shores, we have to ensure that they feel safe when they are here. Grosjele Police Sub-Division Commander, Acting Assistant Superintendent of Police Elvis Thomas indicated that the division welcomes the recommendations made by the public and has since implemented some of them. These include increased operations, traffic checks, food and mobile patrols, appointment of press relations officers for Rodney Bay and Grosjele Police stations and the addition of more experienced police officers at the stations. Changes have been made to the front desk at the Grosjele Police station in terms of improvements to our customer service. All staff members have been spoken to about the need for better customer service. Discussions are ongoing with the Senusia Hospitality and Tourism Association regarding customer training for all staff. Discussions are also ongoing with SLHTA for the nation of bicycles to establish a bicycle patrol unit for the North and I know Mr. Daisy is smiling. Efforts have been made for us to improve on our response time. We have had a number of successful operations and traffic checks which led to the recovery of firearms, seizure of dangerous drugs and weapons, issuing of several traffic tickets and arrests of known criminal elements. The Royals and Lucia Police Force and the Government of St Lucia is strategically working towards better crime prevention, detection and improved police service delivery. The strategy encompasses four main initiatives including increased police presence, expanding CCTV surveillance, strengthening community policing and revitalizing the RSLPF. Acting Police Commissioner Milton Daisy said community policing is very effective in fighting crime. The community policing model, it is not just going to the community, speaking to persons that is part of it. But it is where the community and the police you are committed to the fight against crime and the community coming together to say just as the police are saying, let us stump out these crime issues. Now what we have also realized is that where persons from the community is more engaged in policing of their community, you see less crime being committed and that is what we want to see for Grosile. The series of meetings which began on the 7th of December 2019 with four stakeholder groups is seeking to improve the crime situation in the country with the assistance of the public. For the Government Information Service, I am Genelle Norville. Education officials have met to chart the way forward for the education sector this academic year. Minister for Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development, Honourable Dr Gail Rigabert addressed the gathering which included the Chief Education Officer, the Deputy CEO, District Education Officers and Primary and Secondary School Principals from both the private and public sectors. An area of focus was the Education Quality Improvement Program Equip which will be given focus this month. You will notice that the Equip project has a very strong emphasis on special education. Again, again, ensuring that our children who are differently abled, who have learning challenges or difficulties, that they are catered for, that they are facilitated and I want to embrace the notion that that should not be a culmination point but the ambition should always be that at some point some of them can be reintegrated into mainstream education. I know with respect to the infrastructure for special needs facilities, we have two that will be looked at very closely in this program. But more importantly, the training afforded to the facilitators, the caregivers and teachers in the sub-sector of special needs education. There was also an update on the SMART schools initiative. When we say SMART school, as I indicated at one of those consultations of the Nicole Secondary School, we mean pedagogically smart. We mean infrastructurally smart. We mean technologically smart. We also mean climate smart. We mean smart to the extent to which it caters for multiple intelligences and students with special needs and you'll also mean energy smart. So though the reference of SMART schools tends to have a very strong technology focus, I want for us to embrace a definition that spans the spectrum of not just infrastructure but operations, pedagogic content and quality of exchange and with the catering to the multiple talents and needs of our students. And that was the Minister for Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development, Honourable Dr. Gail Rigabert. And this is the NTN Nightly, we'll be back in a moment. The San Lucia Standard Mark is a mark of excellence. It can be applied to goods produced in San Lucia. The island's largest bottle and water companies carry the San Lucia Standard Mark, indicating that they meet the National Standard for Packaged Water, SLNS 29 2006. The Standard for Pre-Packaged Water specifies the requirements for the purity, treatment, bacteriological acceptability, packaging and libelin of all bottled water that is pre-packaged for sale and used as beverages or in foods. The Standard for Pre-Packaged Water should be used in conjunction with the Code of Hygiene Practice for the collecting, processing and marketing of packaged water, SLCP-4 2003. This message is brought to you by the Commonwealth Standards Network. Welcome back. The Department of Health and Wellness continues to monitor the alerts issued by the World Health Organization, the WHO, in relation to the new strain of coronavirus discovered in central China. The virus has been linked to respiratory tract infections in China, and according to the WHO, current evidence suggests that person-to-person transmission is limited. As of Wednesday, January 21, 2020, it has spread to at least four other countries, including the United States of America. Due to the novelty of this virus, the World Health Organization and other international partners continue to investigate and provide guidance to the international community. The Department of Health and Wellness also maintains communication with our regional partners and will continue to provide the public with information as it becomes available. In the interim, the public is asked to continue practicing the standard recommendations to prevent the spread of infection. These include regular hand washing with soap and water, or alcohol-based hand sanitizer where soap and water is not available, cover the mouth and nose with disposable tissues or clothing when coughing and sneezing, avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing, seek medical attention and share your travel history with your healthcare provider if you have symptoms suggestive of respiratory illness either during or after travel. A project which seeks to improve the environment for children and teachers at the PI Combined School is taking shape. With the help of the government of Japan through its grant assistance for grassroots human security project, the PI Combined School will seek to build a new toilet facility and lunch room as well as to renovate the staff room with a grant of $62,189. In the ceremony on January 16, the acting principal of the PI Combined School said the health and safety of the students and staff is paramount. This school structure was built in 1982. To date, no major rehabilitation works has been carried out on the students' toilets. For years, the staff, parents and students of this institution have lamented the conditions of the students' toilet facility. The conditions have deteriorated over the years and while small renovations have been undertaken by the Ministry of Education and the school itself, this has been inadequate. Students have faced the problems of non-functioning toilets, broken toilet tanks, leaking urinals, leaking sinks, flooding and bare concrete floors. Most of the doors to the toilet stalls are broken, leaving students with no privacy. We recognise that these conditions are hazards and threaten the safety of our students. One of the school's priority areas is to promote a healthy eating environment and reduce risk of infectious diseases. In keeping with this, a lunch area with lunch tables will be constructed under the project. Currently, our students have no appropriate eating area. They sit on the few lunch tables along the pavement, the ground and the mango trees and sometimes in the classrooms to have their snack or lunch. We are relieved by knowing that students will soon have a safe and sanitary space to enjoy their meals. Parliamentary representative for Shoselle Salterbus Honourable Bradley Felix is extremely grateful to government and people of Japan for the assistance. There was once upon a time when grant funds and funds for various aid packages were flowing into small islands like ours. But these days, such funds are shrinking. All countries are now looking inward. The taxpayers are asking the governments to be accountable for how monies are spent. So when we see the commitment from the government and the people of Japan towards what's happening in our community, we need to be extremely grateful and say thank you very much Ambassador. His Excellency Ambassador Tatsuro Hirayama from the Embassy of Japan says the project will allow for better access to quality education. In Japan, an increasingly ageing society has led to demographic changes that are making it more difficult to provide social services that we have offered in the past. At the same time, the number of schools has been decreasing in response to the decreasing number of children. Despite these changes, everybody supports the principles of the universal education for all and free education. It is only natural that all parents want their children to receive a quality education. We all have to ensure that we provide enabling environments for education throughout the society. What we're going to sign today is a joint effort and a collaboration to facilitate a better education environment for this community. The Grand Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Project seeks to provide financial assistance to non-profit development-oriented organizations to implement community development projects which directly benefit people at a grassroots level. And this is the NTN9CLE, we'll be right back. The effective management of the marine resources depends heavily on compliance. To ensure that these resources continue to thrive and provide the best local seafood, fishers, vendors and consumers must be aware of the fishery seasons. Hair is the season chart for crayfish. Adhere to the schedule. Help maintain a thriving fishing industry for all of us. This has been a message from the Department of Fisheries. Welcome back and here's a look at what's happening to us weather-wise. Fair skies becoming cloudy at times with a few scattered showers. The Atlantic high pressure system will generate light to moderate easterly winds across the eastern Caribbean region over the next few days. Moisture and instability in the lower levels of the atmosphere will continue to cause a few showery periods over the eastern Caribbean islands during the next 24 hours. The tide for Castries Harbor was high at 2.40pm and will be low again at 9.31pm. The tide for V4 Bay was high at 3.47pm and will be low again at 10.58pm. The seas slide to moderate with waves and swells 3 to 6 feet or 0.9 to 1.8 meters. The sun will rise Friday at 6.32am. And that brings us to the end of the NTN9CLE. Join us next time at 7pm with a repeat at 7am. You can also catch up with us any time on the Seleucia Government Facebook page or YouTube channel. I'm Nisha Charles.