Charlestown, Nevis
March 20, 2008
Premier of Nevis, the Hon. Joseph Parry says St. Kitts and Nevis should seek to honor those pioneers who contributed to the nation’s independence.
The Premier made the statement on Sunday march 16, 2008, when he addressed the congregation at an ecumenical service at the Charlestown Methodist Church. The service organized by the Nevis Christian Council ushered in activities to commemorate the silver anniversary celebrations of the independence of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
“We must give honor to them for their contributions that they have made to St Kitts and Nevis and Nevis in particular. As we seek to give credit and we seek to applaud those who contributed, we have to remember those who contributed before the last 25 years because many generations have slaved, work hard, made sacrifices to bring us to where we are today and for this, we should be proud and we must remember them.
“We have much to celebrate because we can look back after 25 years and we can see how far we have reached. Certainly, St Kitts and Nevis has developed over those 25 years and certainly the institutions of democracy even if they had been challenged from time to time, have remained intact and for this we should be proud,” he said.
He pointed out that the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) started in 1983 with EC$250,000 which was not enough to construct some of the houses on the island today. Notwithstanding, Mr. Parry emphasised that Nevisians had been able to survive and make great progress, another good reason he said to be proud.
“On Nevis we have been able to establish laws, laws to give direction to the government of Nevis in tourism, business, financial services and other areas. We have been able to determine how we would train our people and to sponsor our people to train themselves so that they can develop themselves as individuals independently and also, so that they can develop themselves to return home to make a contribution and to help the government and the people of Nevis realise the ambition, as we seek to make Nevis a better place to live.
“It is so important to us what we have done in these 25 years because we have been able to establish goals, goals for the people of Nevis to establish your position in life for yourselves to have the confidence in your government in knowing your needs and making sure that you can position yourself as a person and also as a people,” he noted.
The Premier said the single most important act in Nevis was the establishment of the Nevis island Administration which allowed the island to position itself where it could chart its own destiny and where it could establish its own policies, on behalf of the people of St Kitts and Nevis.
He said as the Federation sought to review its performance of the past 200 years it should look to the future as countries cope with the high price of oil St. Kitts and Nevis would have to adjust accordingly so that its citizens could continue to benefit and live comfortable lives.
“The future is upon us, the future has many shapes of forms in the high price of oil, in the emergence of China, India, Brazil and South Africa. In the changing of the world and we in the Federation and the Caribbean would have to maneuver.
“I believe we have the capability in St Kitts and Nevis, the ingenuity, the desire and will to work hard and I know that we will succeed. I congratulate the people of St Kitts and Nevis and in particular the people of Nevis for a great job done over the past 25 years.
“I congratulate the pioneers who worked so hard, to give us the opportunity so that we can build. I congratulate all the ordinary folks who make their sacrifices, who love their country and sacrifice for their country and even if I congratulate you I wish this country many more years of happiness and progress” he said.
Also participating in the service were speaker of the Nevis Island Assembly the Hon. Marjorie Morton and Leader of the Opposition the Hon. Vance Amory. The message was delivered by Pastor Eversley Pemberton and service was moderated by Canon Alson B. Percival
Among those attending the service were Ministers of the Nevis Island Administration and a cross section of the Nevisian community.