 Coming to you from RGIS Studios, I am Anisia Antoine and this is your media news brief. The curtains came down on St Lucia's Roots and Soul Festival on Sunday as patrons poured in the world over to soak in the final acts. The festival culminated on a high note with a fantastic performance by showstopper UB40 featuring Ali Campbell and Astro. Events company of St Lucia Inc's public relations officer Miniva Ross deemed the event a success. According to Ross, a new marketing strategy was employed at this time around where immense focus was placed on reaching out to the local and original markets. She noted that other marketing strategies championed by the St Lucia tourism authority contributed significantly to the large turnout. The St Lucia Roots and Soul Festival culminated at Pigeon Island on Sunday 25th August. Following high level discussions with government and tourism officials, premium carrier British Airways on Thursday August 22nd broke news of the introduction of two additional direct flights per week to St Lucia. This comes as Virgin Atlantic Airways prepares to suspend services to the island June next year. Taking effect next summer, the no-tag flights will commence July 4th 2020 and will run through August 29th 2020. The flight offers three classes of service and will add an average of 600 additional seats weekly to facilitate travel to the island. Tourism Minister Nobel Dominic Fede says, together with the additional flights, several other marketing initiatives are being explored as a means of infusing added life into the British market. The additional flights will bring British Airways' scheduled direct service from London to St Lucia up from seven to nine flights weekly. Currently, St Lucia is being serviced by 14 BA flights that interconnect between London, Trinidad and Grenada. The island's health care system comes under pressure daily but at times of disaster, health services become more critical. A fact not lost on the government of St Lucia, Prime Minister Nobel Island Shastney on Monday highlighted the transformation that wellness centres or health centres have undergone over the past three years. Contingency measures are also in place for St Jude's Hospital and Victoria Hospital. Special consideration must also be made to protect our wildlife after the passage of hurricane or tropical storm if they become displaced. So says Chief Forestry Officer of the Ministry of Agriculture in an attempt to bring about an increased awareness of the vulnerability and possible danger our protected species may encounter after a natural disaster. This has been your media news brief. Thank you for watching.