 Welcome to Nation Beat. I am Genelle Norville bringing you this brief on the pulse of our nation and highlights around the heart of St. Lucia. A major step has been taken to bridge the digital divide in St. Lucia, the government of St. Lucia honors Cuba's ambassador and the National Under 15 Ticket Team set site on the Whitmore title. A major step has been taken in bridging the digital divide in St. Lucia through the Government Island-Wide Network Project GINET. The initiative is a collaborative venture between the governments of St. Lucia and the Republic of China, Taiwan. The town of Yufuot saw the official launch of the government's island-wide network GINET Wi-Fi Zone. The project seeks to improve Wi-Fi connectivity using Taiwan's advantages in ICT to help St. Lucia develop wireless local area network in public areas of cities and towns, providing residents, tourists and businessmen with free or low cost internet. Councilor of the Embassy of the Republic of China, Taiwan, Bill Young indicated that the venture commenced in 2015 with a budget of 4 million US dollars. He added that the intent is to expand to other areas in St. Lucia in the near future. The first phase of the GINET project, we have seen free Wi-Fi hotspots established as selected communities in Dennery North, Canaries, Castries, Mikut and Yufuot. We certainly look forward to expand the service to other parts of the island in the near future. In 2010, St. Lucia's population and housing census indicated that only 43% of the island's population had access to the internet, with the largest percentage concentrated in the north of the island, namely Castries and Grosile resulting in an urban and rural digital divide. Minister for the Public Service Dr. Ewaldus Raymond indicated that it was necessary to bridge the divide. According to the World Development Report 2016 Digital Dividends, it reads, In many instances, digital technologies have boosted growth, expanded opportunities and improved service delivery. Yet, the aggregate impact has fallen short and is evenly distributed. The Wi-Fi zone will increase internet usage and encourages the provision of diverse and innovative services, development and the promotion of convenient educational and tourist services. Parliamentary representative for Yufuot South Dr. Kenny Anthony highlighted the goal of the project. The GI-Net project goals were one, the establishment of a national advanced wireless backbone infrastructure, two, the implementation of five community Wi-Fi network infrastructure nodes, three, interconnecting all community networks, four, integration with other local and regional projects, development of new and innovative businesses, service delivery and generation of more investments and five capacity building. The GI-Net Wi-Fi zone was launched at the Yufuot Independence Square. Wi-Fi zones have been established in Castries, Denry, Miku and now of Yufuot. The government of St. Lucia has recognized the efforts and contribution of Cuba's ambassador to St. Lucia. Anisia Antoine has more on the honoring of His Excellency Jorge Francisco Sober and Luis. The Governor-General of St. Lucia, His Excellency Sir Neville Snack, on the advice of the Prime Minister of St. Lucia, has bestowed on His Excellency Jorge Francisco Sober on Luis the St. Lucia Medal of Honor Gold. Next year, St. Lucia and the Republic of Cuba will celebrate 40 years of diplomatic relations. His Excellency Sir Neville Snack expressed his gratitude towards the ambassador for his support throughout his tenure. In almost every field of endeavor, Cuba's presence was felt. Ambassador Luis explained to me the purpose behind Cuba's mission. I consider it to be the universal remedy for peace and prosperity in the world. In a nutshell, he said, every improvement in a nation's circumstances benefits the whole world. His Excellency Jorge Francisco Sober on Luis served as the representative for the Republic of Cuba from 2014 to 2018. There is no greater privilege for a Cuban diplomat to perform our duties in our beautiful Caribbean. Today, I receive the St. Lucia Medal of Honor Gold, the greatest honor of our lives. And with it, forever in our being, the sweet and emotional memory of this, the most beautiful island, St. Lucia. During his tenure, the Cuban ambassador oversaw the completion of several projects started by Cuba and spearheaded new programs. Prime Minister of St. Lucia, the Honorable Alan Shastney. St. Lucia and Cuba have been walking hand in hand. The invaluable contributions and counsel by the Cuban ambassador to the discussions on various issues has been greatly appreciated. Ambassador Soberon has also been a champion on the subject of climate change, calling for greater collaboration at the regional level to build greater resilience from the impacts and the effects of climate change. In fact, during his tenure here, Cuba has worked closely with the National Emergency Management Organization NIMO as it relates to preparation and mitigation, mitigating natural disasters. The ambassador played a vital role in the strengthening of Cuba's support for the island's healthcare sector, not only offering training for St. Lucia's, but ensuring that the volunteer program involving Cuban doctors continues. From the Government Information Service, I am Anicia Antoine reporting. The Department of Health and Wellness is commended by the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust for its progress in tackling blindness caused by diabetes. The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust is a charitable foundation established in 2012 to mark and celebrate her Majesty the Queen 60-year contribution to the Commonwealth. Chief Executive of the Trust, Dr. Astrid Bornfield, paid a visit to St. Lucia recently while she met with health officials and representatives to reflect on work undertaken to increase public awareness about diabetic retinopathy. Well, it's all been about linking through our partner, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, health professionals here in St. Lucia being linked up with health professionals in the UK. Teams have travelled backwards and forwards, so we could learn from what happens in St. Lucia and the UK team could do some training here. And it's also been about providing some equipment for St. Lucia so that you can have the right treatment for people who have diabetic eye disease. Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Sharon Belma George expressed gratitude to the Trust for its support in championing the issue of diabetic retinopathy in St. Lucia. One of the core functions of the Trust is to prevent avoidable blindness in developing countries. So they have been working with us from 2017, from early 2017 on the implementation of this programme and we have been able to provide the service of eye screening, eye grading and also laser surgery free of charge to our diabetic patients here in St. Lucia. The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust has provided equipment and trained healthcare professionals in eye screening treatment for people with diabetes. During her visit, Dr. Bornfield also met with the Queen's young leaders who have been making a positive change in the communities. Reporting from the communications unit of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, I am Fennel Neptune. This is NationBit. We're back in a moment. I have my mobile, landline, cable TV and internet service. If I have a problem with any of the services, what should I do? Here's what you should do to resolve the problem. First, get and fill out a complaint form and lodge a complaint with the service provider. If after 30 days there is still no solution, you may contact your National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, NTRC. This message is brought to you as a public service announcement by Ectel, the NTRC and this station. Welcome back. St. Lucia is aiming for the win as the Windward Islands under 15 cricket tournament gets underway. St. Lucia's 13 member national under 15 cricket team was presented to the media Thursday morning at the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports as they prepared to compete in the 2018 Windward Islands under 15 tournament which starts here on Monday. It is indeed a very proud moment for us this morning to present our boys to the media and to St. Lucia. These boys over the next 10 days will be representing us at the Windward under 15 cricket tournament. Let me hasten to say it is a tournament that St. Lucia has always performed very well at. In the last five years, we've taken it home four times. First National Bank has assisted the Ministry in providing training kits for the team. Executive Manager of Marketing and Public Relations Robert Fabrié expressed the company's delight to be associated with the young upcoming cricketers. We want to say that we are going to support you all the way. I can see that there's a lot of opportunity going forward, a lot of collaboration and partnership with this initiative which is very good. It is something that you can grow because I understand there are four returning players as well. So you work hard, you put your all into to give of your best and of course the reward is always sweet. So for us it's at First National Bank, it's all about unlocking that potential in you. We believe strongly in youth development that is part of our corporate social responsibility policy and today is really testament to the fact that we can come on board and assist you with some of your training, gain other material. The team will be captained by Tarek Edward and includes Royce Paul Voice Captain, Darren Sammy Jr., Stephen Abraham, Kevin Garcia, Kamani Law, Denzel Frederick, Sean L. Edward, Sanjay Francis, David Natrom, Kan Elcock, Jude Joseph and Aaron Joseph. John Eugene Coach and Junior DeRose Assistant Coach Manager are officials appointed to guide the cricketers during the tournament. From the Ministry of Development and Sports, I'm Ryan O'Brien. A substance abuse campaign aimed at raising awareness about the harmful effects of alcohol use has been unveiled by the Substance Abuse Unit of the Department of Health and Wellness. The Substance Abuse Unit is working closely with the traffic unit of the Royal Inclusion Police Force to educate inclusions on the impact of alcohol on the family, community, schools, workplace, healthcare system and society as a whole. Program officer in the Substance Abuse Unit, Nadir Smith says it is important that inclusions are a way of the dangers and health effects of alcohol consumption. As we know, alcohol use is part of our culture, religious and social practices right here in St. Lucia and it provides some label of perceived pleasure to many users. This campaign has been designed to show the other side of alcohol, to show the harmful effects it can cause, the diseases it triggers because I'm not sure how many people out here know that alcohol consumption is a risk factor in 25 chronic diseases. Smith also emphasized on the need to educate inclusions about the risks associated with alcohol use such as domestic violence and traffic incidents. I really find that during carnival and Christmas, new years, persons allow their children, teenagers to go ahead, have some fun with your friends, go out and they tend to consume alcohol during that time. We also have a problem with adults who go out to parties. They drink and then they drive. They get behind that stand. This is why we bought the traffic department onboard to speak to us. We have a lot of intentional injuries where persons consume alcohol and when they go back home, they get themselves in domestic violence issues. So those are the things that we really want to speak to persons about. We think it's vital that they get their information because with information, they are now better able to make informed decisions. The Substance Abuse Campaign will run from December 3rd to the 14th and will entail multifaceted communication strategies comprising television and radio talk shows and discussions at health clinics. Reporting from the Communications Unit of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, I am Fennel Neptune. That's Nation Beat. Join us next time on NTN at 7.30pm with a repeat at 7.30am and on this station as we fill the pulse and heart of our community. You can also catch up with us anytime on the St. Lucia Government Facebook page or YouTube channel. I am Fennel Novel.