Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 22, 2021 (SKNIS): Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine Resources, Ron Dublin-Collins, showed his appreciation to farmers, fisherfolk, and agro-processors on April 21 during the virtual forum series ‘Leadership Matters’ hosted by Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris.
Mr. Dublin-Collins said, “I want to commend our farmers, our fishers, our agro-processors, for the tremendous work that they are doing to ensure that we can produce even at the level that we are at right now.”
“For those who are partnering with the Ministry and Department to improve production, we understand that the challenges are many; we have begun the process of addressing them,” he said. “We assure you that we will continue to work with you to address these challenges.”
“We see the realities of what is happening on the farm as we visit farm to farm and we realize the challenges with pests and every other area,” said Mr. Dublin-Collins.
“The Ministry assures you we will continue to raise our standard in terms of our service to you and for you with our extension services and the other inputs where the government can cushion the cost to make it easier for you,” he said.
“The work that you do is tremendous and there is no doubt about it. Officials who go out on the sea so often and risk their lives to ensure that we get fresh fish,” he said.
“From the reports that we received from our own lab here in terms of testing our foods, our food is safe, and it is of a high quality and we want to encourage people to support local,” said the permanent secretary.
“I want to commend all of you and to advise that we continue in this process of reform,” he said. “We believe together we can reform the agricultural sector and change the realities with our import bill and strengthen the financial position of our farmers, our fishers, and our agro-processors.”
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts– On Thursday 22nd April, the Eastern Caribbean Home Mortgage Bank (Trading as ECHMB Capital) begins celebrating 25 years of success. With an initial remit to establish the secondary mortgage market in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (“ECCU”), ECHMB Capital continues to make indelible contributions to
the development of the ECCU’s financial landscape.
ECHMB Capital has issued more than $1.95 billion investment grade corporate debt instruments, paid more than $170.00 million in interest and purchased in excess of $400.00 million in mortgages. The Bank has generated more than $84.76 million in Net Profit and has distributed dividends totaling $34.87 million. Initial investors in the
ECHMB Capital’s equity paid $100.00 per share. To date, the Bank’s cumulative dividend per share totaled $129.75.
As the premier indigenous wealth creating institution in ECCU, our sustainability agenda is founded on our aim to enhance financial inclusion and help citizens achieve their ambitions by fulfilling their financial services needs in a responsible and sustainable manner. The Bank enables our citizens, businesses and society in general to grow in a way that is sustainable in the long-term. We try to achieve this by make sure that our operations have benign impact of the ECCU’s ecological integrity. Our sustainability approach aims to balance social, economic and environmental risks and opportunities through the deliberate use of our products and services, collaboration and partnership, and by managing our own impact.
]]>BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, April 21, 2021 (MMS-SKN) — While production of sugar on a commercial basis ceased in St. Kitts in 2005 to provide greater opportunities for expansion in non-sugar agriculture, Prime Minister Dr the Hon Timothy Harris is pointing out the Covid-19 experience has solidified the realisation that the country needs to produce more of what people consume.
“Agriculture has seen a budding revival over the last several years,” said Prime Minister Harris. “The onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic has reminded us of the very important need to be able to feed ourselves.”
The Honourable Prime Minister made the remarks on Tuesday April 20 when he appeared on the popular Leadership Matters on ZIZ Television with four other panellists, where the topic of discussion was ‘agriculture and food security’, which he said was one of most important considerations for the country at this time.
Panellists with Prime Minister Harris on Leadership Matters were Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture et al, Mr Ron Collins; Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Tracy Challenger-Clarke; Technical Specialist, St. Kitts and Nevis IICA Delegation, Ms Sharon Jones; and a longstanding farmer, Mr Winston Morris.
According to the Prime Minister, the Covid-19 experience solidified the realisation that the country needs to produce more of what it consumes. After the Government became cognisant of the fears of the people it responded to protect the population against supply chain being negatively affected by ensuring that it systematically diversified source markets for food including poultry, meat and fish while it aggressively worked to near self-sufficiency in those staples.
“This is why as part of the stimulus package my Government allocated ten million dollars to boost agriculture and agricultural production,” said Dr Harris. “Building on the commitment made to expand our agricultural base, we in our 2021 budget, allocated $5 million to continue the stimulus programme for the agriculture sector.”
The concessions the Team Unity Administration delivered to the sector are bearing fruit as there has seen increased production, and interest in crops, livestock, poultry and fisheries. He pointed out that fisheries output recorded a 3.6 percent increase in 2020 after an 83 percent reduction in output in April 2020, which was a direct consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated curfews and lockdowns, which brought fisheries to a standstill.
“Over the past almost six years, my Administration has given much, and will further increase its support to the sector,” said Dr Harris. “Indeed the 2021 allocation of just over ten million dollars plus a further five million for the stimulus programme represents the largest budgetary allocation to the sector in a very long time.”
Prime Minister Harris said that he understood the vital importance of the sector to the country and economy, and also the challenges. He noted that he appreciated the vast potential of the agricultural sector to contribute to the country’s sustainable growth and development.
He however pointed out that for this to be achieved there must be a focused goal, and a cohesive strategy, and that way the country can produce more and better quality products for the population to consume domestically, and for export. He added that better quality foods lead to improvement in people’s health condition, which in turn should mean lower healthcare costs, as the population’s health is critical to the nation’s wealth.
According to Dr Harris, working together the farmers can create more jobs within the sector, wealth for the people and a source of foreign exchange for the country.
“Before concluding I must again encourage all farmers and fishers to get vaccinated,” said the Honourable Prime Minister. “Do it to minimise the risks of contracting Covid-19 or transmitting Covid-19 to anyone. Do it for yourselves, do it for your families and very importantly do it to put our country on a sustained path to recovery. Do it to facilitate our herd immunity target being realised, which in turn will lead to more business opportunities at our hotels and at other business places.”
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 15, 2021 (SKNIS): Director of the Department of Consumer Affairs, Paul Queeley, explained the role, functions, duties, and powers of the Department of Consumer Affairs during the popular radio and television show ‘Working for You’ on April 14.
He said the “Consumer Affairs Department was established to inform educate and to empower consumers to protect themselves when conducting transitions in the marketplace. We are the only agency with the responsibility of consumer advocacy within the Federation and in light of this, the department has been given the mandate of ensuring that the rights of consumers are defended and that a suitable and fair marketplace is maintained.”
“Since the inception of the department in 2002, the issue which dominated the scope of the work of the department was price control, which was geared at protecting the most vulnerable in our society hereby allowing them to purchase basic food items at reasonable prices,” he said. “With this aspect dominating the large portion of the workload, other issues relating to consumer protection was somewhat neglected.”
“With changes in the global economy, and the overall focus being diverted from price control to that of trade liberalisation coupled with the closure of the government supply office in 2013, the focus of the department has been adapted to current economic realities and the main responsibilities of the department now are engagement in market research, providing complaint resolution services, ensuring all businesses comply with the laws of the Consumer Protection Act of 2003, offering educational programmes to the public so that they may have the necessary information as to their rights as consumers, and monitoring government price control items such as the 23 categories of the food basket items and essential drugs,” said Director Queeley.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 15, 2021 (SKNIS): Minister of Tourism, the Honourable Lindsay Grant, explained during the Tourism Stakeholders Meeting on Wednesday 14 that his Ministry is doing everything in its power to direct traffic to the hotels to keep them afloat at this difficult time in history with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ministry of Tourism in its efforts to further increase traffic to the hotels within the Federation has “just recently embarked upon a 5-day getaway promotion for our stay-over visitors who would stay in the various hotels,” said Minister Grant.
He continued, “We know that coming up to this summer period over the last several years they have had the opportunity of being the beneficiaries of a St. Kitts Music Festival and the traffic that that brings.”
“Of course we are in a different space in 2021 and so we won’t have any St. Kitts Music Festival and for that we want you to make sure that we direct some traffic to the hotel industry,” he said.
“We have opened the booking window for that portion of the industry beginning April 1st, 2021 going to July 31st, 2021,” he added. “And that travel window for the bookings will give persons the opportunity to use the travel window from April 1 to September 5th, 2021.”
He said, “This has already been loaded on the St. Kitts destination website and so we are expecting some fruits of that labor.”
“We will continue our PR exercise in our primary source markets of the United Kingdom, USA, Canada, etc. to ensure that we keep our industry re-energized, and of course waiting for the brighter day which we expect to come very soon,” the Minister of Tourism said.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 09, 2021 (RSCNPF): The efficiency of the detectives at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in preparing documents necessary for court will be improved with the donation of two laptops from the Social Security Board (SSB).
Officials from the SSB made the presentation on Friday, April 09, 2021, during a brief handing over ceremony at Police Headquarters. Commissioner of Police Hilroy Brandy explained that, some months ago, he approached the SSB to request their assistance with the procurement of laptops for detectives in the CID. Last year, Commissioner Brandy was informed by the Director of Public Prosecution that paper committals would replace preliminary inquiries in court. Paper committals require that all evidence be tendered to the magistrate in the form of typed statements.
“So we deemed it fit that the criminal investigation department should be equipped with some laptops so it can make their work much easier. If I’m asking my officers to produce in a given time, I think they should be equipped with the necessary equipment so they can work,” Commissioner Brandy said.
The Commissioner expressed his gratitude for the kind gesture. He added that SSB’s donation during this difficult and financially challenging period demonstrated the institution’s strong commitment to assisting the Police with its crime fighting efforts.
“Crime fighting is not just for the Police. Crime fighting is for the entire country and I’m very happy that Social Security can come onboard and show their generosity by donating these two computers this morning. It is always [good] when you have corporate institutions and private citizens donating to the organization. That means they have the interest of the country at heart when it comes to crime fighting,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the SSB, Chief Financial Officer, Marilyn Johnson, disclosed that they have supported the Ministry of National Security over the years in tangible ways.
“While we focus on the financial security of our members, we do recognize that the physical security and safety of our citizens are very important to the sustainability of our economy on which Social Security thrives,” Ms. Johnson explained. “So in recognition of our desire to partner with you, and support you in what you do, we have made this donation of these two computers. We wish we could do more, but we will continue to support you as time goes along.”
“We recognize that computers and laptops are necessary tools these days for you to be effective and efficient in what you do and so, on behalf of the St. Christopher and Nevis Social Security Board, the Director, and senior management and staff, it gives me great pleasure to present to you these laptops, and we trust that they will help you in the execution of your duties in keeping our country safe,” said Ms. Johnson just before presenting the devices to the Commissioner.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 09, 2021 (SKNIS): Senior officials from the public sector and the private sector in St. Kitts and Nevis came together on Thursday (April 08, 2021) for an important dialogue on “The Nation’s Recovery from the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
The Federal Financial Secretary, Hilary Hazel, delivered welcome remarks at the event hosted at the Royal St. Kitts Hotel. She stated that the recipe for growth and recovery of the economy must include investments that will “help us to build forward, better.”
Mrs. Hazel noted that there are a number of investment gaps that existed before the COVID-19 pandemic that will need to be addressed to build resilience in the economy. To achieve this, several reforms were outlined.
“Some of the reforms that I speak of include building a nation of good corporate citizens; improving the business climate; looking at the education and health sector reforms; and labour market issues including pension reforms,” the financial secretary said. “Critical to the recovery as well, is how we will determine how best to use the investments made by the government to unlock even bigger investments in the national economy.”
Mrs Hazel added that the projected economic growth for 2021 was five percent.
“How do we achieve that?” she questioned. “Certainly, it cannot be public alone, and it cannot either be the private sector alone. We are in the same boat, and so we have to commit to working together.”
During the four hour meeting, the participants were updated on the latest local efforts to manage COVID-19, which included the Roll Up to Roll Out Vaccination Programme. The update was provided by the Ministry of Health.
Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr. The Honourable Timothy Harris also shared remarks and engaged in a frank dialogue with the “Captains of Industry” during the discussion.
Giselle Matthews, President of St. Kitts and Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce, noted that the membership remains committed to the national effort to rebuild the economy.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 09, 2021 (SKNIS): Giselle Matthews, President of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (CIC), made a clarion call for the private sector to educate their employees on the importance of being vaccinated as this is important for the successful management of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
“We need to direct the promotion and go straight to the source and I believe that it could be achieved with the right approach… It would assist us in the private sector in our own businesses and organizations in how we reach those employees, colleagues among us and become vaccinated,” said Mrs. Matthews at the government’s dialogue with the private sector on April 08, where the nation’s recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic was discussed. “Once information comes in, we can develop a programme that is relevant. No sense for us promoting something that is not reaching the people that we need to reach.”
Mrs. Matthews noted that the public and private sectors play a significant role in raising awareness, educating, and encouraging employees.
“The onus is on all of us private and public sector to work towards speaking to persons within our organizations and the Chamber is very supportive of the sensitization programmes taking place in some of the businesses right now,” she said.
The CIC President used the occasion to commend the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis on the progress of the vaccination programme.
“I would like to congratulate firstly, the government on the vaccination rollout programme and I think that is the most important thing we can think about right now,” she said. “That was the lifeline that we all wanted and spoke about. We all asked the Ministry of Health about when a vaccine comes. Well, a vaccine is here. The lifeline we needed is here and there is hope…”
She noted that there is positive news emanating from the vaccination programme. However, quite a lot of negativity have been circulating about people not vaccinating and the Chamber will “endorse working with the Ministry of Health” to reach those persons who need more public awareness.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 7th, 2021 (ZIZ News) The Fahies Agricultural Women Co-operative Society has partnered with Dollar Stretcher Supermarket in Sandy Point to make their locally made Fruit Lollies available for sale to the public.
The Fruit Lollies were first introduced to the public at the Department of Co-operatives Agro-Strip promotional event in November 2020.
Member of the Co-operative and crop farmer, Denise Gillard explained that the idea to manufacture Fruit Lollies stemmed from a need to offer a healthier alternative.
“They have these ice lolly inside the supermarket and they’re not nutritious because it’s just coloured water and sugar so we said why not do a fruit based lolly and put it into the supermarket which is much more nutritious because all that we add is like fruits, water and sugar.”
She also explained how the partnership with the Dollar Stretcher Supermarket came about.
“We went and we talked to the gentleman of the supermarket and then he told us okay I would try three flavours – 25 each, so we did that carry it and the feedback was very positive so he increased the quantity so at least we know that it’s a good thing to do.”
Gillard said that the Co-operative has plans to expand to other supermarkets.
“We are thinking of expanding but in the mean time because of where we do our agro-processing we don’t want to spread ourselves. We’re trying to get own building so at least we could do more. So at the moment we probably might look at two more supermarkets if all the members agree to that.”
In a press release The Department of Co-operatives commended the Fahie’s Women Co-operative for this initiative and “the quest to forge ahead despite the current challenges with the economy”.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 7, 2021 (SKNIS): Medical Chief of Staff at the JNF General Hospital, Dr. Cameron Wilkinson, says the Federation of St.Kitts and Nevis is aiming for a full reopening in October of 2021.
He said this on April 6 during the virtual forum series ‘Leadership Matters’ hosted by the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris
Dr. Wilkinson said, “The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis has done exceedingly well in the fight against COVID-19, and we are grateful that to date we have had no major hospitalisations nor deaths from the virus.”
“As you move towards the full reopening sometime in October, we can expect the virus to return and re-enter our communities,” he added.
“The difference now compared to the early days in the fight is that we have a vaccine available that can protect us,” he said. “We understand the hesitancy of some due in part by the misunderstanding or the misinformation.”
Dr. Wilkinson congratulated “the near 10,000 persons who stepped forward and did the right thing and got their first shot taking us to nearly 30% of the target population.”
He encouraged the population to continue to do the right thing outlining that the vaccine is free, highly efficacious and effective, a lifesaver, safe, and protective of those around you and the vulnerable.
He said also that the Federation needs 70-90% of the population to be vaccinated to protect the Federation’s health systems, keep the population financially strong, help to prevent fake news, and get back to normalcy in the quickest way possible.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 07, 2021 (SKNIS): Chief Executive Officer of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority, Racquel Brown, said that being vaccinated is necessary in order to open a doorway of opportunities within the tourism sector in St. Kitts & Nevis.
Ms. Brown, during her concluding remarks on the April 06 edition of Leadership Matters, noted that it is realistic for all to understand that stay over tourism and film are opportunities for the destination to be showcased.
“There is a range of opportunities, however, no matter what the opportunity is, we need to have the vaccination. That is the only way we are going to allow persons to come into the Federation and to remain safe,” said Ms. Brown. “We have to stop and think about the health of our nation. We also have to think about how we are going to rebuild tourism and rebuilding tourism has always started with the vaccination process because we have seen how difficult it has been over the last year.”
CEO Brown hailed the success of the vaccination programme since its rollout in February 2021, noting that St. Kitts and Nevis is progressing well.
“It is interesting that there are many Caribbean nations who would love to have the vaccination quotas that we have, and we may be refusing to take the vaccine whereas they are struggling, and they need vaccines. So, we are very blessed in St. Kitts and Nevis because for the past year we have had no deaths, no community spread,” she said.
She added that to get to the point of reopening, to earn a living, or to restart earning, vaccination is important.
“The vaccination process is going to help us as a nation to be healthy. It helps us to have a resistant population; it helps us to not have to worry about persons having to go to the hospital; it doesn’t place any stress on our health system and it allows us not having to deal with those issues to have a healthy society,” said Ms. Brown.
She encouraged persons who are having doubts to come forward and be educated on the importance of being vaccinated. She also encouraged them to think about their children and of tomorrow as the COVID-19 virus will be around for a very long time.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 1st, 2021 (ZIZ News) As part of its COVID19 response agenda, the executive and management team of TDC took another step towards educating its staff about the ongoing COVID19 vaccination programme.
On Thursday, Nutrition Surveillance Coordinator, in the Ministry of Health Latoya Matthew-Duncan, made a presentation to the staff at the TDC Training Room on Fort Street.
Immediately following the session, a Covid-19 Vaccination Clinic led by Nurse Williams-Campbell was held to administer the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.
The first dose was administered to Mr. Earle Kelly, Group Chairman, followed by senior managers and other staff who volunteered.
According to Mr. Kelly, “the COVID-19 vaccination program, like all similar programs in the past is very important to ensure the protection and long-term health and well-being of our staff, customers, and by extension their families.”
He added, “TDC continues to play our part in achieving the seventy percent (70%) target, in the short term, to return to normalcy and re-open the economy fully.”
A similar session is already being organized for the staff on Nevis.
]]>BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, March 30, 2021 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – The Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, has long maintained that the construction sector will be one of the key sectors that will help rebuild the economy of the twin island Federation post COVID-19.
And on Tuesday, March 30, the honourable prime minister saw evidence of this firsthand when he visited the Hillsboro Suites and Residences located at Mattingley Farm, Sunset Reef St. Kitts situated at Palmetto Point, Trinity, and the Royal St. Kitts Hotel where construction work is currently ongoing.
While addressing the media during his tour of Hillsboro Suites and Residences, Prime Minister Harris said he was particularly pleased with the number of young tradesmen employed during the construction phase of the project.
He said, “I was encouraged by the number of persons I saw on site today which means that real people are getting real jobs and real income, and this is part of what is happening. On the opening of this project…we expect to see again another set of persons in more permanent jobs beyond the construction.”
“There are quite a number of young persons here doing jobs in different areas, some doing contracting services, electrical services, plumbing etcetera, and this is what construction does, it creates a multiplier within the economy and our own economic data reflect that construction is the largest contributor of growth in the country and therefore we are always encouraged when we see residential development taking place,” the prime minister added.
Real estate developer and owner of Hillsboro Suites and Residences, Dr. Ken Ballantyne, told Prime Minister Harris and his delegation that, “We are trying to do the best we can to really develop and to present a good product to St. Kitts and Nevis and to show that it can be done if local people take the initiative. We have tried to employ as many people as we possibly can, and I’m happy that you noticed the number of young people that we’ve had here because we try to get the subcontractors to bring in as many young people so they could get an apprenticeship to jobs. As you mentioned electricians are here, plumbers are here, tilers are here, and carpenters.”
Owner of the Royal St. Kitts Hotel, Mr. John Zuliani, is taking a similar approach in the construction of a 3,600 square foot high-end villa project.
He noted that, “All of our contractors are local, so there are no foreigners here working just like our hotel operations. I grew up here, I love it here, we have great workers, great staff from the hotel side to our construction side. Even now during COVID we’ve been able to keep over 100 people employed which hasn’t been easy but as my father taught me it’s important to do our part, and right now when things are tough it’s time for all companies to do their part.”
Hillsboro Suites and Residences, Sunset Reef St. Kitts located at Palmetto Point, Trinity, and The Cove by Royal St. Kitts Hotel are all expected to be completed this year.
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