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St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas (l) and the Barbados-based Head of the European Delegation in the Eastern Caribbean His Excellency, Amos Tincani. (photo by Erasmus Williams) |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, JULY 18TH 2005 The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis will present a post-sugar Plan of Action to the regional and international donor community, who have pledged to assist in the transformation of economy in light of the closure of the sugar industry.
The Plan, that will encompass not only the agricultural sector, but all sectors of the economy that would be affected by the transition, will be presented during the meeting on Friday 22nd July at the Ocean Terrace Inn (OTI) Conference Room.
According to the Ministry of Finance, several representatives will attend from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the Delegation of the European Commission in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC), the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), the International Institute for Co-operation in Agriculture (IICA), the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the Organisation of American States (OAS), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the US-Jamaica/Caribbean Group and the CARICOM Secretariat.
Officials from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington, D.C. will participate via telephone and video conference.
Local officials attending the meeting will be drawn from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Social Development, Community and Gender Affairs, the Ministry of International Trade, the Ministry of Social Development, the St. Kitts Sugar Manufacturing Corporation (SSMC), the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministerial Sub- Committee of the Cabinet and the Sugar Transition Office.
Head of the European Delegation in the Eastern Caribbean His Excellency, Amos Tincani said the European Commission has made a pledge to assist St. Kitts and Nevis in the short-term in view of the closure of the sugar industry. Ambassador Tincani has also pledged the long-term cooperation of the EU with ACP sugar protocol countries to help them in adapting to a less-subsidised sugar market and has proposed an 8-yerar partnership from 2006 to 2013.
In recent discussions with the Head of Delegation of the European Commission in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Ambassador Tincani, Prime Minister Douglas recommended that the European Commission put in place an adjustment programme as part of the Federations sugar transition strategy.
He said the nation has been forced to exit from sugar production as a result of the economic realities and the international trading practices today that do not allow us to continue to produce sugar for the export market.
The Barbados-based U.S. Ambassador to St. Kitts and Nevis, Her Excellency Mrs. Mary Kramer has also given an undertaking to the Federations Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas to meet with key agricultural stakeholders in St. Kitts and Nevis to sensitise them to various techniques and opportunities based on the (State of) Iowa model.
Government will close the loss making sugar industry at the end of the reaping of the last crop this month. Some 1500 workers are to be affected.
Since the mid-1980's, the industry has been importing overseas cane cutters to harvest the sugar crop. This year some 232 cane cutters from Guyana and 75 from the Dominican Republic have been recruited. Only 60 locals are cane cutters are on the pay roll.
A SSMC Sugar Transition Team has been installed and has been holding discussions with the St. Kitts-Nevis Trades and Labour Union on severance and other benefits for the workers. Team members as well as officials from the Ministry of Social Development and the Department of Labour have had extensive discussions island-wide with workers on the exit strategy from sugar. Highest priority is being given to the re-training and re-orientation and assistance to the workers.
A Ministerial Committe of the Cabinet also liase with the Transition Team and provides a weekly update to the Cabinet.
The European Union has announced a 39% reduction for sugar bought from ACP countries. The action, which has been strongly condemned by the Caribbean Heads of Government devastate the most important agricultural enterprise in the Region and a profound blow would be dealt to the small, vulnerable developing economies involved like St. Kitts and Nevis.
