By John Denny Observer Reporter
(Charlestown, Nevis) ” Nevis had a visit from the Federation’s Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas last Saturday. The purpose of his visit was to inspect some of the damage done by Hurricane Omar. He was surprised by amount of damage, but at each stop along the tour, workers were hard at it in the cleanup effort. “I was shocked at the extent of some of the damage I have seen,” said Dr. Douglas. “But efforts are underway to return the island to a state of normalcy.” The Prime Minister arrived by the Sea Bridge 2 and rode with Nevis Premier Joseph Parry to Oualie Beach Resort where the Sea Bridge (1) was run aground. A track hoe was busy digging the beached ferry out of the sand and the two leaders spoke to workers at the scene. The prime minister, premier and a pack of journalists stopped at several locations on Nevis” western shore and then went to the Nevis 3 geothermal site to inspect the well that came to life the day before. The final stop was a press conference at Unella’s By The Sea restaurant. Both leaders expressed their thanks to all the workers involved in the cleanup effort and felt that things would soon be back to normal. Premier Parry mentioned the possibility of doing something to protect the western side of the island from future hurricanes, because that side has the most popular beaches and the most tourism infrastructure. After inspecting the damage to the Four Seasons Resort, the second biggest employer on the island, both the prime minister and the premier said that they were waiting for further assessment of the damage before they could comment on the economic impact. “I am sure that during the period that they may be out of service, I believe that they are creative enough to find alternative ways by which the staff can be employed and so we wait the final word from the Four Seasons as to how we will move forward,” Dr. Douglas said. Premier Parry agreed. “Four Seasons will find a way to employ the workers part of the time. All of the villas are in very good condition and as the prime minister said, we will wait. We are hopeful, we are optimistic that things will happen,” said the Nevis premier. “In addition to that Nevisians are very creative and I do not anticipate any serious problems. We will find ways and means of doing things on the island.” After inspecting hurricane damage on Low Street in Charlestown, both Mr. Parry and Dr. Douglas agreed that work was needed in that neighborhood to protect it against future hurricanes and that the place could use a bit of a facelift. The prime minister found the geothermal site to be very interesting “What was interesting was the final site we visited that underwent no damage and that was the geothermal site,” Dr. Douglas said. “People all over the Caribbean will enjoy the benefits of this new and important resource.” The Nevis premier added that geothermal energy will bring diversity to the economy of Nevis and allow her to be less reliant on tourism. Negotiations for the geothermal power purchase agreement are slated to start on Oct 29, Parry said. He also said the negotiations would not be open to the public, but the public would be informed of the outcome.
