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| St. Kitts and Nevis' Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas (r) is greeted by Founder and Chairman of the ANSA McAl conglomerate, Mr. Anthony N. Sabga at the company's headquarters in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The company is majority shareholder in the St. Kitts Breweries Ltd. |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, MAY 31ST 2006 - Nationals of St. Kitts and Nevis and six other Caribbean nations are eligible for the first ever Anthony N. Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence in October this year.
According to information, each of the laureates will receive the equivalent of US$80,000; a gold medallion and citation, and visibility across the Caribbean.
The award is named after founder of the conglomerate ANSA McAl, and will be managed by the ANSA McAL Foundation.
Three persons will be chosen from six Caribbean nations in the disciplines of arts and letters, science and technology, and public and civic contributions.
The awards will be made every two years and for the first time, the individuals will be chosen from Guyana, Jamaica, Grenada, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and St. Kitts and Nevis.
The foundation, which is managing the programme, anticipates expanding the award to include more disciplines with likely ones being journalism and media, sport and other areas determined by the foundation.
The Foundation said that the programme represents a coming-of-age, in which Caribbean people recognize their own.
It also added that the goal of the awards is to "recognize significant Caribbean achievement, to encourage and to support the pursuit of excellence by Caribbean persons, for the benefit of the region."
The award is not a lifetime achievement award nor will it be given posthumously.
The intention is to find people in the middle of their career - this does not mean age, someone who already achieved a lot....the likely leader in the next generation in the various fields.
Apart from that, the laureates would have had a track record for consistent superior work.
There were two other criteria to be met before persons could get the award. It was pointed out that the individuals' work must have a positive impact in the Caribbean.
Candidates will be selected, ideally one person in each category, by Country Nomination Committees (CNC), in each of the countries.
Selection of the committee members will be guided by a Regional Eminent Person Selection Panel (REPSP). The REPSP will also select the three persons to get the award from among individuals chosen by the CNCs.
The names of members of the CNC won't be made public until after the nomination of the laureates to prevent any lobbying of persons for selection.
Among the guidelines set out by the regional panel for the CNCs, is that there must be a mixture in the ages, ethnicity, and gender.
