BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, July 14, 2021 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – As the fight to control and contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus in the Federation continues, Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris is calling on all sectors of society to continue to do their part to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of citizens and residents across St. Kitts and Nevis.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Team Unity-led Government has been doing all it can to keep its people safe through the implementation of restrictive measures and protocols and the provision of necessary assistance to those most impacted by the fallout from the pandemic through the introduction of targeted stimulus relief packages.

Prime Minister Harris, while speaking on the most recent edition of Leadership Matters on Tuesday, July 13, stated that while the Government is doing its part, it will not be successful in this fight against COVID-19 without the support of the people.

The prime minister said, “The reality is that no government, no matter how well staffed, well equipped or well financed, can by itself fully protect us. It must be a partnership. We the citizens and residents, along with our Government, have to continue demonstrating that sense of shared responsibility of which I often speak, and that we have exhibited in the past. My Government is doing its part. We need every citizen and resident to do his or her part in this continuing all-of-society approach.”

“The stimulus, the easing of restrictions, and the established COVID-19 protocols are testament to your government doing its part. It is for the institutions and businesses, large and small, to adopt and ensure that these protocols are continually and correctly complied with at their places of business. It is important for our citizens and residents to abide by these protocols. This is the tripartite effort, moving together to a common goal that will get us soonest to a new state of normalcy,” Dr. Harris added.

Within the last week, the Government introduced its second stimulus relief package which included an income support programme of $15 million to citizens who are unemployed and who have not worked from March 2020; the waiver of fees for small businesses renting from the Government; a further reduction of the VAT rate from 10% to five % for businesses utilizing private commercial space; a fuel subsidy of $400 monthly to be paid to passenger bus operators for the next three months; reinstatement of the annual import duty exemption for 16 tyres, four pairs of brake pads and three pairs of brake shoes over a six month period for passenger bus operators, and support for families with persons living with disabilities.

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 NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (July 14, 2021) — The public on Nevis can expect some sweeping changes when the Nevis Solid Waste Management Authority Bill 2021 takes effect shortly.

The Bill which repeals and replaces the 19-year-old existing Nevis Solid Waste Management Authority Ordinance Cap. 3.03 legislation was passed at a sitting of the Nevis Island Assembly on July 13, 2021. It addresses issues including the unauthorised disposal of solid waste; the prohibition on the importation of waste, the appointment of litter wardens, and the management of vacant land.

Hon. Hazel Brandy-Williams, Junior Minister of Health, who tabled the Bill, noted that under Section 28 of Part 1V – Waste Management Licences and Permits – dealing with the Unauthorised disposal of solid waste, no one should deposit or knowingly cause to be deposited solid waste in or on any waste land, beach, foreshore, marine waters, rivers or river banks.

Any person who contravenes Section 28 shall be liable upon summary conviction. If the person liable is an individual, they will be subject to a fine of not less than $25,000 but not exceeding $50,000 or imprisonment for a term of not less than six months but not exceeding two years or both.

 If the offender is a company, it will face a fine of not less than $250,000 but not exceeding $400,000 or imprisonment for a term not less than two years but not exceeding four years or both fine and imprisonment.

 Under Section 32 of Part V – Waste Management Operations – dealing with the Prohibition on the importation of waste, no person shall import any waste other than what is provided for in subsection (1) including waste generated by aircraft landing on the island and also in manufacturing.

 Any person who imports any hazardous waste contrary to subsection (1) commits an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than $650,000 but not exceeding $800,000 or imprisonment for a term of five years or both;

 On conviction on indictment, the offender would be subject to a fine of not less than $1million but not exceeding $2million or imprisonment for a term of seven years or both.

 Any person who imports any waste, other than hazardous waste, in contravention of section (1) commits an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than $85,000 but not exceeding $150,000 or imprisonment for a term of two years and six months or both.

 On conviction on indictment, a fine of not less than $250,000 but not exceeding $350,000 or imprisonment for a term of four years or both would also be imposed on the offender.

 Also, under Part V in Section 40 which speaks to Derelict vehicles etc. in subsection (1), a person who owns a derelict vehicle, white goods or other scrap metal shall take such vehicle, goods or scrap metal to an approved landfill site or another site approved for the purpose of managing such vehicles, goods or scrap metal.

 According to subsection (2), the Authority or an authorised officer may order a person referred to subsection (1) to remove such vehicle within seven days by issuing an enforcement order.

 Where a person who owns a vehicle referred to in subsection (2)   cannot be identified, the Authority or authorised officer shall affix the enforcement order on the vehicle that is required to be removed and if on the expiry of seven days such vehicle is not removed, the Authority or an authorised officer shall arrange for the removal of such vehicle and take it to a site referred to in subsection (1).

 All expenses incurred by the Authority related to the removal may be recovered from the owner or person in charge of the vehicle as a civil debt owing to the Authority at the Magistrate’s Court in Charlestown.

 In Part V11 – Litter Abatement – in Section 49 which speaks to the appointment of litter wardens, the following persons shall be ex-officio litter wardens:

 A member of the Board; the General Manager of the Solid Waste Management Authority; the Operations Manager; an Environmental Health Officer and a member of the police force. The Minister may by instrument in writing appoint other persons to be litter wardens.

 The litter wardens will be responsible for preventing contravention, ensuring enforcement, and assisting generally in administrating any provision of Part V11.

 Under Section 52 which deals with the cleanliness of vacant land, according to subsection (1), any person who owns or is in charge of vacant land shall keep that land clean and free of overgrown grass, bush or trees, and shall not allow that land to be used as a place for the dumping of litter.

 A litter warden, according to subsection (2) may, in accordance with the provisions of Section 48 which deals with the prohibition on disposal of litter, can issue a litter removal order.

 When a litter removal order is issued and the offender fails to comply with the terms of the order, the litter warden may make arrangements for the cleaning of the vacant land and recover the expenses incurred in cleaning up the land as a civil debt owing to the Nevis Solid Waste Management Authority in the Magistrate’s Court in Charlestown.

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NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (July 14, 2021) – – Deputy Premier Hon. Alexis Jeffers, Minister responsible for Housing in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA), has announced the imminent construction of almost 100 new affordable homes as the Nevis government resumes its housing solution program.

In a Ministerial statement made during the July 13, 2021, sitting of the Nevis Island Assembly, Hon. Jeffers revealed that the NIA, through the Nevis Housing and Land Development Corporation (NHLDC), is about to roll out several housing projects across the island over the coming months.

“The Hamilton project that has been long in the making, we would have bought land from three different owners so that process of consolidating all of those lands up there under one title would have taken some time… We had some difficulty having that done, but that has been completed so we’re about to roll out. We’ll have a groundbreaking shortly. We will be constructing 14 houses up there at Hamilton on 3.09 acres of land.

“We’ve had some approvals by some of the various financial institutions so we are ready to go at Hamilton, so in short order we’ll see construction started there,” he said.

The government will be constructing 21 houses on 3.6 acres of land at Craddock Road, which will be named Mountain Crest Residences, in addition to nine houses on 1.89 acres of land in Rices, Gingerland.

Sixteen affordable homes will be constructed on 2.5 acres of land in Low Ground, which forms phase three of the Cherry Garden Housing Development.

The Housing Minister also informed that 38 houses will be built on 5.4 acres of land as phase three of the Cedar View Housing Development in Maddens.

He pointed out that lands had to be purchased at Low Ground, at Maddens, and Craddock Road as the NIA had no government lands available in those areas. He said plans are already in place to start construction on these projects in the immediate future.

“So that is what will be accomplished over the next couple of months. We have some approvals that we are working on and shortly we will start construction, assigning houses to contractors, sub-contractors, electricians, plumbers, painters and the like.

“As such the Nevis Housing and Land Development Corporation will be fulfilling its mandate to its people, that is, providing affordable housing to Nevisians.”

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Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 13, 2021 (SKNIS): The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis in its efforts to continue to protect its citizens against the COVID-19 has created bubble tours for the cruise passengers arriving from July 22 onwards.

This was stated by the Minister of Tourism, Honourable Lindsay Grant, during the Prime Minister’s Press Conference on July 8, 2021

“I would also like to indicate that when the passengers alight from the cruise vessel, they are going to go into bubble tours, and it means that they will not have direct contact with the citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis,”

“If they are going to tour at the Brimstone Hill, all the persons working at the Brimstone Hill would be vaccinated on that particular day that the ship and its passengers will go there,” said Minister Grant.

“So, they will leave from the ship to the designated transportation to Brimstone Hill in a bubble that means all the persons that they will come into contact with will be vaccinated; they will visit Brimstone Hill or whichever tour they visit, and they come back to the ship in the same bubble without being allowed to have contact with our citizens.”

“It, therefore, means that when they come off their ship on the 22^nd, you are not going to see them in the town of Basseterre and we are not going to allow that in the initial stages,” said Honourable Grant.

He said also that the world is in a pandemic, and it is the number one priority of the Team-Unity Administration to keep its citizens as safe as possible.

“Of course, we understand that this is a time that persons are hurting; we understand that taxi drivers and tour operators haven’t worked sufficiently over the last 15 months, and this is why we have taken the decision to entertain the ships but entertain them in a way that we can manage,” Minister Grant said.

“We are hopeful that persons will adhere to the protocols, the non-pharmaceutical protocols, and that we would have a safe start or restart to the cruise industry,” said the Minister of Tourism.

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Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 13, 2021 (SKNIS): Minister of Tourism, the Honourable Lindsay Grant, said that the Seabourn Odyssey and the Celebrity Millennium are scheduled to arrive in July 2021 during the Prime Minister’s Press Conference on July 8.

He said, “Since the pandemic hit in March of 2020, we have been working assiduously behind the scenes getting our stakeholders ready for the eventual day of the start of the cruise and so we have trained in excess of 5000 of our persons in the industry ensuring that the new protocols that are now in place will be followed when we open up our cruise industry.”

“As it stands at the moment, we are ready and able to accept the first cruise ship which would be Seabourn Odyssey on Thursday the 22^nd of July,” said Honourable Grant. “The Seabourn Odyssey will come every week thereafter and then we have the Celebrity Millennium which will come on July the 28^th.”

“When the Celebrity Millennium comes on July the 28^th, it will come every other week thereafter and I should also say that August looks or is looking pretty good as in fact we should have in August a number of ships including the Allure of the Seas, which is of the Royal Caribbean brand which is a huge ship,” said Minister Grant.

“We are basically beginning the phase of allowing ships in and I must tell you though that as far as we are aware, the ships that would come that is the Seabourn Odyssey and the Celebrity Millennium, will come with fully vaccinated crew and passengers,” he added.  “This means that we are expecting the crew onboard to be 98% vaccinated and the passengers to be 95% vaccinated.”

The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis has removed the 24-hour curfew that was in place from the 26^th of June to the 11^th of July and has now instituted a 9 pm to 5 am curfew for two weeks in the first instance.

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