Charlestown, Nevis, July 27th 2007 (CUOPM)
For Immediate Public Release
St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas and Premier of Nevis, Hon. Joseph Parry said tremendous progress was made in the first joint meeting of the Federal St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party Cabinet and the Nevis Island Administration-led Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) Cabinet last year.
Welcoming Prime Minister Douglas and his Cabinet Members to the Second Joint Meeting Friday morning at Mount Nevis Hotel in New Castle, Premier Parry said the first meeting was very fruitful “and we have been able to make advances from that first meeting.”
“It is good to see that we are able to establish a cordial relationship and that we are able to work together on a number of issues to the mutual benefit of both St. Kitts and Nevis,” said the Nevis Premier.
He said his NRP-led Administration in Charlestown “looks forward to the continued relationship and for us to continue to work on the issues that concern us both in St. Kitts in Basseterre and in Nevis in Charlestown here.”“I must say that the people of Nevis have been fully informed of what is taking place and they will be listening very eagerly to hear the outcome of this meeting and the subsequent follow through by various Ministers of Government,” said Parry, who added that all of his Ministers “have established a relationship with their counterparts in St. Kitts and that they have been able to collaborate and work in the interest of the two islands and the country as a whole.”
” I do hope that we are able to get this feeling to filter down to the civil service on both sides of the island and that they will take the queue from us and the signal from us that we are not only working well together but we would like to have things done on time and in good order,” concluded Parry.
In response Prime Minister Douglas was of the view that “tremendous progress has been made since our first joint meeting between the two Cabinets since your administration took office.”
“There is no better time than now, I believe, to continue to share the cordiality, the very important frankness that we have shown with each other as we have tried to grapple with the issues that are confronting us as a small developing country, especially impacted by a hostile globalised environment,” said Prime Minister Douglas, who was also of the view that the joint meeting allows both sides “to deal with the common issues that continue to plague the relationship between the people and the Government of Nevis and also the people and Government of St. Kitts and Nevis.”
“I want to emphasize that with the breadth of matters that is before us this morning and with the commitment that we have already given, that we would want to work in a very supportive administrative way to move forward though there may be serious constitutional constraints, that to a large extent is testimony of our own commitment to move forward and give the people of St. Kitts and Nevis, better opportunities to come to terms with our own challenges that we are facing and also be better prepared to deal with the greater challenges of the globalized world,” said the St. Kitts and Nevis leader.
“Let us now get on with not only our business of the day, but the peoples’ business, the people of St. Kitts and Nevis business here on the island of Nevis,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
Devolution of powers, national security, electoral reform, a new Pension Scheme, customs, tax administration act, appointment to boards, granting of citizenship, diplomatic passports/visas and economic citizenship were matters on the agenda.