Dr. Harris congratulates new CAIC President Carol Evelyn

BASSETERRE ST. KITTS (June 25, 2009) -- The recent election of a prominent Kittitian as the president of the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC) has been hailed as an honour not just to the individual but to St. Kitts and Nevis as a country.
 
Federal Minister of Finance, International Trade, Industry, Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the Hon Dr Timothy Harris, Thursday morning (June 25) during an orientation visit at the Harowe Servo Controls St. Kitts Ltd factory in Sandy Point, congratulated Carol Evelyn the plant manager on his election to the regional office on Friday June 12.
 
“On behalf of all of us in the Ministry and on behalf of the Government, indeed it is an honour bestowed on him which extends to all citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis because when he goes out to represent the region or private sector, he is in fact seen as a person from St. Kitts and Nevis,” said Dr Harris.
 
He added: “Although we are a small country, it shows we have competent people who could instill the confidence of the wider region. So this is really a tremendous honour and I feel proud to have known him and in some way to be associated with the company.”
 
The Minister congratulated Mr Evelyn who has been the plant manager for the last fifteen years for being able to provide leadership at the outsourcing company that is based in Sandy Point. The company employs 175 persons and is the largest such employer in the rural parts of the country.
 
Dr Harris, who was accompanied on the orientation tour by two officials from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Donald Cable a consultant and Dorothea Jefferson a senior officer, assured Harowe Servo Controls that the government of St. Kitts and Nevis will continue to give it the necessary support to ensure that its operations are successful and profitable.
 
“I want to commend you (the company) and hope that you still continue to develop, that you will continue to expand and the government will provide whatever incentives it reasonably can, to assist you,” said the Minister.
 
He pointed out that while the company’s products get duty free entry into Europe, the government is working with the company and another based in Basseterre, Kajola Kristada Ltd, “to see if we can open up markets in Brazil, because the more markets we open, the more production comes here, more jobs come here, more money comes to the company and you will be the beneficiaries.”
 
The Plant Manager thanked Dr Harris and his ministry for the support Harowe Servo Controls has been given over the years. “I know we have had some issues which I know we have worked out over the years and I really want to thank you and your ministry. I also want to thank you for your warm words of congratulations in respect of my presidency of the CAIC.”
 
The visiting party was given a guided tour to the various cells in the factory by Carol Evelyn, where Dr Harris talked to the jovial workers and asked them questions relating to their work. In the end one of the supervisors requested that the Minister be paying them regular visits to which Dr Harris consented.
 
After touring the factory, he met with all the managers and supervisors where he explained to them that St. Kitts as a Caribbean country had an advantage over other islands because it had loyal workers and that way was able to attract investors to the country. He also observed that the company must have been a good employer as a number of employees had worked for over thirty years each.