Pond Hill wins Best Village Beautification award
Minister urges residents to keep villages clean year round

By Pauline Waruguru
Nevis Reporter-SKNVibes.com

Sonita Daniel hands over a tool to a Pond Hill representative

Cotton Ground took second position while Barns Ghaut placed third. The contest judges’ were drawn from the Nevis Historic and Conservation Society. 

Representatives of Pond Hill’s residents received the award at a ceremony held on Wednesday evening at the Red Cross Building, Chapel Street Nevis.

The other villages that participated in the contest are Fountain, Jessups, Bath, Zion, Market Shop, Mount Lily, Camps and Fothergills.

Addressing the audience at the ceremony, the Minister of Health, Hon. Hensley Daniel, thanked the participating villages and encouraged them to continue cleaning up their respective areas throughout the year. The exercise, he said, reassures Nevisians that the community spirit has not died and could be rekindled.

Minister Daniel said there is need for a reference village that sets the pace and becomes the reference point for the rest of the villages. He said a clean Nevis would attract tourists and boost the tourism sector because “people do not visit places they regard as untidy.”

He called on village residents and the public at large to be mindful how they dispose waste and to desist from dumping refuse in ghauts. He called on the organisers of the event to make it annual.  ~~Adz:Right~~

The Minister thanked the corporate sector for partnering with the organisers and the community to make the event successful, while singling out LiveNevis, Four Seasons Estates and Surrey Paving Aggregate for their substantial contributions.

Daniel said the exercise had breathed a new life and united the community. He noted that modern trends such as “get rich quick” and materialism were killing the community spirit and said, in a light touch, that people expected to be paid to say “good morning”.