 Welcome to Nation Beat. I am General Novel bringing you this brief on the pulse of our nation and highlights around the heart of St Lucia. Several initiatives aimed at generating revenue from tourism at the community level have been rolled out. Efforts at preserving St Lucia's wildlife score a new lifeline and the mobility of St Lucia's with physical disabilities is improved. In keeping with the declaration of 2019 as the Year of Revenue in the Tourism sector by Minister for Tourism, several initiatives have been rolled out to realize that goal. On Friday, 25 January 2019, Minister Hon. Dominic Fede chaired a meeting of the Tourism Advisory Council to discuss how St Lucia can reap better benefits from the cruise passenger rivals as well as the positioning of Sufra in the cruise tourism business. The Tourism Advisory Committee is a multi-stakeholder advisory group. Since its launch last year, the committee has been generating consensus on the way forward for the development and management of tourism in St Lucia. To this end, a subcommittee was created to devise ways to increase tourism expenditure in the country. Minister with responsibility for tourism, information broadcasting, culture and creative industries and chairperson of the Tourism Advisory Committee, Hon. Dominic Fede. What we're doing is to make sure that we come together and come up with a comprehensive strategy on the way forward to improving the revenue situation. What are those little steps that we can take right now to keep improving the bottom line of the destination? The figures from the cruise lines, the Brier study suggests that St Lucia is benefiting from a 95% disembarkation, but the cruise lines are spending less than about 50% of their time at the dock on shore. So what we want to do is to make sure that we improve on the situation, that when 95% of the people come off, that we give them a lot of things to do and that we give them a lot of things to buy. Aviva Sinclair, Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Department of Tourism, explained that the Tourism Advisory Committee has been working closely with the Sufra Marine Management Agency and other stakeholders to develop the soft skills and technical skills in areas such as sail repair and boat motor repair. There's a lot of potential for provision of services to yachtsmen and yachtspersons generally and we are looking to allow them to leverage those opportunities so that they have the technical knowledge, they have the expertise and they can engage into that type of business. We're also working with the surrounding properties and the boat operators who bring cruise ship passengers there to expand a number of areas that can be used by the cruise ship passengers so that other areas, other parts of Sufra get access to economic opportunities. The Tourism Advisory Committee meeting was held on the 25th of January 2019 at the Oak Gardens in Union Castries. From the Government Information Service, I am Anicia Antoine reporting. Efforts at preserving St Lucia's wildlife scored a new lifeline via an extended partnership with the Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots, detailed from Amanda Faye Clark. An eight-year extension to a partnership agreement to safeguard St Lucia's indigenous wildlife was made formal with a recent signing of a breeding loan agreement between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots, the ACTP. It hallmarks a turning point in the country's efforts to ensuring the protection and continued survival of the St Lucia parrot, otherwise called the Amazonavocicolor, one of our most prized possessions as a people. Permanent Secretary attached to the Agriculture Ministry, Mr Barramore Felicia says, the time is rife to strategically launch interventions that will not only conserve wildlife-friendly habitats in St Lucia, but ultimately create eco-friendly zones that will be of value to tourism, education, forestry and environmental conservation efforts. We see progress on the delivery of our mandate. The ACTP, the mandate is on the preservation of parrots, of threatened parrots specifically, and the Government of St Lucia, we have the responsibility for animal protection. The Department is cognizant of both anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic threats, which may lead to the depletion or even the extinction of species. And in most recent times, you've seen the extinction of birds such as the red-tailed elephant boot, the red-railed, sorry, an elephant boot. So once again, this is a momentous occasion for both parties to deliver on a mandate. President of the Association of Threatened Parrots Martin Goff says his organization is as concerned as the people of St Lucia about the safety of the St Lucia parrot. For this reason, he explains, the reconstruction of the facilities around the Union Forestry Department is testimony to his organization's commitment to addressing possible threats to wildlife in a holistic manner. And today, to be here again after ten years, it's a big step for us. Looking forward for another eight years, completing a wildlife education center here on the island makes dreams coming true for us. We never expect when we start here that we get such good cooperation and that we're working on such visionary projects like the Wildlife Education Center. And facing all the challenges like climate change, we as ACDP want to assure you that we do our absolutely best to stay together with the government of St Lucia and working on the conservation of the wildlife from St Lucia. Minister for Agriculture, who has responsibility for the Forestry Division, Honourable Ezekiel Joseph says, the project is just one other intervention to safeguard our farming constituents. As he explains, airmarking safe habitats for the parrots will not only protect them, but will address some of the challenges farmers face with stray parrots on their farms. Whilst we have been successful in reserving and extending the population of our parrots, based on discussions we had Martin and myself, it's also a problem for some of our farmers. And we now have to see how we can educate our farmers, especially schools in the communities that are experiencing that negative impact. So at least we can educate them and see how we can engage in programs that can reduce on the negative impact of the parrots on our farmers' crops. This week's signing of the Breeding Loan Agreement will be the fourth formal arrangement in 10 years, with the organisation of the Conservation of Threatened Parrots to address the welfare of our wildlife, and in particular the Amazon of Vosicola. From the information unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Natural Resources, Physical Planning and Cooperatives, I am Amanda Fee-Clock reporting. As the country continues to observe activities marking the 2019 Nobel Laureate Festival, Minister of Responsibility for Education Honourable Gail Rigabet remains unwavering in her commitment to develop an education sector that is more inclusive and allows for all learners to maximise their capabilities. Chris Satney reports. The Minister spoke at the 2019 National Awards of Excellence, put on at the National Cultural Centre by the Division of Education. The introduction of smart classrooms accompanied by the training of teachers to be technologically savvy with the various learning modalities, the Minister says, continues to be a priority for her ministry in support of excellence in education. The Ministry's vision, Dr Rigabet says, is to create a culture of equity and equality where every learner is empowered and provided with the necessary resources and opportunities to excel optimally within their area of interest and in keeping with their capabilities. The aim is to ensure that positive morals and attitudes, likewise skills of critical thinking and digital literacy, as well as a culture of inclusion, equity, innovation and entrepreneurship are engendered within our schools. Held since 2004, the National Awards of Excellence awards students who have excelled in the areas of sports, arts and academics and also educators for the outstanding service in education on the island. It was preceded by the school's music festival, which showcased the talents of students in song and the playing of musical instruments, and was followed by the Walcott Schools Festival, which celebrates the achievements of Nobel Laureate, the late Derek Walcott and his twin brother, the late Roderick Walcott, with a production entitled Masquerade Master. Ministry representative on the Nobel Laureate Festival committee, Kantilya Louie, is pleased with the execution of all events and the talents displayed by students. The ministry also hosted a visiting group from the Caribbean Secondary Schools Drama Association based in Trinidad and Tobago. The group's president, Anderson Labari, conducted workshops with students and teachers on culture forms, and also paid a courtesy call on the Minister for Education, Honorable Dr. Gail Brigabet. From the communications unit of the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development, I am Chris Satney reporting. It might sound like fiction, but for 40 million victims of human trafficking worldwide, it is a reality. Innocent people enticed by the promise of a new life, then enslaved into forced labor or sex trafficking, human trafficking happens. In plain sight, know the signs, see it, report it. To report suspected cases of human trafficking, call the TIP hotline at 847. Welcome back. The mobility of St. Lucian's with physical disabilities is expected to be improved as a humanitarian arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints donated wheelchair and mobility devices. The National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities welcomed the generous contribution of wheelchairs and mobility devices from the Latter-day Saints charity which will bring much comfort to the disabled. A key component of the visit was the training of persons as assessors and technicians on how to assess a person's mobility needs as well as how to assemble and use the wheelchairs. President of the Council, Matthew L. James says he is pleased that St. Lucian's are now trained to serve patients with mobility challenges around the island. When I say customer, I do not mean paid customer. I mean client. I mean the people we serve, the people we work for because these are donations. They've been given to us freely and we will give them freely. Minister for Health and Wellness, Senator the Honourable Mary Isaac expressed appreciation to the Latter-day Saints charity for the generous contribution and says it will make the lives of the disabled easier. Caribbean wheelchairs specialist for the Latter-day Saints charity, Don Hart says his organisation remains committed to making a contribution that will allow the disabled to enjoy a life of mobility. The Latter-day Saints charity donated 158 wheelchairs and 101 mobility devices. Reporting from the Communications Unit of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, I am Fennel Neptune. That's nation. Be join us next time on NTN at 7.30pm with our repeat at 7.30am and on this station as we feel 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 Norvel.