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| Prime Minister of the Federation of St.Kitts & Nevis, Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS (August 1, 2007): Prime Minister the Honourable Dr. Denzil Douglas said yesterday, Tuesday, July 31, that his Government has effected the successful transformation of St. Kitts and Nevis from a small, developing country once dependent on sugar to one that is now services-based.
Prime Minister Douglas described the new economy as "exciting and progressive."
Yesterday marked two years since the St. Kitts-Nevis Government closed the more than 300 hundred-year-old sugar industry, which had been operating at a
loss as prices fell on the world markets and production costs rose.
July 31, 2005 was a solemn day in stark contrast to July 31, 2007; back then, 1570 employees of the St. Kitts Sugar Manufacturing Corporation (SSMC)
- 296 of them were overseas employees, mostly from Guyana - were let go.
But the strong economy coupled with the low unemployment level of St. Kitts and Nevis has enabled the quick re-absorption of the former SSMC workers into the labour force.
A survey conducted by the Sugar Transition Office in May-June 2006 found that only a little more than 300 of them were unemployed. In August 2005, SSMC re-employed 108 of them to perform administrative, security and fire control services, as well as soil conservation and rainfall data collection < work. The number of people working at SSMC as of July 2007 was 77.~~Adz:Right~~
By the time the Sugar Transition Office completed its survey last June, most
of the former sugar workers had found jobs; 505 were employed full-time, while 317 were employed part-time.
Prime Minister Douglas elaborated on what the tracking of the former sugar workers has found; that progress is in fact being made: a significant number
of them have been re-trained and gainfully employed.
"And there were at least 417 persons currently enlisted in different training programs, which were intended to make them much more marketable in the job market," the Prime Minister said. Prime Minister Douglas continued, "Of course, I want to emphasize then that between those who have been fully employed and those who have been partly employed or part-time employed and those who have been in training, we have about 1240 former workers of the SSMC who are engaged in some way."
The Prime Minister pointed out that 1240 is "really a sizeable number" of the 1274 local former sugar workers.
Dr. Douglas made special mention of Gabriel Norford Forbes, a former sugar worker who, after having registered full-time at Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College, earned a Diploma in Air Conditioning & Refrigeration this June.
Prime Minister Douglas also noted that seven former sugar workers sat and passed Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) subjects in June 2006; many of them successfully studied Information Technology.
"And so the point I want to make," said the Prime Minister, "is that progress is being made with regard to ensuring that our citizens impacted by
the closure of the SSMC can be re-trained and can be gainfully re-employed." Prime Minister Douglas added that former sugar workers will be further empowered soon when a number of developments come on stream.
"One of the greatest challenges and areas of concentration of this Administration, over the last two years in particular, is how do we ensure that those former sugar workers do not fall through the cracks," said Prime Minister Douglas.
~~Adz:Left~~ The Prime Minister added that, "Apart from the social assistance programs that we have put in place - making sure that the children are adequately taken care of, they are provided for in schools, they have their hot meals, scholarships have been provided, etc. - apart from that, we have been looking at how we can empower them, specifically, and training - especially training to provide services in the new economy - has been one area of great concentration."
On Monday, the public learnt that a 150-seat call centre near the airport, which Cabinet gave assent to, will upon its establishment train more than 100 young persons in handling customer services issues related to airline reservations, back office computing operations, debt management, financial services, Internet service provision, and telecommunication.
Besides training, Government is also concentrating on ensuring that there is
a "realistic and synergistic" relationship between tourism and small farmers, according to Prime Minister Douglas, who noted that several former sugar employees now work as small farmers.
And of course there is the Government's emphasis on marketing St. Kitts and Nevis to attract high-end tourism; a move that is already ushering in exciting and progressive large-scale developments, which will create excellent employment opportunities.
"In September of this year, I shall be having the opportunity to be part of a launch of the Auberge-Kiawah Development Partnership Group that will bring
three massive high-end resorts to the South East Peninsula [with] a marina for mega-yachts, spas, [and] restaurants," said Prime Minister Douglas.
"Whereas the Marriott was able to employ over 900 persons, I just want you to imagine three major resorts on the SE Peninsula and what that will do for
employment of our people, and what that will do specifically for employment for former sugar workers," the Prime Minister added.
