Nevis, West Indies. ?A Non-Tourist-Trap? Blog About Nevis.

Mr. Patrice Nisbett - Attorney General

Basseterre, St. Kitts - Nevis
February 18, 2010 (SKNIS)

The new Attorney General (AG) in the Federal Government, Honourable Patrice Nisbett, said strengthening the human capacity of his Ministry and improving relations between St. Kitts and Nevis was high on his agenda.

The revelation was made on Tuesday, on the SKNIS radio magazine programme Perspectives, which is running a special four-part miniseries dubbed, “The New Faces in Cabinet.”

During the interview, Minister Nisbett explained the deliberations that took place when he was initially offered the post of AG, and the reasons for accepting the responsibilities of the accompanying Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs. Since taking up the position on February 7, 2010, the new Cabinet member said he is prepared to tackle major challenges.

“One would want to deal with the institutional strengthening of the Attorney General’s Chambers and also other areas of the Ministry in order to … bring the manpower levels up to what is required in order to function in an efficient and a very quick manner,” he stated.

In doing so, the Attorney General explained that the process of giving legal advice to the Government and the workings of the justice system will be positively impacted.

The new Federal Minister, who was re-elected as the representative for Constituency 11 in Nevis, said he also intends to work on matters regarding the relationship between the sister islands.

“One of the things that come to mind is the issue of the devolution of authority,” AG Nisbett stressed, noting that legislative authority for the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) in critical matters such as education, labour, welfare and health has been outlined in a White Paper.

“Those matters in the Constitution which the NIA has exclusive administrative responsibility for. They … want to transfer those matters into what we call “specified matters” under the Constitution so that the NIA Legislature now has total competence over, and they can make legislation in respect to these areas,” he stated.

Meanwhile, residents that weighed in on the selection of the Honourable Patrice Nisbett as AG on the radio programme had high praise for the choice.

“Nevis is part of the Federation and I think it’s good that somebody from Nevis can be part of the Federal Cabinet and be able to speak on Nevis’ behalf and be part of what is going on,” said Diana. Christine described the move as “brilliant” and added that “the Prime Minister is trying to get the message across that  … he is trying to get the two islands to be close, so that the people can work together and the two can be united.”

A young woman from Nevis chimed in and stressed that the AG’s presence will add continuity to the subjects arising from the regular discussions of the joint Cabinets from St. Kitts and from Nevis.

“I respect his legal knowledge and the fact that he works very hard. … He has continued to strive over the past 15 years and I am very proud of him,” she concluded.

Honourable Patrice Nisbett was first elected to the National Assembly in 1995 and has served three consecutive terms as the representative for St. James Windward and St. Thomas Lowland, in Nevis. In 2004, he was appointed Deputy Speaker of the Federal Parliament.

Since AG Nisbett now will sit on the Government benches in the Federal Parliament, a new Deputy Speaker will be identified at a future sitting.

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Fighting Crime In St. Kitts - Nevis To Be A Priority oF The Labour Party

Basseterre, St. Kitts - Nevis
February 10, 2010 (CUOPM)

A wide range of social sector initiatives will be outlined during the Throne Speech at the opening of a new Parliament and the presentation of the 2010 Budget.

Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas said programmes aimed at training young parents, reducing the drop rate in schools, fighting crime and making communities safer will get specific attention.

“The social sector will also occupy much of our attention in the new term, and we will at the opening of Parliament, and in the upcoming budget session, outline a very wide range of social sector initiative,” said Dr. Douglas.

He said all efforts must be made to make the communities safer by working together to fight crime.

“Hence, early in this new term of office, we will carry out a comprehensive review of the all of the various crime fighting initiatives with a view to evaluating their effectiveness, committing more resources to the initiatives that are achieving results and developing new community based approaches to the fight against crime. We will continue to train young parents in parenting skills, and to give our young people greater scope to develop their varied skills in our schools and educational institutions. This we expect will reduce the dropout rate in our schools and cut off the supply of young people ready to do the bidding of hardened criminals in gangs,” said Prime Minister Douglas.

The St. Kitts and Nevis leader said his government’s ability to implement a very expansive programme of development will depend heavily on the strength of the institutional framework and the efficacy of the processes that must be deployed to carry out the mandate of the Government.

“We will therefore strengthen the office of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Secretariat to allow them to play even more central roles in monitoring the implementation of the various policy initiatives. They will demand regular performance reports from all Government entities and issue directions from Cabinet aimed at ensuring that the projects, programmes and activities of the Government are on course to realizing their objectives efficiently and effectively. We will also ensure that the Government policies are appropriately informed by the views and concerns of our people expressed through various consultative mechanisms,” he told the gathering.

Dr. Douglas disclosed that his administration will establish councils or commissions with public and private sector participation to provide inputs in the policies established in relation key sectors or issues including public sector modernization, crime fighting, youth development, health reform, and education reform.

“We have already established a competitiveness council to address competitiveness issues, and I am confident that this important council will make a very significant contribution to the development of our Federation. We also intend to exert every effort to bring more energy to community life and to ensure that national policies take full cognizance of community issues and concerns. In this regard, I expect that our community centres will play central roles in community life and become hubs of activity.   I expect your constituency representatives will hold regular sessions in the community centres and relay the issues of concern in communities to the Cabinet and the National Assembly, so that these important policy-making institutions would be more responsive to the needs our communities and our people,” said Prime Minister Douglas.

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4. Nevis Social Policies Play Role In Economic Growth
5. Government and Private Sector Partnership Important To Nevis’ Future Prosperity

Crime Is Increasing Locally and Regionally

Basseterre, St. Kitts - Nevis
January 25, 2010 (SKNIS)

Prime Minster Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas has pledged to enhance the community approach to crime fighting.

At a recent forum with a group of young men, the Prime Minister said “I believe everyone has a purpose and every man must have an opportunity to better themselves.”

It’s a philosophy that has given birth to greater community policing initiatives and the creation of innovative programmes such as the Youth Empowerment through Skills (Y.E.S.) Project, which was devised to equip young people with social skills and  the “know how” of barbering, landscaping, catering, bartending, air condition servicing and hairstyling as well as computer application.

The YES Project has touched more than 1,000 young people, giving them a second chance in life to reject antisocial influences and contribute positively to national development.

Noting that crime is increasing regionally and internationally, the St. Kitts and Nevis leader pledged to increase the dimensions of crime fighting. Strategies include consolidating alliances with the Regional Security System (RSS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), INTERPOL and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

On the local scene measures call for the strengthening the capacity of the security forces via recruitment and training, modernizing the infrastructure, improving the penal system and legislative reform. Greater attention will also be paid to the rehabilitation of legal offenders.

The Juvenile Coed Rehabilitation Center of St. Kitts and Nevis will play a preventative role when completed this year. Family outreach and reintegration into society will be two of the main services offered. The center is one component of Government’s Child Development Project (CDP) which seeks to improve the status of children at risk by supporting programmes of early detection and remediation of behavioural and learning difficulties as well as rehabilitative care for persons who have committed offenses.

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5. New St. Kitts - Nevis Police Crime Fighting Initiatives