 Welcome to the NTA Nightly. I'm Misha Charles. This edition stops stories. Police officers are better able to handle serious sexual offences after a training workshop ends here. The special education sub-sector finds solutions to issues affecting learning and teaching, and the Victoria Hospital announces the temporary suspension of elective and deserteries. A two-week training workshop for officers of the vulnerable person's unit at the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force has ended here. With support from the British High Commission, the officers received vital training in how to better handle sensitive cases, particularly serious sexual offences. In a novel report, UK resident British High Commissioner Steve McCready indicated that the British Council of Services is taking a new approach to assisting British nationals by focusing more on preventative measures. Out of this, the British High Commission developed, funded and facilitated the Serious Sexual Offences course for members of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force attached to the vulnerable person's unit, VPU. The course was geared towards enhancing the capabilities of the officers to deal with serious sexual offences. Under the banner of consular prevention work, the British High Commission and the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force have collaborated to deliver training to the police officers of the vulnerable person's unit. We have many of them here tonight and I'm very grateful for them being here. The training has been about the handling of sexual assault cases. This, of course, is very important to recognise. It's not only a consular issue affecting British nationals. It's a hugely important social issue affecting Saint Lucia's and indeed anyone affected by sexual assault. It's an issue which connects the issues of domestic violence, child abuse, gender, human rights, economic development, amongst many others. It's an issue which is too important to be ignored. And it was for this reason that we wanted to work with the police to deliver this training. British Council of Services are offered by the British Government assisting British nationals overseas in the time of need. Councilors assess their situation and tailor their level and type of assistance to suit the individual circumstances of each case. Assistant Commissioner of Police, Crusita Pellius, expressed gratitude to the British High Commission for its partnership. Sexual assault offences for us is very serious like any other crime because of the negative impact it has on victims. And the participants today here, their skillsets have been enhanced in the various areas of investigation in this particular field of work. And as I said earlier on, it is sending a very strong message to the citizens and also to the perpetrators that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated in our country. We do not want it and we are grateful that this training has helped them to investigate these matters better. So we are ensured moving forward, they will prosecute these matters better and these offenders will be dealt with accordingly. Minister for Tourism, Information and Broadcasting, Carl Chan, Creative Industries Honourable Dominic Fede, expressed gratitude to the British Government for its continued support. I think that whether it's in safety and security, whether it's in trade or whether it's in climate change, we can always count on the United Kingdom for being very, very good friends of St. Lucia, the Caribbean and indeed the wider Commonwealth. We are very, very pleased by this very strong signal of deeper cooperation and friendship that this workshop indicates tonight. And so I want to thank your Government again on behalf of the people of St. Lucia and the Government for your continued cooperation, your continued investment in the people and indeed the development of the Caribbean. The Serious Sexual Offences course commenced on Monday 27th January 2020 and lasted a period of two weeks. The closing ceremony for the Serious Sexual Offences course was held jointly with the Council a reception on the 6th of February 2020. For the Government Information Service, I am Janelle Norville. The special education sub-sector in St. Lucia sought to find wholesome solutions to a wide range of issues currently affecting the sector when it hosted a national training seminar in special education last week. The two-day seminar trains persons who care for learners with challenging behaviours to provide support in a manner that preserves human dignity while maximising opportunities for achievement and self-governance. It also supports learners with special education needs and includes teachers at special schools as well as special ed teachers in mainstream schools. A small group of parents will also in attendance as potential beneficiaries of the training that teachers will receive for continuity of behavioural management. Education officer for special education, Dale Sanjist, says the training will help reduce the likelihood of behavioural problems interfering with achievement at school. We are mindful that learners with developmental disorders and significantly disadvantaged learners as well from difficult backgrounds are likely to present with behaviours that stretch teachers beyond the expertise they have acquired during their formal teacher training. And it is for this reason that over the next two days we are keen to finish teachers with additional tools that will strengthen their capacity as effective instructors. Chief Education Officer Fiona Meyer says dealing with children with special needs takes more than changing the mindset. It more importantly involves working on people's hearts. If we are empathetic, if we are grateful for life, if we appreciate that we all come at it from different points, we'll start to open up our hearts which will then impact how we think. So special educators in whatever field that you find yourself know that if we don't have the love for the people that we work with, and I'm not calling them only children, I'm calling them people, the individuals that we work with. Forget about all the training, Mr. Sages. I applaud the training, yes. But I want us to start thinking of individuals. They are our brothers, our sisters, our cousins, our relatives. So let us move away from this large labelling of individuals. Keynote Speaker Dr. Jacqueline Bird spoke on the executive function within the setting of the school system. Executive function is a set of mental skills including working memory, flexible thinking and self-control, which we use every day to learn, work and manage daily life. Are you modeling executive functioning? If I can stay outside at the gate and hear you shouting and belittling a child, you are not modeling executive function. And if you make a mistake and don't practice executive functioning, which is a self-control and a composure, not to send the child, get out of here and go to the principal. And you stay where you are and hear what's happening to him at the principal. And you don't leave and go and rescue him back. Then you're not practicing executive functioning. The activity was held under the theme, facing the challenge with effective behaviour solutions. The Department of Health and Wellness has informed that elective and day surgeries at the Victoria Hospital have been suspended until further notice due to an increase in intensive care unit ICU patients. Medical Director of the Victoria Hospital, Dr. Alicia Eugene Ford, detailed the current situation at the Victoria Hospital. At the Victoria Hospital, we have three ICU beds. And what has been happening recently is that we've been having more than three cases in our quarantine ICU admission. We have six cases at present as we speak, which puts us at a disadvantage because the extra three cases are now in operating theatre, which means that we have to stop our elective surgeries to be able to accommodate these three other cases. Now, what do we usually do when we have more than three cases in our ICU before we actually go into operating theatre? Because we only have two operating theatres at the Victoria Hospital. And if we have patients in there, it prevents us from doing elective surgery. What we usually do is that we try to communicate with our southern hospital, that is the central hospital, and we call to see if they can actually house one of our ICU cases. The central hospital cannot because they too have an increase in the number of ICU cases coming to them as well. Dr. Eugene Ford says the increase in ICU patients is as a result of chronic diseases as well as a rise in violent cases. We've noticed that the cases that are coming in are cases that are chronic non-communicable diseases and the complications. You're looking like hypertension, diabetes and the complications. We have younger persons having these diseases or being diagnosed with these illnesses and we have older persons living longer because they get in medications. We also have a situation where we have a lot of motor vehicle accidents. A lot of young guys driving bikes, they get head trauma. We have persons drinking and driving and so you get situations where persons actually have injuries. And we have physical assaults, whether it's tabbing or shootings. And these individuals end up being in ICU and spending a long period of time in ICU. And if not in ICU, they're on the beds for a very long period of time. The medical director is appealing to the general public to put measures in place to manage their health. In addition, persons are asked to curb violence by changing their behavior to avoid complications which results in long admissions and ICU admissions. We're asking that persons obey the laws of the land. Stop driving fast. Stop the speeding. Do not drink and drive. If you're driving a motorcycle, wear a helmet. We're asking persons to be compliant with their medication, lifestyle modification. We're asking persons to visit the doctor, use the health centers. Use the different healthcare facilities to try to do the necessary to make sure that you don't get to the point where you get so complicated that you have to be admitted and admitted for a long period of time at Victoria Hospital or even get to the point where you get to ICU. For more information, you can contact the secretary at the Victoria Hospital at 468-4203. And this is the NTN Nightly. We'll be back in a moment. Strides of unity is here again. Are you ready? This February 9 from 6 a.m. starting at the Governor General's residence. Join in as we walk, run, race, skate and cycle around St. Lucia against all issues affecting us as a nation. Be sure to come out and support when the teams pass through your community to cheer them on. Wear your national colors to support the youth at the Strides of Unity. Now is the time. Let's do this together. Welcome back. The contribution of school counselors across St. Lucia was underscored during the Third Annual National Counselors Week. Anise Antoine reports. The week of activities places attention on the contribution of professional school counselors within schools on the island and the difference counselors make in the lives of students. Minister for Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development, Honourable Dr. Gail Rigabet, recognized the counselors for the active role they have been playing in the development of students for the past 14 years. Thanks to your dedication and perseverance, you are able to offer much needed support and the requisite interventions as you respond to the many and varied needs of our students. Therefore, it is apt that a cadre of professionals like you, the St. Lucia's counseling team, be best placed to aid in building better humans who will reflect the model citizens of our future, St. Lucia. Coordinator of Guidance Counseling in the Department of Education, Joyce Lynn Eugene, noted that National Counselors Week was held under the theme, School Counselors Building Better Humans. In an effort to contribute towards building better humans, school counselors show themselves to be persons of high integrity and morals. They are persons with a strong mandate to influence and advocate on behalf of the nation's children within the education system. To build better humans, school counselors must hone their skills and therefore must have access to opportunities for personal growth and development. Educators must embrace this important system within our schools to give students the best chance of having a positive, enjoyable and safe school environment. School counselors, we must challenge the status quo if we intend to meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Chief Education Officer Fiona Philip Meyer reassured her commitment to battling issues being faced by school counselors. The productive citizens that you want to see, that I want to see, we must develop them now. We must see them in our schools in terms of their interaction with each other, the empathy that they have and bear in mind that children do have it. Children have it more than adults, I dare say. The connections, the wanting to support each other, it is the now. And so let us treat them as such, give them a voice. Counselors, you have a special role, they will come to you and your actions, I pray, always uplifts them. The third annual opening ceremony for the National School Counselor's Week was held on Tuesday, February 4th, 2020 at the Vladimir Lucia Theatre in Grosley. From the Government Information Service, I am Anisia Antoine reporting. A donation of refrigeration and air-conditioned tools and equipment was presented to the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College on Monday 3rd February 2020 to assist in the training of technicians and students. The donation was made by the National Ozone Unit of the Department of Sustainable Development, as part of the regional demonstration project funded by the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol of Substances that depleted the ozone implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. The overall objective of the project is to train refrigeration and air-conditioned servicing sector technicians in handling flammable, low-global warming alternatives to hydrochlorofluorocarbons effectively. The National Ozone Unit, along with the four local trainers, conducted a two-day training workshop for industry technicians at the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College on low-global warming potential flammable refrigerants on the 4th and 5th February 2020. Saint Lucia is currently implementing Stage 1 of its hydrochlorofluorocarbons phase out management plan. The main objective of this plan is to reduce HCFC consumptions in Saint Lucia by 35% by 2020, as part of the obligation for developing countries under the Montreal Protocol. And do stay with us. We'll be right back. The Ministry of Tourism is working alongside the Department of Statistics to develop Saint Lucia's Tourism Satellite Account, TSA. The Tourism Satellite Account is an internationally established method of measuring the direct contributions of tourism to our national economy. This will help the government in developing effective policy for the industry. If you are in the business of tourism, the Ministry needs your help in collecting critical data necessary for this tourism satellite account. Let's all help to develop and improve our economy. All tourism-related establishments are asked to contact the Ministry at 468-5393 before Friday the 28th of February for further information specific to their business. Welcome back. And here's a look at what's happening to us, whether why. Fair and breezy, becoming cloudy at times with widely scattered showers. The Atlantic high pressure system will continue to generate moderate to brisk easterly winds and rough seas across the eastern Caribbean region. Lower level clouds moving with the wind flow will cause some scattered showers over the lesser Antilles during the forecast period. The tide for Castries Harbor was high at 2.10 pm and will be low again at 9.03 pm. The tide for Villefort Bay was high at 3.17 pm and will be low again at 10.30 pm. The seas locally rough with waves and swells 6 to 9 feet or 1.8 to 2.7 meters. Small craft operators and sea bathers are advised to exercise caution due to brisk winds and rough seas. The sun will rise Saturday at 6.29 am. And that brings us to the end of the NTN Nightly. Join us next time at 7 pm with a repeat at 7 am. You can also catch up with us anytime on the Saint Lucia Government Facebook page or YouTube channel. I'm Nisha Trout.