 Coming to you from RGIS Studios, I am Anicia Antoine and this is your Midday News Brief. The Prime Minister of St. Lucia made a donation of over $450,000 in support of well-deserving causes and organizations. The monies were raised from donations received at this year's Prime Minister's Independence Ball. Prime Minister of St. Lucia, the Honourable Alan Shasne, expressed gratification towards the members of the different causes for their efforts and hard work. Causes that benefited include the Cornerstone Humanitarian Society, the Cerebral Policy Association, the Lady Gordon Opportunity Centre and the Blind Welfare Association. Linda Preville, Principal of the Lady Gordon Opportunity Centre, explained that the donations received will assist the centre with ongoing projects. The handing over ceremony took place at the office of the Prime Minister on Thursday, May 23rd, 2019. The Government of St. Lucia has signed a loan for US$50 million with the Government of Taiwan to commence the Island-Wide Road and Infrastructure Rehabilitation Programme. US$8 million will be allocated for the continued rehabilitation of schools this summer and to commence affordable housing projects. US$42 million will be spent to completely rehabilitate roads across the island, especially in the constituency of Gorzulae. This week, work commenced on the rehabilitation of the Forestry Road. The people of Shwazel will also shortly see the commencement of a much-needed rehabilitation of the Salty Bus Road. The National Conservation Authority, NCA, with the collaborative effort from the Office of the Prime Minister, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, Natural Resources and Cooperatives, the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice, Local Government and Empowerment, and the National Apprenticeship Programme will be conducting training exercises targeting 120 individuals on the proper method of handling Sargassum seaweed for manufacturing as well as for disposal. These trainees are residents of four communities adversely impacted by the influx of the Sargassum, namely Dennery, Kuale, Miku and Vue Fort. The training exercise aims to prepare these individuals to participate in the implementation phase designed to last for nine months in the first instance. The NCA continues to work closely with Algas Organics, a local entity involved in converting Sargassum into value-added products by providing the company with over £160,000 of Sargassum. This Sargassum project will not only create employment for residents in the targeted communities, but also ensure that these communities do not continue to be affected by the large influx of the seaweed. This has been your media news brief. Thank you for watching.