Nevis Pays Respects To Former Deputy Premier

Charlestown, Nevis (June 19, 2007)

Nevisians lined the route from the Hunkins Funeral Home on Government Road to the Court House on Prince William Street in Charlestown on Tuesday June 19, 2007, to pay their last respects to the late Hon. Malcolm Guishard, as his casket, accompanied by a compliment of military personal, close family and friends was transported by hearse to lie in state.
 
The occasion, on the first of two official days of mourning in Nevis, cast a sombre mood in Charlestown and disrupted the early morning traffic, as commuters were forced to make way for the slow moving procession. At the time of his passing, the late Mr. Guishard was the sitting Leader of the Opposition in the Federal Parliament of St. Kitts and Nevis and had earlier served in Nevis as the Deputy Premier for 14 years.
 
The bereaved family and close friends led by widow Mrs. Yvonne Guishard and his mother Mrs Myrtle Guishard, were the first to view the body which was guarded by four military sentries, followed by Deputy Governor General His Honour Eustace John and Mrs. John led by Ms. Angelica Elliott and Superintendent of Police Mr. Joseph Liburd.
 
Members of the Nevis Island Administration led by Premier of Nevis the Hon Joseph Parry were next in line and they were followed by members of the Opposition in the Nevis Island Assembly.

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Nevis Recieves Top Marks For CYA Initiatives

Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis (June 19, 2007)

A recent report from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat rates St. Kitts and Nevis as the best in implementing initiatives of its youth ambassador programme.

In a June 2007 official review and assessment of the PANCAP/CARICOM Mini-Grant Programme, St. Kitts and Nevis distinguished itself by having the best overall implementation in the region.

The Mini-Grant Programme (MGP) is administered by CARICOM Youth Ambassadors (CYA) and seeks to sensitise persons about HIV/AIDS-related issues, while challenging young persons to develop projects to reduce the transmission of the pandemic and the associated stigma and discrimination of persons infected and affected by the disease. The MGP launched in St. Lucia in 2005 and is also being implemented in the Bahamas, Belize, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Outgoing female CYA Khalea Robinson told SKNIS that she was proud to have the Federation achieve top status.

“It is a wonderful feeling, she said. “I think that the project has been enormously successful and I’m very grateful for that. It is a wonderful note for me to end my tenure as CYA on.”

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British Soprano Serenades Nevis – St. Kitts

Basseterre, St. Kitts (June 18, 2007)

Locals are in for a special treat as renowned British Soprano Alison Buchanan headlines an evening of opera and entertainment on June 29.

According to artistworld.org, Buchanan is respected throughout Europe and the United States, and she has built a strong career with a full repertoire ranging from baroque to contemporary styles.

The Sir Cecil Jacobs Auditorium of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) will be the venue for the event which will also feature the New York-based West Village Quartet. The show will be held under the distinguished patronage of His Excellency the Governor General as part of the fundraising efforts of the Special Olympics ““ “On the Road to Shanghai, China” campaign. This initiative seeks to facilitate the participation of local Special Olympians in the World Games slated for October.

A graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia Buchanan is the winner of the Maggie Teyte Competition giving a winner’s concert recital at the Royal Opera House. She has also won The Pavarotti Competition and the Kathleen Ferrier Competition, the Washington International Competition and she was a finalist in the Belvedere Competition in 1997.

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Why LIAT Hiked Fares To Nevis

After losing millions in what was considered “a competitive environment”, LIAT was forced to increase air fares, says chief executive officer Mark Darby.
       
In a Press release issued yesterday, he said LIAT had increased its fares by $20 since October last year before merging with Caribbean Star, mainly because the company was losing millions because of the region’s extremely high maintenance costs.
 
“The fares in the market today are appropriate and realistic as far as our costs are concerned,” Darby stated in the press release. “Overall, our fares are realistic, given where our costs are today.”
 
The CEO stressed LIAT was forced to battle with exorbitant maintenance costs for its 12 aircraft, with a quarter of its budget going to fuel consumption alone.
 
He added that LIAT was forced to deal with special circumstances which affected its fleet, like Sahara dust, and volcanic ash from Monsterrat, which allowed an engine life of only 3,000 to 4,000 hours of flight time, compared to 8,000 hours for similar planes used elsewhere in the world.

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Caribbean Conference To Begin In Washington

Prime Minister of Barbados, Owen Arthur, and United States Commerce Secretary, Carlos Gutierrez will deliver keynote addresses at the opening ceremony of the Conference on the Caribbean, which begins in Washington, D.C., tomorrow. The three-day major event will be held under the theme ‘Conference on the Caribbean: A 2020 Vision’.

Its highpoint will be the CARICOM-U.S. summit when CARICOM heads of state and U.S. President George W. Bush hold talks. The plenary session tomorrow will be held under the theme ‘CARICOM Development in the 21st Century: Economic Growth with Social Equity’.

The session will also examine the role greater integration might play in promoting growth and competitiveness in the region; how might free-trade arrangements, economic partnership agreements, the outcomes of the Doha round of negotiations, the role of preferences, and new trading arrangements with the United States might impact on CARICOM’s integration into the global economy, among other things.

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