BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS (JULY 5TH 2004) – The St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Administration’s policy to exempt nationals and residents from the payment of customs duties on computers has been paying dividends in ensuring a computer literate society.
The Washington-based World Bank World Development Indicators database for April this year in reporting positive trends for St. Kitts and Nevis state that internet users jumped from 1,500 in 1998 to 10,000 in 2002.
Kittitian-born Economics Officer in the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, Mrs. Willa Liburd, points out that St. Kitts and Nevis is classified as “an upper middle income and moderately indebted country.”
“For comparison, St. Lucia is also classified as an upper middle income and moderately indebted country. Barbados and Antigua and Barbuda have incomplete information. On the other hand, both Guyana and Jamaica are classified as lower middle income and severely indebted countries,” said the senior United Nations official.
According to Mrs. Liburd, the World Bank data also show good progress in technological advancement in St. Kitts and Nevis.
“In 2002, St. Kitts and Nevis with a population of 46,000, had 606.4 units of fixed lines and mobile telephones per 1,000 people; 191.5 personal computers per 1,000 people and 10,000 internet users. In 1998, there were only 1,500 internet users,” she pointed out.
In comparison, Antigua and Barbuda, with a population of 69,000 had 977.6 units of fixed lines and mobile telephones per 1,000 people and 10,000 internet users, while Barbados had 104.1 personal computers per 1,000 people and 30,000 internet users for its population of 269,000.
“In regard to the environment, in absolute terms St. Kitts and Nevis has one of the lowest levels of carbon dioxide emissions in the CARICOM region, indeed in the world and in line with the islands of the Pacific region. Data for 2000 show levels of carbon dioxide emissions of 103 thousand metric tons for St. Kitts and Nevis, 352 thousand metric tons for Antigua and Barbuda and 1,176 thousand metric tons for Barbados,” said the United Nations official.
Mrs. Liburd said given the turbulent political/military and economic international environment in which small Caribbean islands have to operate, “these are heartening trends and something to hang on to as we endeavour to tackle the difficult problems of youth unemployment, crime and pockets of poverty, among other things, that continue to bedevil us.”
“As we engage in the difficult task ahead, continued good governance is a sine qua non for ensuring that the ship of state is steered in the right direction,” opined the Kittitian-born economist.
