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Basseterre, St. Kitts
May 16, 2012 (SKNIS)

Final preparations are underway for the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis to host the 22nd Organisation of the Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Ministers of Education Meeting under the theme “Contributing to a Deeper, Stronger, Economic Union”.

The meeting will be held from May 22 to 24 at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort. The opening ceremony, which is opened to the public, will be held on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.

The occasion will provide the opportunity for policy makers to engage in constructive dialogue on substantive policy issues regarding education development in the OECS; agree on policies and strategies to advance OECS education; secure the support and collaboration of regional agencies and development partners in advancing the education development agenda; as well as share innovative ideas and experiences that have contributed to educational development at the national level.

The OECS was established on June 18, 1981 on the signing of the Treaty of Basseterre, in St. Kitts. Seven countries signed the treaty in 1981. They are Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The Virgin Islands joined the OECS as an associate member on November 22, 1984. Anguilla joined in 1995 increasing the membership to nine countries.

The OECS Ministers of Education meeting is held annually and is rotated amongst the OECS member countries.

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Nevis Energy Minister – Carlisle Powell

Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
MAY 16, 2012 (CUOPM)

Nevis Junior Minister responsible for Energy, Hon. Carlisle Powell, represented the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis at a sustainable energy conference in Barbados at which new actions were announced to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and end poverty.

Mr. Powell, who was accompanied by the Assistant Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Energy, Mr. Paul Lloyd, attended the sustainable energy conference in Barbados, organized by the United Nations and the Government of Barbados last week.

The Barbados Declaration calls for universal access to modern and affordable renewable energy services, while protecting the environment, ending poverty and creating new opportunities for economic growth.

According to the declaration – adopted ahead of next month’s UN Conference on Sustainable Development 20 years after the landmark Rio Earth Summit – 20 Small Island developing States (SIDS) gave voluntary commitments to providing universal access to energy, switching to renewable energy and reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

The meeting also came 18 years after an historic UN summit in Bridgetown first prompted international attention that the world’s environmental challenges, from water scarcity to rising sea levels, were felt first, and hardest, in small island and low-lying coastal developing states, from the Caribbean Sea to the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

The two-day conference brought together more than 100 government leaders, development experts, civil society activists, business executives and UN officials from 39 small island developing states (SIDS).

While stressing there are “commercially feasible options” in many SIDS for providing energy such as wind, solar, geothermal, and oceans energy, the global collection of island and low-lying coastal states called for greater access to clean energy technology.

“However, these technologies must be made accessible, affordable and adaptable to the needs and particular circumstances of SIDS communities,” the Barbados Declaration said.

“In this regard, we strongly urge the international community, particularly developed countries, to ensure the provision of financial resources, technology transfer and capacity building to SIDS,” it added.

The declaration follows the Sustainable Energy for All initiative, launched by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon last September. The initiative seeks to ensure universal access to modern energy services, double the rate of improvement in energy efficiency and double the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix, all by 2030.

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Mr. Patrice Nisbett

Charlestown, Nevis
May 16, 2012

The Nevis Island Administration has plans to construct an early childhood facility in the St. James Parish, the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) representative and Federal Attorney General and Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, the Hon Patrice Nisbett has revealed.

The Attorney General, who held successful one-on-one consultations with his constituents at the Combermere Community Centre on Thursday May 10, told the Department of Information that the constituents had raised a number of issues, and a major one was the lack of an early childhood centre in St. James.

“They have impressed upon me what can be done in order to alleviate this situation,” said Hon Nisbett.

“They feel that in the constituency, there are a number of young children and they believe that there is the requisite population in terms of young ones that can justify the government investing in an early childhood facility in the constituency.”

Many of them had informed him that they live and work in the constituency and they would want to be able to take their children to a facility in the area. The NRP representative agreed with them that when they have to go outside the constituency it comes at a particular cost, and as a result, the NRP government would want to see how it could address that particular burden that is facing a number of them.

“As a matter of fact, the government has a plan to construct a facility here in St. James to address those issues,” Hon Nisbett told the Department of Information. “I think the mechanics are being worked out at this point in time and at the appropriate time I would imagine one would clearly enunciate to the general public and to the constituents in particular what would be the plans in relation to addressing those issues.”

Responding to the constituents’ wishes, the Hon. Nisbett has consented to be holding the one-on-one consultations on a weekly basis. Other issues raised included affordable housing and availability of land, jobs, improvement of recreational facilities at the VOJN Primary School, and the general cleanliness in the parish, with some stating that some sections are overgrown by vegetation.

“In areas where people have been aggrieved, one would want to try as much as possible to see that the appropriate remedy for the grievance is meted out so that the constituents can in fact have some relief to the particular difficulty that they are experiencing at the time in question,” said Hon Nisbett.

He said that he was quite challenged and motivated by his constituents’ insistence that the government needs to continue the housing revolution that was started, so as to provide affordable housing to the constituents in the parish of St. James.

“They have been directed to continue to avail themselves for the services afforded by the Nevis Housing and Land Development Corporation in relation to the provision of lots, at the same time in relation to the provision of housing, so as to satisfy the housing needs of the constituents,” said Hon Nisbett.

Accordingly, the Attorney General told the Department of Information that he has undertaken to contact the relevant personnel in the government departments to see how the particular concerns of the constituents can be addressed in timely, efficient and in an effective manner.

“Issues that have been raised in these consultations are far and wide and are varying,” concluded the Hon Patrice Nisbett. “One would want to take the necessary action so as to ensure that those issues are addressed, and in doing so one would ensure that we maintain a conducive environment here in the constituency, where people can live, work, raise families and enjoy an improved quality of life.”

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