BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — Authorities in St. Kitts and Nevis are sounding the alarm about the false sense of security that has seemingly set in with some members of the public letting down their guard with respect to the deadly novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Superintendent of Police Cromwell Henry said that the Police have observed a growing sense of complacency in some persons who attend public events without wearing a face covering. This has been witnessed in some businesses, and on public transportation in contravention of the COVID-19 (Prevention and Control) Act.

“We want to remind you that provisions of the COVID-19 Act of 2020, which require persons to wear face masks when in public is still in effect,” said Superintendent Henry. “Penalties are still in effect, and we beseech persons to comply with this particular provision.”

Similar concerns were voiced by Abdias Samuel, Chairman of the National COVID-19 Task Force. He recalled going into a business place and being horrified that most persons were not wearing face masks.

“Those careless acts must not be the order of the day for any of us,” said Samuel. “Wearing face masks is one of the key things that will assist us in containing the spread of the virus and protecting you and others around you.”

He referred to current scenes playing out in some neighbouring islands, where some have returned to extended curfews and long shopping lines because of a spike in cases of the COVID-19.

“We remember in our early days in March 2020 when we had to go through that same process,” said Samuel. “We, have vowed that St. Kitts and Nevis will not go back into those. However, we need the citizens to enhance their surveillance and vigilance of our borders, and communities.”

He called for compliance with the laws of the land, saying there are several penalties for breaching the COVID-19 (Prevention and Control) Act of 2020 available to law enforcement and the COVID-19 Compliance Task Force. He warned that officials are prepared to act in the interest of public safety.

“Our population is very small, and we have to protect it at all costs,” said Samuel.

Health authorities strongly encourage all citizens and residents to wear face coverings in public spaces; maintain a distance of 3.5- to 6-feet from others; avoid large gatherings; frequently sanitize hands and boost their immune system.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — To assist in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in St. Kitts and Nevis, a generous family in London donated four Samsung tablets to the National COVID-19 Task Force to be used by the Public Health Team.

The Wallace family presented the tablets to the Office of the High Commissioner in London to High Commissioner His Excellency Dr. Kevin Isaac, who shipped them to the Federal Ministry of Health in St. Kitts & Nevis.

The tablets were presented to Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hazel Laws, by Medical Chief of Staff at the Joseph N. France General Hospital, Dr. Cameron Wilkinson, during the National Emergency Operations Centre COVID-19 Weekly Briefing.

“These tablets were donated by the Wallace family, parents Robert and Mildred Wallace, and son Lionel Wallace,” said Dr. Wilkinson. “This donation is for the expressed purpose of distribution to the COVID-19 Task Force of St. Kitts and Nevis. They are to be used by the public health officers in the performance of their duties in COVID-19 testing and tabulation of information in the field with the ability to connect with the online laboratory information system.

“We also want to thank Dr. Jeffers and NextGen Laboratories, who were helpful in coordinating this venture and bore the cost of the shipment of these tablets from the United Kingdom,” he said.

“The all of society approach that we have emphasized continues to work and we are grateful to the citizens in the Diaspora and those locally who have stepped forward to the call for service,” said Dr. Wilkinson.

In receiving the tablets, Dr. Hazel Laws said, “It is with pleasure that I accept these four tablets from the donor in the United Kingdom. On behalf of St. Kitts and Nevis COVID-19 National Task Force and the Health Emergency Operations Committee, I want to say a hearty thank you for these four Samsung tablets.”

Two tablets will be donated to the Ministry of Health in Nevis.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — There is a need to begin the public education campaign on COVID-19 vaccinations in the country, according to Abdias Samuel, Chairman of the National COVID-19 Task Force in St. Kitts & Nevis. Samuel indicated that he will lead by example in taking the job.

Samuel welcomed the continued roll-out of vaccines designed to fight COVID-19 during a January 27 National Emergency Operations Centre Weekly COVID-19 Briefing.

“We need to begin the campaign to educate people that the vaccines are safe for us to take,” said Samuel. “We need to take the vaccine. For now, the vaccines and the non-pharmaceutical measures are the only things that will take us to a state of normalcy.”

Chief Medical Officer Dr. Hazel Laws, said at the briefing that the three main COVID-19 vaccines are being administered to populations around the world. These are the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Moderna vaccine, and the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine.

Samuel encouraged persons to pay attention to the science and advice from credible experts and doctors, rather than myths circulating online about the vaccines.

“I’m encouraging everyone to debunk all the negativity surrounding the vaccines, and let us prepare as a nation to take the vaccine when it comes and to support our health professionals in this regard,” said Samuel.

“It is expected that St. Kitts and Nevis will have access to the vaccines in the second quarter of 2021,” he said. “The Federation has signed on to the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX) and will receive enough vaccines to cover 20 percent of the population in the initial stages.

Laws and Medical Chief of Staff at the Joseph N. France General Hospital, and Dr. Cameron Wilkinson, have indicated that they are willing to take the jab publicly to help put resident’s minds at ease about the vaccine.

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CHARLESTOWN, Nevis — Albert Gordon of Guyana has been named general manager of the Nevis Electricity Company Limited (NEVLEC). He will head the company from February 2021.

Hon. Mark Brantley, Premier of Nevis made the announcement at his monthly press conference in Cabinet Room at Pinney’s Estate on January 28.

“The NEVLEC Board of Directors is pleased to advise that Albert Gordon has been chosen as the new general manager of that company. Gordon holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering and an MBA in Finance, along with several other qualifications. He is trained not only in electricity but also in water.

“He is presently employed as chief executive officer of Guyana Power and Light Inc.,” said Hon. Brantley. “His contract ends of the January 31 and he will take up his position with us in February.”

Brantley, who is also the minister responsible for Public Utilities in the Nevis island Administration. He said the company’s board of directors had been searching for a new general manager, and at the end of a number of interviews made the decision to hire Gordon.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs the general public that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Inter-American Foundation (IAF) will hold a Virtual Information Session to discuss the “Building Community Resilience in the Eastern and Southern Caribbean” Project.

This virtual information session will be held via Zoom on Thursday, February 4 at 11:00 a.m. (Barbados time.) This project is aimed at providing small grants to grassroots and community organizations in the Eastern and Southern Caribbean for community-led disaster mitigation and resilience.

Community groups interested in applying for one of these grants should visit the following website for more information http://www.iaf.gov/content/story/buildingcommunity-resilience-in-eastern-southern-caribbean/ and should attend the virtual information session by registering your group as soon as possible at www.docs.google.com/forms/d/1G1u7xXpL5JKffFUaotO20cjU_rbtEwCzfgQKPNl 8QR8/viewform?gxids=7628&edit_requested=true.

A two-page brochure explaining the grant programme and one-page Call for registration – Virtual Information Session can be found at:
https://mcusercontent.com/f9c18edcb5e81ee00df9977e6/files/34a229ec-7c39-4600-a39f-0b6d6082cfa6/USAID_IAF_holds_Virtual_Information_Session.pdf

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — Underground utility lines and pipes sometimes make it necessary for recently-paved roads to be cut open, according to Public Works Department Chief Engineer George Gilbert. He shared insight into why small sections of roads that were recently paved need to be cut open.

“It goes back to the placement of some utility lines which run underground,” said Gilbert. “It is standard practice for utility companies to be notified before any major road renovation takes place. This affords the opportunity for them to upgrade their infrastructure where necessary.

“The St. Kitts Water Services Department (WSD) is a key partner in this process,” he said. “Since the Island Main Road Rehabilitation Project began in 2018, several older pipes have been replaced. While most of the underground pipes were relocated to run parallel to the road, some of them unavoidably still run across the road.

“Some pipes were impacted during the road works,” explained Gilbert. “In the process, the pipe apparently got broken underground and started leaking. The pipes may be three to four feet underground.

“When you see it manifests itself on the surface, it has spread over a large area so that area has to be cut out,” he said. “The WSD has to go in to change out those pipelines.

“After repairs are completed, a period of time that is allotted before the road is repaved,” said Gilbert. “The allotted period of time is to ensure that there are no other damages in the immediate area that need addressed.”

After officials are satisfied, the road is repaved.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — In an effort to be business-friendly and environmentally sustainable, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure will soon implement an E-billing system at the St. Kitts Water Services Department.

“The E-billing system that will be employed by the St. Kitts Water Services Department is one that “we believe will be convenient to our customers and eco-friendly,” said Public Works Department Communications Officer, Che-Raina Warner. “We are in the works; we have it in the pipeline, and we will also be reactivating the Water Services Department website so that customers can go to our website and pay their bills.

“This will mean that over time we will steadily decrease the number of paper bills that we distributed by mail,” said Ms. Warner. “We understand that some people who are not tech-savvy, so we can’t completely do away with paper, but the less paper we use the better it is for us.”

The St. Kitts Water Services Department hopes to soon implement its E-billing service.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — Prime Minister, Dr the Hon. Timothy Harris, is inviting all health-conscious walking enthusiasts to join him on the first ‘2021 Monthly Health Walk’ on Saturday, January 30.

The walk, sponsored by SKN Moves, will take the traditional route, Bellevue Village to Ottley’s Village. It will attract many participants who want to shed some of the pounds they gained during the festive December and New Year seasons.

The event will begin at 5:30 a.m., with participants assembling near the bus stop shelter on the Island Main Road in Bellevue Village in Constituency Number Seven. The Prime Minister represents the constituency in the National Assembly.

The walk will take the participants to Ottley’s hardcourts. Many participants always look forward to the opportunity to walk alongside the Prime Minister and chat with him as he encourages more people to maintain healthy lifestyles. Walking is a perfect avenue towards achieving that goal.

Prime Minister Harris serves as the Caribbean Community’s lead spokesperson on human resources, health and HIV matters. Dr. Harris has been taking healthy lifestyles seriously since April, 2007, when he started monthly health walks in his constituency.

In 2007, the event was known as the ‘Dr Harris Constituency Number Seven Health Walk.’ William Phillip was a founding member of the health walk and was one of the top-ten finishers during the 2020 Prime Minister’s Health Walk, held on November 28. The event was postponed to accommodate the festive December and New Year seasons.

“I am greatly moved by the enthusiasm our people continue to exhibit every month when they join our Prime Minister on his Monthly Health Walk,” said Phillip. “This is a clear indication that the Prime Minister’s healthy lifestyles message, which has been repeated ever since the health walks started, has fallen on fertile grounds.

“Many people participate in this event due to the health benefits they derive from the exercise,” he said. “On a good day, avid walkers take about an hour to complete the event, with average walkers taking an one hour-and-a-half to complete.”

Phillip appealed to everyone to participate in the event.

“The Prime Minister has given us another opportunity this coming Saturday,” said Phillip. Everyone is encouraged to join him on this walk as we strive to build a healthy nation. Let’s do it by following his example; come out and bring a friend or two.”

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis is forging ahead with plans to find a viable solution to the street vending concern that has developed in the Basseterre area in recent years.

The government announced on January 27, that Austin Farrier of the Ministry of Sustainable Development will head a new Inter-Ministerial Committee that will examine and report on street vending in Basseterre’s city centre.

Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, supported by Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister Andrew Skerritt, met with Farrier to discuss the possible relocation of street vendors.

Prime Minister Harris reaffirmed that his administration supports the entrepreneurial spirit and small business operations in the country. He noted that the overcrowding of the streets in Basseterre by vendors expose pedestrians, particularly the differently-abled and the elderly, to risks and hazards posed by oncoming traffic.

“We have put together a broad based committee drawing representation from within the various departments and ministries of government,” said Hon. Harris. “It extends beyond that to include representation from the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and representation from those who are engaged in street vending.

“That committee will come together in an organized way to discuss the matter to determine viable solutions to address the street vending problem,” he said. “This has been a perennial issue. “As part of our vision is to beautify Basseterre to provide ease of passage to everyone. We have to solve the issue by looking at the short-term, medium-term and long-term.”

Farrier is an experienced planner within the Ministry of Sustainable Development. He readily accepted the appointment to lead the committee and noted that this matter has long been an area of concern for his ministry.

“At the Department of Planning we have always kept an eye on the vending situation in Basseterre,” explained Farrier. “We have done several reports on the vending situation. We look forward to examining every possible solution and want to decide on a sustainable answer.

The Inter-Ministerial Committee is expected to have representation from the Building Board, the Ministry of Sustainable Development, the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs, the Police Force, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Transportation Board, the Inland Revenue Department, and street vendors.

The government has in past months urged more vendors to occupy the available stalls at the Basseterre Public Market, as this would help reduce sidewalk congestion around the capital.

Prime Minister Harris said the Cabinet looks forward to receiving recommendations from the Inter-Ministerial Committee within a few weeks.

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