Agriculture

St. Kitts – Nevis Suspends Consumption Tax

St. Kitts - Nevis Locally Grown Produce

St. Kitts – Nevis Locally Grown Produce
Photo By Erasmus Williams

Basseterre, Saint Kitts – Nevis
April 23, 2008 2008 (CUOPM)

The consumption tax on a selected list of food and non-food items approved by the Cabinet last month, will be removed with effect from the first of next month, Minister of State with responsibility for Information, Sen. the Hon. Nigel Carty disclosed on Tuesday.

Minister Carty also disclosed that price control officers have been employed to ensure that the price on these food and non-food items go down so that the consumers benefit.

“Cabinet mandated that effective May 1, 2008, the consumption tax be removed from the following list: Chicken, processed cheese, pasta, corned beef, sardines, tinned tuna, vienna sausage, margarine, ketchup, diapers (for babies and adults), and baby formula. The consumption tax on these items ranges from 15 percent to 22.5 percent,’ said Sen. Carty following Monday’s Cabinet Meeting.

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St. Kitts – Nevis Reducing Dependency On Food Imports

St. Kitts - Nevis Pineapple Farm

St. Kitts – Nevis Pineapple Farm
Photo By Erasmus Williams

Basseterre, Saint Kitts – Nevis
April 23, 2008 (CUOPM)

The Labour Government’s expanded land distribution to small farmers is testimony of the administration’s empowerment of the people and commitment to food security.

Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas said food security and reducing the nation’s high food import bill are priorities for his Labour Party administration.

Following the allocation of some 100 acres of land to farmers in Estridge, Mansion, Phillips’ and Old Road, 44 more farmers have received 80 additional acres of land in the Fahie’s Agricultural Belt, bringing to 224 acres of land made available for farming in what is called “the Bread Basket of St. Kitts.”

“This reflects my government’s commitment to empower the ordinary man and woman in St. Kitts and Nevis in the all important area of agriculture and food security,” said Dr. Douglas at his Press Conference on Tuesday.

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Nevis’ Agriculture Open Day 2008

Charlestown, Nevis
April 21, 2008

Final plans are progressing smoothly in readiness for Nevis‘ premier annual agricultural showcase on April 24th to 25th and officials of the Department of Agriculture, hosts of the annual event, said all preparatory works are on schedule.
 
During an interview with the Department of Information on Monday April 21, 2008, the Department’s Communication’s Officer Mr. Eric Evelyn described the 14th Agriculture Open Day at the Villa grounds in Charlestown, as an event to promote food security and a tool to promote farming at every level.  The Theme for the 2008 fair is “Micro-Farming: The Driving Force for Agriculture ““ Past, Present and Future”.
 
“The reason for this theme being, we are trying to promote agriculture at all levels. We have over the years done a lot to promote commercial farming but we are trying to promote farming from a micro level to a macro level, where you can have people doing farming in their backyard and even persons who do not have space can be doing farming in containers,” he said.
 
Mr. Evelyn explained that the theme was selected against the backdrop of rising food prices worldwide and agriculture officials wanted to buffer the effect on Nevis.

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Former St. Kitts – Nevis Sugar Lands Serving The Nation

Basseterre, Saint Kitts – Nevis
April 09, 2008 (CUOPM)

St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas says the former sugar lands are being used for the social development and empowerment of nationals.

Speaking at a ceremony to allocate 80 acres of land to 44 farmers, Dr. Douglas said land has been allocated for agriculture, construction of houses for local homeowners, churches, schools, community centres and new businesses thus providing for entrepreneurship and job opportunities in the development of the national economy.

“Social development means that we are providing the land for housing. You now have the opportunity to own your homes on your plot of land and not paying rent as you did to the planter of the old days. The house lots are now yours, distributed through the National Housing Corporation (NHC) or through the Special Land Initiative of the Ministry of Sustainable Development,” said Dr. Douglas.

He said the land is also being used in the social development and empowerment of the people by providing land for the building of churches.

“We have a lot of churches in St. Kitts and Nevis and some of them still do not have land,” said Prime Minister Douglas, who pointed out that his St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Government since taking office has been distributing land to several church denominations “so that our people can as a congregation continue to worship God and to give their praises to God.”

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St. Kitts – Nevis Allocates 44 Acres Of Land To Farmers

Basseterre, Saint Kitts – Nevis
April 9, 2008 (CUOPM)

Two days after a Cabinet announcement that some 100 acres of land was allocated to local farmers in Estridge, Mansion, Phillips’ and Old Road, the St. Paul’s Community Center was the venue for re-settling 44 farmers on 80 acres of land in the Fahie’s Agricultural Belt, bringing to 240 acres the amount of land made available for farming in an area called “the Bread Basket of St. Kitts.”

“It is an exercise that will continue the empowerment of the ordinary man and woman in St. Kitts and Nevis and in particular our small farmers,” Prime Minister and Parliamentary Representative, Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas said at the ceremony at which the farmers signed contracts for the lease of the land they will cultivate under the “Small Holdings Act. “

“This empowers you to have the right to plots of land and give that right to develop that land by farming and making a living from that land and contributing to the provision of food not only for your families, but your neighbours and visitors to St. Kitts ad Nevis,” said Dr. Douglas, who disclosed that some 1,000 acres of land has been earmarked for agriculture in the area stretching from Newton Ground to Bellevue.

The leased land allocated to the farmers will be given rent-free for the first two years and would be extended for several years once the land is continued to be used for farming.

Prime Minister Douglas told the farmers that they have a very important role to play in the development of St. Kitts and Nevis as agriculture is critical to play in the continued development of the twin-island Federation.

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