 Welcome to Nation Beat. I am Jacques Kingston Compton bringing you this brief on the pulse of our nation and highlights around the heart of St. Lucia. Significant convection associated with Tropical Storm Kirk expected to impact St. Lucia. For the fifth consecutive time, St. Lucia is crowned the Caribbean's leading honeymoon destination. Prime Minister the Honourable Alan Shastney to address the vulnerability of SIDS at the UN General Assembly. And the Rotary Club of St. Lucia strengthens its base of youth volunteers. The centre of Tropical Storm Kirk on Thursday afternoon was on course to pass between St. Lucia and Martinique. Forecasters say the system was on a path to dump heavy rains that could bring dangerous floods to the eastern Caribbean. Kirk had maximum sustained winds of 50mph and was moving ahead at 15mph. Tropical Storm force winds are blowing as hard as 140 miles from Kirk's centre. A Tropical Storm warning remained in effect for St. Lucia, Barbados, Dominica, Martinique and Guadeloupe. Avalon Chollery is a forecaster with the St. Lucia Met Service. To the back end of the centre, we have significant convection and we are expecting Tropical Storm force conditions which would be Tropical Storm force winds, showers and thunderstorms. We urge persons that before those conditions get to St. Lucia, that you have made all the necessary preparations, that you have secured all your important documents, that you have secured your homes and you have purchased or you have stored enough water and supplies to last at least the day. If you know that you live in an area that is prone to any hazard, whether it be landslide or flooding, we urge that you find a secure spot to ride out the system. We would advise that any time any advisory is given by the St. Lucia Met Service or by the National Emergency Management Organisation, that persons take those warnings seriously. There have been times that the atmosphere has not behaved as forecasted, but we should always take those messages very seriously. And especially in this case, if we have to compare the two storms, this system is a little more south than Isaac was and this system is a little more organised than Isaac was. I mean we should never compare storms because each storm, the dynamics of each storm would be different, but we really urge solutions to take this warning seriously. All schools will remain closed on Friday 28 September 2018 as the island is expected to continue to feel the effects of Tropical Storm Kirk. The Castry City Council meanwhile was in preparedness mode Thursday as the island braced for the effects of Tropical Storm Kirk. The more than 200 workers were mobilised and assigned various tasks to ensure that the city experienced as little impact as possible, especially flooding. We have them all around the city identified areas that may have been blocked in order for them to unblock these areas. In terms of our city police, we have them in readiness and we have actually have some of them in office and they are going to remain all night so that if any body has any problem within the city area, they can now have access to our city police. So overall we have had all our vehicles gassed up and we have identified what are the risk areas so we put in things in place. The Castry City Council in anticipation of the peak period for the hurricane season collaborated with the Department of Infrastructure in an extensive desilting exercise. From the gloom of the weather to some upbeat news, St. Lucia has won the award for the Caribbean's leading honeymoon destination at the 25th annual World Travel Awards. The awards ceremony celebrates some of the finest travel brands in the Caribbean and North America. This is the ninth time the island has won the award in 10 years and the win represents St. Lucia's fifth consecutive title as Caribbean leading honeymoon destination. The St. Lucia Tourism Authority says romance has helped to establish the St. Lucia brand and continues to be a significant niche market for the destination. The team at the St. Lucia Tourism Authority were super excited about this designation and we intend to use it in our marketing campaign globally and certainly very strategically to continue to work with partners who are able to bring us the clientele that is perfect for St. Lucia. And St. Lucia really is that rare destination which inspires love stories and whether it is that folks want to pop the question, get married or celebrate that milestone anniversary, we are going to be using this in our campaign to attract more and more visitors. St. Lucia is also a ninth time winner of the world leading honeymoon destination. The island is again nominated this year. The accolades come as St. Lucia joins the global celebration of World Tourism Day and the head of a romance farm scheduled for October 4 to 8, 2018. The farm trip will acquaint travel agents from the United States and the United Kingdom with the destination. They will be visiting the various properties that we have to offer but certainly they'll get a chance to network with professionals from florists to designers to decorators. We're really getting that first-hand opportunity to make these business connections that will then be able to grow the various businesses but also to help to elevate the romance offerings of the island. So we have a very, very jam packed program for them and we've managed to include a number of the elements to ensure that St. Lucia is properly represented and certainly that these travel professionals will be sending us even more business moving forward. The SLTA is looking forward to clinching top awards when the grand finale that acknowledges first-class excellence in travel brands from across the world takes place on December 1, 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal. Government's strategy to combat crime and violence continues to unfold with the nation's youth as the focal point. Prime Minister the Hon. Alan Shastney recently reiterated his administration's commitment to arresting the scourge through youth development. Prime Minister Shastney indicated that the thrust is to create a shift in the national thinking via socialization. A vibrant sports environment he pointed out is a main element of the strategy. How do we resolve people's mindset towards deviant behavior? And we have repeatedly said as a government that we would rather see people join clubs than gangs. So what did we do? We did a full assessment of all inventory of all of the sporting facilities in St. Lucia. You've heard the report yourself, 150, think of it, 17 constituencies, 150 sporting facilities, of which more than half of them are not playable. So we're not even doing a good enough job of maintaining those facilities. So the idea was to design a facility structure that would support clubs. Prime Minister Shastney went on to note that sports can shape well-rounded citizens and serve as a pathway to tertiary-level education. Sports is a great way to develop morals, values, discipline, teamwork. All these ingredients come out of being able to be in sports. And also, because only one third of our students go to tertiary-level education, the goal is that we focus on disciplines that have the ability to create opportunities for our young people to be able to get tertiary-level education. So there is a holistic planet play, and if you want to take little things in isolation without understanding the context of everything that we're going to do, then you might be easily persuaded that we're doing something wrong. Meanwhile, the Rotary Club of St. Lucia is strengthening its base of youth volunteers. The organization recently held its inaugural youth symposium that brought together 200 students. They were drawn from Interactors and Rotaractors Service Clubs. The Director of Youth Services says the aim was to expose the youth volunteers to the broader concept of service. To understand how our community works and how we can assist them with various projects which we can help. We will be having a breakout session where we'll be coming up with projects to assist our communities, island-wide in St. Lucia, and our collaborative effort between our clubs and the youth clubs. So we don't just leave service when you leave the Interact or the Rotaract or the Rotary Club meeting, we don't leave it there. We inculcate it into our personal lives, the ideal of service, personal business and community. So there are many of us who have a life in the church, as well as in Rotary or Rotaract, Interact, Early Act. So we carry on the tradition of service. This is Nation Beat. Stay with us. Heavy storms mean flooding and that means being prepared with hand sanitizers, child-size raincoats and boots and insect repellent to protect your child from germs and water-borne illnesses. Plan for emergencies. Plan for your children. When disaster strikes, pharmacies and polyclinics will be closed, so you'll need to have a complete first aid kit on hand to be prepared to handle your child's medical emergencies. Plan for emergencies. Plan for your children. Welcome back. Prime Minister the Honourable Alan M. Shasne continues to champion the cause of middle-income countries and the small island-developing states or SIDS at the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. During the annual United Nations General Assembly, which began on September 25, the Prime Minister, along with the St. Lucia delegation, which includes Minister with Responsibility for External Affairs, Honourable Sarah Flood Bobra, held several high-level and bilateral meetings to discuss global, regional and local issues, particularly as it relates to financing and debt sustainability. The Prime Minister will continue to stress the urgent need for reforms to better enable the full participation of small islands in the global economy when he addresses the general debate on Friday, September 28, 2018. Prime Minister Shasne will also speak of the disaster vulnerability of the region and efforts by small islands to build resilient infrastructure. Friday's session begins at 9am, with the Prime Minister expected to be the 10th speaker of the morning. Winwood and Leeward Brewery Limited hosted its 33rd Annual Scholarship Awards program last week in support of the education and development of the children of its employees. The 2018 Scholarship Awards ceremony welcomed five new-deserving students with scholarships at the Brewery's Head Office in Bibutea Castries. It was a proud moment for a special group of staff at WLBL coming together for perhaps the first time this year to observe and celebrate the academic achievement of their very own children. Winwood and Leeward Brewery Limited began its scholarship program for the children of its employees in 1985. Thirty-three years later, five well-accomplished students received scholarships for their outstanding performance at the Common Entrance Examinations. HR manager of Winwood and Leeward Brewery, Adela St. Rose, encouraged both the parents and awardees to continue to work together to strive for excellence. No matter what our circumstances are, we all have the ability to dream. It doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, what your circumstances are, whether you're from the south, whether you're from the north, we all have the ability to dream. But be active in making your dreams a reality so that you can finish with the future that you desire, whether that future be at school or whether that future be in your day-to-day life. So congratulations to all of you, those continuing on your scholarship and those who are joining us for the first time. We're very, very proud of you and we're very excited to have you as part of our family and we look forward to your dreams becoming a reality in the future that you want. The 33-year-old scholarship program also has provision for students to keep their scholarships by maintaining an average grade above 60% each year. Five-part scholarship awardees were able to achieve that goal, bringing the total number of scholarships presented this year to 10. Guest weekend business owner, Mandisa Morrison, advised students to use the opportunity wisely. You will have to do five million subjects at school, but look at it as a way of crafting your path. Success, as Mrs. Centrose said, is very intentional. If you don't have your goal, if you don't set a vision, if you don't know that I want to be a pilot, then you'll never get to fly in the sky. You have to know that you want it, you have to know what you want and you have to literally work at it. An active textbook scheme where the company loans books to employees for their children and returned on an annual basis also accompanies the scholarship program. These initiatives are seen as a demonstration of WLBL's commitment to the well-being of its workers and their families. From the Government Information Service, Lisa Joseph reporting. Minister for the Public Service, the Honourable Dr. Ubaldas Rehman, along with the St. Lucia Open Data Corps, Nata Luiz Mathres Serie, are representing St. Lucia at the Fifth International Open Data Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina from September 27 to 28. The conference provides a forum for 2,000 participants to collaborate and plan the future of the opening of information. The Government of St. Lucia, through the Department of the Public Service, began a data revolution in the island with the launch of the St. Lucia Open Data Portal on June 8, 2018. The online data repository ensures that all government-owned data, which does not contain personal information, or create a threat to national security, is made freely available in an easily reusable format. The St. Lucia Open Data Portal is a component of the Open Data Policy for the St. Lucia Public Service, approved by Cabinet on November 9, 2017. And that's Nation Beat. Join us next time as we fill the pulse and heart of our community. I'm Jack Langston Compton.