 Welcome to Nation Beat. I am Janelle Norville bringing you this brief on the pearls of our nation and highlights are at the heart of St. Lucia. $115 million is to be injected into the local economy with the commencement of the Millennium Highway and West Coast Rules Upgrading Project. The Government of St. Lucia commits to the implementation of a drug policy for schools and tracing the island's history through an independent eye. The island has turned a significant corner in development with the official signing of a consultancy agreement and contract for the designs of the Millennium Highway and West Coast Rules Upgrading Project. The Department of Infrastructure is overseeing the implementation with FDL Consult Inc. as the executing firm. The works are being done with grant funding from the Caribbean Development Bank, United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Partnership Fund. This will result in an injection of approximately $115 million into the economy. The intervention serves as an enhancement of the Government of St. Lucia's capacity in developing a technically viable solution to upgrade the Millennium Highway and West Coast Road corridor. The upgraded corridor should then be able to contribute to improved road safety, support economic development, generate positive social impacts, and strengthen resilience to climate change and extreme weather events. Prime Minister for St. Lucia the Honourable Alan Chastney explained the significance of the project. It's the taxi drivers who are immediately making the benefit of that road. Then along the way now you're seeing the growth of more and more vendors looking to sell their artifacts on the side of the road. And I know that part of this is to improve the quality of the labis and to provide the facilities to support that kind of entrepreneurship. The other one is the typical stuff. So containers arrive in St. Lucia, up in Port Castris to be able to bring the containers to the community and hence the ray in Canaries and in Souffre. That is the road that they're going to use. So in making improvements, hopefully we can start seeing the cost of bringing that stuff down to those communities is going to improve. But here's the one I think that people don't see. Is that as the economy continues to grow and my government's intention to cause a diversification to the rural areas is people now with a better road are now encouraged to be able to live in communities that are typically seen as further away. So for a person who is residing in Rodney Bay, it would not take much encouragement for me to move south of Castries rather than north of Castries given the traffic. And certainly if I had the opportunity of living in a smaller community but still coming to the city for my job, that happens. The project will deliver complete rehabilitation of the Millennium Highway reconstruction of the West Coast roads from Colisec all the way to Souffre designed for construction of the new Ancelary Bridge and a robust island-wide road safety program. Chief Engineer in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Albert Jabatis provided insight into the project highlighting its intended purpose. The greening of the corridor will lead to better access to services and economic opportunities for the communities of Ancelary, Canaries and Souffre. This will yield important social and gender benefits, example time savings and employment in the agricultural and tourism sectors. A consulting firm with expertise in road engineering, traffic management, hydrology, geotechnical, climate change, risk and vulnerability assessment, disaster risk management, environmental and social impact assessments has been contracted to prepare the feasibility study, carry out detailed designs and prepare tender documents. Government, through an international competitive building process undertaken through the Central Tenders Board, awarded a contract to FDL Consult Inc. St. Lucia in association with IMC Worldwide, United Kingdom, to undertake the feasibility study and designs for the road upgrade. Minister for Infrastructure, Stevenson King expressed the Ministry's commitment to ensuring the country's infrastructure is resilient and seconded to none. Now, more than ever before, St. Lucia can see and feel the work being done to build a strong and better nation. The Ministry of Infrastructure at this time demonstrates that not only can we do what is necessary to build and to maintain our infrastructure, but to build better and to reinstate the confidence that the people once had in successive governments. Through the grant funding, a total of £979,605 sterling was approved by the Caribbean Development Bank, United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Partnership Fund. Efforts to develop and implement a drug policy for schools will be undertaken in keeping with recommendations made at a recent regional conference hosted here by the Caricum Secretariat. Health and family life education coordinators and stakeholders from across the Caribbean Forum, Cary Forum, met recently to review the draft model school drug policy. Participants were granted the opportunity to establish guidelines aimed at addressing substance use and related issues in schools. Deputy Coordinator of the Substance Abuse Unit in the Department of Health and Wellness, Joanna Joseph says, such an initiative is important as it will assist with prevention and elimination of substance use in schools. Very important policy when we look at our social climate and what's happening in our schools and what's happening in our societies. We think that it is very, very opportune that we come together as a Caribbean, as a Caricum organisation to develop this school policy. It's something that can be modelled for all of us in the Caribbean, but can be adjusted to suit the needs of various islands and education system as needed. Coordinator for Health and Human Development at Caricum Secretariat Beverly Reynolds says, it is necessary that guidelines are established as to promote a safe and substance free environment to support student learning. It's important to set a framework within which persons within schools can work. So we say a school drug policy because we think that at the centre of a lot of what is happening are the challenges that young people are facing as it relates to push and pull factors, pressures to use drugs. And there have been links showing drug use with other antisocial or undesirable behaviours including acts of violence on school compounds. It is expected that the draft a model school drug policy will guide member states in the formulation of the national policies where necessary. Reporting from the Communications Unit of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, I am Fennel Neptune. The modernisation of St Lucia's education system continues with the support of a technical mission from the Republic of China, Taiwan. Alicia Ali reports. Stakeholders from a cross-section of St Lucia's society met at the Union Orchid Gardens on Monday to discuss the SMART Education Project. Curriculum specialist for technology integration, Jermaine Anthony, said several factors need to align before the project can be realised. This, he said, includes training teachers and school leaders, assigning human resources, sourcing software applications and acquiring the necessary infrastructure. SMART Education is really a subset of the SMART Nation project which was conceived by the Ministry of the Public Service in the first instance. It is also aligned with what we're trying to do in the Ministry of Education with respect to our ICE Dean Education Policy. And it really is conceived as a project that would bring together the Republic of China and Taiwan with the Government of St Lucia through the Ministry of Education to deliver on some of the very important resources that are required for us to be able to integrate technology in schools. Head of the Taiwanese technical mission to St Lucia, Mario Chen, said it is important for stakeholders to have an input into the project. The reason is we try to presentation, share our Taiwan SMART Education program to let our St Lucia stakeholders know what is we going to cooperation with you. And then we also like to hear about the local feedback, so after that we will decide the better project for the St Lucia. Professor Huang facilitated the meeting, bringing his expertise in using smartphones for learning. Smartphone is very popular in education. If mobile phone and education combined will help students learning good and a lot of motivation will inspire. So it's a good tool to help students learning and it's also good for teacher. The Republic of China, Taiwan is one of the most strategic partners in technology integration in St Lucia. From the Communications Unit in the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development, I am Alicia Ali reporting. This is Nation Beat, coming up tracing the island's history through an independent eye. With just one click, the internet connects people, businesses and nations. Being connected can open a world of information and opportunities. You can get services and products of your choice much faster. From electronic financial transactions to connecting with family and friends. From being up to date with the latest news and information to learning new skills and acquiring academic qualifications. All from the convenience of your home or wherever you roam. Get connected today. This message is brought to you as a public service announcement by Ectel, the NTRC and this station. St Lucia is one month away from celebrating a major milestone, 40 years of independence. An exhibition tracing the journey to independence as well as the achievements of the people has opened at the headquarters of the St Lucia National Archives Authority. In commemoration of National Archives Month, the National Archives Authority launched the St Lucia's independence 40 years on exhibition. The exhibition is a visual documentary on St Lucia as an independent state from 1979 to the present. The National Archives endeavored to structure the exhibition around four decades, the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. Margot Thomas, National Archivist, stated that the purpose of the exhibition is to reflect on the legacy being left for the future generations. We cast the spotlight on events encompassing political, economic and social developments which were further subdivided into education, infrastructure, religion, health, business, housing, sports and music. However, we must note that we began by looking at pre-independence associated statehood and the unrest that was formatted by certain politicians as Sir John sought a day for independence. Thomas explained that the exhibition shed light on many historical moments of the country including the opening of the National Commercial Bank in 1981, the visit of Pope John Paul II and the visit of Nelson Mandela. Dame Paulette-Louise Cheperson of the Nobel Laureate Committee encouraged students to make decisions which will positively impact the generations to come. Let us run the race not only for the prize, let us not be in this spirit of independence now and patriotism for what we think we're going to get out of it, a recognition, an honour. Let us not do it for the prize, but just as those who have gone before us, let us leave to those behind us the heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives. The launch took place at the St. Lucia National Archives Authority in Vigicastre. From the Government Information Service, I am Anisia Antoine reporting. I am Janelle Norville.