 Welcome to NTN Nightly, I am General Norvel. This edition stops stories. The St. Lucia Sports Academy launches a national recruitment drive. Senator Honourable Herman Gill-Francis deepens talks on border patrol with the French government. And the CMO wants that COVID-19 remains a public health threat. The St. Lucia Sports Academy is pressing ahead with plans for the new academic year with the aim of surpassing its success rate. Opened in 2019, the Sports Academy offers students the opportunity to build their skill level in sports in addition to academics. Over the past few weeks, the academy has been on a recruitment drive visiting primary schools in Castries, Grozile, Canaries, Ansleray, Souffre, Vufort, Miku and Babono. Hermadi Mark has the details. The St. Lucia Sports Academy has commenced the recruitment drive across St. Lucia for the academic year 2021-2022. The recruitment initiative takes interested students out onto playing fields COVID-19 protocols observed where their skill level is tested in the areas of football, cricket and track and field. The intention is to motivate as many students as possible into making the St. Lucia Sports Academy their choice ahead of sitting the common entrance exams. Victor Conorbutt, coach at the St. Lucia Sports Academy, says the recruitment drive has been successful. The Amy Sook athletes get at least three students in at least every primary school spread across the island so that they could comprise our F1 cohort for 2021-2022. So at this moment we are in Souffre and we have seen quite a bit of talent in Souffre in all three areas and we are quite pleased with the cooperation of all PE teachers so far in all primary schools. Principal of the St. Lucia Sports Academy, Delia Alcindor-Charles, described the recruitment drive as very encouraging. It has been a very enjoyable experience from what I see. The students are very enthusiastic and we're hoping from that experience today as well as what will come in the future because the coaches still have to go out to the other districts. So far they've been to District 1, they've visited schools like Dimpolet, Barbono, Balata, they've been to Millet, they've been to Miku, Viewfort and today the stop is in Souffre. So we're hoping from this exercise that we can attract as many students as possible. Minister for Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development, Honourable Dr. Gail Rigabet says the overall intention is that the St. Lucia Sports Academy becomes the school of choice for students seeking to enhance their sporting career. The recruitment drive, she says, will also create more awareness about the school. The drive continues during the week of May 10th, 2021. From the Government Information Service, I'm Hermione Mark. The Government of St. Lucia continues to explore the avenues available with the Government of France for assistance in patrolling St. Lucia's borders and building the capacity of the Marine Police. St. Lucia and the French Antilles have further strengthened bilateral relations. This was signified by an official visit made by the Minister for Home Affairs, Justice and National Security to the French Navy vessel La Resolue, which is based in French Guyana. Minister for National Security, Senator Herman Gale Francis explained that talks on the diplomatic framework between St. Lucia and the French Antilles have been ongoing and are focused on seeking assistance in patrolling St. Lucia's borders. The Minister impressed with the vessel indicated that the collaboration will also aid in bolstering the capacity and skills of the Marine Police, especially with the Border Control Unit, soon to come and stream. These vessels are going to be in our area and the job is to do the interception of narcotics and viams, also to be able to respond to any emergencies similar to what we had in St. Vincent. So that is the function and they call it. They are based in French Guyana, but they are now in our waters for the next few weeks. Today marks the last day they are here and they will be travelling tomorrow. But they have promised that they are going to come back and the coordination and cooperation with St. Lucia and Martinique is going to be intensified and strengthened. It is a fact that based on the number of coves that we have surrounding the island of St. Lucia, it is sometimes difficult for the Marine Union to be everywhere. And to get the assistance from the French is huge. It is an immense assistance. And so we are about moving into Border Control, where the Marine Union is going to be taken away from the police and we joined with the customs and the quarantine department of the Ministry of Agriculture. When that happens, you will see a rapid increase in personnel at the Marine Union and equipment. So we will be getting some additional boats and so on. So again, the coordination with the French is going to be extremely important so that we can get our officers trained in being able to detect and how to manoeuvre to board vessels and do so without any loss of life. The Government of St. Lucia has been exploring workable solutions to combat illicit activities in and around the island's borders. The Government has reached out to diplomatic allies for support in beefing up the Marine Units fleet and Senator Hon. Francis is confident that these efforts will soon bear fruit. We have an MOU with the French in Martinique, as to assisting us in doing the patrols of our borders. That has been ongoing. But this morning, again, I spoke to the French Ambassador here and he was telling me that the admiral in Martinique is working very hard on a treaty that we are supposed to sign. And as soon as he is completed, he will be sending it to St. Lucia so we can read through and we will be signing that treaty. So I think it was a very fruitful visit this morning and I want to thank the French authorities for allowing me to visit them. The vessel visited St. Lucia from Wednesday 5th May to Saturday 8th May 2021 at podcast trees and Senator Hon. Hon. Hon. Francis paid an official visit to the vessel on Friday, May 7, 2021. From the Government Information Service, I am Janelle Norville. St. Lucia has achieved another significant step in the management of environmental impacts under the Replus OECS project. The two-year pilot project is focused on plastic recycling through plastic waste collection. Replus OECS is now collaborating with the hotel accommodation sector to assist in the handling of plastic waste. Harris Lisa Joseph. Four hotel resorts will soon lead off the collection of plastics per recycling in St. Lucia under the Replus OECS pilot plastic recycling project. The Replus OECS model is designed to operate plastic collection at three levels, households via community collection points, schools and hotels. Recently, senior executives of Standard Resorts, Bay Gardens Resorts, Harbour Club and Hotel Chocolat met with Replus OECS to advance plans for the partnership. John Brett is the managing director at Hotel Chocolat. We're delighted to be pioneer members of the Replus hotel scheme in St. Lucia. Very important to us as a business, both in St. Lucia and globally. Globally, our business has a planet pledge and a plastic pledge. And with the launch of our 7-acre visitor attraction, Project Chocolat, we were delighted to be asked and it ties in precisely with what we are trying to do and what we feel the visitors to St. Lucia are increasingly conscious of which is their footprint on the planet and what they can do to lessen the impact and what we can do as a business trading in St. Lucia to create a future legacy for all. In addition to the project's fit with Bay Gardens Resorts operational policies, Bay Gardens is also seeking to lead by example to promote environmental stewardship among its employees and the general public. Lord Jamor and Willie is the human resource manager at Bay Gardens Resorts. Our partnership is two ways actually. First, we will be having our beans on property so that our guests and our employees can participate in recycling the plastics. So we are also partnering with Replus by being a rewards partner. So if you, as a family member, as an individual, you provide the plastics, you recycle your plastics, you will be rewarded with points and you can redeem some really fantastic items. With environmental benchmarks being important metrics for brand reputation and confidence, managing director of Sanders Resorts St. Lucia, Winston Anderson, noted that Replus OECS presents the hotel sector with a timely opportunity. In 2019, Sanders was the only hotel chain in the world with six resorts to hold master's level certification and another six with platinum certification with earth check, the world's leading scientific benchmarking certification and advisory group for travel and tourism. And as we know, achieving earth check master's certificate is a confirmation that results consistently measure their benchmark and their environmental friendly performance. I say to you and I say to my colleagues here today that I don't believe we have any choice but to ensure that together we achieve the goal set for this project, to develop and implement a working plastic wheel collector and processing system for recycling plastics. And this is all over to you. And this timely and the importance of it, I would say to me cannot be overstated. The rollout of the hotel collection is an important implementation milestone met for the project which will complete its pilot phase in July 2021. Shanta King is a project director. We're very excited today to have met with hotel hoteliers who are participating in the Replus collection. It's very commendable that we've had a very, very good response from the hotel community. However, with COVID we've had some delays in actually starting up. So, so far we have some key properties on board and we are hoping that other properties will come on board especially as they reopen over the next couple of months. So, we are looking forward to this new set of collection with the project. Replus OECS has been implemented by development consulting firm Unite Caribbean. The project is poised to enter a second phase having met key objectives which include the design and activation of an electronic rewards program with close to 1,000 registered participants who have to date received over 5 million reward points, four community collection points established, 26,000 pounds of plastic exported and hotel collection soon to commence. From the Government Information Service, Lisa Joseph reporting. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sharon Belmar George has issued a warning to the general public after the Ministry of Health and Wellness on Friday 7th May 2021 recorded the highest daily increase in COVID-19 cases for the last 12 weeks. 47 new cases were confirmed by the Ezra Long Laboratory. The majority of the cases that is 63% are from the southwestern belt of the island. Dr. Belmar George says the necessary public health systems are being strengthened to manage the situation. The Ministry of Health reminds the public that we are still in a vulnerable position based on the high risk of the introduction of COVID-19 and the variance of concern from the developed countries and neighboring Martinique and transmission in country due to poor compliance to protocols. We continue to advise the public to remain vigilant, adhere to the protocols that are put in place to keep us safe. These include regular hand washing, the use of face masks in public places, covering the nose, mouth and chin, avoiding crowded areas and persons with respiratory symptoms and also keeping frequently touched surfaces clean. We are privileged to have access to vaccines in the COVID-19 fight. Vaccination remains one of the most effective public health measures in managing infectious diseases. The AstraZeneca vaccine has been proven to be safe and effective in protecting people from developing COVID-19 in severe forms, complications, hospitalizations and death. We continue to urge the public to access the various vaccination sites to get immunized at the soonest. The vaccine is available free of charge to the public at many venues on a daily basis. The CMO is urging all St. Lucian to take the COVID-19 vaccine. This is NTN Nightly, up next, Primers Hutchinson with the NTN Novelle Aquial. In an effort to ensure patient and first responder safety, the St. Lucia Fire Service has reviewed its patient transfer procedures, especially for patients with respiratory distress. Face masks will be provided. At no time during transportation should the face mask be removed. Please be patient and cooperative during this time to ensure you receive the best possible care while keeping our first responders safe. Welcome back. We join Primers Hutchinson for the NTN Novelle Aquial. Thank you very much, General. I am the Minister of Department of Health and Welfare for information on the government of this country, called GIS. I am a national television host at NTN, up next, Primers Hutchinson. The authorities have considered many options to continue to serve the WEDA, so that the public can observe these protocols for the protection of COVID-19. To ensure the safety of COVID-19, we will have a third WEDA in 2020. As a result of this, the Chief Police Specialist, Jaga Considue, will also have a special constable, a Police Specialist organization for its charging facilities to support the WEDA Salar and the reserve police. We will also have a third WEDA in 2021, for the safety of the WEDA, for the national security, we are Senator Hommengild Francis. Congratulations on the success of the WEDA Salar. The program began in December last year. It was a good initiative. It was necessary to work hard for the moment to ensure that the money is paid for the WEDA Salar. The program has been done in different ways for the government to serve the WEDA Salar as a continuation for one service for the country. According to Senator Francis, the program has been in place for only 7 months. It has done so well after the government has sought assistance for the continuation. So, the program has been in place for the moment to ensure that the money is paid for the WEDA Salar as part of the Civil Service. Senator Francis, the program has been in place for 3 months after you met with the WEDA Salar and the whole public supported you. So, the program has been in place for 7 months. It's been in place for 7 months for the whole public and the entire community for the full world and the entire public for the full world for the full world the whole public FECO-PONKI, it's very necessary for particularly the largest citizens who receive the vaccine to protect them, because it's them who are more likely to pass if you find corona. Earlier this week, the Ministry of Health registered 47 cases of corona. It has been reported that the number of people who receive the vaccine has increased by 6,000 in May 2020. The number of people who receive the vaccine has increased by 6,000, and the majority of those who receive the vaccine are 4,000. As a result, the number of people who receive the vaccine has increased by 3,000. Thus, the number of people who receive the vaccine is also up to 4,626. There is also a confirmation that 11 individuals are currently operating with the KACRONR, which is active for the 126 people. All these cases are well done. These cases are reported for the total of 4,654. These cases are also from the officers, from the officers, I'm going to come back to you. So I'm going to implement a way to enforce a system that is paid. I would like to say that I thank you and my people to change the situation of the corona virus. You always serve and you always do. Particularly as a citizen, as a Martian citizen, a citizen that has developed the most, I have only corona cases that are the worst because I can't follow these protocols. I would like to say that I advise the public to wash your hands continuously and then go ahead and sanitize your hands. Change this way of distance. Serve mass, cover your mouth, nose and mouth. You can stay away from people who have problems with their skin. You can touch a pill. You can't fill your mouth. I would like to say that I encourage the public to take the vaccine because this is the best way to know how to deal with corona. And to protect people from complications, from the hospital, and the worst is death. Since May 6, 2021, a total of 24,986 individuals have received their first dose of the vaccine and 10,826 have received their second dose. So you can encourage the family to take the vaccine. The Minister of Agriculture, Agriculture and Agriculture said that he would like to continue to explain to the government about the organization of NFTO. The Minister of Agriculture said that he would like to see the Greek NFTO as the representative of the government as chairman and as the board of NFTO. After the start of the agreement, and now that the agreement has been made, the Minister of Agriculture said that he would like to do all that is necessary to go to compliance with the Greek NFTO to facilitate the agreement that will be signed by all agencies. We have agreed on the 7th of April because we say that the proposal of the government to the board of NFTO is the same. So the government is chairman on the 7th of April. And it will drag on for a long time. On the 13th of April, because we know that it will be the first April. Let's say on the 7th of April. On the 13th of April, we know that it will be the first April. If the government identifies the three members of the board, we will recommend that the board of NFTO be the first to join the board of NFTO. Up to now, we will have a first response. From the 14th of April, we will have a first response from the board of NFTO to the board of NFTO. We will have a second response. The Minister of Agriculture declared that the government will have a place of $4.5 million for the necessity of establishing an operation for industry figures. And to pay debt to NFTO, Mr. Joseph Dickey also received a report saying that the NFTO will have a place of $2.7 million. A $2.2 million dollar sale, right? The NFTO will have two tax breaks. For the six-day tax breaks, we will have a place of $8,000. For the six-day tax breaks, we will have a place of $5,000. For the six-day tax breaks, we will have a place of $8,000. The five tax breaks will be our five. GNFTO joins us from FIES. YOKA DWEI FIES 80,000 U.S. dollars. Now, that's not true. If the government wants to put another system, the GFTA has to send us from YOKA 20 figs. The GFTA has to send us from PSM to HD figs. That's science. It's not science. We need to think about the Government's responsibility to get that number to be considered by the GFTA. We have to continue developing our system as the next development. That makes this family more valuable and we will help the government as well, so our money will be Quickly headed to the banks. Messy uphill primers. That brings us to the end of NTN Nightly. Join us next time at 7pm with a repeat at 7 a.m. You can also catch up with us anytime on the St. Lucia Government Facebook page or YouTube channel. I am General Norvel.