 Welcome to NTR Nightly. I am Janelle Norville. This edition stops stories. Prime Minister the Honourable Alan Shastnery reaffirms government's commitment to the poor and vulnerable. The Department of Consumer Affairs sets up efforts against price gouging and the Ministry of Health stresses the importance of vaccination amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Castery City Council, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Equity have collaborated to ensure the safety of the most vulnerable in society during the COVID-19 pandemic. 67 individuals have been housed at the VG Multipurpose Complex where they continue to receive care. Prime Minister the Honourable Alan Shastnery on Monday 4th May visited the complex and spent time with the temporary residents. This is a really worthwhile endeavor and it's important that we get it right so that it would not only be for a crisis like a pandemic which hopefully will never happen again in our lifetime but you never know. But so even when we have hurricanes then the question becomes who is homeless? So this idea that persons have family members and they should have somewhere to go but if they're not going back to that family member's home and not staying there and staying on the streets they're homeless and you also then have persons who have a home but are so poor they can't afford to feed themselves. So should they be denied coming into a facility like this during this particular time? I don't think they should be. I think that this facility should be open to get as many of the more vulnerable people in our society particularly the ones that are struggling to help themselves to be able to come here. The Prime Minister explained that the government is currently in the process of developing a more accurate and extensive list of the most vulnerable in society to ensure that those who are most in need are reached through the National Meals Program. So the goal of the feeding program is to continue to provide hot meals for the handicapped or the disabled persons in our community who cannot feed themselves as well as the elderly people that cannot take care of themselves. But meanwhile we're going to put packages together to give to the families of the more vulnerable in our society in which they can cook for themselves. Now one of the options that was discussed, it also came up in Parliament, was the idea of giving a food voucher. But I would say to you that if we gave a food voucher to many people they would go to Massey or some other places and only buy foreign food. And so our farmers who have lost their market to the tourism sector here right now we want to make sure that we can link up with them. So the goal is to buy as much fresh produce from our farmers and distribute that to the more vulnerable. So it's a win-win situation. Prime Minister the Honourable Alan Chastney reaffirmed the government's commitment to assisting the poor and vulnerable. Government is fighting battles at all fronts during this war against COVID-19. One of those battles is the protection of consumers through price control. Marvin St. Louis reports. The Consumer Affairs Department through the Ministry of Commerce would like to assure consumers that the Department remains committed to monitoring the distribution and prices of control items. Malisha Williams-Davy, Information Officer at the Department explains. Suppliers of price control goods, these are goods such as sugar, rice, flour, cornmeal, cornflakes, oats, milk, the 3.5 ounce tuner, what we call the small tuner fish, the 7 ounce cornbeef, what we call the small cornbeef, all of these are a few price control items. We are appealing to suppliers of price control items to ensure that they adhere to the provisions of the Distribution and Price of Goods Act number 35 of 2006. Suppliers should ensure that prices of control goods are properly displayed. Goods are not sold above the approved prices and of course there should be no hoarding of price control goods. Suppliers of control items are reminded to comply with existing legislation. Importers of price control goods are also reminded that prior to the sale of any price control goods, they must submit a price calculation sheet along with all supporting documents to the Consumer Affairs Department for approval of prices. And the supporting documents include invoice or invoices, customs entry, bill of lading and any other document relating to the price control goods. Every business engaged in price control goods must keep their records of their invoices and these should be made readily available to officers of the Consumer Affairs Department during their monitoring exercises. Ms. William Davies says the government is also considering further measures to protect consumers. The government of St. Lucia is fully committed to protecting the interests of consumers and rising to the challenges posed by COVID-19. In addition to monitoring price control goods, price gouging legislation is being considered. The department is appealing to the business community to act responsibly, protect consumers from further harm and avoid price gouging. Consumer protection and consumer advocacy remains at the heart of consumer groups around the world. The Consumer Affairs Department or CAD like others continues to work on strategies to help bill of fare, safe, resilient and sustainable economy through consumer protection. Marvin St. Louis reporting from the Ministry of Commerce. The government of St. Lucia has continued its collaboration with the World Bank in the implementation of the Caribbean Digital Transformation Project. This project aims to deliver a dynamic, inclusive and safe digital economy. Glenn Simon has the details. COVID-19 has brought into sharp focus the need for government to continue its trust towards digital transformation by providing increased online services to citizens. Coordinated by the World Bank, stakeholders recently participated in a virtual appraisal mission for the Caribbean Digital Transformation Project. Director of the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council Fiona Hingson said the appraisal mission provided the opportunity for St. Lucia to incorporate activities into the project that will further support the island's recovery post COVID-19 while strengthening the digital infrastructure in country and at the regional level. We are now speaking about business continuity and our readiness or even willingness to adopt and incorporate technologies not only for business growth but to also foster resilience that will prepare us for any future shocks like we're going through right now or natural disasters. This is why this project, the Caribbean Digital Transformation Program, is so timely although project preparation began late last year that is pre-COVID. In 2019, the government of St. Lucia approved the implementation of the DigiGolf project which aims to deliver 164 government services via an online platform. Spearheading this project is the Director of Public Sector Modernization, Malinacis. He said the DigiGolf project has gained greater relevance with government having to shut down many of its revenue generating offices during this pandemic. Opportunities for e-learning and for citizens to interact with government online and vice versa have made the DigiGolf project all the more relevant during this COVID-19 pandemic. Part of our justification rather for our DigiGolf platform, looking at business continuity, we focus a lot on cyber security, on natural disasters but we did not anticipate this level of disruption within government's operation where a virus can literally turn the society upside down while the government does not generate revenue but at the same time government now has to provide services to the public, to the citizens and we think that with the DigiGolf platform we will be able to eventually continue operations of government in spite of these types of situations in the future. In response to COVID-19, NASA has indicated that the World Bank is in support of an initiative to strategize the implementation of a health surveillance system. He highlighted the three main components of this system which includes the integration of the health management system with the border management system the development of contact tracing applications and a tele-triaging functionality to support frontline staff, clinicians and doctors to respond to individuals who are either in quarantine or isolation. The digital transformation project has four main components the first being the digital enabling environment where we look at the legal framework for e-government also the telecommunications framework that would facilitate our broadband policies and strategies as well as how government would support open access to networks across St. Lucia. Secondly we're looking at the digital government infrastructure platforms and services which will focus on cutting edge enablers for digital government operations and services and again this is where we see this health system can be funded. Also looking at government productivity platforms and citizen-centric digital services again this component we see as supporting the DigiGolf project which is already in trade and thirdly we're looking also at digital skills where technology adoption and entrepreneurship will focus on building digital skills now for the future. The fourth component of the project focuses on project implementation, support, monitoring and evaluation. The project is expected to be approved in June 2020. Beneficiaries of the Caribbean digital transformation project include St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Dominica. For the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council, Glenn Simon reporting. The Caribbean Public Health Agency says vaccinations against seasonal influenza and measles are useful and available to prevent respiratory illness and vaccine preventable disease outbreaks during the COVID-19 pandemic. The advice comes as the agency spearheads the observance of vaccination week in the Americas. Heros Anisia Antoine with House St Lucia marked the observance. St Lucia joined the rest of the Caribbean and Latin America in celebrating the 18th vaccination week of the Americas from Saturday April 25th to May 2nd 2020 under the theme Love, Trust, Protect, Get Vaccinated. Vaccination week of the Americas is a time when countries the world over work collaboratively to raise awareness on the importance of immunization in healthcare service delivery. St Lucia's expanded immunization program has yielded numerous successes since its commencement in 1977. Program is executed at various wellness centers across the length and breadth of the island as well as private sector pediatricians. Tecla Jabati's Assistant Principal Nursing Officer and Immunization Manager at the Ministry of Health and Wellness expressed gratitude to all the stakeholders who have and continue to contribute to the successful implementation of the National Immunization Program. The government invests almost half a million dollars annually to ensure the continued implementation of the program. This investment underscores the appreciation for the program. The general public, particularly parents, for their confidence and trust in the program and ensuring that every child is covered with the required doses of vaccines and completing timely vaccine schedules. The primary health care nurses as well as the five private sector pediatricians who continue to be champions for vaccination and drive the program's agenda thus contributing significantly in reducing the burden of vaccine preventable diseases. The presence of COVID-19 in St Lucia has resulted in several adjustments to the Child Health Clinic schedules and as such has affected the immunization program. Effective Tuesday 14th April 2020, all Child Health Clinics were resumed. Therefore, parents are encouraged to continue accessing vaccines at their nearest wellness center and should call to make an appointment. We are aware that at present there is no vaccine for COVID-19 and that according to the experts, several clinical trials are underway and a vaccine could become available in the not too distant future. We are aware that the pandemic has the potential to significantly impact the routine immunization program. With the current burden of COVID-19 on the health care system and the social distancing requirements the reluctance of people to seek vaccines can potentially increase and can result in lower coverage thereby increasing our risk for re-emergence of diseases which have been eliminated in our population. Jabatis also encouraged all citizens and residents of St Lucia to take advantage of the influenza virus vaccines available as it is currently the flu season. From the Government Information Service, I am Anisia Antoine reporting. This is Ntn Nightly, up next, Primers Hutchinson with the Ntn Lofel Aquial. If you are in receipt of an abnormally high bill, it is highly possible that you have a leak. That leak may not always be visible. Before you contact Wasco, conduct a do-it-yourself test. 1. Record your meter reading. 2. Do not use water for 30 minutes to 1 hour. 3. Take another meter reading. If the reading changes, you have a leak. Contact a plumber to identify and fix the leak at the earliest. A message brought to you by the Water and Sewage Company Incorporated, Wasco. Welcome back. We join Primers Hutchinson for the Ntn Lofel Aquial. Mr. Ota Genel, Mr. Madam Department of Emergency Services, I would like to inform you of this government. This is GIS, a national television station in Ntn. I would like to welcome you to Primers Hutchinson. This is the first phase of the development of Grand Laplace-Castry, which continues to be a major challenge for the government. This is the first phase of the development of Grand Laplace-Castry. Ministers of foreign affairs and representatives of the Parliament have come to power in the name of Sarah Flood-Bobre. It is a pleasure to be part of the Grand Laplace-Castry, and to be able to provide a comfortable environment. Mr. Bobre, I would like to remind you that the government needs to make available, to the public, a lot of new facilities for the people in the government's service. The government is doing well. So, I would like to thank the government of Taiwan who is making this possible. I would like to thank the City Council and all its agencies. Minister of Economic Development, Fresh Start, everyone who has come to see you, please come forward. Mr. Bobre, I would also like to advise the government to provide a lot of new facilities for the people in the government and to provide a lot of protection. We need to be able to provide a lot of new facilities for the people in the government. Let's all provide a lot of new facilities, Let's all provide a lot of new facilities, theseXS theaters, let's all provide a lot of new facilities. We cannot use all this money, and we cannot use all of this money. We have very much need outside of this city. I would like to thank you, Mr. Weaver-Desla, for taking care of this. It is not today that I am allowed to develop a new government. Minister of Economic Development, would you like to thank Mr. Weaver-Desla? We have been working for seven years to build a lotside-last in Jeremy Street. We have been working for a long time to build a joint bar in place. But we are happy to have a bar in place, and that's what we want to do in our business. I have been calling the public to try to help them with their services available. I would like to thank you, Mr. Weaver-Desla, for the opportunity to help them with their services. I would like to thank Mr. Weaver-Desla, for the opportunity to help them with their services. I would like to thank Mr. Weaver-Desla, for the opportunity to help them with their services. I would like to thank you, Mr. Weaver-Desla, for the opportunity to help them with their services. I would like to thank Mr. Weaver-Desla, for the opportunity to help them with their services. But, I am happy to see that the customer is happy to help them with their services. I would like to thank Mr. Weaver-Desla, for the opportunity to help them with their services. I would like to thank Mr. Weaver-Desla, for the opportunity to help them with their services. I would like to thank Mr. Weaver-Desla, for the opportunity to help them with their services. Mr. James, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to help them with their services. I would like to thank Mr. Weaver-Desla, for the opportunity to help them with their services. I would like to thank Mr. Weaver-Desla, for the opportunity to help them with their services. I would like to thank Mr. Weaver-Desla, for the opportunity to help them with their services. I would like to thank Mr. Weaver-Desla, for the opportunity to help them with their services. I would like to thank Mr. Weaver-Desla, for the opportunity to help them with their services. I would like to thank Mr. Weaver-Desla, for the opportunity to help them with their services. I would like to thank Mr. Weaver-Desla, for the opportunity to help them with their services. I would like to thank Mr. Weaver-Desla, for the opportunity to help them with their services. I would like to thank Mr. Weaver-Desla, for the opportunity to help them with their services. I would like to thank Mr. Weaver-Desla, for the opportunity to help them with their services. I would like to thank Mr. Weaver-Desla, for the opportunity to help them with their services. I would like to thank Mr. Weaver-Desla, for the opportunity to help them with their services. I would like to thank Mr. Weaver-Desla, for the opportunity to help them with their services.