 Welcome to Take 2, the Government Information Services Monthly Review where we have a second look at major developments and activities for St Lucia. I'm Richmond Felix. Every January, thousands participate in the annual New Year's Day Festival in Castries, ASUS Square, a name which originates from the booth place of the event, now called Derrick Walcott Square. The central square is transformed into a round-the-clock bazaar and festival filled with fascinating sights, sounds and smells as artists, performers, exhibitors, food merchants and families converge upon it. Good price for a nice ride, you know, good music, yes, so whilst you're sipping onto your drink or having your snack, you can do that whilst on the train, you know, this is the day for that. Yeah man, New Year's Day, Happy New Year St Lucia. The venue has shifted around various areas in the northern part of the island. In recent years, it has returned to its original location. This year, ASUS Square was organized and hosted by the Castries Constituency Council. We brought some new criteria into it, I mean more local, more budding artists, young artists and we utilize our own cultural part of it. We have two things, 225th anniversary, two quarter-century anniversaries. The award of the Nobel Prize for Literature to Sederic and the 25th anniversary of our celebration of the achievements. And so we have, as our theme for this year, celebrating excellence, consolidating our legacy. But there are lessons to be learned from Saaf and Sederic, as well as from Brandon and Bradley and Gianna and Zina. The sacredness of life and the gift of the moment. All is given to us in a divine gesture of benevolence to which we have no claim, no right. So Dereck called the actors into the dressing room afterwards at the end of the show and I thought, oh no, there will be yelling, there will be screaming. I wouldn't have been in their shoes for love nor money. And I watched as he sat them down and the actors knew what they had done, or rather what they hadn't done. And they were waiting. They, we expected a rant addressing down, but there was no yelling, no throwing of anything. Dereck knew that the review would come out in the Boston Globe and the whole enterprise would have been for naught, but he was calm in his fury. It was the calm that was so frightening. He simply said, you must never do this to a playwright. Climate change is actually a, is not just an environmental problem. It's actually a socio-economic problem. And therefore, if we fail to address climate change, then obviously the impacts will be one of the highest in terms of the potential socio-economic risk that we're going to be faced with. But there are still some in some major capitals of the world and in other places who think that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese and others. But for us in the Caribbean, we've always said climate change is, it's an existential issue. It's something, it's a life-and-death issue. Her Majesty the Queen approved the appointment of Mr. Emmanuel Neville Snack as the new Governor-General for Sathlusia as of 1st of January, 2018. Mr. Snack replaces former Governor-General, Her Excellency de Poletlyvizy, who served as the head of state for the past 20 years, making her the longest serving Governor-General and the first female to ever hold that position on the island of Sathlusia. I, Emmanuel Neville Snack, do swear that I will faithfully bear true allegiance to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, for his heirs and successes, according to law, so helping God. In 2014, Royal Caribbean International indicated their intention to introduce the freedom and quantum class vessels to the Southern Caribbean for the 2015-2016 cruise season, as well as plans to make Sathlusia an anchor call for that voyage. In response to that opportunity, and noting the cruise industry's trend of increasingly larger vessels, slaspersoid necessary to ensure Port Castries' ability to accommodate mega vessels, such as the Anthem of the Seas, if Sathlusia were to maintain its preferred cruise destination and cruise status within the region. Sathlusia is about to begin a major expansion program, and here in Port Castries, this is just the beginning, as highlighted by the Minister of Infrastructure, just the beginning of what we're going to be doing. Clearly, I don't think it takes a genius to know that the time to move our container port from Castries, that that date has expired, and we need to move expeditiously to make that happen. Anything you could do for potato, you could do it with yam. There are different types, like wild yam, yellow yam, and white yam, and that's what you have in tonight, the white yam. Thank you so much, everybody, and what you do in tonight is also supporting the young team. They can go, hopefully, to Europe next year, so thank you so much, and enjoy. We started off with the workshop for the bartenders. Now, a lot of the bartenders in Oleh, know how to provide a rum experience to their patrons. We inaugurated the Caribbean Rum Awards. We got 32 entrance into it, and right now it's out there in terms of who the winners are, and the feedback has been very positive. In this coffee table book, which is essentially what it is, I pay homage through a collection of photography and quotations of distinguished Saint Lucians who left their mark in the great halls of the United Nations, and by extension, who have left their mark on the landscape of the international community, indeed, the planet. The greatest threat to world peace and democracy is the systematic imbalances and inequities in the global economy and the institutions that govern it. This situation is unsustainable and explosive. Honorable George William Odlam. We live in one world, the frontiers of which are being shrunk daily by the advance of science, a world which now demands an answer to the question, am I my brother's keeper? Right Honorable Sir John George Melvin Compton. The installation phase of the Government Islandwide Network GINet has commenced. The project is being undertaken by the Government of Saint Lucia, with the Republic of China, Taiwan contributing over 80% of the funding. So if we're going to be talking about equity for all and access to all, it starts with internet. And so how many young potential future business people are coming from the rule error and are disadvantaged by the fact that they cannot have access to internet? And aiming to enhance internet penetration rate in Saint Lucia by developing wireless network system. 63 Wi-Fi hotspots will be installed in 33 locations in five districts. We are castries, Dennery, Miku, U4 and Canaries. Today we are here for an important milestone. I'm more than happy to announce that the planning and the design phase of GNA project have been completed and the basic training section has been conducted as well. For many, the long-awaited opening of the dialysis unit at the Owen King EU Hospital, though welcomed, was long overdue. The fact that we've been able to operate out of our old unit at Victoria Hospital for the past few years is really nothing short of miraculous. It's testimony to the dedication and the sacrifices made by not only staff but our patients. We can't no longer pat ourselves on the shoulder because we've improved services to some or to most. It has to be a system in which we provided to every single solution, must have access to that healthcare system. And so the only way in our minds to be able to achieve that is through a national healthcare insurance to make sure that every single solution has an insurance. You put your best foot forward. You put your shoulders to the wheel when it was most necessary. And as a result, we have accomplished a humongous task of operationalizing the dialysis unit of OKEU Hospital. This is definitely your success. It is our success. It is the success of the government and people of St. Louis. Though the healthcare sector will have additional dialysis capacity, health officials reiterated that prevention of conditions which lead to renal failure will continue to be a priority for the Ministry of Health and Wellness through the strengthening of primary healthcare services from the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Glenn Simon reporting. Luxury resorts on Sharsney and Jade Mountain were the big winners at the St. Louis Business Awards. Swoping up the top prizes for Souffre, including service excellence, the Green Award, the Prime Minister's Award for Innovation and Business of the Year. And the winner is Ann Sharsney, Jade Mountain Resorts. I'd like to, of course, accept this award on behalf of the owners who saw it in their genius to create products such as Ann Sharsney and Jade Mountain and definitely to our team of valuable employees who day after day strive to ensure that our guests get one of the most, if not the best, experiences of a lifetime and a dream holiday. In January, the Prime Minister, along with the Ministers for Infrastructure, Equity and Investment, held meetings with cruise line operators in Florida on the Southern Cruise Ship Terminal. He also revealed that work had comments on the horse racing track in Viewfort, which forms part of the Pearl of the Caribbean project. The subject I want to highlight today is the four components of the Yoke Club, the Beach Park, the Free Zone area, and also the Casino and the world's largest cruise terminal. I was very happy to see that the equipment started to arrive for the Sabasha project, so we're looking forward to that hotel commencing by early March. As the month ended, the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Republic of China, Taiwan, paid an official visit to St. Lucia, more from Anisa Antoine. While here, his Excellency Dr. Lee Dawei commented on the strong bond of friendship between Taiwan and St. Lucia, a friendship which has seen St. Lucia benefiting immensely in the areas of human resource development, community development and empowerment, sports infrastructure, ICT, health and agriculture. During the official visit of the foreign minister of the Republic of China, Taiwan, the minister took a boat trip to Sufre. Whilst on his visit, the minister taught many projects which are funded by the Taiwan government, including the Herman Bird project and the Sufre Square. The official visit by his Excellency Dr. Lee Dawei also saw the sign in other memorandum of understanding, which will allow for the law authorities of the two countries to work together in the prevention and policing of transnational crime. What I found is St. Lucia, you have a Prime Minister which has a great vision about the future of the country. As I told the Prime Minister that Republic of China, Taiwan is a sincere and loyal ally and friend of St. Lucia and we are more than willing to offer what we have accomplished over the decades and share those experiences with our friends and allies of St. Lucia. I told the Prime Minister that we need to identify some new niche area which will benefit the people of St. Lucia for the future. St. Lucia and Taiwan re-established diplomatic relations since 2007. And that's where we end our first recap for 2018. We look forward to you joining us as we look at February, especially activities in celebration of St. Lucia's 49th Anniversary of Independence, touted as a dress rehearsal for the Big 40. On behalf of the entire production team here at the Government Information Service, I'm Richmond Felix.