Priority Plans For Environment

Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 9th, 2020 (ZIZ News): Minister of Environment the Hon. Eric Evelyn says there are certain key issues that are high on his agenda over the next five years.

In an exclusive interview with ZIZ on Wednesday following the Opening session of National Assembly at the St. Kitts Marriott resort, Minister Evelyn says high on his list is the elimination of single use plastics in the federation.

“We gave seen it being done is some of the islands in the region, we’ve seen it being done internationally, and that is something I would want to leave as a legacy as the Minister of the Environment that I’m the one who would have been putting this forward in the parliament and having single-use plastic bags being banned. And that is going to be very, very high on my agenda,” he said.

Minister Evelyn’s comments came as the nation joins countries around the globe in observing Plastic-Free July.

Another significant issue Minister Evelyn wishes to address is sand-mining from beaches. He says among other effects, this would have a negative impact on the tourism industry.

 “We must realize that the more sand that we mine from the beaches, the more damage we do to the beaches, the more damage we do to the environment. We must realize that St. Kitts and Nevis is a tourist destination and we must have our destination as pristine as possible,” he said. “And having that destination as pristine as possible would also mean having good nice sandy beaches and sand-mining is not going to do any good to our beaches. So that is something I would like to have high on the agenda as well.”

Minister Evelyn is responsible for Environment and Cooperatives in the Federal Parliament.

He and other members of National Assembly took their oats or affirmation during the opening ceremony on Wednesday.