 Welcome to Nation Beat. I am General Norville bringing you this brief on the purse of our nation and highlights around the heart of St. Lucia. The Government of St. Lucia is requesting widespread public participation in a perception of crime survey. St. Lucia's employed under the Canada Caribbean Agricultural Workers Programme come in for high praise and the Ministry of Tourism hails the future of the lifeblood sector. The Ministry of Justice, Home Affairs, and National Security in collaboration with the Royal St. Lucia Police Force is currently conducting a nationwide crime perception survey. The data gathered from the survey will help the government formulate solutions to stem crime and ultimately provide the public with an increased sense of security. This forms part of the government's medium term development strategy 2019-2022 which encompasses the social area of crime and national security. The medium term development strategy is being funded for a technical loan from the Caribbean Development Bank. Pemandu Associates is undertaking phase one of the strategy which includes the perception of crime survey. Ali Abdul Ramhan, a representative of Pemandu, is encouraging all St. Lucia's to participate. The Ministry are reaching out to you St. Lucia's as well as St. Lucia's to share your thoughts and ideas in order to collectively better understand and address the fear of crime around your residential and business area. So your participation in the survey is voluntary. Your responses are confidential and will only be used by the government of St. Lucia to serve you better in national safety and security areas. The online survey opened November 15 and will remain open until November 30. Representatives of the police force will also distribute hard copy versions of the survey in areas where there is little online access. The public will be able to access the link through the government website and at the same time we are also approaching the public through the use of hard copies at areas where there is a bit of connectivity issues. Anyone is free to participate. The survey takes about three to five minutes to complete and can be accessed via www.govt.lc.notices. As the government of St. Lucia moves to ensure that the benefits of the expanding tourism industry accrue to all nationals, a concerted effort is underway to balance the product offering in the hospitality sector. Prime Minister, the Honourable Island Shastney has revealed that government is ensuring that all inclusive results do not dominate the sector. During the Chamber of Commerce's encounter with the Prime Minister last Friday, Honourable Shastney spoke to pending tourism investment projects. Among them is the rebranding of the Rex properties at Ronyby. The Rex in Lucia is to undergo reconstruction. The Rex company is now a joint venture with the Sunwing Travel Group. Prime Minister Shastney says government has insisted on the resort be based on the European plan, which is priced only for lodging. We have agreed in principle to renew the lease of that property, but on the condition that the property is built to be a four-and-a-half or higher star product, as well as that there would be a significant EP component to that project. So my government would not support the development of an exclusive, all-inclusive property in that site simply because of what is surrounding in the area. We also would not support the continuation of Papio in its current form. So we would want to see Papio be included in the redevelopment and that we would see a higher branded property to take place in that location. The Prime Minister went on to inform that investing Lucia has completed transaction with a Barbadian based firm to bind the lands at shock for a 400-room Hyatt Hotel, which will be a mixture of the European plan and all-inclusive. Construction is due to begin in the second half of 2019. Investing Lucia has also signed with the GP Group for the development of a Marriott Courtyard Hotel and Conference facility at Point Seraphine. Construction is airmarked to begin of February 2019. So in the open space that we have, in addition to building additional yachting facilities, and that would be phase one of the project and then phase two of the project would now to be incorporate the rest of Point Seraphine in which we're looking to redevelop Point Seraphine where there will be shops on the ground floor and office spaces upstairs. And so the idea is to get greater utilization of that prime piece of land because we don't believe that dedicating it to the cruise industry by itself is ever going to be sufficient. So we're seeing the town of castries about to grow and we felt that creating that additional commercial space in that location would be able to help with that. On the local investment front, St. Lucia Distillers is to undertake an upgrade of its plant and the development of a tourism attraction at the cost of 30 million dollars. The contribution of St. Lucia to the economic development of Canada came in for high praise. At the opening of the 2018 annual Canada Caribbean Agricultural Workers Program Intergovernmental Review Meeting. The forum brings together all stakeholders of the Canada Caribbean seasonal agricultural workers program to discuss ways in which the gap in their labour market can be bridged with a view to expanding employment opportunities for the OECS. St. Lucia's Minister for Labour, Hon. Stevenson King, assured that the government of St. Lucia will be taking all precautions to ensure the nationals who participate in the program are mentally, physically and emotionally ready for the venture. Being forever mindful of the unemployment situation in St. Lucia and the OECS, I continue to make it my duty to seek and source offshore employment opportunities for people. In this regard, and with a view to ensuring that when these opportunities become available, we are able to access them. My ministry will soon be undertaken an all-embracing and rigorous orientation and training program for future workers in preparation for work in Canada and beyond. This orientation program will cover a number of components included but not limited to the Canadian work culture, attitude, compartment and behaviour in a foreign country, health and safety consciousness, the Canadian weather and climate, biases and anxieties, work ethics, cultural transformation, self-respect, savings and thrift, respect to property and of course an emphasis once again on work ethics among others. The program's mandate is to allocate foreign workers to farms in Canada for six weeks to eight months annually. It is expected that this approach will help eliminate the labour shortages in the agriculture sector in Canada. President of the British Columbia Fruit Growers Association highlighted the many challenges which have plagued the sector. Today, the number of workers from the Caribbean region has grown to 1,300 in British Columbia. Looking ahead, Canada's agriculture sector has a bright production outlook but to reach its growth potential, it must address its growing labour challenges caused by the widening labour gap. By 2025, it is predicted 11,000 positions could go unfilled due to lack of domestic labour in British Columbia. Similar shortage in Ontario is predicted at 46,000 and close to 11,000 in Quebec. Close to close, the shortfall numbers well over 100,000. Agriculture has its challenges. With this, we have enjoyed mutual success with the Canada-Caribbean season agriculture program. To those who would be critics, there have been a few ripples on the water from time to time. The positive outcomes, however, have always been the development of a strong future and better relationships we can be proud of. The delegation comprises ministers of labour, permanent secretaries and labour commissioners from across the OECS, diplomats from the Canadian federal government and the Canadian High Commission Services, Canadian delegates, Canadian farm employers and Eastern Caribbean liaison services officials. The intergovernmental review meeting is being held from November 18 to the 24. From the government information service, I am Lisa Joseph reporting. This is Nation Beat, coming up the Ministry of Tourism hails the future of the lifeblood sector. 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 your 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. The efforts of St. Lucia students at understanding and embracing the vital tourism industry will recognize at a special award ceremony. The Ministry of Tourism held a special ceremony and brought the grander of the seas in recognition of students who have participated in the Ministry's initiatives for 2018. According to Tourism Officer in the Ministry of Tourism, Samantha Charles, the first initiative was the FCCA poster competition, where St. Lucia had two submissions. One in the junior category in the person of Alicia Henry from the Dame Prolette-Louisee Primary School and the other in the senior category in the person of Divani Mitchell of St. Mary's College. They both received the participation check of 200 US dollars. The Ministry of Tourism is pleased to recognize and show appreciation to all the students who have taken part in the various tourism, education, competitions or initiatives for the year 2018. We have been extremely proud throughout the year by your dedication, the level of contribution in terms of your participation and we hope that this is not the end but you will serve as very good examples to other students to follow suit. Still under the FCCA banner, St. Lucia had two submissions in the essay competition from Dorothy Isidore who at the time attended the Ortsa Combined School and now attends the Leon Hess Comprehensive Secondary School and Ariel Albert of St. Joseph's Convent whose essay landed St. Lucia the second place in the competition. Ariel received checks for both herself and her school amounting to 2,500 US dollars. She reads an excerpt from her essay. It is always advisable for persons to learn frequently used phrases of the native language of a country they visit as it allows communication between tourists and citizens to become simpler. Interaction with natives in their language as the island is explored is also fun and exciting. Although St. Lucia's main language is in fact English, the Koyaw language is commonly used. This is why basic knowledge of the languages used in St. Lucia should be provided to tourists. St. Lucia was also well represented at the National Tourism Public Speaking Competition. Ryan Augustine Joseph served as the Chairperson of the National Competition this year and secured second place at the competition two years ago. Francis Alexander, the win of the 2017 National Tourism Public Speaking Competition, won the Caribbean Tourism Organization's Youth Congress, earning him the title of Junior Minister of Tourism for the Caribbean. Last but not least, the current Junior Minister of Tourism shine's savory of St. Joseph's Convent. Ministry of Tourism's Director of Product Development and Margaret Adams shared some remarks. I just want to thank the students and the parents of course for their support in allowing them to participate in those activities. The department continues to organize these activities as part of its awareness, stimulating awareness among the youth in ensuring that they gain an appreciation of the industry what has become our bread and butter industry. So the department is very pleased with your participation and your commitment to helping us achieve that goal. So we would like to offer congratulations to you today and then encourage you to really continue to invest your time, do some reading research and you will see really if you have not that Junior has a very unique product. The Ministry of Tourism encourages the youth to continue participating in the many initiatives on stream. From the Government Information Service, I am Lisa Joseph reporting. In keeping with changes in the international oil prices and government application of the modified market pass through petroleum pricing mechanism, the retail prices of LPG 20, 22 and 100 pound cylinders have been changed. The retail price of kerosene, gasoline and diesel remains unchanged. The price changes take effect from Monday November 19, 2018. The 20 pound LPG cylinder is now $33.12. The 22 pound cylinder has moved to $36.71. The 100 pound cylinder is $206.01. The retail prices of fuel products will be next adjusted on Monday December 10, 2018. 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 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 Janelle Norville.