BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, July 09, 2020 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) — The Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris-led Team Unity administration will look to build on the tremendous strides made in advancing the delivery of healthcare in St. Kitts and Nevis during its next five years in office.
In its first term, the coalition Government addressed a number of shortfalls in the health sector inherited from the former administration. This included extensive renovations to the JNF General Hospital and the Mary Charles Hospital, addition of an Oncology Unit at the JNF General Hospital, the construction of the Dr. Arthur W. Lake Mental Health Day Treatment Centre and increasing the fleet of ambulances on the island.
As part of its pledge to the people of St. Kitts and Nevis over the next five years, the Team Unity administration intends to invest even more in the delivery of healthcare, with the firm resolve to continue doing all in its power to meet the needs of the people.
“To do this, Team Unity will continue the build-out of the cardiac catheterization laboratory within the institution-based health service in order to address the high incidence of heart disease among our people. Catheterizations prevent the likelihood of blood clots that create heart attacks and thereby save lives. Given the high incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among our people, this laboratory service is a major development,” His Excellency the Governor General, Sir S. W. Tapley Seaton, said while presenting the Throne Speech at the opening of the new Parliamentary session on Wednesday, July 08.
The government has also committed to the construction of a new health centre in St. Peter’s and a modern general hospital that will significantly elevate the provision of health services and treatment for patients.
As outlined in the Throne Speech, the St. Kitts and Nevis Government will also “renovate and repair the property at Fortlands, Basseterre, earmarked as the new home of the Spectrum Centre in order to treat our nation’s children and young adults who have been diagnosed with autism [and] finalise the build-out of the National Health Insurance (NHI) in order to provide medical coverage to all, regardless of socio-economic status.”
Just two weeks ago on Thursday, June 25, the government commissioned the brand new Sylvia Garnette Primary Health Care Facility at Station Street, Tabernacle where improved health services are now offered to residents of that village and surrounding communities.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 08, 2020 (SKNIS): The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis will undertake several constitutional reform measures over the next five years. The reforms are designed to strengthen the electoral process and enhance democratic systems.
The revisions were highlighted by Governor-General His Excellency Sir S. W. Tapley Seaton during the first sitting of the National Assembly of St. Kitts and Nevis since the June 05 general elections. The parliamentary sitting was held at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort on Wednesday, July 08, 2020. This venue offered adequate spacing for social and physical distancing to occur as outlined in the current COVID-19 regulations.
“Constitutional reform that is inclusive of electoral reform inclusive of a mandated residency requirement for voter eligibility” was one area highlighted by Sir Tapley as he delivered the Throne Speech, outlining government’s priorities for the next term in office.
“This will be the subject of national consultation in order to arrive at a consensus position,” Sir Tapley indicated.
Consultation with stakeholders has become a staple of the government’s approach to policymaking.
Other priorities include: enacting legislation limiting the tenure of the prime minister to two consecutive terms; revising electoral boundaries to reflect demographic shifts in the local population; reviewing the constitutional arrangement between the Federal Government and the Nevis Island Administration; and establishing a tender’s board to further enhance transparency in the awarding of contracts; as well as completely operationalizing of the Integrity in Public Life Act.
]]>BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, July 08, 2020 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – The second term Team Unity Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has pledged to continue its build out of a more diversified economy – one that is resilient to external shocks which can result from catastrophes such as Category 5 Hurricanes, other major weather phenomena, as well as epidemics and pandemics.
This was outlined in the Throne Speech of the second term of the Team Unity Government delivered by His Excellency the Governor General, Sir S. W. Tapley Seaton G.C.M.G., C.V.O., Q.C., J.P., L.L.D., at the opening of the new Parliamentary session today, Wednesday, July 08, 2020 at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort Ballroom.
The Throne Speech summarized the Team Unity Government’s approach to governance, growth and development over the next five years.
“COVID-19 is “teaching all countries the imperative of economic diversification and investment in new and emerging drivers while strengthening traditional sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, the digital economy, and financial services. As such, in this new term my Government will set out to continue to build out the digital economy needed to power investment and diversification in all sectors of the economy. This will be facilitated by investment partnerships to advance research and development in the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) industry,” the Throne Speech read.
The Team Unity Government also intends to actively attract and recruit high end manufacturing operators to the Federation, while creating new jobs for the labour force.
Additionally, as it looks to strengthen the St. Kitts and Nevis economy, the government will facilitate new trade agreements with emerging markets such as India, Brazil and South Africa, in order to promote exports and attract new investments from these jurisdictions.
It was also outlined in the highly anticipated Throne Speech that the Team Unity administration will “pursue the development of a small business rescue fund in order to assist businesses with resilience and recovery in the face of a disaster that interrupts business/economic activity in the country” and “make more lands available for agricultural production, some of which have been earmarked to come from acreage already redeemed from the Land-for-Debt Swap.”
The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis, on several occasions, has reaffirmed its commitment to invest additional resources into developing the agricultural sector in its second term.
This thrust was again reiterated in the Throne Speech, which stated that the Team Unity administration will “aggressively promote and facilitate local investment in agriculture and related technology in order to boost food security, agro and meat processing, reduce our food import bills, export produce to neighbouring islands and conserve foreign currency reserves.”
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