Charlestown Nevis
April 2, 2008
Premier Parry who also holds the responsibility for Statistics and Economic Planning in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) gave a historical account for the establishment of the Statistics and Economic Planning Department on Nevis. This was revealed when he delivered the Keynote Address for the Department’s Statistics Symposium held Tuesday, April 1, 2008.
He spoke also spoke about the Department’s progress made. “I am very happy to see what the Department was all about. It has grown to what it is today and was especially happy when I visited the office and saw about eleven persons employed. I refer to this because many years ago, I would say as early as l882 to 1983, the St Kitts and Nevis Government sought to establish its first development plan. After three years of setbacks from the Central Government level, as the Representative for Nevis, I decided to start the first development Plan on Nevis with one person employed,” he said.
He further added that Nevis established its first Development Bank in the Federation which dealt with matters that pertained to water, electricity, roads, and established priorities and identified sources for funds.
The Minister for Statistics and Economic Planning said during that period, the Government was without a Statistics Department and was not guided definitely by figures, which contributed to an established Department of Statistics and Planning on Nevis.