BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE government will soon introduce national schemes aimed at reducing the cost of healthcare, mitigating the negative effects of unemployment and accelerating the distribution of land and housing.
Governor-General His Excellency Dr. Sir Cuthbert Sebastian made the disclosure during Wednesday’s (Mar. 10) traditional Throne Speech at the opening session of Parliament.
The first half of his hour-long address was devoted to outlining government progress at economic diversification over the past 15 years, while the second dealt with its plans for maintaining social and economic progress.
Among the highlights is the announcement of a special deal for landowners and students interested in pursuing studies abroad.
“All persons who make the initial deposit of EC$100 in respect of land allocated to them under the Special Land Initiative will be entitled to get their deeds immediately and have their titles duly registered at the Court Registry...we will provide financing through the development bank for those interested in constructing a home on the lands acquired through this initiative,” Sir Cuthbert revealed.
“This will be complemented by a special guarantee scheme to provide additional security to those requiring such to obtain loans for the construction of homes. This guarantee will also be accessible to persons who approach the development bank or other banks for loans to pursue academic or professional studies and who do not have the required number of sureties to secure student loans.”
According to His Excellency, preparation is advanced to introduce a short-term unemployment scheme as a “critical source” of income to those out of work. He also gave details about a national health plan that would soon be implemented to facilitate access to cost-effective, quality healthcare.
“As a small nation with a small population, there are many medical facilities and procedures that could not be made here in an economically viable manner,” he noted.
“We therefore intend to introduce a national health insurance scheme that would be available to all citizens and would cover the cost of local medical care and of overseas medical care when it is established definitively by a local panel of doctors that the treatment is not available in St. Kitts and Nevis.”
None of the aforementioned objectives will be possible without a cohesive central administration, a fact Sir Cuthbert acknowledged and said the government was working to achieve.
Public sector recruitment and promotion will be based entirely on merit, while government entities will be subject to regular performance appraisals in an effort to make processes more efficient and transparent.
There will also be the establishment of consultative councils to provide input concerning key issues such as crime fighting and youth development.
The Governor-General was positive about future strides to be made and stressed that the government’s impressive agenda for change would be furthered in the next five years.
“The projects and programmes that emanate from this strategy would ensure that in the upcoming five-year planning horizon, our economy would substantially improve on the remarkable record of growth and development that was achieved over the past 15 years,” he insisted.
