A Message of Hope and Encouragement For 2009
Charlestown, Nevis
January 01, 2009
I bring New Year Greetings to all the people of Nevis, the people of St. Kitts and those Nevisians who live in the Diaspora. I especially remember those of us who live in the Virgin Islands, the nearby islands of St. Maarten and Anguilla, and of course the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom.
The year gone by has had its successes and disappointments. In spite of a year of recession in the United States and the closure of the Four Seasons Hotel, which is the main source of employment in the private sector and the major revenue earner on Nevis, in relative terms, the people of Nevis did well.
Firstly, we were able to maintain full employment. In fact, due to the commencement of operations of the Brown Hill Communications Company in June of last year over 85 additional young persons are now employed. They work in a comfortable environment and there are certain worker benefits that are available for the first time in this sector of the economy. Early in the New Year, I have been informed that the company will be recruiting and training additional persons.
Secondly, the Government of Nevis commenced the exploration of Geothermal Energy with the assistance of the West Indies Power Company. It is of the greatest significance to the people of Nevis.
The oil crisis is not over. We have been fortunate to see a drop in World oil prices as they went from US$147.00 per barrel in June last year to approximately US$40.00 per barrel at the end of 2008. This has resulted in a considerable reduction in the cost of gasoline, diesel and other fuels over the ensuing month. However, as the major countries of the world recover from difficult times the world price of oil will rise again. Therefore, the development of geothermal energy for electricity consumption will bring stability to electricity rates and will also ensure consistent and affordable rates for those of us who do business with NEVLEC.
It will create additional jobs for our people in the construction phase, the production phase and it will attract other industries in search of cheap power to Nevis.
It will not only reduce the cost of energy to NEVLEC it will help the Government to save money and will attract revenue, especially, from sales to other industries and, overseas, in the future.
During the month of December the Government’s team of our Legal Advisor, Hon. Patrice Nisbett, Mr. Laurie Lawrence, the Financial Secretary, Ernie Stapleton, P.S Ministry of Communication, Works and Public Utilities, Cartwright Farrell, General Manager of NEVLEC, a representative from the Organization of American States, and advisors for the UK and Geothermal Association of the USA completed the terms and conditions for a contractual agreement with West Indies Power, for the way forward. Those terms and conditions will be made public before the end of January.
