CHARLESTOWN, Nevis — John Hanley, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism has appealed to the public to stop stealing stones from the heritage sites on Nevis.

Hanley made the request during a recent visit to Fort Charles as the designated heritage site is undergoing upgrade work by the ministry’s Heritage Team, led by Sylvester Meade, Heritage Site Manager.

“Ideally, I would like us to have some expertise on the island to help us to rebuild the stone walls,” explained Hanley. “Speaking of the stone walls, I want to discourage persons from continuing the practice of stealing the heritage stones, the historical stones from the site. On some of our sites so many stones have been taken that the historic walls have been collapsing.

“The ministry has decided to fence some of these sites to add a measure of security,” he said. “If these sites are secured, we will be able to move forward and get relevant expertise. National and regional expertise will help us restore the walls, because restoring the walls is not simply about coming in and putting in Portland Cement in the walls. We have to restore it, so that it is historically correct using the lime and mortar that was used back in the day.”

Meantime, in relation to restoration work on the coastal side of Fort Charles, Hanley explained that it is being addressed in collaboration with the Ministry of Communication and Works.

“Anyone you who is familiar with the Fort Charles area knows that we have a severe coastal erosion problem,” he said. “At present, the cliffs have eroded until they are actually under the sea walls of the fort and some of them have collapsed into the sea.

“We have been working with the Ministry of Communications and Works and have plans afoot to do some reclamation and stabilization of the coast in this area,” said Hanley. “It will take a while, and it’s going to take a considerable amount of money. We have begun the process and have to discuss how to do this very important work,”

The Ministry of Tourism is in the process of upgrading the seven heritage sites. It is responsible for the upkeep of Cottle Church, Bath Hotel, New River Estate, Eden Brown, Fort Charles, Fothergills Heritage Village and Saddle Hill.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — “In the past, Bayford’s Livestock Centre had lots of livestock and was used as a place to travel for picnics and field trips,” explained Director of Agriculture, Melvin James. “Over time it dwindled until it was almost closed.”

James explained plans that call for Bayford’s to be revived into Centre of Excellence by turning it into a breeding farm.

“We are promoting the idea that instead of farmers having to worry about raising young weaners, and babies, they can purchase them at Bayford’s,” he said. “We are thinking in terms of sheep, goats, pigs and cattle; especially beef cattle.”

James said that most of the cattle on St. Kitts came from milk stock, whereas the cattle in Nevis were from beef stock.

“Now the idea is for us to switch over, and both islands will use meat animals because we have stopped milking cattle for a while,” said James. “Part of the plan to revive Bayford’s includes rehabilitating the pastures.

“Many of them have shrubs and trees which have to be removed,” he said. “You re-establish the pastures, use improved grass, and host and stock a number of high performing sheep and also cattle so that farmers can come. If they want 10 young ones they can purchase them and rear them up to the point that they should be slaughtered.

“Farmers should move away from keeping animals for more than eight- to 10-years because they are aesthetically pleasing,” explained James. “We want to encourage a business concept in our farmers. A pig should be slaughtered within eight months.”

James noted that as the Ministry suggests new concepts to farmers. Farmers will realise that Bayford’s will play a pivotal role in reducing their stress in caring for young animals. Hopefully reviving Bayford’s will make it more profitable for them to be in business.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — Black History Month is celebrated in February as a time to reflect upon the struggles of enslaved Africans and those who have benefited greatly from their exploitation.

Speaking at the Black History Month Panel Discussion hosted by St. Kitts and Nevis’ Reparations Committee on February 22, Dr. Ahmed Reid, Associate Professor of Caribbean History at the City University of New York, said that today. Britain continues to benefit from slavery.

Dr. Reid referenced a tweet sent out by Her Majesty’s Treasury on February 9, 2018, which revealed that “In February 2015, the British Government completed repaying a £20 million loan that it borrowed to compensate enslavers so that they would agree to the emancipation of the enslaved people in 1834.”

“Positioned as ‘Did you know,’ the tweet claimed that in 1833, Britain used 20 million pounds, 40 percent of its national debt to buy freedom for all slaves in the empire,” said Dr. Reid.

Dr. Reid continued quoting Her Majesty’s Treasury saying that, “The amount of money borrowed for the Slavery-Abolition Act was so large that it wasn’t paid off until 2015, which means that living British citizens helped pay to end the slave trade.

“Apart from its self-congratulatory tone, the tweet is troubling and distasteful on many levels,” said Dr. Reid. “First, there is a shocking revelation that taxpayers in Britain, including hundreds of thousands of Caribbean nationals, whose ancestors were enslaved by the British and whose labour helped to build Britain, helped to pay the interest payments on the loan that paid the socially and politically connected enslavers.

“”The tweet shows the intergenerational link with slavery saying,” he said. “This tweet is evidence of an incontrovertible truth that the descendants of enslavers continue to benefit today from slavery.

“According to a report in the British newspaper, ‘The Guardian,’ most of the bonds are owned by small investors. Of 11,200 holders, 7,700 invested, all less than 1,000 nominal and 92 percent of holders owned less than £10,000 each.”

“Britain and those who invested in slave-abolition bonds continue to benefit today,” concluded Dr. Reid.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — St. Kitts Water Services Department (WSD) is installing new distribution pipes throughout Sandy Point as part and parcel of upgrading the island’s water distribution system.

“The St. Kitts Water Services Department undertook this project in tandem with the Island Main Road Rehabilitation Project,” explained WSD Assistant Water Engineer Charles Parris. “It was the opportune time to engage in this pipe laying project as a number of lines were corroded.

“It involves laying about 10,000-feet of six-inch ductile iron water distribution lines,” said Parris. “They will service the entire town of Sandy Point. Thus far, we have completed about 3,500-feet of pipe. The project is about 30 percent complete.

“The project is expected to be completed in about six- to eight-weeks, which will take us down to the middle to the end of April.

“In that six- to eight-weeks, we will included factors we cannot control, such as rain, other utilities, and other things that may throw off our timing,” said Parris. “These things were considered in that timeline, however, our intention is to get it done as quickly as possible, so that we do not continue to inconvenience road users and the public here in Sandy Point,

“On a daily basis, the water supply will be interrupted to facilitate this work,” said Parris. “The lines were laid before, unfortunately, a number of valves we need in the system aren’t there, so we cannot isolate them as we would like to.

“We will be installing a number of valves that will allow us to isolate areas without inconveniencing the entire Sandy Point area,” he said. “What we are doing now is interrupting the supply from the tank.

“In an effort to execute the work as fast as possible to get out of this situation, we have a dedicated team which works extremely well, extremely fast and throughout the week and on weekends.”

Parris congratulated staff members working on the project for carrying out their tasks exceptionally well.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — The High Commission of India is pleased to announce the availability of several online short-term courses including Solar Energy Technologies, Big Data Analytics, Finance for non-Finance Background and International Programs on Management Systems.

Interested persons are asked to apply online via https://itecgoi.in/e-itec. Applications must be submitted four days prior to the start of the courses. The earliest course commences on March 01, 2021. More information can be found via the above online portal.

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