BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — Six years ago on February 16, 2015, the people of St. Kitts and Nevis spoke loud and clear, demanding a change in the governance of the twin island Federation. And on that day six years ago, the people voted for that change and in doing so gave the Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris-led Team Unity coalition its first mandate to deliver a brighter future for all Kittitians and Nevisians.

Prime Minister Harris, speaking at a ribbon cutting ceremony on the sixth anniversary of his Team Unity administration, profusely thanked the people for their support, and stated that his Government has not taken the people’s choice for granted as it has, over those years, endeavored to always put people first in all its decisions.

“Thank you for saying it was time for something new, thank you for saying no to the politics of division and thank you Rosaline and others for choosing the stronger and safer future. Yes, [the new Lodge/Ottley’s Community Center] is an example of the transformation that your vote has created across the length and breadth of St. Kitts and Nevis today,” Prime Minister Harris said.

The honourable prime minister told the gathering that all of the things the Team Unity Government has achieved to date, such as the refurbishment of the Mary Charles Hospital, the rehabilitation of the island main roads, the opening of an oncology unit at the JNF General Hospital and the construction of a second cruise pier, “were realized only because of your vote and I say thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

The Team Unity coalition is an amalgamation of three political parties: the People’s Action Movement, the People’s Labour Party, and the Nevis-based Concerned Citizens Movement.

Speaking on the Tuesday February 16 edition of Leadership Matters, Deputy Prime Minister and Political Leader of the People’s Action Movement, the Honourable Shawn Richards said the Team Unity administration is one that serves all the people of St. Kitts and Nevis, irrespective of their political affiliation.

The deputy prime minister added, “All of my Cabinet colleagues are steadfast in our vision and unswerving in our resolve to build a stronger, safer St. Kitts and Nevis. Six years after you first gave Team Unity an official mandate to move our nation forward, we are still, if not even more committed to the task you have entrusted to us.”

On June 05, 2020, the people of St. Kitts and Nevis gave the Team Unity administration an even greater mandate as the coalition recorded an even bigger victory at the polls by winning nine of the 11 contested seats.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — The government will continue to recognize the importance of investing in developing the skills and talents of young people in the Federation according to the Honourable Akilah Byron-Nisbett, Minister of Health, Information Technology, Talent Development, and Entrepreneurship.

“Our young people remain at the heart of our nation’s future and Team Unity will provide them with every opportunity so that they can succeed in their homeland,” said Hon. Byron-Nisbett.

Mrs. Byron-Nisbett said that young people require a lot of support and added that she will work to ensure that they receive the assistance needed for them to grow.

“I pledge to provide the technology needed for our young entrepreneurs to thrive,” said Mrs. Byron-Nisbett. “We will build that digital economy and we will build an economy that allows our young people to thrive, be it technology, innovation, music, arts; whatever it is we will make that commitment and we will do it together.”

Equally important, Mrs. Byron-Nisbett reminded everyone of some of the government’s successes to make lives better since assuming office in 2015.

“For six successful years, Team Unity has been delivering a better way for everyone in St. Kitts and Nevis,” she said. “We have created and continue to create new jobs, build better houses, and deliver safer streets. We have successfully brought Nevis and St. Kitts closer, tighter. We plan to make this relationship even stronger.

“Over six successful years, we have made our economy stronger while ensuring the healthcare of citizens during COVID-19,” concluded Mrs. Byron-Nisbett. “Team Unity will continue to work for you, building on what we have achieved and securing a stronger, safer future.”

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — Residents of Lodge-Ottley’s and the surrounding areas who have no internet at home now have the opportunity to digitally connect with the rest of the world, thanks to The Cable which has provided free Wi-Fi at the new community centre through the efforts of the company’s Chief Executive Officer Ms. Patricia Walters.

“I want to applaud her good social corporate responsibility,” said Prime Minister and Area Parliamentary Representative for St. Christopher Seven Dr. the Hon Timothy Harris as he delivered feature remarks at the opening ceremony of the multipurpose $3.2 million Lodge-Ottley’s Community Centre on Tuesday February 16.

“Making Wi-Fi publicly available fits well into our plans for the digitalisation of St Kitts and Nevis, making more if not all of our citizens and residents nimble with ICTs the driver of the modern economy,” observed Dr. Harris. “Our children and our residents without Wi-Fi in their homes now have access to broadband service right here.”

According to the Honourable Prime Minister, digital connectivity is critical these days as has been learnt during the challenging period of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that is why the new community centre includes free Wi-Fi connection.

“It means that Lodge-Ottley’s community will always be connected with our Island, and also with the region and the rest of the World,” pointed out Dr. Harris. “This is one of the first community centres to be outfitted with free Wi-Fi service thanks to the good heart and progressive mind of Patricia Walters, CEO of The Cable.”

Ms. Walters, who was accompanied by some of her company’s senior staff, was present at the opening ceremony of the community centre. Prime Minister Harris introduced her to the gathering and asked her to stand to be acknowledged.

He thanked her for making Wi-Fi available to everyone every day, 24/7, and told the gathering: “And you can log in now. Go into your settings and you will see the community centre there showcasing, you click and you are ready to go, all free of cost.”

Prime Minister Harris, the sponsor of Constituency Number Seven Domino League, the longest running in the country, informed the audience that it is the second occasion in which Ms. Patricia Walters has collaborated with him.

“I remember many years ago, when we launched our domino league, we were looking for a place where people could play dominos on a regular basis,” said Dr. Harris. “We wrote a letter to Lime/Cable and Wireless, and Pat Walters was the boss lady at the time. She came, she had a look at the site, she sat with me, Osmond Petty, and several others, and she said this is a good project, we will want to get ourselves involved with.”

“Few people know that that building which is now used as an exercise building, and as a library in Mansion was built and is really our domino clubhouse made available to us by Patricia Walters,” said Dr. Harris.

The opening ceremony was chaired by Dr Patrick Welcome. It also included the Minister of Social Development the Hon Eugene Hamilton; the Minister of ICT et al the Hon Akilah Byron-Nisbett; the Minister of Education the Hon Jonel Powell; Resident Ambassador of the Republic of China on Taiwan His Excellency Tom Lee; Deputy Speaker Senator the Hon. Dr. Bernicia Nisbett; and Ambassador His Excellency Kevin Williams.

Also present were: Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Social Development, Mrs. Janelle Lewis-Tafari, who delivered opening remarks; and Permanent Secretaries Osmond Petty of National Security, Mrs. Elreter Simpson-Browne of Sustainable Development; and Ron Collins of Agriculture.

After the ribbon-cutting, Hon. Harris, Cabinet Ministers, Ambassador Tom Lee, and other dignitaries were taken on a tour of the facility by Director in the Department of Community Development and Social Services Mrs. Osslyn Ward-Harris.

At one of the stops they witnessed schoolchildren doing their homework and had two laptops that were connected to the free Wi-Fi. They engaged the children with Minister of ICT et al the Hon Akilah Byron Nisbett taking keen interest in the work the schoolchildren were doing.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — The Team Unity Cabinet of Ministers met on Monday, February 15, at the Ministry of Finance Conference Room, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris. Several issues affecting the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis were deliberated on.
• The National COVID-19 Task Force gave its weekly briefing to the Cabinet where the usual update on statistics with respect to infections, recoveries, and deaths locally, regionally, and internationally was given. Apart from the customary update on statistics, mention was made of the 2000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that the Commonwealth of Dominica gave to the Federation as a gift. The Medical Chief of Staff made a special presentation to the Cabinet on vaccines and the vaccination process. The Chief Medical Officer informed of the WHO (World Health Organization) guidelines and the phased approach to delivering the vaccine, which would be adopted in the Federation. The focus was given to the plan to vaccinate as many persons as possible if the Federation were to achieve herd immunity. The soon to be rolled out public education campaign on the importance of taking the vaccine was highlighted.
• The Commissioner of Police informed the Cabinet that while major crimes in the Federation were down, petty larceny was still rising and a concern.
• Cabinet discussed the agenda for the first sitting of the Parliament for 2021, which will take place on Thursday 18th February. The Bills related to the upcoming Peer Review will be debated. There will be three Bills for the first reading, namely, the Magistrate’s Code of Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2021; Criminal Procedures (Amendment) Bill, 2021; and Jury (Amendment) Bill, 2021. Two Bills will come up for their second reading which are the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (Judicial Officers Pensions) Bill, 2021, which had its first reading on September 3, 2020; and Electronic Communications Bill, 2021, which had its first reading on August 13, 2020.
• The Cabinet approved submissions including two of them for two major projects—one at Frigate Bay and the other at Bird Rock—that would stimulate the economy and employ over 150 persons in all areas related to the construction sector.
• Cabinet was informed that the Gene Expert Lab at the JNF General Hospital is up and running and that the technicians to operate the machine were already on the island.
• Cabinet was advised of the IT breach at the St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank and was reassured that the funds were not stolen and that the bank was working to restore all customer services as quickly as possible.

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CHARLESTOWN, Nevis — The Public Works Department has started the repaving process on feeder roads connected to the roundabout next to the Delta Gas Station in Stoney Grove.

“We will have prepared the section along Pump Road from the Gas station to the Water Department for the roadway asphalt paving on Tuesday,” said Jevon Williams, Director of Public Works. “We will have already milled the road. After that we have to do the cleaning, using the road broom, which sweeps dirt and debris off the road.

“We had put down the primer by late Tuesday morning, completed laying the asphalt by early evening and the road was reopened to traffic sometime around 6 p.m.,” he said.

The road work is part of the Nevis Island Administration’s project to resurface the Island Main Road from Horsfords Building Center to the Rams Shopping Complex, and Pump Road from the roundabout to Club Trenim.

Williams said these roads had several potholes and had been a source of concern for some time. The department took the opportunity to resurface the area at this time to coincide with the training of staff to use the recently acquired Wirtgen Cold Milling W150CF milling machine.

The milling process to remove old asphalt began on the stretch of road from Horsfords Building Center on February 8, and was completed on February 11.

Williams noted there was a slight delay in the repaving process as they had to await the arrival of the road sweeper. He thanked the Department of Public Works on St. Kitts for loaning them the machine and for providing an operator.

The road crew began laying the asphalt starting from Horsfords Building Center on February 17. The Williams said barring interruptions from weather, it will be completed up to the roundabout the same evening.

He said if the weather holds, the crew will begin laying asphalt on the section of road from the roundabout to Rams Shopping Complex on February 19.

The project is scheduled to be completed on February 22, with the repaving of the immediate area around the roundabout.

Williams apologised to road users for the inconvenience of having traffic on those roads re-routed during several days.

“I know it has been inconvenient for drivers who use these roads to go about their daily routine to be diverted to different routes; however we are hoping to wrap up the work shortly,” concluded Williams. “I am sure the general public will appreciate having nice smooth roads to drive on in that area come next week.”

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