~~Adz:Left~~ Good evening to citizens, residents and visitors of St. Kitts and Nevis. This evening I bring you the post cabinet briefing for cabinet meeting held today Monday 4th June 2007.
Land Distribution for Horticulture
In an attempt to facilitate the further rapid development of the Tourism Industry and to help local entrepreneurs respond to the opportunities in landscaping and horticulture as the industry grows, government has approved the lease of several acres of land in the rural areas. The project supported will increase the opportunities for young rural entrepreneurs to develop and expand their businesses and for unskilled workers to derive more opportunities for employment and livelihood. Government stands ready to support the development of the landscaping and horticultural sub-sectors which, given the impending development in the country generally and the South East Peninsula in particular, is projected to grow significantly.
Honorary Consul Appointed
Recently the government unveiled in a comprehensive document, its long-term foreign policy goals and objectives. A foundation principle in this policy document is that the foreign policy of the government is really an instrument for the achievement of its domestic policy. The foreign policy recognizes the need to form alliances with a number of countries for strategic reasons.
In view of this, Cabinet today approved the appointment of Mr. Cecil Gus Williams as Honorary Consul of Brazil, and approved Mr. Kishu Chandiramani as Honorary Consul for India.
Land Distribution Policy
Today, the Cabinet of Ministers held extensive discussions on the new land distribution policy, which was recently unveiled by the Hon Prime Minister in his feature address at the Conference of the Labour Party on May 20th. Since initial announcement, minor adjustments have been made to the policy as a result of overwhelming feedback received from the public. ~~Adz:Right~~
Under this policy, government has earmarked 500 acres to allocate 5000 lots to nationals as young as 18 years of age over the short term. These lots will be developed with infrastructure and distributed to first time landowners at a subsidized rate for up to 4000 square feet. Land in excess of 4000 square feet will be sold at current market rates. This land distribution policy seeks to empower young people " industrial estate workers, bank clerks, teachers, police officers, other government workers, and other young persons. Single parents families will also be given due consideration.
Very shortly, the Honourable Prime Minister and Minister responsible for Land will furnish further details when the scheme is being launched. Nationals will be informed of location, specific price of land, and the procedures to be followed in making an application under this special empowerment scheme.
KHT
In a previous cabinet briefing, you were informed that Cabinet was engaged in extensive discussions on a major project on the South-East Peninsula called the St. Kitts Peninsula Resort. The project concerned involves the development of a marina, three hotels, a golf course, about 2000 high-end residential units around the golf course, restaurants, and commercial buildings. The project is being undertaken by the Auberge Firesky Company, and the Kiawah group out of North Carolina.
Today, Cabinet engaged in in-depth follow-up discussions on this project after a government team had met with the Kiawah and Auberge groups over the past weeks. Specific aspects of the long-term development agreement were debated and cabinet approved the agreement in principle so that the developers are now expected to move ahead with project implementation as soon as possible.
Cabinet reaffirmed its strong support for the project considering the enormous benefits it would bring for employment opportunities and general economic activity. Cabinet urged the technical team involved in the negotiations to complete the negotiations as soon as possible.
This brings to an end the post cabinet briefing for cabinet meeting held today Monday May 4th, 2007. I thank you.
