Nevis News

Nevis news – local Nevis news, and regional Caribbean news.

UK’s Excel Airways Cancel St. Kitts Flights

Excel (XL) Airways Jet

Excel (XL) Airways Jet

Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
August 26, 2008

Excel Airways has announced that they will cease operations on all of their six Caribbean routes for this coming winter due to adverse market conditions. XL currently provides airlift services to St Kitts, Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, Grenada and Tobago from London. The weekly flight from Gatwick will fly for the last time on Monday November 3rd 2009.

XL.com Managing Director Martin Lock said “The Caribbean routes’ lack of profitability has been a challenge for XL Airways over recent months.

The main factors causing this are the extremely high fuel prices which result in long haul routes bearing very high costs compared to 6 months ago.

There has also been a serious downturn in the UK economy leading to lower demand for flights and holidays and again, because of their higher prices, the long haul routes from the UK are seeing even more of a softening of demand than short haul.

This weaker demand has lead to XL Airways having to keep our prices competitive as we try and attract more customers.

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Nevis Citizens Poised to Receive Geothermal Training

University of Iceland Geothermal Training Board

University of Iceland Geothermal Training Board

Charlestown, Nevis
August, 26, 2008

Geothermal training is in the works for Nevisians.  This was the good news received when the Premier of Nevis, the Hon. Joseph Parry and his Nevis delegation visited the United Nations University Geothermal Training Programme (UNU-GTP). The Hon. Joseph Parry held talks with the programme directors on his recent trip to Iceland, August 17-20, 2008.

The Nevis delegation included Junior Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Hon. Carlisle Powell, Permanent Secretary, Mr. Ernie Stapleton and Protocol Officer, Miss Angelica Elliott.

The UNU-GTP has operated in Iceland since 1979, with an aim at assisting developing countries with geothermal potential to build up or strengthen groups of specialists in most aspects of geothermal exploration and development.

According to Premier Parry, a number of professional studies in geothermal are available in Iceland and the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) led Nevis Island Administration (NIA) is working towards getting interested residents of Nevis, to work towards degrees and certificates in this renewable energy resource to the island.  Presently there are no training courses for persons who do not have a first degree, but the (NIA) will be seeking to have a course of study put in place for those individuals who are interested but do not have a professional degree.

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St. Kitts – Nevis To Punish Human Traffickers

St. Kitts PM Douglas Speaks In National Assembly

St. Kitts – Nevis PM Douglas Speaks In National Assembly
Photo By Erasmus Williams

Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
August 25, 2008 (CUOPM)

Parliament in St. Kitts and Nevis takes measures Tuesday to comply with its international responsibilities to prevent, punish and suppress trafficking in persons.
While St. Kitts and Nevis has not traditionally known to be a destination for trafficked victims, there has been some evidence that attempts have been made to use the twin-island Federation as a transit point for that type of offence.

The Bill, which stands in the name of Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas points out that the act of human trafficking has been seen as fundamentally linked to drug trafficking, money laundering and possible terrorist activity.

Part 1 of the Bill deals with the usual preliminary matters.  Interpretation plays a key role in that it is important to present a harmonised position in terms of interpretation of commonly used terms for the purpose of combating trafficking.

Across the region and within the international arena, most countries should have similar terms describing the process of exploitation on a wide basis to not just cover the sexual aspects but those who are enslaved for various other reasons and who lack basic human freedoms.  As such, the Bill gives meat to the constitutional framework that provides that no person in Saint Christopher and Nevis should be treated with such degradation that it is tantamount to slavery.

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Daniel Foundation Donates To Nevis Students

Hensley Daniel of The Daniel Family Foundation

Hensley Daniel of The Daniel Family Foundation

Charlestown, Nevis
August 25, 2008

In keeping with its pledge to contribute to the development of Nevis, in particular the field of education, the Daniel Family Foundation of Cox Village presented a second group of nine students with financial assistance for their five year tenure in secondary school. The presentation took place at the SJCIC building at Cole Hill on August 23, 2008.

Deputy Premier of Nevis Hon. Hensley Daniel, who is also a member of the Foundation, told the students it was important for them to maxamise the benefits derived from the assistance.

“The provision of the assistance for you to go to high school is important for you to take it and make as much use as possible and I am doing so because in our time in high school, these things were very, very scarce and having taught for many, many years, I recognise that these scholarships and these forms of assistance were absolutely necessary and they could have made a difference in the lives of so many other children had we had enough of these being available.

“Having been a teacher and having seen the need for these, it was not difficult for me to agree with my other brothers and sisters, that we should make a contribution to the education of the children”¦the idea is that the assistance must be like pebbles in water, it must have ripples. So I want to urge the students to continue on the mode of excellence. We may give you these scholarships and by hard work you may be able to win bigger ones and that is what we are hoping, that by sowing this small seed in first form, we would be able to win some others,” he said.

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