Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 19, 2021 (SKNIS): Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine Resources, Ron Collins, said that the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has delivered well to farmers and fisherfolk, and will continue to support them under the Farmers and Fisherfolk Assistance Programme.
“Farmers and Fishers have benefited greatly from the stimulus package provided by the government in 2020,” said Mr. Collins during remarks on the development of the agricultural and fisheries sectors on February 19.
Mr. Collins said that the 2020 stimulus package aided farmers and fishers by greatly reducing prices on seeds, feed, and seedlings. He said that the government also made available land, wire, and other building materials.
“The Government has provided support by assigning STEP workers to farmers and fishers to enhance their operations, land preparations, provision of chemical and fertilizers—repair of paddocks has also been contributed,” he said.
The permanent secretary also highlighted the work of the Livestock Unit at the Department of Agriculture saying that the Unit adequately provided free treatment and Bayticol to control and arrest the Dermatophilosis that decimated the livestock within the Federation.
Additionally, he said, “Our Assistance Programme, made possible by the Federal Government, has made available funds to support the activities in helping farmers overcome some of the challenges they face,” while adding that the Federal Government made a further injection of an additional three million dollars for the year 2021 that he says, “will serve to ensure that the target of increased production and decreased import bill is achieved.”
“The opportunities in agriculture have increased because of the assistance provided,” Mr. Collins said. “Many of our farmers and fishers can speak to our commitment to helping them in their various farming and fishing endeavours.”
]]>BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, January 01, 2021 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris said that his Team Unity administration will continue to make the necessary investments that will build on the already strong relationship that now exists between the Federal Government and the Nevis Island Administration (NIA).
One such measure will be improving the functioning of the Federal Office in Nevis to better serve the people living on the sister island.
“We have advanced the bond between the Federal Government and the Nevis Island Administration, and more importantly the people to people contact between Kittitians and Nevisians is at the highest and best level in history,” Prime Minister Harris said in his 2021 New Year’s Day Address.
The prime minister added, “A Federal Office that is courteous, efficient, and effective, will allow more to be done. It will allow and enhance access to my office by our citizens and residents on both sides of the channel and relieve Nevisians of the inconvenience of having to travel to Basseterre to consult with their Prime Minister.”
The honourable prime minister pointed to the historic and unprecedented support of the federal government to the NIA, evidenced by the substantial direct budgetary allocation of more than $220 million since 2015.
“Funding for projects on Nevis is now commonplace,” Prime Minister Harris said. “We have given support for law enforcement: a brand new Police Station and Fire Hall at Newcastle, and installation of CCTV. We have also provided assistance in the following critical areas: the fight against COVID-19, the construction of Technical and Vocational spaces at high schools in Nevis, the payment of economic costs for students from Nevis, joint procurement of pharmaceuticals, and for the operation of STEP in Nevis.”
The Federal Government’s support to Nevis over the last five years also includes the construction of the new diagnostic wing at the Alexandra Hospital, the Mundo Track and the new Nevis Treasury Building.
Prime Minister Harris said his Government will continue to do all it can for all citizens and residents, adding that, “From time to time we must remind ourselves that this is one state, one Federal government to serve all the people of the State.”
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 02, 2020 (SKNIS): Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, announced that the government continues to move forward with its plans to regularize and transition the Skills Training Empowerment Programme (STEP) Workers to Government Auxiliary Employees (GAEs).
“The government is moving forward with plans for the regularization and transition of the Skills STEP workers to Government Auxiliary Employees (GAEs),” said Prime Minister Harris during his December 01, 2020, monthly press conference at the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Headquarters on December 01, 2020. “Following the June 05 General Elections, a STEP Regularization and Pensions Reform Committee was immediately established to chart the way forward and to make recommendations to ensure the promises which we made to these workers would be fulfilled.”
The committee made several recommendations which include a review exercise of the STEP workers to eliminate ghost workers. The performance evaluations conducted for each STEP worker assessed by their quality of work, job knowledge, productivity, communication and interpersonal skills, adaptability initiatives, dependability, service orientation, attitude and behaviour, and planning and organization.
“We are now satisfied that we can rely on the data. We have started discussions with the STEP workers about a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay. New hours of work have been provided and are to be strictly adhered to. Those who do not work will not be paid unless their absence was approved for a legitimate purpose such as illness,” said Prime Minister Harris. “We are working hard to elevate the level of respect, pride, discipline and industry among all STEP workers and it is important that we do so since being a small island state, our human resources are critical and vital. The values and positive attitude toward work are critical to the successful development of our young nation and the need to be complemented with a zeal for excellence in all that we do as a people.”
There are tremendous benefits that would be accrued to persons who transition into government from the STEP Programme. They would be eligible for appointment into the public service under the Government Auxiliary Employment Act and they will also benefit from greater job security and security of tenure consistent with the guidelines, terms and conditions of employment to be established in the Regulations of the GAE Act, 2020.
Additionally, the employees would also be eligible for several other benefits including enrollment in the government’s health insurance scheme and in the government’s contributory pension plan, as well as the Long Service Gratuity which is paid to workers who would have demitted office at age 62. When transitioned into government, the employees would be eligible to receive a lump-sum payment of life insurance which would be paid to their estate or beneficiaries upon their passing.
According to Prime Minister Harris, the STEP has approximately 3,072 employees assigned across the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis. Of this total 1,811 employees are assigned to the Public sectors both in St. Kitts and Nevis and 1,261 are assigned to the Private sector.
]]>BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, November 18, 2020 (S.T.E.P.) — The Skills Training Empowerment Programme (STEP) has introduced new guidelines for field workers attached to Community Enhancement Groups, which are geared towards streamlining the workers’ attendance with the sole aim of getting greater operational efficiency.
“This is a programme that should have been done from the beginning of the year, but due to coronavirus, and then we had an election and then we began to work on the regularisation of the STEP workers, the programme was delayed,” explained STEP Director, Mr Emile Greene.
According to Mr Greene, persons would have complained that the STEP workers in the field were not working or were working for a few hours but were still getting paid for hours that they are not in the field. The new guidelines will ensure that STEP gets greater operational efficiency of its field side.
“We can see it especially now we are in the rainy season there are many areas that are overgrown and we thought, with the approval and instruction of the government that we are going to introduce new measures and to enforce them,” said Mr Greene. “Our work day will now be 7:00 am to 2:00 in the afternoon. Previously, by 10 o’clock you cannot find any of the cleaning crew on the road. The come out a few hours and then they are gone home.”
Accompanied by STEP Field Operations Manager Mr William Phillip, STEP Senior Field Officer Mr Jason McKoy, STEP Field Officer Mr Leslie Connor, and STEP Verification Officer Mr Keith Warner, Mr Greene has been visiting the various Community Enhancement Groups in St. Kitts and updating the workers on the new measures. STEP Chief Field Officer in Nevis Mr Oscar Browne has been visiting the groups in Nevis.
The workers have been advised that STEP will enforce punctuality and the attendance requirements, and those persons who do not work and those who are consistently absent will be disciplined.
“We have said to them that they have to be early, and they have to come with their tools,” observed Mr Greene. “You cannot come to work and if you are somebody who is supposed to be doing raking or cutting grass using a machete, they come empty-handed – we will send them back home. We have also said to them that the practice of not working on Friday must stop immediately.”
Mr Greene reports that they have so far seen some improvement with some of the groups, but added that a lot more still needs to be done as the programme has just started. STEP is using the field officers to go out every day to verify that persons are turning up to work on time, and that they are staying on the job for the required time, while at the same time ensuring that the quantity and the quality of work done has improved.
“With the transformation in work hours, the transformation in quantity of work, and the transformation in the work done, I think over the next few months the people of St. Kitts and Nevis should be pleased with the work, as government is determined during these times that money spent must bring value to the country,” noted the STEP Director.
He concluded: “Covid-19 has changed many things in the way countries operate and here in St. Kitts and Nevis, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet they have indicated that the programme must – there is no if or no doubt – improve and there be value for money being spent.”
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, October 14th , 2020 (ZIZ News):
By: Chaïra Flanders
Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. Hon. Timothy Harris says persons who have been unfairly applying for and possibly receiving payments while working on the Skills Training Empowerment Programme, and receiving payments from the Poverty Alleviation Program as well as the COVID-19 Stimulus package will be thoroughly investigated in aims to ensure that the most needy are receiving the assistance.
Prime Minister Harris was at the time responding to the concerns of a caller on the October 13 edition of Leadership Matters on ZIZ.
During the call, the concerned citizen hinted that there were persons currently taking advantage of the three social safety net programs and requested that due diligence is taken to resolve the issue.
Dr. Harris revealed that the government is aware and is in the process of downsizing the list of persons receiving multiple payments.
“This is something that we are paying attention to and we began the process of rationalizing, of re-examining the list of beneficiaries on the PAP, on the STEP and the Stimulus package to see where there is any element of someone benefitting in circumstances where they ought not to and we will correct any matter that requires correcting. The idea is to ensure that the largest number of persons would benefit from these programs”, the Prime Minister stated.
He reminded listeners that those persons earning an income of over 3 thousand dollars do not qualify and should not be receiving payments under the Poverty Alleviation Program.
“If your income is under $3000.00 per month which is what we established as the threshold for the PAP, you can benefit under the PAP once you meet the criteria. Certainly if the STEP and the other things that you’re getting, income flows over the $3000.00 then you should not be on that program”, Dr. Harris explained.
He said a special unit has been tasked with the responsibility to make the necessary inquiries and conduct investigations to track multiple payments.
“The unit that deals with this matter, the statisticians etc are doing the necessary inquiries. They are liaising with other government departments and in due time we will have those lists appropriately downsized to reflect the fairness and that the most needy are the ones benefitting”, he said.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, October 14, 2020 (SKNIS): Chairman of the Skills Empowerment Training Programme (STEP) Regularization and Pensions Reform Committee, Levi Bradshaw, announced a phased approach to the regularization of STEP workers into the public service as Government Auxiliary Workers (GAEs).
“The regularization of the STEP workers would be undertaken on a phased basis commencing with those workers who are assigned to ministries and departments followed by those assigned to the Parks and Beaches. I am pleased to report that the STEP workers would enter the public service as Government Auxiliary Employees with an effective date of employment being the first day of July 2020 as mandated,” said Mr. Bradshaw on the October 13 edition of ‘Leadership Matters’, a virtual forum on ZIZ TV.
Mr. Bradshaw said that there are tremendous benefits that would be accrued to persons who transitioned into the Government service from the STEP Programme.
“These persons firstly would be eligible for appointment into the public service under the Government Auxiliary Employment Act and they will also benefit from greater job security and security of tenure consistent with the guidelines, terms and conditions of employment to be established in the Regulations of the GAE Act, 2020,” he said.
The employees would also be eligible for several other benefits including enrollment in the government’s health insurance scheme and in the government’s contributory pension plan, as well as the Long Service Gratuity which is paid to workers who would have demitted office at age 62. When transitioned into government, the employees would be eligible to receive a lump-sum payment of life insurance which would be paid to their estate or beneficiaries upon their passing.
During the coming weeks, STEP workers will be sensitized on the regularization and transition process of the sector.
Mr. Bradshaw, who is also the Accountant General within the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis, said that the relevant stakeholders are currently in the process of carrying out an exercise to authenticate and verify the accuracy of the records of the STEP employees who are to be assigned to various ministries. This, he said, is being done to ensure due diligence in the regularization process.
The committee has made several recommendations and as part of the process we have recommended that an employee performance evaluation must be conducted for each STEP worker to assess his or her quality of work, job knowledge, productivity, communication and interpersonal skills, adaptability initiatives, dependability, service orientation, attitude and behaviour and planning and organization,” he added. “The physical verification of STEP workers is geared towards the elimination of any possibility for the regularization and transition into the public sector of any ghost workers.”
Just over 3000 persons are employed on the STEP. According to Mr. Bradshaw, currently, approximately 1123 employees are assigned across the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis with approximately 1680 attached to the public sector. One hundred and eighty-nine (189) persons are attached to the public sector and an additional 170 assigned to the private sector in Nevis.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, October 14th , 2020 (ZIZ News):
By: Chaïra Flanders
There are many benefits that will soon be made accessible to persons transitioning from the Skills Training and Empowerment Program to the public sector under the Unity Administration’s STEP Regularization and Pensions Reform initiative.
These benefits were highlighted by Accountant General and Chair of the STEP Regularization and Pensions Reform Committee, Mr. Levi Bradshaw during Tuesday’s edition of Leadership Matters on ZIZ.
He said that these persons would be eligible for appointment into the public service under the Government Auxiliary Employees Act, (GAE Act) 2012 and went on to explain how these persons will now have access to the government’s health insurance plan.
“In addition, the eligible employees who would be regularized and transitioned as GAE’s would be enrolled in the government health insurance scheme. They would also be eligible for enrollment in the contributory pension plan and they would also be eligible for the long service gratuity which is paid to government GAE workers when they would have demitted office at age 62 under the Long Service Gratuity Act”, he stated.
The Accountant General also explained that these workers, once eligible, would receive life insurance when they are transitioned into government. This lump sum would be paid to their beneficiary or estate upon their passing.
Since the general elections of June 2020, the government of St. Kitts and Nevis, formed a STEP Regularization and Pensions Reform Committee to advance policy regarding STEP workers and Government Auxiliary Employees (GAE)’s.
The Regularization process means that all STEP Employees would see a change of status as they would now enter the Public Service as Government Auxiliary Workers (GAEs) with a new hire date of July 1 2020.
Mr. Bradshaw noted that over the coming weeks, the committee in collaboration with the STEP Secretariat will be hosting a series of meetings with the various STEP workers in the various ministries across the island to update them on the Regularization and transition process.
The Skills Training and Empowerment Programme currently has 1123 workers assigned across the federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
1680 persons are attached to the public sector and 1084 are assigned to the private sector in St. Kitts. While in Nevis, 189 STEP workers are assigned to the public sector and 170 workers are attached to the private sector.
]]>BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, October 8, 2020 (S.T.E.P.) — Chairman of the STEP Regularisation and Pensions Reform Committee, Mr Levi Bradshaw, has advised Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments to provide in their budget for 2021 resources to cater for STEP workers who will have transitioned into Government Auxiliary Employees (GAEs).
“Chairperson of our Public Relations and Public Awareness Subcommittee, PS Ron Dublin-Collins, and his team suggested that we meet immediately with the heads of departments and permanent secretaries so they can be aware of what is happening,” said Mr Bradshaw.
Chairman Bradshaw, who is also the Accountant General, observed that the meeting was important, “because when the STEP workers are ready to transition, which would have budgetary implications, you would have to provide in your budget for 2021 the necessary resources to ensure that these persons are paid their weekly wages.”
Mr Bradshaw made the remarks on Wednesday October 7 at a meeting with permanent secretaries and heads of government departments held at the Department of Agriculture Conference Room in LaGuerite which was organised by the Regularisation and Pensions Reform Committee. It was chaired by Chief Personnel Officer, Ms Sheridane Warner.
“The committee was charged with primarily delivering two mandates, 1) the operationalisation of the Contributory Pension Plan by the 1st of September this year and 2) the regularisation of STEP workers as Government Auxiliary Workers by the first day of July of this year,” said Mr Bradshaw. “By a Cabinet Submission, Number 153 of 2020, which was presented to the Cabinet on Monday the 7th of September this year, the Committee made some recommendations and some of our recommendations relate to the regularisation of the STEP workers.”
According to Mr Bradshaw, STEP workers are assigned to the various Federal Government ministries, departments and corporations and to the private sector in both islands in the Federation and his committee felt that the regularisation of those workers should be undertaken on a phased basis.
He told the meeting that the committee’s task now is to basically make a determination where they will go first and that the committee felt that it was easy to approach the exercise in a phased process by starting the process with those persons who are assigned to government ministries and departments.
“The committee further recommended that the transition of the STEP workers who would be entering the government service to enter the service as Government Auxiliary Employees, and they should enter the service as per the rates stipulated by the minister,” he pointed out.
He added: “The effective date of hire for those persons who are qualified to come across into the public service is the first day of July 2020, so the appointment would be retroactive to that date.”
In the meantime, Ministry of Legal Affairs Representative on the Committee, Mrs Nisharma Rattan-Mack, informed the permanent secretaries and the heads of government departments that the Government Auxiliary Employees Act No. 19 of 2012 is the legislation that will be guiding them as it relates to the STEP workers regularisation.
“It is very important that all permanent secretaries, all heads of departments familiarise yourselves with this piece of legislation, because this is the legislation that will be guiding the employment process for the STEP employees,” said Rattan-Mack. “So you won’t be using the Public Service Commission – those are not the rules that are going to apply to STEP workers.”
The meeting was also addressed by Chairperson of the Committee’s Public Relations and Public Awareness Subcommittee, Permanent Secretary Mr Ron Dublin-Collins, while Director of the Skills Training Empowerment Programme (STEP) Mr Emile Greene, who was accompanied by STEP Office Manager Mrs Agatha Caines, responded to some queries raised by the heads of departments.
]]>BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, October 08, 2020 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – Permanent Secretaries from the various Government ministries on St. Kitts convened an important meeting earlier today, Thursday, October 08, to discuss a number of matters that are critical to the overall functioning of the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis.
The meeting was held at the Ministry of Finance Conference Room and was chaired by Cabinet Secretary, Mrs. Josephine Huggins, with the support of the Chief Personnel Officer, Ms. Sheridane Warner.
There, the Permanent Secretaries were updated on the important issue pertaining to the regularization process for more than 3,000 employees of the Skills Empowerment Training Programme (STEP). This update was presented by Accountant General, Mr. Levi Bradshaw who heads the Government’s STEP Regularization and Pensions Reform Committee.
The senior level government officials also discussed and analyzed the Federation’s current COVID-19 situation, staff composition, disciplinary action and retirement age for civil servants.
Permanent Secretaries are the most senior civil servants who are responsible for supervising, promoting and disciplining civil servants and for providing timely advice to their respective Ministers of Government.
]]>BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, October 07, 2020 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis is forging ahead with its phased approach to regularizing the employment status of more than 4,000 employees of the Skills Empowerment Training Programme (STEP) and Government Auxiliary Workers (GAE) into the public service.
The process is being spearheaded by the STEP Regularization and Pensions Reform Committee, headed by Mr. Levi Bradshaw, Accountant General.
The Committee met today (Wednesday, October 07) with Permanent Secretaries and other senior level government officials at the Department of Agriculture Conference Room, where an update was given on the transitional process for these two categories of employees.
Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris stated on Tuesday (October 06) evening that Mr. Bradshaw will be the special guest on the next edition of Leadership Matters where further detailed information on the regularization of STEP and GAE workers will be provided.
The GAE, formerly called non-establishment workers, used to receive a payment called honorarium, which was paid at two percent of their accumulated salary per year. That payment was stopped in 2008 under the previous administration, with the understanding that the two percent would instead go into their pension account. However, the pension fund was never created.
Moreover, in February 2017, the Team Unity administration reorganized, restructured and repositioned STEP – formerly known as the People’s Employment Programme (PEP) – to ensure that the trainees receive genuine training, are imbued with the necessary work ethics, and give value for money.
]]>BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, September 15, 2020 (S.T.E.P.) — Chair of the St. Kitts Sustainable Destination Council (SDC), Mrs Diannille Taylor-Williams, is applauding the SOL Island Auto Conaree Football Club and its President Mr Delwayne Delaney who on Saturday September 12 mobilised members of the Conaree community in a successful community clean-up exercise.
“The Sustainable Destination Council and the Skills Training Empowerment Programme (STEP) have partnered with the Conaree Football Club with this clean-up day,” said Mrs Taylor-Williams, who is also the Assistant Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism.
According to Mrs Taylor-Williams the Conaree Community clean-up exercise, which is held annually around the Independence weekend, was timely as it coincided with Sustainable Destination Council’s ‘Keeping COVID out by cleaning up’ Community Clean Up campaign.
“This is an initiative that is spearheaded by the community rather than us going into the community and asking them to join us, so we were happy to be a part of the activity,” said Mrs Taylor-Williams. “We donated some gloves and some masks for the persons who are participating.”
Since the ‘Keeping COVID out by cleaning up’ Community Clean Up campaign started, members of the coalition that include St. Kitts Sustainable Destination Council, Department of Environment, Skills Training Empowerment Programme (STEP), Parks and Beaches Unit, Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) and the Ministry of Tourism would go out and collect garbage strewn all over the place.
She described the Conaree clean-up as a different initiative as community members had been mobilised by the Conaree Football Club to bring out their waste and to put it outside their yards, and all the clean-up team did was to pick it up and load it on two trucks that made several trips to the landfill.
“I would like to salute the Conaree Football Club, and Mr Delwayne Delaney in particular, for this initiative,” said Mrs Taylor-Williams. “It started four years ago and it has continued. Sometimes people start initiatives like these and they do not last. The fact that we are here today, this is the fourth year, is something that should be applauded and I really want to applaud him for his initiative. And he is not just organising and directing people, he is actively involved in the removal of the waste – so, kudos to him and his team.”
Mr Jason McKoy, STEP Senior Field Officer, said that he mobilised STEP Community Enhancement workers from Keys, Conaree, Needsmust and the National Heroes Park to join in the community clean-up in Conaree Village.
“In the absence of the Parks and Beaches Unit who were engaged elsewhere as a result of Independence celebration activities, Skills Training Empowerment Programme stepped forward and took on the mantle with the Conaree Football Club and the Conaree community,” said Mr McKoy.
The STEP official added: “I want to say congratulations to the Conaree Football Club and their President because this is their fourth clean-up campaign and I think it is a success, as he has coordinated the two trucks properly. I also want to congratulate the community for making our work easy by cooperating with us.”
President of SOL Island Auto Conaree Football Club, Mr Delwayne Delaney, said it was the fourth year in a row they were doing the clean-up and he thanked the St. Kitts Sustainable Destination Council and STEP workers who joined them this year and were very helpful.
“The numbers have increased tremendously and as the saying goes, plenty hands make work light, so we are definitely grateful for that,” said Mr Delaney. “We started our promotions about two weeks ago, where we decided to sensitise the general public as per usual, get waste and the stuff you need discard off to the front of your lawn and when we come around we lend a helping hand in showing that we get them on the trucks to take them to the landfill.”
Mr Delaney thanked two local entrepreneurs, KJ’s Trucking and Legacy Earthworks, who provided two trucks at no cost to the clean-up team. The two trucks helped carry the waste which included white goods, general household waste and green waste to the landfill, making several trips.
“I must say thank you to St. Kitts and Nevis Disposals (SKANDIS) as well because if you walk around at different points in the community there are dumpsters provided free of charge by SKANDIS,” observed Mr Delaney. “There are four dumpsters, one at Needsmust and three in Conaree Village. That again provides some ease for when there is dumping to be done, trash can be discarded in those dumpsters.”
]]>BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, August 31, 2020 (S.T.E.P.) — The second in a series of Community Clean Up activities held under the theme ‘Keeping Covid out by cleaning up’ took place on Saturday August 29, and the area of concentration was the Fort Thomas Hotel in West Basseterre.
The event, which was coordinated by the St. Kitts Sustainable Destination Council, saw stakeholders from Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC), Ministry of Tourism, Department of Environment, Skills Training Empowerment Programme (STEP), Parks and Beaches, and Volunteer Corps of the Department of Youth Empowerment take part in the noble exercise.
Skills Training Empowerment Programme (STEP) Senior Field Officer, Mr Jason McKoy, who coordinated STEP Community Enhancement Workers from West Basseterre as they worked alongside the other stakeholders, said he was happy with what they were able to accomplish.
“The Fort Thomas Hotel is of historical significance to our country, and it is sad that some of our people have turned the area into a second landfill,” lamented Mr McKoy. “I want to thank Mrs Diannille Taylor-Williams, the Chair of St. Kitts Sustainable Destination Council for ensuring that ‘Keeping Covid out by cleaning up’ is not an empty slogan. People have answered to the call to keep their country clean, and we are marching on.”
Mr McKoy also thanked Ms Shaline Welcome, Community Tourism Officer, who has been working hand in hand with Mrs Taylor-Williams in the campaign to keep the country clean. Mrs Diannille Taylor-Williams is the Assistant Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism.
The first Community Clean Up activity was held on Saturday August 15 and the areas of focus were the Basseterre Valley Aquifer, and around the fisheries complex in Basseterre.
The second Community clean up activity under the theme ‘Keeping Covid out by cleaning up’ at the Fort Thomas Hotel was supposed to have been held on Saturday August 22, but was put off as a result of the passage of Tropical Storm (later Hurricane) Laura.
“I am happy that my field officers, Mr Cleneiro McMahon and Mr Damien Weekes, were able to mobilise our community enhancement workers in West Basseterre and from the cleaning aspect of it we have done a pretty much good job,” said Mr McKoy. “We want to ensure that Fort Thomas Hotel does not go back to where it was. It will be maintained by the Parks and Beaches Unit and the STEP workers.”
The STEP Senior Field Officer noted that through the efforts of Mrs Diannille Taylor-Williams, a corporate citizen – Rock and Dirt Construction Ltd – provided a backhoe which assisted in removing littered garbage on the compound and placing it in the dumpsters provided by the Solid Waste Management Corporation.
“I am proud of our STEP Community Enhancement Workers as they have done a good job in a short time and for them to say they will come back to finish the work, that deserves great commendation,” said Mr McKoy. “I know they will work in collaboration with the Parks and Beaches Unit to keep this our historical place in its best shape possible.”
In the meantime, STEP Supervisor for the West Basseterre area Mr Dwight Hodge noted that there was plenty of work to do including cutting of the tall grass and bushes growing in the compound. The trash was later loaded onto a pickup owned by one of their contemporaries, Mr Joseph ‘Michael’ Howell, who took it to the landfill.
“My team is a happy team – all the time we take pride in keeping our country clean,” said Mr Hodge. “There was plenty of work for us to do, and as you can see we ain’t finish as there is still more to do. In this respect, my team will come back on Monday.”
The Community Clean Up campaign under the theme ‘Keeping Covid out by cleaning up’ moves to the Shadwell and College Street Ghaut areas of Central Basseterre on Saturday September 5. According to Mr Jason McKoy, STEP Community Enhancement workers to be involved in that exercise will be drawn from the Shadwell and Monkey Hill areas.
]]>BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, August 18, 2020 (S.T.E.P.) — Persons turned out in their numbers on Saturday August 15 to take part in the first Community Clean Up campaign held under the theme ‘Keeping Covid out by cleaning up’, and Director in the Department of Environment Ms June Hughes says the exercise provided stimulus for communities in cleaning their sites.
“I was extremely encouraged by the number of persons who came out to assist in cleaning the various sites, and I hope we can see this amount and maybe great numbers coming out to the other sites,” said Ms Hughes who took part in the exercise that covered areas of the New Town community that included the Basseterre Water Aquifer and the fisheries complex.
“Because we just provided a little stimulus for the communities in cleaning their sites, we want and are encouraging each other not to litter – not to throw waste where it does not belong,” said the Director. “So I am hopeful that maybe by the time we get to our last site the communities would have already cleaned it before, and we just go out to smile.”
The event which was planned and executed under the auspices of the St. Kitts Sustainable Destination Council, had stakeholders from the Ministry of Tourism, Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC), Skills Training Empowerment Programme (STEP), Public Works Department, Parks and Beaches, and Volunteer Corps of the Department of Youth Empowerment taking part in the clean-up.
With Ms Hughes from the Department of Environment for the clean-up were Mr Derionne Edmeade, Environment Education Officer; Ms Cheryl Jeffers, Conservation Officer; Ms Phynora Ible, Consultant on Conserving Biodiversity Project; and Mr Eavin Parry, Environment Scientist.
The Director in the Department of Environment said that they were happy to join hands with the other stakeholders and members of the New Town community to help in cleaning the sites around the Basseterre Valley Aquifer and the fisheries complex area which she noted were very dirty.
“I always knew what the problem was, so it wasn’t eye opening for me, but it was still extremely disheartening and extremely of concern that we cause this – this is from our actions,” observed Ms Hughes. “The paper does not fly there – the bottles do not fly there. We people actively litter for no reason because to carry waste to the landfill is extremely cheap. So we have no excuse for causing such great harm to our natural environment.”
The meantime, Mr Derionne Edmeade, Environment Education Officer, added that the idea behind the entire activity was to try and find ways in which they can not only clean up but at the same time sensitise persons of the impacts that their waste would have on the physical environment, whether marine or the forested areas.
“We are here in this joint collaborative effort to try to clean up eyesore areas within St. Kitts, and hopefully we could share this with our partner island Nevis,” said Mr Edmeade. “As we clean we are just encouraging persons and I am hoping that onlookers would realise that what they would have been engaged in, in term of littering, is not a positive action. It is not something that would encourage for example our tourists to come.”
According to the Environment Education Officer, they were hoping that as they continue “these efforts from today on, and onwards, that other persons and other groups would actually join in with this collaborative efforts for all of us to find ways in which we can help to beautify St. Kitts. It is the island that we love. We say ‘I love St. Kitts’, so we have to find ways to really bring out that love within the physical environment.”
]]>BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, July 21, 2020 (S.T.E.P.) — Director of the Skills Training Empowerment Programme (STEP), Mr Emile Greene, last week at the STEP office on Bay Road in Basseterre met and held fruitful discussions with St. Kitts-based STEP Field Officers to update them on the on-going regularisation process of the STEP workers.
“The meeting with the Field Officers was organised to bring them up to date with the work that has taken place so far with respect to the regularisation of the STEP workers,” said Mr Greene. The ten St. Kitts-based Field Officers participated in the meeting that was held on Thursday July 16, and also in attendance were STEP Field Operations Manager Mr William Phillip, and STEP Payroll Officer Ms Marjorie Jordan.
According to Mr Greene, the meeting was held in the wake of the announcement by Prime Minister and Minister of Human Resource Management, Dr the Hon Timothy Harris, at his press conference on Friday July 3 that all STEP workers would be regularised and their status changed to Government Auxiliary Employees (GAEs).
Field Officers play an important role in the day-to-day running of the STEP operations as they are the ones who deal directly with the supervisors, Community Enhancement Groups, and all the persons who are attached to private entities and Mr Greene felt it was an opportune time to bring the field side of the operations up to date with what is happening with the regularisation process.
“Also, going forward as we make concerted efforts to improve the field operations in terms of getting more output from our workers, we discussed a number of strategies – a number of ways that we can work together to bring about some meaningful changes,” observed Mr Greene. “The field operation right now is getting some work and so I feel that working as a team, not just from the office side but getting the input of the field officers it will be a better approach. We get more ideas – we can discuss different ways and means that we can bring about improvement.”
Another meeting with the STEP Field Officers will be held this week to finalise some of the matters that have been discussed by the STEP Regularisation and Pensions Reform Committee which was put in place to advance government’s policy regarding STEP workers and the Government Auxiliary Workers.
Mr Greene informed the Field Officers of three broad areas they stand to benefit directly. These were their being employees of the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis which gives them job security; after working with Government for at least six months they will be covered by the Government Health Insurance Scheme; and being Government workers they will have the opportunity to benefit from participating in the contributory pension scheme.
“It was just an information session where they will be informed and I indicated to them that it is a work in process, and so as the committee meets and as we plan and we meet, and more recommendations to the Prime Minister, it will all be done in their best interest,” observed Director Greene. “The whole idea is that nobody will be disadvantaged, and that the position of the workers who transition over to Government they will be in a better position than they were on the STEP.”
The STEP Regularisation and Pensions Reform Committee is chaired by Mr Levi Bradshaw, the Account General, with Mrs Carla Pike, a forensic auditor and Director of Audit, Ms Sheridane Warner, the Chief Personnel Officer, and Permanent Secretaries Ms Sharon Rattan, Mr Ron Collins, and Mr Andrew Skerritt, as members.
Other members of the Committee are Mrs Versilie Francis, representative of the Ministry Finance; Mrs Nisharma Rattan-Mack, Representative of the Legal Department; and Mr Emile Greene, Director of the Skills Training Empowerment Programme (STEP).
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, June 24, 2020 (SKNIS): Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, said that the benefits to the regularisation of S.T.E.P. (Skills Training Empowerment Programme) workers are that they would now be able to get job letters for the purposes of acquiring visas and to take to lending institutions, while also being included for pensionable consideration.
Dr. Harris announced this during the Leadership Matters virtual forum series on June 23.
The Prime Minister said, “Regularisation means that they will now become part of the permanent working staff or employee class of the Government.”
He highlighted that “this means then that when you go to the bank with a letter, saying that you are working on S.T.E.P, there is no need for the financial institution to say S.T.E.P. is not really a job or S.T.E.P. is for a finite time and we cannot rely upon that you have no status.”
“We are now giving you status, we now would be able to produce your job letters for you to take or to send off to the US embassy as evidence that you are at work.”
He also said that he and his team are in discussion with the National Insurance Company, which covers all government employees to ensure that those benefits in due time be made available to the S.T.E.P. workers.
Dr. Harris further reiterated that “there are significant benefits, perhaps the most important one is the security now that you have as an employee of the Government and for all the other rights and privileges of Government employees to be extended to you including consideration of pensionable benefits and as I said now, you can get job letters to take to lending institutions and also you can use them for purposes of visa.”
“We will have to insist that those who are on the S.T.E.P. programme are really performing, that you have to give a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay; we certainly will hold the supervisors accountable,” he said.
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