BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FROM the construction site to the upcoming hotels, gift shops and tourist attractions, the multi-million dollar Christophe Harbour Development Project is seen as a place that would provide employment opportunities for many people in the Federation.
According to Minister of Tourism, the Hon. Richard Skerritt, the Christophe Harbour multi-million dollar construction project consists of not only the Marina which would be built for yachts, but also hotels, markets and housing facilities.
“There will be hundreds of jobs. In fact, the jobs in the construction phase have already been occupied both on land and inland. From the dredging, the trucking, heavy equipment, the various services to do with agreements, lawyers and accountants,” Skerritt said.
He explained that the employment of locals and visitors are significant, but added that with the projection of jobs in the hundreds, there is no study to illustrate the exact amount of employment opportunities that would be created.
“Right now we have one of our locals who is captaining a mega yacht in Dubai that I keep in touch with all the time. There are Kittitians and Nevisians all over the world who are working in the yachting sector,” the Minister explained.
He added that some of the yacht operators would visit St. Kitts once the Marina is completed as early as January 2015.
At the recent Groundbreaking Ceremony of the multi-million dollar Christophe Harbour Marina Project in the South East Peninsula, CEO Buddy Darby said that the company has already sold slips to a number of yacht owners who, at the same time, are investing in the project.
When asked about the reason for a marina in St. Kitts, Darby, who is also a yacht owner, said: “If you take a radius, St. Maarten, Antigua and Anguilla, you will see this is where the super yachts like to come and cruise.”
He added that St. Kitts and Nevis is where most mega yachts are located.
“So to have them at any given day, 24 yachts here, that’s like having a very high-end hotel. These people are international; some of them might want to buy real estate. We even had David Geffen here, who is one of the biggest record producers,” the CEO explained.
