Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 18, 2020 (Press Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister): Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris spoke today, Monday, May 18th, 2020, with the United States National Security Adviser, Ambassador Robert C. O’Brien, who phoned from the White House Situation Room. The National Security Adviser commended the Prime Minister’s leadership and St. Kitts and Nevis’ proactive response and engagement during the coronavirus pandemic, which have led to positive bilateral developments.
Ambassador O’Brien, who serves as the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, also pledged the U.S. Government’s commitment to supporting the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis in its fight against COVID-19.
This evening, the National Security Adviser announced the following on the official Twitter page of the White House National Security Council (@WHNSC): “Great conversation today with our friend & partner, @pmharriskn of St. Kitts and Nevis. @POTUS is sending ventilators as a sign of our appreciation of our key partnership. We’re grateful for the Prime Minister’s leadership in the global response to #COVID19.”
Top-level discussions between the two Governments have focused recently on API Harowe (St. Kitts) Ltd., whose trade name is American Precision Industries. API Harowe Inc. designs and manufactures components for industrial, medical, military and commercial aerospace applications.
Notably, the work of employees at API Harowe (St. Kitts) Ltd. supports the production of ventilators. In recent weeks, the White House reached out to Government Headquarters to make an appeal for this important work to continue unabated during the State of Emergency in St. Kitts and Nevis, which was put into effect on March 28th, resulting in the operationalization of the Emergency Powers (COVID-19) Regulations, 2020.
Employees of API Harowe (St. Kitts) Ltd. have continued working while complying with protocols based on the advice of health experts and other professionals at the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC).
“More than ever, we see we are in this together – and that, of course, had been reflected sharply in the context of St. Kitts and Nevis, when persons in the Situation Room in the White House in Washington, D.C. would reach out to my Government for a conversation regarding API Harowe Servo Ltd. on how this small island state could come to assistance [in respect] of the demand for ventilators and other products within the United States and the globe,” the Prime Minister said Saturday on WINN (98.9) FM’s Inside the News.
“The smallest country in the hemisphere took on global, geopolitical importance,” Prime Minister Harris also said, while noting that “products of international standard and quality, which are in high demand” are being produced locally by workers who are “the unsung heroes.” “It is the quality of their work, which led – in a moment of its greatest need – the United States of America to give recognition to St. Kitts and Nevis and its small, though important, manufacturing industry,” the Prime Minister added.