Published 20 April 2017
The above were found by a squad of SKNDF soldiers while on patrol on Nevis this morning:
1 x Smith and Wesson revolver
1 x 357 Magnum pistol with 10 rounds and
1x Tech 9 machine pistol with an extended magazine and 21 9mm rds.
Also recovered were: 19 7.62mm rds of ammo.
A transparent bag containing vegetable substance believed to be cannabis and
A vendetta mask.
Six persons were held and handed over to the police.
Published 19 April 2017
Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 19, 2017 (SKNIS): The Department of Environment recognizes climate variability and climate change to be two of the most significant threats to sustainable development in St. Kitts and Nevis. Against this backdrop, a number of persons from various fields throughout the federation are currently attending an eight day National Training Workshop in the Use of Climate Models for Decision Making.
The workshop, which runs from April 19-28, is held under the auspices of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center (CCCCC) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
June Hughes, Senior Environment Officer at the Department of Environment, said that the training is timely, as climate change continues to be a clear and present danger. She noted that the department is working closely with regional and international partners to ensure that persons are aware of the dangers that exist.
“We in the Department of Environment have been working to raise awareness on the impacts of climate change, while taking advantage of every capacity building opportunity to improve our adaptive response have strengthened our mitigation measures,” she said. “Each training, workshop and meeting strengthens our country to address and reduce the impacts of climate change.”
Dr. Ulric Trotz, Deputy Executive Director at CCCCC, explained that the workshop would first be rolled out nationally in all 10 countries under the USAID banner, after which regional workshops will be held. He made mention of specific training tools that were developed with the aim of assisting in the generation of scientific information and analysis to help in making informed decisions. These include the Weather Generator (WG), the Tropical Storm Model/ Simple Model for the Advection of Storms and Hurricanes (SMASH), and the Caribbean Drought Assessment Tool (CARiDRO).
“The CARIWIG [Caribbean Weather Impacts Group] tool is a critical tool in that it more or less localizes the projection so that for instance, you can actually look at climate projections for the future in a watershed in St. Kitts and Nevis. It localizes that information and it makes it much more relevant to the local circumstance,” said Dr. Trotz.
The deputy executive director encouraged participants to acquire all the knowledge necessary, as it is the presenters hope that at the end of the training “a cadre of technical skills” would be developed in St. Kitts and Nevis and the region on whole that would help to deal successfully with the challenges faced from climate change.
Training and application of the tools will allow decision-makers to better understand the potential impacts of drought, tropical storms, and rainfall and temperature changes. When combined with other data and information, they can help to build a picture of potential impacts to key economic sectors in the country. The training will target key personnel whose focus are in areas of agriculture, water resources, coastal zone management, health, physical planning or disaster risk reduction.
Published 19 April 2017
Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 19, 2017 (SKNIS): The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has positioned itself to address some environmental challenges, in particular, global warming, in an effort to improve informed decisions on issues like climate change, said Alistair Edwards, Permanent Secretary in the Department of Environment.
Speaking at the opening ceremony for the National Training Workshop in the Use of Climate Models for Decision Making on Wednesday, April 19, the permanent secretary said that climate change affects everyone, therefore, the Department of Environment “will continue to undertake various adaptation and mitigation actions to ensure that St. Kitts and Nevis builds its resilience to reduce the impacts on climate change.”
Mr. Edwards said that St. Kitts and Nevis is very vulnerable to adverse impacts of climate change, as it can be seen in a number of sectors across the federation.
“Sectors such as tourism, agriculture, water, and health and by extension the entire nation, have already been impacted in one way or another by these adverse factors. In response to the current projects it impacts, it is important that St. Kitts and Nevis undertake various initiatives that will reduce risk and the risk of our natural assets from climate change,” said the permanent secretary, while adding that St. Kitts and Nevis recognizes that climate change impacts the sustainability of not only the federation, but also the region.
“For a country like St. Kitts and Nevis, our critical infrastructure lies on coastal zones. Therefore, it is immensely important that measures and actions are put in place to protect our beaches and coastlines. We must implement measures that ensure food security, public health, the availability of fresh and potable water are not impacted,” he said.
PS Edwards made specific mention of the national training workshop, noting that the Department of Environment sees it as an ideal opportunity to build work that has already started. He explained that adaptation is critically important to St. Kitts and Nevis, and as such, it should be made a priority.
“We need to identify and implement adaptation measures in a collaborative manner. We need to ensure that the decision makers have access to the most effective tools and methods that can help them integrate climate change into planning and investment processes,” said Mr. Edwards. “The approach of tackling adverse impacts of climate change requires the support of all us. Our planet is dependent on it and our very existence is depending on it.”
Published 18 April 2017
St Kitts and Nevis (WINN): With Team Unity just past two years into its first term of office, there is no general election on the horizon at the moment.
However there appears to be a battle of the public opinion polls raging in the federation.
Citing a newly conducted Don Anderson poll, the governing Team Unity coalition says the results show that if an election were to be held now, Prime Minister Timothy Harris and his Government of National Unity would be re-elected to serve for another five-year term.
However the Denzil Douglas-led opposition St Kitts Nevis Labour Party is also making a similar claim, based, it says on a Bill Johnson poll the SKNLP commissioned.
“The conclusion is that if an election were called today, the electorate would vote strongly in support of Douglas and the Labour Party to replace Harris and the Team Unity government” the Labour Party quotes its commissioned public opinion poll as concluding.
The Don Anderson poll, released earlier than Labour’s Bill Johnson’s poll shows, the coalition says, that Team Unity would expand its constituency count, adding to the seven seats that its candidates won during the February 16th, 2015 general election.
Labour is countering that its Bill Johnson poll gives Party leader Douglas, the country’s opposition leader, a more favourable rating than Prime Minister Timothy Harris.
According to an SKNLP release, Dr Douglas enjoys a 67 per cent favourability rating compared to a 34 per cent rating for Dr Harris.
It says too, on the question of who would do a better job going forward, that “61.4% were convinced that Douglas would do a better job, 23.2% thought that Harris would, and 13.2% were undecided”.
The Don Anderson poll is said to have questioned 506 registered voters in the federation’s eleven constituencies, while 1100 likely voters are reported to have been polled in the Bill Johnson public opinion poll.
Don Anderson of Marketing Research Services Limited in Jamaica is a well known pollster in the region.
Bill Johnson too, is a Jamaica-based veteran pollster.
Published 18 April 2017
NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (April 18, 2017) — The following is a statement by Hon. Vance Amory, Premier of Nevis and Minister responsible of Security in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) on April 18, 2017, on the death of Morella Webbe of Cotton Ground.
The latest shooting in Cotton Ground, has been a great cause of concern to the Nevis island Administration (NIA) and to the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis, generally, especially as we have seen the loss of another young person Ms. Morella Webbe.
This tragic loss of life and this act of criminality and wanton waste of our human resource has to be stopped.
The last time I spoke to you, I warned about reprisals at the shooting death of one Randell Chapman. Is this a case of that reprisal? I do not know. The Police will have to determine that. However, what I do know, is that the image of the country of Nevis and St. Kitts and Nevis is being tarnished with every incident of this type.
I know I have appealed to all the people in this country – parents, leaders in the community and anyone who knows anyone who is committing or is about to commit a crime or anyone who is in possession of guns or knives which could lead to criminal activity – I make this appeal again and I do so because we are now faced with another traumatic experience and there is no excuse, as far as I am concerned, for us to continue down this path.
I have, discussed again, with the Police High Command. We have discussed their strategy and their tactics in dealing with the fight against crime. I intend to meet with the High Command here in Nevis, again, to look at ways in which we can intensify the fight against criminal activity here in Nevis.
We want our country to remain a place where people can feel comfortable to come. We want our country to be a place where we can feel at peace and we can feel safe and secure in our homes or on the streets.
I’m not here trying to make any excuse because the matter of criminality and crime and violence, is the business of everyone. It is not a party political issue and whatever may have been said in the past in respect of any responsible party or responsible persons to spearhead the fight against crime, this now, has reached the point where every single one of us has to assume that responsibility.
It is now left for me, to express my condolence to the family of the young lady whose life was snatched away from her.
This may be just pure expression of sympathy. It will not bring back that life. It will not remove the scar of the trauma nor will it remove the fear which people feel.
However, I appeal to all those who intend or have an intention of engaging in any reprisal, not to even consider it.
We will give the police the direction to take certain very serious steps to deal with this matter. I will not divulge what those steps are but I promise you, that those decisions will be very, very stringent and we will not allow the police to rest and we will not allow anyone, who is suspected of committing crimes, to rest.
We cannot take any more of this and my fellow citizens, let us see this act of criminality for what it is. It is destroying the good name of our country and we cannot allow that to happen. I spoke to you last time and said that when actions like these happen, people might want to reconsider their investments. They may want to reconsider visiting but I do know Nevis is by and large a place of peace. A place where we can feel secure but we need to know, that there will not be any re-occurrence of this dastardly type of action.
Again, I extend to all the families who have suffered and who are suffering and I ask anyone who knows any information, to pass it on to the police so they can take action to arrest the persons and bring them to justice swiftly.
This is my appeal to all of us and pray to God that we do not have a recurrence of this type of action again for this year.
