However the St. Lucia Carnival Band’s Association had agreed since July 2011 not to add the two sets of scores together.

Band Leader of Red Unlimited, Thaddeus Antoine has expressed his disappointment with the outcome describing the approach as unprofessional and disrespectful.

Some of his concerns have been echoed by former Chief Carnival Judge, Rohan Seon. Seon says the mistake highlights the need for a more meticulous selection process for the panel of judges.

He believes there should be a different panel in place for future carnival events. Seon also believes the botched results bring into question the credibility of the results for other Carnival competitions.

Adding his voice to the issue, Mass Action CEO, Oswald Augustin believes there should be separate judging criteria, one for party bands and another for more traditional bands to help negate such inconsistencies.

Augustin nevertheless described this year’s Carnival as more organized as compared to the previous years and congratulated the stakeholders committee on the work done during the 2012 carnival celebration..

The motorcyclist who suffered injuries to his leg saw his protective head gear sailing into the nearby Castries harbor upon impact with the taxi.

Education Officials explain application forms which are available at the 8 school districts at the primary level on the island upon completion will be sent to the Ministry of Education where the cheques will be allocated.

The Ministry of Education admits members of the public were also confused by the original application forms for the program.

The Chief Education Officer says the paper work has been simplified.

Officials say the application process which is open to all and sundry who request assistance and meet the criteria is necessary for accounting and auditing purposes.

The distribution of cheques will begin in District 8 on August 2nd at the Soufriere Primary School. Prior to the commencement of Friday’s press conference, the Minister for Education announced the recipients of this year’s island scholarship.

They are Sir Arthur Lewis Community College graduates, Trecia Lionel and Kayla Jarrel.

The games will be made available for viewing via Helen Television System HTS, since the establishment has acquired broadcast rights for the Olympics.

General Manager of ECCO, Steve Etienne, says if a proprietor is planning to show the games publicly in a bar, restaurant, hotel, bus or any public place then a license is required.

Etienne says applications for licenses for the showing of the games must be submitted to ECCO before hand.

He games shown without the necessary license constitute an infringement of copyright law and legal action may be taken.

ECCO says it is in the best interest of the public establishments and proprietors to obtain the necessary license at a fee of 100 US dollars.

Failure to do so he says will mean that an ECCO agent would have to charge an establishment double price after the fact.

If the establishment fails to comply he says ECCO can sue for the violation of copyright law. An application for a license can be collected at ECCO’s offices on Julian Charles Road Sans Souci Castries.

The Ministry of Health and the UK Diabetes Project hosted a joint International Diabetes and Wound Care Conference on Thursday and Friday.

The conference focused on education and sensitization about the prevention and treatment of Diabetes.
Nurse Elvina Phillips Raveneau works with the Victoria Hospital as a Patient Educator. Raveneau says the situation with diabetes in Saint Lucia is grave.

Education and sensitization she says must be undertaken on a wide scale to curb the national epidemic.

She has touted the support and guidance of the UK/Saint Lucia Diabetes Project team which has been organizing training for local medical staff in the treatment of diabetes. Raveneau says the conference was hosted to bring medical personnel together to take a comprehensive look at diabetes care.

Raveneau says as a patient educator she has had to work hard to change some of the perceptions about diabetes.

She says many people underestimate the disease and do not take the necessary measures to prevent diabetes or to properly manage the disease.

The two day conference ended on Friday. The closing session examined topics such as wound healing, wound bed preparation and assessment of the diabetic foot.

General Manager of the Caribbean Association of Banks, Mary Popo says the aim was to provide a forum for existing or potential audit committee members, company directors and internal audit personnel in the Caribbean.

During the meeting professionals can discuss issues relating to internal auditors and the Board’s audit committee.

Specially selected presenters and panelists delivered addresses, sharing their knowledge and experience in the field of auditing.

The Caribbean Association of Audit Committee Members aims to improve the investment environment in the Caribbean region and increase investors' confidence in the integrity of financial reporting and investor information.

The forum was held on Thursday July 19th and Friday July 20th 2012.

The National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) and the Inter American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) hosted a one day session to scrutinize a draft recovery plan for St. Lucia.

The one day session was attended by members of NEMO and other agencies involved in disaster management.

NEMO Director- Dawn French says the final plan involves a long term post disaster response strategy.

French says putting the plan together has been challenging. She says while certain agencies may be focus on rebuilding a country after a disaster, they also have different views on how to achieve this objective.
The exercise was intended to build consensus among the key agencies.

The NEMO Director says the formation of the final plan will be also used to corroborate Thursday’s discussion.

The signing of the Montreal Protocol on September 16th 1987 was designed to protect the ozone layer.

The international treaty focused on phasing out the production of numerous substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion.

St. Lucia was amongst the numerous countries that signed the agreement and has taken steps to abide by its obligations.

The National Ozone Unit of the Ministry of Sustainable Development on May 23rd 2006 set up an interim committee with the focus on forming a National Refrigeration and Air Condition Association.

The organization was launched on February 6th 2012 and formulated a code of conduct. Secretary, National Refrigeration and Air Condition Association, Percival Beausoleil says the association has consulted local technicians on the way forward.

Beausoleil says the formation of an association to oversee the day to day activities of these technicians and agencies is an important step.

He says there are many dangers involved in Air Condition and Refrigeration repair, especially to the environment.

Beausoleil says other committees within association will be formed. The association has also organized ongoing training sessions to certify their members. Another session is expected to be held on Thursday 26th July 2012 at a cost of $270.

The organizing committee for Police Week 2012 has launched a new initiative to generate more interests in the annual activity.

As a result the Ministry of Education was approached to help develop a theme for the event. Police Commissioner, Vernon Francois says the activity which will be held between October and November, received a positive response from the participating schools in a contest to determine a premise for the initiative.

The theme for Police Week 2012 was conceptualized by Joshua Toulon of the Entrepot Secondary School.
Toulon won himself a Police Week T-Shirt and five hundred dollars cash.

Francois is satisfied with the chosen theme and its significance to the activity.

The theme is “It’s our Community: Let’s Work for a Safe Society”. Francois says the committee is hosting a number of activities leading up to the event in order raise funds and encourage more participation in the observance..