BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE launching of the Hydroponics Project and the handover of a shade house in Nevis on Friday (Apr.22) have highlighted the importance of public-private partnership, according to Organization of American States (OAS) Representative to St. Kitts and Nevis Terrance Craig.
The Hydroponics Project is sponsored by the OAS and is also being implemented in four other countries in the Caribbean region - Barbados, Guyana, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago.
On Friday, last, Craig told a gathering that the project addresses Climate Change challenges through collaboration among higher education professionals, community-base organizations and governmental agencies.
“The objectives are to improve science and engineering education related to Climate Change mitigation and adaption strategies, and to put this knowledge into action by involving students and the wider community.”
He noted that April 22 was a historic day for the people of St. Kitts and Nevis as it coincided with the signing of the Paris Agreement in New York on Climate Change.
St. Kitts and Nevis Political Leader Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris was one of over 150 world leaders who signed onto the Agreement.
Craig noted that the issue of Climate Change is one taken very seriously by the OAS as evidence by its work in disaster risk management, biodiversity and energy efficiency programmes with which it has partnered.
“The international community has now recognized that Climate Change is one of the greatest challenges for development and prosperity, and is a threat to our people and our planet. We at the OAS hope that by the execution of this project there will be more awareness of Climate Change resilience and adaption and, at the same time, awareness about the opportunities it presents for sustaining livelihoods and economic empowerment.”
Nevis Premier and Minister of Labour, the Hon. Vance Amory called on education institutions to take the lead in the development of technologies, adding that both the Nevis Island Administration and the Federal Government have spent “a lot of money seeking to inculcate a law for technology”.
He noted that this is because both administrations are seeking to have more persons be trained in the areas of Mathematics and Science, which are priority area.
“This project has been designed to provide an opportunity and a new concept in the vision of strengthening food security in St. Kitts and Nevis,” Amory said. “By the transfer of knowledge we are aware that we could see new things happening, but the key for us is that we continue to innovate, we continue to create new initiatives. There is no better area in which one can create new initiatives than in the production of food.”
Ambassador Craig congratulated the Legacy International and the people of Nevis for the project, stating that he hopes it would create opportunities in the sister island.
Hydroponics is the cultivation of plants - currently crops and garden vegetables in a liquid base where water is mixed with essential plant nutrients. That is, both macro and micro nutrients, Nathan Narine lead officer for the Hydroponics Project explained to SKNVibes.
