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| St. Kitts and Nevis' Governor General His Excellency Dr. Sir Cuthbert Sebastian; Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas, Minister of Education, Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris and the Republic of China Resident Ambassador to the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis Her Excellency Marietta Liau were among invited guests at the launching ceremony. Photo by Erasmus Williams |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS (AUGUST 16TH 2004) - The newly-formed St. Paul’s Community Council has been challenged to ensure that the EC$1.2 million Community Center plays a critical role in the development of the residents.
Launching the organisation during a ceremony attended by His Excellency the Governor General, Dr. Sir Cuthbert Sebastian, Minister of Education, Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris and the Ambassador of the Republic of China to St. Kitts and Nevis, Her Excellency Madame Marietta Liau; Prime Minister Douglas said the development of the residents can be enhanced thorough education, training, recreation, services, exchange of ideas, support for community organisations and strengthen and sustain the community vitality in St. Paul’s.
“You have been given with this facility, a library and a computer lab. We now are able to fashion around these very important tools, the necessary programmes that will allow our people to utilise these tools in the betterment of their individual lives and in the general development of this community. It must therefore judiciously allocate and effectively administer the use of the Community Center to the various organisations that would use this center,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
He said that the Community Council must ensure there is a partnership with all the residents who are embodied in the attributes of caring, commitment, community spirit and community pride and must view its role as ensuring that it becomes a resource to help community members to rise above their present circumstances, “motivating each other to strive for all things good, all things productive, and all things right.
Even if the Council itself is unable to provide this very resource within itself, it must be able to garner that resource from within the wider community or from outside the community on a whole.”
Prime Minister Douglas said the St. Paul’s Community Council must ensure that it garners as many ideas as possible through consultations with the people of the community about how the center would best serve the community.
“I therefore encourage you tonight, to become fully involve in the development of programmes and activities that will be hosted here at the center as you engage yourselves in the development of your proud community, St. Paul’s.
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| St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister and Parliamentary Representative for St. Paul's, Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas introduces members of the St. Paul's Community Center. Photo by Erasmus Williams |
The new St. Paul’s Community Council must become actively engaged in protecting and improving the quality of life for all of those living or working in the community that it serves – senior citizens, the children, the various groups in the community, church organisations other groups including the Rasta community as well,” said Prime Minister Douglas, who said the Community Council must also use the resources that are available to promote self-help initiatives within the community.
“There is in this community, the future millionaires of St. Kitts and Nevis. We are a government concerned about developing the necessary skills that would allow people to engender wealth in various forms. You must therefore, use your own initiatives here and identify those among us who have certain particular skills that can be utilised to advance themselves as entrepreneurs and business people generally, so that they can develop the spirit of business and community here in St. Paul’s,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
Dr. Douglas said a Community Council and its councilors should provide a wide range of advice, a wide range of information and support for all community groups.
The Community Council, he said has a responsibility to assist the sitting Parliamentary Representative in identifying areas of concern and those that need attention, “whether it is the parliamentary representative personally intervening to find such solutions or the intervention, through the various government departments that are available to us.”
“You must therefore recognise your power to lobby Statutory, voluntary and other sectors of the government to ensure educational programmes and other programmes on a wide range of subjects and issues, be they environmental, affordable housing, better health care, community care or education or training or better and safer transport facilities and services and personal domestic budgeting,” said Prime Minister Douglas, who stressed “personal domestic budgeting, because too many of our heads of household are getting into money problems on a daily basis, living above our means, putting our hats where our hands can’t reach.”
“It is the duty of the St. Paul’s Community Council to address this particular problem within the community and to ensure that people are able to balance their domestic budgets on a regular basis, so that they are kept out of the prisons for bad debtors in St. Kitts and Nevis,” said Dr. Douglas.
He said the Community Council must also use the Center as a one-stop-shop facility for reliable information on services and needs so that members can react positively and appropriately in order to influence any remedial action that may be required.
