BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — A bill to provide for the regulation of an electronic communication network and an electronic communications service and related matters, otherwise known as the Electronic Communications Bill, 2021, was successfully passed in the Federal Parliament on Thursday, February 18.

The Honourable Minister of Health, ICT, Entertainment, Entrepreneurship, and Talent Development, Byron-Nisbett,, Mover of the Bill, laid out a synopsis of its objectives.

“Mr. Speaker, the enactment of the EC Bill in the Federation of St. Christopher and Nevis will ensure a broader scope of regulations from telecommunications to ‘electronic communications,’ said Mrs. Byron-Nisbett. “It will also address matters, but not limited to: principles of fair competition; change of ownership of electronic communications companies within the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) Contracting States; universal service and access; preservation of an open internet with the adoption of net neutrality principles; the establishment of the NTRCs as body corporates; the setting up of a tribunal independent of the NTRC to hear unresolved disputes between licensees and customers; and the inclusion of more penalties for breach of the legislation among other things.”

Mrs. Byron-Nisbett noted that a critical component of the bill is the inclusion of a robust regulatory framework that promotes and preserves a vibrant sector.

“Mr. Speaker the EC Bill includes the critical elements necessary for an effective regulatory framework, such as the functional aspects of the regulatory authority, decision-making processes, accountability, consumer protection, dispute resolution, and enforcement powers,” she added. “The EC Bill will serve as a valuable piece of legislation for the electronic communications sector in the Federation because the goals of the EC Bill are to ensure that market failure is avoided, to foster effective competition, and most importantly, in my opinion, is to protect consumer interests and to increase access to technology and services. And I believe even now as we move towards a digital economy this means so much more in light of that Mr. Speaker.”

The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Minister noted that the bill represents the Federation’s past, present, and future advancements.

“It spoke to our past, present, and future, and it showed how the foundations that were laid we continue to build on,” said Mrs. Byron-Nisbett. “We progress in leaps and bounds in getting us as a Federation to where we need to get to in terms of our digital transformation. “In no way we will take for granted the work that has been done and put in by others to get us where we are, not just in telecommunications but in every aspect. It also speaks to how resilient we are as a people and how we continue to do whatever we can to ensure that we continue to progress this country.”

Mrs. Byron-Nisbett thanked members of the Honourable House for their contributions in support of the bill and noted she was pleased to have had the support of both sides of the House for such a very “important milestone landmark piece of legislation.”
“The bill will be able to push not just St. Kitts and Nevis but the entire region and members of the ECTEL states to even higher heights,” concluded Mrs. Byron-Nisbett.

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By Monique Washington

The Cherry Garden Livestock Association and the New River Farmer’s Association,  are the recipients of a US $7000 grant from the Food And Nutrition, FAN, which was funded by McGill University in Canada for a data-gathering project.

FAN seeks to improve Household Nutrition Security and Public Health in the CARICOM.

According to the FAN website “The project builds on the lessons and outcomes from the “Farm to Fork” project and the findings and recommendations of the EvLivestock and crop associations on Nevis receives US$7000 grantsaluation of the POS Declaration, and seeks to determine how previous and proposed research can best be scaled up and incorporated into more nutrition-sensitive, gender-responsive food systems for CARICOM.”

Chair of the FAN country team and Nutrition Surveillance Coordinator in the Ministry of Health in St. Kitts, Latoya Mathew-Duncan said that the two groups have long been incorporated into Nevis society.

“These groups were chosen on merits to accept a grant of US $7000 from the FAN project,” she said.

She noted that the project aims to improve the quality and diversity of the diet of populations by engaging with stakeholders designing implementing evaluating and integrating packages of intervention.

“ The project reviews the diet of children women and men and their food sources to determine their diet best chosen and consumed developed and also to assist the research team to address and identify leverage points within the local food system to increase healthy eating and sustainable rural livelihood.”

Minister of Agriculture Alexis Jeffers, who was present at the handing over of the check, congratulated both groups and encouraged them to “pursue their goals.”

“Those entities have shown that they are serious about pursuing their goals and objectives in agriculture. The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis would be the beneficiary of their effort. I want to encourage both entities to pursue their goals as indicated in their proposal and to ensure that we are realizing what we have always been talking about and that is food security here on the island of Nevis, not just security but sustainability and resilience,” he said.

Jeffers pointed out the importance of both livestock farming and crop farming in the Federation.

“The livestock industry is important to us here on the island as well as the crop industry. We believe agriculture can play a meaningful role in transforming the lives of the people of this country,” he said.

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CHARLESTOWN, Nevis — Hon. Mark Brantley, Minister of Foreign Affairs for St. Kitts and Nevis is leading a delegation to the inaugural meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)-Canada Foreign Ministers’ Group, being held virtually on February 19.

According to Hon. Brantley, the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, economic recovery and inclusive growth will feature in the discussions during the summit.

“Canada has been a good friend to the region over all these years and today we are convening, Foreign Ministers in the region, with the Foreign Minister of Canada, Honorable Marc Garneau.

“The idea will be to discuss matters in this COVID environment as to recovery, air travel, and various issues such as our vulnerability index, and availability of vaccines,” said Brantley. “I am the lead spokesperson for CARICOM on one of the categories which looks to the impact of COVID-19 and we are hopeful that through this dialogue we can strengthen relations with Canada and ensure that moving forward CARICOM and Canada continue to be steadfast friends.”

The Foreign Minister said that the regional group is hopeful for positive outcomes from the high-level meeting as Canada has shown its willingness to re-engage with the region and strengthen its co-operation with CARICOM.

According to the CARICOM Secretariat, the establishment of the CARICOM-Canada Foreign Ministers’ Group will provide the parties with an institutionalized framework to discuss on a regular basis their shared priorities at the ministerial level.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis was recently placed on a temporary list for anti-doping by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), according to Minister of Sports, the Honourable Jonel Powell.

Anti-doping comprises a range of activities aimed at eliminating doping in sports, as well as protecting clean athletes and the integrity and sports values.

“The Department of Sport can boast that just this week we have received notice from WADA to inform us that after many years, St. Kitts and Nevis has been placed on a temporary list of compliant countries. This compliance will be confirmed in October and we are very proud of that,” said Hon. Powell. “This achievement did not occur overnight.

“This isn’t something that just happened,” he said. “It is as a result of the efforts within the Department of Sport to set up a secretariat for anti-doping led by Mattaniah Wallace and Shawn Seabrookes. This team did a lot of work in recent months to achieve this success and I congratulate them.

“The Department of Sport received a grant of some US $35,000 from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) “to assist in the buildout of the secretariat and to assist with education and development in terms of anti-doping.”

According to information from www.wada-ama.org, WADA was established in 1999 as an international independent agency composed and funded equally by the sport movement and governments of the world. Its key activities include scientific research, education, development of anti-doping capacities, and monitoring of the World Anti-Doping Code – the document harmonizing anti-doping policies in all sports and all countries.

The code works in conjunction with eight international standards, which aim to foster consistency among anti-doping organizations in various areas. These standards include the International Standard for Testing and Investigations (ISTI); the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL); the International Standard for Therapeutic Use Exemptions (ISTUE); the International Standard for the Prohibited List (The List); the International Standard for the Protection of Privacy and Personal Information (ISPPPI); the International Standard for Code Compliance by Signatories (ISCCS); the International Standard for Education (ISE) and the International Standard for Results Management (ISRM).

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CHARLESTOWN, Nevis — The Nevis Water Department advises its valued customers that disconnections will be conducted across the island of Nevis from March 1.

Customers who are in arrears for more than 90 days are encouraged to settle their outstanding amounts on their water bills on or before the above-mentioned date.

We look forward to your kind co-operation and understanding during this time.

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CHARLESTOWN, Nevis — The Ministry of Tourism in the Nevis Island Administration and the Nevis Tourism Authority (NTA) has announced COVID-19 sensitization sessions for select persons in the tourism industry.

“Are you employed within one of the tourism sectors listed below and was unable to attend any of the COVID-19 Sensitization sessions in 2020? Let us know by using the link below to register,” says the announcement. “Please note that we do not yet have a date for the next session but we will let you know when we do.”

1. Hotel, guest house and villa employees
2. Transportation (Taxi Operators, Catamarans, Water Activities, Water taxi operators)
3. Tourism retail outlets/Attractions/Tour Operators (land based) / DMC / Meetings and Events
4. Allied Agencies
5. Entertainers

https://forms.gle/SgHu6oyqvNgosWKn8

“If you are unable to access the link, please call the Ministry of Tourism (469-5521 Ext.6441) or the Nevis Tourism Authority (469-7550/1042) for assistance.”

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PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago — As the Caribbean rolls out COVID-19 vaccines, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) launched a survey on February 17 to obtain views on the COVID-19 vaccines from people living in the region and to determine their willingness to be vaccinated.

“There is a growing concern about vaccine hesitancy. The World Health Organization (WHO) identified vaccine hesitancy as one of the ten global health threats the world faces in 2019 and beyond, in its five-year strategic plan,” said Dr. Joy St John, CARPHA Executive Director.

“In the Caribbean, recent studies conducted to determine acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccines reported that vaccine hesitancy ranged from 62 percent to 32 percent among adult populations of several Caribbean countries,” she said. “In order for vaccination programmes to be successful, there must be wide uptake, acceptance, and trust of COVID-19 vaccines.”

The CARPHA COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance Survey, which has received ethical approval, aims to assess the beliefs and opinions of Caribbean residents, about COVID-19 vaccines and the potential barriers to acceptance of these vaccines. This information will help to inform regional public education vaccine campaigns to address concerns, build trust and understanding, and engage and empower the public.

CARPHA is working with several public health partner agencies including the Ministries of Health and the Regional Health Communication Network to launch the survey in-country.

Persons are encouraged to complete the survey by using the link provided here https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CARPHA_COVID-19_Vaccine_Acceptance_Survey. The survey is also accessible on all CARPHA’s social media platforms including Facebook.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – Roadwork is nearing completion on the second phase of traffic lights installation on Wellington Road, according to Engineer at the Public Works Department, Livingston Pemberton.

“We would have done phase one and would have done three intersections and now this is phase two where we are doing seven intersections,” explained Pemberton. “On phase one, the intention was to do more than three intersections, however, due to financial constraints, only three intersections were done. Now, we are now continuing that project and are calling it phase two where we are now introducing seven additional intersections.
Continue reading Second phase of traffic light installation nearing completion on Wellington Road →

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — Minister of International Trade et al, the Honourable Wendy Phipps, said diplomacy and negotiations by the Attorney General’s Chambers and the Office of the Solicitor General, St. Kitts and Nevis has been successful in having the Government of Belize, through its Ministry of International Trade, withdraw the recent case from the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

Minister Phipps’ comments were voiced during the sitting of the National Assembly on February 18 under Personal Statements by Ministers.

Minister Phipps notified the Honourable House of the lawsuit at the sitting of Parliament on October 13, 2020.

“At that sitting of October 13, 2020, I informed the House about the background to the case,” said the Hon. Phipps. “Belize had accused St. Kitts and Nevis, along with Trinidad & Tobago, of importing sugar from Guatemala and Honduras without the application of the Common External Tariff (CET) to these goods.

“In other words, the State of Belize alleges that St. Kitts and Nevis allowed these imports from Guatemala and Honduras to occur without the necessary taxes being paid, as befitting goods not produced in Caribbean Community (CARICOM),” said the Hon. Phipps. The period in question was November 2018 to June 2020, during which time Belize alleged that the Federation imported some 975 metric tons of sugar imports from Guatemala and Honduras free of duty.”

On December 16, 2020, the Minister of International Trade told Parliament that St. Kitts and Nevis was “definitely at fault for non-application of the 40 percent CET on imports of brown sugar originating outside of CARICOM. The source countries for the sugar were indeed Guatemala and Honduras.”

“Upon discovering this liability, the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis would have written to the Government of Belize to begin negotiations geared towards removing the case from the CCJ and settle it amicably between the parties,” said the Hon. Phipps.

“The key features that we would have committed to in that request included (a) immediate re-application of the CET on all non-CARICOM sugar imports, at the established rate of 40%; and (b) settlement on terms of reference insofar as the implementation of a monitoring mechanism that ensures that there will be no future suspension of the CET on non-CARICOM brown sugar unless done, with justification, via the appropriate derogation application to the CARICOM Secretariat and COTED – as per the provisions of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas,” she added.

The Hon. Phipps reported that this discontinuance of the case, an out of court settlement, was ably executed without any financial burden on the Government and Taxpayers of St. Kitts and Nevis.

“I am happy to report that this entire matter has been settled without any financial burden whatsoever on the government and taxpayers of St. Kitts and Nevis contrary to the local political chatter, the innuendo and the conjecture that surrounded the case,” she said.

The Hon. Phipps provided proof of the settlement in the form of a notification of an agreement to discontinue that was filed on January 21, 2021. The document was received by the Attorney General’s Chambers on February 2, 2021.

“Our government would have taken the decision not to make any type of announcement on the issue until we had the official document firmly in our possession,” she said.

The minister said the schedule of the notification of agreement to discontinue has two conditions. They read as follows:

“Pursuant to Part 16.2 (1) of the Caribbean Court of Justice Original Jurisdiction Rules 2019, we the Solicitors of record for the Claimant and the First Defendant in this Originating Application notify this Honourable Court that the Parties have agreed to discontinue proceedings.

“Pursuant to Part 16.2(2) the Parties give further notice that subject to any alteration, or suspension of the CET approved pursuant to Article 83 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, the First Defendant will impose the Customs External Tariff of 40% on the imports of brown sugar from extra-regional countries.”

The Hon. Phipps said that the Team Unity Government is grateful that the matter has been quickly and amicably settled.

“We sincerely trust that our government will never be placed in such a precarious situation again as a result of clear violations of the terms of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas,” she said. “Our government appreciates the open-mindedness of the Government of Belize in agreeing to remove the case from the CCJ and in also agreeing to settle the matter without compensation of any sort to the Government of Belize.”

She added that the Ministry of International Trade in St. Kitts and Nevis owes a debt of gratitude to the Solicitor General Simone Bullen-Thompson and Attorney General the Honourable Vincent Byron for the “swift and professional and astute manner in which this matter has been disposed of within just four short months.”

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (Judicial Officers Pensions) Bill, 2021, a bill to provide for pensions and gratuities payable in respect of the service of judicial officers of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court and for related matters, was successfully passed in the National Assembly on Thursday, February 18.

“Overall, this bill seeks to provide a single seamless code for determining entitlement and computation of pension for judicial officers, while also building equity and fairness into the process which would enhance the attractiveness for recruiting suitable persons to the Bench even at later ages than is the current position which detracts many persons who may wish to serve at a later age from being interested in doing so,” said Mover of the Bill, the Honourable Attorney General and Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, Vincent Byron Jr.

Attorney-General Byron said the Bill doesn’t arouse argument or conflict and wished it safe passage.

“Mr. Speaker, this Bill seems very uncontentious and I would say that we have the full support of the Honourable House and will hope that we can continue to attract judges at the highest calibre to sit on the Bench and to be able to provide justice for the people not only of St. Kitts and Nevis but the other members of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court area or the jurisdictions from Grenada all the way up to the British Virgin Islands,” said Minister Byron.

The attorney-general said that good governance is important in the public sector and is at the heart of any successful business or organization.

“The High Court, the Court of Appeal are critical limbs of our governance system. We cannot afford to not have good governance in our country, we cannot do without having impartial judges of high calibre sit and adjudicate matters between our people,” he said. “And so, this Bill helps to improve upon the current arrangements in relation to judges pensions and we wish it safe passage in this Honourable House.”

Some of the highlights of the new Pensions Bill include but are not limited to provision for an early retirement age if this is ever incorporated in the Supreme Court Order, provision for a Master to be paid a Pension under the new Bill and pensionable emoluments to include salary, as well as housing and a utility allowance.

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