Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 15, 2019 (SKNIS): The Ministry of Tourism, in collaboration with a number of public and private sector agencies and departments, continues to ensure that communities throughout St. Kitts are involved in the tourism sector. The latest initiative is the reintroduction of a beautification project entitled 2019 National Best Village Competition for the various communities around St. Kitts.
Novelette Morton, Senior Tourism Projects Officer, Ministry of Tourism, said that the competition is designed for the purpose of beautification, preservation and community togetherness.
“It is a beautification effort, so one of the primary focus is to beautify our surroundings. We want persons to preserve the environment, so environmental preservations, beautification, as well as bringing our communities together,” said Ms. Morton. “We are aware of certain negative social activities that have been taking place, in particular crime, and we feel that we can bring our communities closer together, create greater cohesion we have such a competition.”
Shaline Welcome, Community Tourism Officer, Ministry of Tourism, said that communities play a vital role in tourism and their involvement in the competition is important.
“The communities basically have the richness of tourism. There is where most of our natural, cultural and historical assets are hidden. The communities now become a huge part of the best village competition because most of the areas to be factored in are actually within the communities itself,” said Ms. Richards. “So, it is an opportunity for communities and community groups to be onboard to take responsibility for these natural, cultural and historical assets.”
Ms. Richards said that this initiative is also aimed at encouraging persons to “regain some sort of community pride which will then lead to national pride because you first have to take care of your immediate surrounding and when you start taking care of your immediate surrounding then the love is going to be spreading around the villages.”
The competition is set to be launched on Friday, May 17, 2019, at a small but important ceremony at the Independence Square in Basseterre, St. Kitts.
The 2019 National Best Village Competition will be judged on a number of categories including best clean and green area; best kept neighbourhood; best home garden which will be divided into two parts namely, vegetable and ornamental; best village shop; best sponsored roundabout; best village grandparent and best sustainability programme.
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