BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party Cabinet met in Retreat on Monday (Apr. 2) at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort to discuss a number of issues, including those that would detract from a unified party, post-debt restructuring and the IMF programme.
In a statement released from Disseminate It, Minister of Information Senator Nigel Carty said the Retreat was facilitated by Dr. Neville Duncan of Jamaica and opening remarks were made by Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas, who outlined the rationale and purpose of the event.
Carty noted Dr. Douglas stated that cordial discussions were had on “the thorny issues that would detract from a unified party and to firmly establish the message to address the issues of a post-debt restructuring and IMF programme”.
Dr. Douglas, according to the statement, presented a brief overview of a number of policy-oriented matters which had been placed on the agenda and emphasised the need for concrete decisions to be taken to guide the government going forward.
“The Rt. Hon. Prime Minister was adamant that the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party Administration that has a legacy of eighty (80) years of service to the people of St. Kitts and Nevis would overcome the current detractions if greater attention to the policy matters at hand,” the statement read.
Following his remarks, Cabinet members discussed in Caucus a number of presentations delivered by the Attorney General, the Hon. Patrice Nisbett, Ambassador Wendell Lawrence and Professor Simon Jones-Hendrickson.
Nisbett led the discussion which dealt with the Governance and Legislative Agenda intended to further strengthen the Federation’s democratic institutions.
He also discussed some of the matters related to St. Kitts and Nevis electoral system, while Ambassador Lawrence’s presentation focused on refuelling and stimulating economic growth in the post-IMFDebt Restructuring era.
“Following his presentation [Ambassador Lawrence], Cabinet discussed a number of issues including unemployment, cost of electricity and the role of SIDF in growth programme. It was agreed that a number of specific recommendations would need further deliberation at a follow-up meeting of the Cabinet,” Carty said.
Carty stated that Professor Jones-Hendrickson’s presentation concentrated on a number of people-issues and optimising government’s Social Safety net programme as articulated in the recently-adopted National Social Protection Strategy, to which the Cabinet spent significant time on a new model for the provision of Affordable Housing.
Dr. Duncan, on the other hand, focused his discourse on the challenges of governance in small island states and emphasised the importance of Cabinet’s collective responsibility and the need for a formal process to be put in place to determine succession within political parties in the Caribbean.
He praised the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party for its longevity and advised the government to establish a Technical Review Commission to monitor and ensure smooth implementation of meaning social and growth-stimulating projects.
In winding up the meeting, Dr. Douglas requested members to consider a memo which chronicled the developments leading up to the establishment of a consulate in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
He said that the memo became necessary as a result of the statement made by the Deputy Prime Minister in the Parliament even though the matter had been clarified in the Cabinet the previous Monday.
The PM, Carty noted, said the matter was before the Cabinet and that he intended to deal with the matter within that political body.
He also circulated a draft press release based on the Cabinet Memo which he said would be released once there was no serious objection. The memo was amended, most notably through the removal of the last paragraph, as per the recommendation from members present.
Dr. Douglas thanked members for attending and staying to the end of a very long meeting.
He said he inherited a party in opposition and that it was his intention whenever that time comes to hand-over a strong, cohesive and functioning party to new leadership in the future.
