 Welcome to NTN Nightly, I am Genelle Norville. This edition, Stop Stories. The Talvern Housing Development makes it possible for low-income earners to own property. St Lucia is gearing up to welcome the reopening of the cruise tourism sector and the Union Roundabout Construction Project to begin in a matter of days. The Government of St Lucia remains committed to fulfilling its mandate to improve the standard of living for all St Lucians. One means through which this is being realized is ensuring that all St Lucians are afforded the opportunity to own a piece of land in their home country. In that regard, a number of housing developments have commenced island-wide, the most recent being the Talvern Housing Development. Officials of the National Housing Cooperation, NHC, have informed that the Talvern Housing Development will aid in remedying unplanned development in the area and increase land ownership. Phase 1 of the project consists of 49 lots, totaling 280,373 sq ft and Phase 2 consists of 39 lots, totaling 146,860 sq ft of land. Former Chairman of the National Housing Cooperation Timothy Mangal provided some insights into Phase 3 of the development. Talvern Phase 3 is a total of 899,108 sq ft of saleable lands into 132 residential lots. And those lots, of course, range from 14,000 sq ft in the largest to 5,000 sq ft as the smallest lot. There are also two commercial properties on this site, one for a community center. There's one institutional lot, two open spaces as required by the Development Control Authority, one lot for a water tank, a WASCO water tank. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this development will have its own water reservoir right at the top there and it will be propelled by gravity to the entire development and to this neighborhood. This development was approved by the Development Control Authority in February of 2020. And certainly you could see the standard that has, as you drove there, you could see the quality of the infrastructure so far. Representative for Fresh Start Construction Company Limited, Peter Feliciae, explaining the company's role in the project called for increased partnership with relevant agencies. We are committed to give our St. Lucian people a piece of St. Lucia. And the model that we have is that we go in and we do all the designs, we get the approvals, we go in, we put in infrastructure and we get all the approvals and we get paid after the saleable lands. So, we are hoping that more significant partners can come in. If you notice, Mr. Bolani said I've not even mentioned the partnership with the banks because they're not present as yet. I'm still hopeful that the banks will come in and be able to partner in ventures like this. Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Natural Resources and Cooperatives and Parliamentary Representative for Babuno, Honourable Ezekiel Joseph explained the options for individuals seeking to purchase land. The agreement is that those of us who want to go into a lease arrangement, and let me explain that. You don't have to go to Mr. Bolan at the bank. You can go directly to National House and say look, every month I'm going to give you $200. I'm occupying 5,000 square feet. The total is $45,000. Every month I'm going to give you $200. That is what we call a lease purchase arrangement. Which means you don't go to a bank, but you render land and at the end of the five, six years, National Housing Authority would give you a dealer sale. Or you can go to Mr. Bolan and get a loan from Semi-Share Development Bank and the land will be sold to you at $6.00 a square foot. So that's the option you have. Of course, I'm still negotiating to see how we can bring it lower. Minister for Economic Development, Housing, Urban Renewal, Transport and Civil Aviation Honourable Guy Joseph promised the residents of Talvan nothing short of the best. This is a proud development for us. It is one that is going to be up to the highest standards of development. Some people, some people think that some places are too rural to give them the best. But this government has a completely different perception. For me, St. Lucia is too small to have anywhere as rural. They don't have countryside. Anywhere you live in St. Lucia, you ought to have access to the same facilities that everybody else who live in what they call the more prestigious places in St. Lucia. You entitled to it, and the people of Talvan and Babonu, we will give you nothing short of a world-class housing development in Talvan. Managing Director of the St. Lucia Development Bank, Vincent Boland highlighted the bank's role and the importance of such ventures. We at the Development Bank, we have had an audacious goal in that we want to be able to partner with the government and national housing to be able to develop not only Talvan but to develop the sites that were identified around the entire island so that it will give persons one opportunities to have work in the actual development and it will give persons access to that wealth creation. So it will be not just affording opportunities for all, which is one of our slogans, but it will be providing and creating wealth, transferring wealth to St. Lucia. The National Housing Corporation is expected to commence work on Phase 4 of the project in short order. From the Government Information Service, I am Janelle Norville. St. Lucia is gearing up to welcome its first international cruise ship in July since the halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ministries of health and wellness and tourism and by extension the Government of St. Lucia are actively engaging in discussions with cruise industry officials on the safe return of the cruise sector to St. Lucia. Chief medical officer Dr Sharon Belmar George explained that a model similar to that used in the tourism sector is being considered. And the model we are looking at is quite similar to that used by the tourism sector where it will be a bubble. Quite different to what is regularly seen with the cruise sector being able to freely roam so they would be allowed to go to approved sites and attractions. In relation to point seraphine, as far as the discussion has been, is that point seraphine being the ships both there, that they would be a part of the sites and attraction. The difference would be is that on the days when the cruise ships come in, locals would not be allowed to access the shops on that day. So this is a discussion that is happening and the Ministry of Tourism is liaising the various sectors to ensure that all of the necessary protocols are put in place. Chief medical officer Dr Sharon Belmar George. Amid July itinerary is the first to list the island as a port of call for the Royal Caribbean cruise line. Prime Minister the Honourable Alan Sharsney says protocols have been determined for the sub-sector. This includes mandatory vaccinations, pre-arrival COVID-19 testing and limited short excursion to options. All passengers disembarking the ship onto the island will be required to wear a face mask, adhere to physical distancing and regular sanitizing. Honourable Sharsney says talks however continue to address grey areas of the cruise sector resumption. What we're looking at is that everybody who would be on the ship would be vaccinated, both the crew as well as the guests. The complicated matter is that persons under the age of 18 and certainly persons under the age of 10 are probably not going to be vaccinated. What are the protocols we're going to put in place and that's what we're working through right now for those specific persons. An itinerary of four destinations in the region will harmonize the protocols and work in tandem to fit each government's COVID-19 response requirements. These include ensuring the isolation of any crew or passengers that contract COVID-19 during the cruise. In the case of St. Lucia, we have been coexisting with COVID. We've created a bubble for our tourism industry and that bubble has continued to grow, meaning that in addition to having access to the hotel, that the tourists are now having access to certain tours. And so the persons who are providing those tours have actually been practicing the necessary protocols and are being properly observed on a regular basis to make sure that we're not spreading any disease locally. So that's really fortunate for the cruise industry because it means they can benefit automatically from that experience, particularly if all the persons who are going on the tours have been vaccinated. We believe we have a great product and now each one of the countries are doing similarly to St. Lucia in working out what their protocols are going to be. St. Lucia has established a special tourism committee to provide oversight over the resumption of the cruise tourism, which includes the ministries of tourism, health and wellness and the St. Lucia Air and Seaports Authority. The protocols will continue to be examined and updated where necessary as the July restart date draws a nearer. In the last week, there were over 1.2 million new COVID-19 cases and 31,000 deaths reported in the Americas. The Pan-American Health Organization, PAHO, says while the numbers are still jarring, COVID-19 infections have dropped throughout the region in the last month, offering some reprieve to the stressed health systems. But three out of the five countries in the world with the highest numbers of new infections are in the Americas. And many Caribbean islands like the Bahamas, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago are seeing COVID-19 deaths doubled in the last week. Dr. Caricia Etienne is the director of PAHO. Canada has registered a tripling of cases in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and its northwest territories as hospitalizations across the country are on the rise. Costa Rica, Panama and parts of Honduras are reporting sharp rises in new infections. Infections are also on the rise in Bolivia and French Gaia. In Brazil, we see a pause in the decreasing trends that were observed during the previous weeks. And despite overall reductions in most South American countries, some hot spots in Argentina and Uruguay saw a doubling of cases and deaths in the last week. ICU occupancy rates remain at 90% in many areas of Brazil and Colombia, a sign that these communities are still at a high risk of not getting the care that they need. Dr. Etienne says the most dramatic change has been in the US where almost half of the population has received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose and nearly 85% of those over the age of 85 are fully protected. This widespread coverage has led to a sharp reduction in US COVID-19 infections, deaths and hospitalizations. This, she says, is clear evidence that vaccination works. The PAHO director is urging all citizens in the Caribbean to get vaccinated. The progress that we're seeing in the US is a testament to the power of safe and effective COVID vaccines. But it underscores the vital importance of accelerating access to vaccines throughout our region so that other countries can fully immunize their own populations. With the help of COVAX, PAHO has delivered more than 12 million COVID vaccine doses to the Americas. With another 770,000 doses, our route to countries in Central America and the Caribbean. Over 400 million COVID doses have been administered in our region, although the lion's share of those have been in the US. Indeed, just 3% of Latin Americans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. And we still have a long way to go to ensure that everyone is protected. PAHO director Dr. Carissa Etienne. Back here at home, the Rotary Club of St. Lucia is lending its resources to the national fight against COVID-19. Hermadi Mark tells us how. The Rotary Club of St. Lucia has joined vaccination efforts through a collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Wellness. The club contributed the Rotary Bus, a youth mobile clinic, to be used as a vaccination mobile clinic for COVID-19. Selma Sennpreet, the vice president of the Rotary Club of St. Lucia says she understands the importance of vaccination to restoring some normalcy during the pandemic. With the pandemic that we have now, we find over the whole globe, and even in St. Lucia, the numbers of deaths for the pandemic are too high. And we need you to believe that a number of us have taken the vaccine, both vaccines, and we're doing just great, just fine. Check with your doctors, check with your clinics, they will tell you, they will give you the information. Go online and choose the right information. Get vaccinated. The bus will serve persons of various demographics. It will be utilized on weekends along with pop-up clinics in heavily trafficked areas such as markets and malls. The goal is to make vaccines more accessible to the population and provide the opportunity for individuals with busy schedules to get the first and second doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. On Friday, May 21, 2021, the mobile clinic will be at the V4 Plaza from 9am to 5pm, and at the Soufres Square on Saturday, May 22, 2021, from 9am to 3pm. The Ministry of Health and Wellness expressed gratitude to the Rotary Club of St. Lucia and the other entities contributing to vaccination efforts in St. Lucia. From the Government Information Service, Homa de Marques reporting. This is Ntien Ngai Ly. Stay with us. Thank you. Welcome back. The National Day of Prayer and Fasting declared by the Cabinet of Ministers is garnering tremendous support from the religious community. The observance is scheduled for Monday, May 24, 2021, and all St. Lucia's at home and abroad are asked to come together in reflection and prayer following the unprecedented year the country has been through due to COVID-19. Apostle Yvonne Alexander is calling on religious groups of all faiths as well as all political parties to join in the National Day of Prayer and Fasting that the Government has declared. She highlights the significance of spiritual solidarity for the nation. God is able to protect us from the hurricanes, protect us from volcanic eruptions, protect us from earthquakes devastating our nation. And I tell you, I really would like to see the churches forget about your beliefs. We are thinking about the nation. We are thinking about we coming together that day to pray, to see God. I really appreciate the fact that our Prime Minister as the governing body for the nation, God has placed in there, see the significance of calling the nation at this time to prayer. I believe this is so significant. And if all of us come together in such a time to just adhere to the call of the leader of this nation, I believe great things can happen. She is calling on groups to get organized for the National Day of Prayer and Fasting and to suspend any reservations based on religious and political affiliation. It is a call that we never heard before, that the leader of the nation is calling. Regardless of, let me tell you, I heard that thing of church in red and yellow. Let me tell you, it just hurts me to the core. This is not the time for red and yellow. This is the time for church and state to come together for that call of God. God is the one who called for that prayer. He knows what we are going through and He knows what is coming, so He does not want us to suffer loss. So I'm calling, I'm really encouraging, pleading with leaders, spiritual leaders, mobilize your church. I just encourage you to come together to pray, not for the Prime Minister, not for any party, but for our nation and our next generation. Monday's observance will be guided by a live NTN broadcast featuring church services, gospel performances, prayer, spoken word and testimonies. The Ministry of Infrastructure, Port Energy and Labor has announced commencement of the Union Roundabout Construction Project on Tuesday, May 25, 2021. This project will help improve the flow of traffic by limiting congestion while enhancing road safety for drivers and pedestrians. Construction of the Roundabout will be executed in three main phases to minimize disruption to commuters, businesses and emergency services. Phase 1 includes road widening, demolition and re-establishment of fencing and construction of sidewalks. Drivers and all road users are encouraged to proceed with caution and follow the traffic signs, safety cones and instruction from project personnel when traversing through the project site. The contractor's Skelly Construction Services Limited is tasked to complete the project in three months, weather permitting. Caricum Foreign Ministers have been urged to maximize the weight of their collective voices in international fora. Heads to San King English Francis of Caricum News Time. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bellies, the Honorable Amon Courtney, has underscored the importance of common ground in Caricum's foreign policy coordination to maximize the weight of the collective voices of the community and to avoid division. Minister Courtney assumed the chair of the Caricum Council for Foreign and Community Relations when it met for its 24th meeting on the 6th of May. The meeting discussed a range of issues on the region's foreign policy agenda and the new and emerging challenges posed by migration. In his remarks at the opening, Minister Courtney stressed the need for the community to continue to advocate for developed countries to respond positively to its call for fair, equitable and timely access to vaccines. Caricum must also continue to impress upon its international development partners and international financial institutions. The need for an enlightened approach for accessing concessional financing and debt relief. Minister Courtney also noted that the region must take pride in its coordination and cooperation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. That report by Caricum News Times to San King, English Francis. That brings us to the end of NTN Nightly. Join us next time at 7 p.m. with a repeat at 7 p.m. You can also catch up with us anytime on the St. Lucia Government Facebook page or YouTube channel. I am Channel Norvel.