Charlestown Nevis (January 17, 2007)
Nevis’ Premier the Hon. Joseph Parry endorsed the improved working relationship between his administration and the Federal Government.
Mr. Parry made the comment during brief remarks at the first meeting for the year of the St. Kitts and Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Nevis Division. The event was held at the Four Seasons Resort on Tuesday January 16, 2007.
He was among the invited guests, which included the featured speaker, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, the Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas. “I support the Prime Minister in most of the things he said this afternoon and I can definitely say that the Nevis Island Government is working very closely with the Federal Government to make sure the people of Nevis and the people of St. Kitts have mutual benefit,” Premier Parry told the gathering.
The Nevisian Leader noted that there were ongoing matters among them, the political and Constitutional Reform. He said those issues could be endorsed by both governments because they had met and were working towards an amicable solution in which Nevis could find itself in an even stronger position with regard to its own autonomy.Speaking after the question and answer session, Premier Parry said that he was very pleased with the level of questions raised by the various stakeholders within the Chamber of Industry, citing, “I am very pleased this afternoon to see the type of penetrative questions which were asked here, both from a political point of view and from an economic point of view.
“It all goes well for the Chamber and for the people of Nevis and certainly for the people of St. Kitts and Nevis when we can ask frank questions, we can ask hard questions and far reaching questions and I think this is the way any democracy must develop,” said Mr. Parry.
In giving his Administration’s assurance that a number of the issues raised during the luncheon would be addressed, Premier Parry commented, “In terms of the situation that relates to the cost of living, it is a concern to all of us and we are going to work with the Federal Government to ensure that we do something about the cost of living. It cannot continue like this, no matter how well we are doing economically, there must be some kind of control and some kind of exercise.”
Responding to the mark up price on consumer items, Premier Parry said, “I hope that when we [both governments] are able to get together and do whatever we have to do that everyone would cooperate and that the advantages would pass on to the consumer. I think this is the point he [Prime Minister Douglas] was making, that we not doing anything just to increase the profits of the businesses but to make sure the consumers benefit and I suppose in this case, the consumer must come first.”
The Premier said that the people of Nevis and St. Kitts should do whatever is necessary to take advantage of the benefits that could be derived from Cricket World Cup. He admonished the Chamber of Industry and Commerce to get involved and to demonstrate their readiness to meet and to do business with the world.