By Lesroy W. Williams Observer Reporter
” (Basseterre, St. Kitts) – St. Kitts and Nevis continues to fare well from the Organization of American States” technical assistance program. On October 14 at the Cayon Community Centre, the OAS together with members of the community launched a rural based agro/eco-tourism project. The OAS has given $US 48,840 to the funding of the project for one year. The project has as its main objective the economic and social revitalization of communities in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis. The project was conceived in 2006 by the SSMC Transition Management Office” and is being executed through the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Cooperatives. The project hopes to target the unemployed, business persons, entrepreneurs, investors and school leavers and is designed to create jobs and generate income in the rural communities in St. Kitts. Apart from job creation and income generation, the project seeks to facilitate social development, care for the environment and sustainable tourism development. “When the Federal Government of St. Kitts and Nevis decided that it would close the sugar industry over three years ago, the Organization of American States (OAS) understood then that the decision would have very important social and economic implications for the country. As one of the Federation’s premier social partners, and bearing in mind that St. Kitts and Nevis is the smallest member country of the OAS, and have a number of vulnerabilities associated with a Small Island Developing State, the organization recognized that it had an obligation to stand with the Government and the People, and to assist them in overcoming the challenges created by the closure of sugar that had been a major financial, economic and social force in the lives of the citizens of this twin-island country,” OAS Representative in St. Kitts and Nevis, Mr. Starret Greene, said at the launch. Mr. Greene said that the project was submitted to the OAS in June 2007. Conscious of the fallout from the closure of the sugar industry and its impact on the people who worked in that industry, the OAS decided to fund the project for one year. The OAS three-fold purpose is to help mitigate the fallout from closing an industry that had been the mainstay of the economy for many centuries, to help with the transition from an economy dominated by sugar to one built on the services sector and to help create alternative means of employment to those who had lost their jobs.” The project, which is in its embryonic stage, would not create any income generating jobs in the initial period. Before jobs can be created, a number of persons will work in collaboration with Mr. Keith Phillip to identify the human and physical resources in the community in order develop the project. When these human and physical resources are identified and developed, then job creation would follow. Some possible jobs that the project would create are in the area of tourism which would include tour guides for nature trail hikes, taxi operators, security personnel, et cetera. The program is still a guinea pig and much of its benefits would not be realized immediately but overtime, Mr. Greene said.””” Mr. Keith Phillip from the Planning and Policy Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, Housing, Fisheries and Cooperatives, conceived, planned, wrote the project and is charged with its implementation and management. He contracted the services of a professor from the University of Michigan who will serve as technical consultant to the project. Mr. Greene thanked all the persons from the various governmental departments and agencies who have given their support to the program in various ways and said that the success of the program depends on the support of people from the community who work to bring about the project’s goals and objectives.”
