~~Adz:Left~~ Citizens and residents of St. Kitts and Nevis, good evening. I bring to you the Post-Cabinet briefing for Cabinet meeting held today Monday August 20th, 2007.
SLDI to Launch
Members of the public are aware that the launch of the Special Land Distribution Initiative planned for Friday August 17th was postponed due to inclement weather generated by the passage of Hurricane Dean. The launch of the Special Land Initiative is now being scheduled for Friday August 24th at 3:00pm at the Circus in Basseterre.
The Special Land Initiative is created to empower 5,000 citizens, 18 years and older, by providing lots 4,000 to 9,000 square feet in size. The total amount of former sugar lands in 25 different locations that will be distributed under this programme is 618 acres. The first 8 areas that will immediately become available under this programme are Buckley’s, Molineux, Shadwell, St. Paul’s, Cayon, Sandy Point, Verchilds and Taylor’s. The other 17 areas will become available over the next few months.
Members of the public are reminded to come out on Friday August 24, 2007 at 3:00pm at the Circus in Basseterre and to stay tuned to the information about the Special Land Initiative shared in the media.
Liquidation of SSMC
Today, Cabinet took the opportunity to broadly review the closure of the sugar industry and in particular discussed the liquidation of the assets of the SSMC. The SSMC has completed preparations for the sale of its assets and is hoping to generate some revenue that will contribute to the offsetting of its debt. These assets include tractors, loaders, tractor carts, motorcars, tyres, Land Rovers, among other things. Cabinet was generally satisfied with the post-sugar operations of the SSMC.
The Minister of Agriculture responsible for the SSMC, The Hon Cedric Liburd, updated the Cabinet on his one-to-one meetings he has been having with ex-sugar workers. The Minister reported that most of the former sugar workers are in employment and that most of them are satisfied generally with their current state of affairs. The Minister committed to bringing a full report to the Cabinet when all of his meetings with the former sugar workers are completed. His report will specifically document the concerns of the former sugar workers. Cabinet looks forward to the receipt of such a report.
The End
This brings to an end the Cabinet briefing for Monday August 20, 2007.
