St. Kitts and Nevis Labour Administration Launching People Employment Programme on Friday

Basseterre, St. Kitts (December 19, 2012) – The Labour Party Administration has announced that the National Skills Training Programme (NSTP) will, on Friday, launch a People Employment Programme (PEP), which will see the creation of 1,000 jobs in the local economy. According to official information, the NSTP will receive funding from the St. Kitts and Nevis Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation (SIDF) to make PEP possible.

The NSTP has disclosed that the objective of PEP is, “to empower citizens of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis through enhanced skills, entrepreneurial capacity and capabilities which foster greater independent decision-making in order to be active participants to contribute to productive socio-economic development while reducing incidences of gender-based poverty and social imbalances.”

According to SIDF CEO Terrence Crossman, he said the SIDF is pleased that it could provide support for the initiative. “The main objective of the SIDF in this initiative is to reduce the rate of unemployment and to empower Nationals to earn a living by providing skills training, opportunities for work experience, and funding for the development of small enterprises.”

PEP will feature six areas of focus. The SIDF has already allocated five and a half million dollars for three of those focus areas:

1. EC$500,000 for Women in Small Enterprises (WISE);
2. EC$4 million for Engaging Qualified Interns Project (EQuIP) and;
3. EC$1 million for Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (STED)

Funding for the remaining three focus areas is yet to be determined:

4. Women in Construction Trades (WICT);
5. Agro-Enterprise Training and Management (ATM) and;
6. National Infrastructure Improvement Project (NIIP)

The NSTP has disclosed that the launch of PEP will take place on Friday on Bank Street in Basseterre with a full day exposition soliciting applications. An opening ceremony is scheduled to take place between 10:00 and 10:30am however the full day exposition will run from 10:00am to 5:00pm. In addition to completing application forms at the exposition, persons interested in participating in the programme will be able to apply online at www.sknpep.com.