By Liz Rahaman
Under the stewardship of the ruling Labour Party, St. Kitts and Nevis has a solid foundation on which to build and buffer itself in the face of adversity, said Timothy Harris, chairman of the ruling Labour party.
He made these remarks last Sunday to delegates at the party’s 74th Anniversary Convention held at the Marriott Hotel.
“We can face the competition head on and shine because we are committed to life long learning, hard work and we are disciplined,” Harris said. “We can produce as efficiently as the best because God gave us our fair share of talents and senses. Innovation, creativity, application and entrepreneurship are the stock of our civilisation.”
According to the Harris — who holds the ministerial responsibility for Foreign Affairs, International Trade, Industry and Commerce —the Labour party over the many years, has been through the crucible.
“We know the suffering and tribulations of opposition. We know the joys of being in Government. We shall remain in office for a long time to come,” Harris pronounced.
He noted that because of its macro-economic fundamentals, the governing party has gained the respect of the local and international communities.
In this regard, he pointed to major investments in the economy including that of the Marriott Hotel.
“… so our country is in good hands, indeed in the best hands,” he said and added, that despite being faced with challenges and hardships occasioned by regional and international forces, the Federation is doing good under Labour.
He further pointed to the UNDP Human Development Index for 2005, which measured the country at number one in the OECS region that enjoy a good quality of life second to Barbados in the Caribbean Region.
Looking back at past accomplishments, Minister Harris reminded the audience that quite unlike the sister member countries of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which recently embarked on a compulsory nation-wide educational programme for children of secondary-school age and Trinidad, where children underwent an elimination process to remain in secondary school, St. Kitts and Nevis has guaranteed secondary education for all of its children of secondary school age.
“It was Labour that brought an end to education as a privilege of the few ‘bigwigs’ and their children and made education a fundamental right of all the people,” Harris said and added that it was under his party that some 2000 residents now own their own homes.
Minister Harris said that he was proud of the legacy that Labour has made property ownership a cornerstone of its empowerment strategy and assured the audience that it was the Labour Party’s commitment to leave the nation in a better stead than when it came into power.
