CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (SEPTEMBER 30, 2009) -- Minister of Social Development and Youth on Nevis Hon. Hensley Daniel said the Nevis Island Administration’s (NIA) decision to send young men to pursue technical studies in Trinidad and Tobago, was no accident. He said the move was part of the Nevis Government’s strategic intervention to develop the island’s youth.
Mr Daniel made the comment just before the departure of a second group of 20 young men who left Nevis on Friday for the Metal Industries Company Ltd. in Trinidad to pursue studies in electricity, automotive technology, welding, plumbing, masonry and carpentry.
“This is strategic intervention and this has everything to do with the development of young people; it has everything to do with creating a new kind of mind in a new kind of Nevis. It has everything to do with creating a new platform for the development of young people,” he said.
According to Mr. Daniel, the NIA had the option to allow the facilitators to come to Nevis to administer the courses. However, it was decided that the trainees would be better served if they were given the opportunity to experience another culture, work in an environment where there was technology and to give those who had not, the opportunity to travel.
He explained that Trinidad was the most industrialised island in the Caribbean with its oil based economy and allied industries which created a great opportunity for training.
Mr. Daniel used the opportunity to record the NIA’s gratitude to MIC who had worked with the Administration to ensure the success of the programme.
“I think they [MIC] would tell you that we have surpassed our Caribbean brothers and sisters in so far as this training is concerned.
“We have surpassed the training in the sense that we have connected with the thing that matters most - equipping the young people for the future. We take the view that education and this kind of training, is the way we equip today’s young people for tomorrow’s possibilities,” he said.
The Minister told the trainees that the NIA had provided a great opportunity to them through the MIC programme. He said they should bear in mind, that several governments in the region wished they could afford their youths similar opportunities but were unable to be a part of the programme due to hard economic times.
“We are the smallest island government in the region and we are doing this at a time when all the other countries are cutting programmes for young people. This programme is costing us a tidy sum of money but it is an investment we must do.
We made a commitment to send at least one batch of students per year, we think in good economic times we can send more than one but we are committed to doing one,” he said.
The Minister noted, that the group of 20 young men who were drawn from every parish on the island, would have to make a difference in their various communities on their return.
“We will learn to live together in the same building, you will cook together and you will bond. The idea is on returning to Nevis, you will help us to deal with this rising trend towards anti social behaviour and gang culture.
“We will live together from different parts, we have carefully selected people from every single parish in Nevis and we expect you to go to Trinidad and do your best,” he said.
Mr. Daniel also told the trainees that the training should not be taken lightly and at the end of their stint in Trinidad the NIA would have equipped a total of 37 certified young men, with lifelong skills that would make them marketable.
The youths were accompanied by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Social Development Mr. Alstead Pemberton to ensure that everything was in place for the students. He is expected to return to Nevis shortly.
