Tweet

 

 

BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, SEPTEMBER 15^TH, 2016 (PRESS SEC) – Students from the Nevis Sixth Form College and Nevis’ two high schools – the Charlestown and Gingerland Secondary Schools – participated yesterday, Wednesday, September 14^th, in an interactive session with Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, Premier of Nevis the Honourable Vance Amory and His Excellency the Governor-General Sir S. W. Tapley Seaton, G.C.M.G., C.V.O., Q.C., J.P.

Yesterday’s event, which took place at the Nevis Performing Arts Centre, formed part of the Cabinet of Ministers’ Visits to Schools/Schools Patriotic Programmes activities listed on the official 33^rd Independence Activities Calendar (September 7^th through tomorrow, September 15^th, 2016).

At the outset of his speech to the students, Premier of Nevis the Honourable Vance Amory said yesterday’s meeting was “a historic first-time gathering in Nevis of some of the future leaders and some of the present leadership in government.”

The St. Kitts and Nevis government officials’ meeting with the students in Nevis came on the heels of Monday evening’s Annual Prime Minister’s Independence Lecture Series at the Nevis Performing Arts Centre.  Significantly, too, the Prime Minister’s Lecture Series was held this year for the very first time in Nevis since being added to the Independence Calendar in 1998.

During his remarks at Monday evening’s Annual Prime Minister’s Independence Lecture Series, Prime Minister Harris addressed the symbolism of holding one of the capstone events of the Independence season in Nevis.

“I am happy that we have involved Nevis in a significant way in the Independence programme because Independence is about National Unity,” Dr. Harris said, adding that, “It is a mark of distinction, denoting people who are willing to work together, to take on this task of nation building together, because we are better together when we are united in what we do.”

On the cusp of St. Kitts and Nevis’ 33^rd Independence Anniversary, which is being celebrated under the theme Promoting Prosperity through Sustainability and National Unity, Premier of Nevis the Honourable Vance Amory reflected on the state of relations between the Federal Government and the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) after the meeting yesterday.

“We are delighted with the new cordial relationship between the Federal Government and the NIA, which historically is unprecedented,” said Premier Amory who is the Senior Minister in the Team Unity Government, as well as Minister of Nevis Affairs, Labour, Social Security and Ecclesiastical Affairs.

“The high level of camaraderie and spirit of unity between members of the Cabinet in both St Kitts and Nevis has been overwhelming and a refreshing opportunity for us to work in partnership,” the Premier of Nevis added.

Indeed, in a recent Independence videotaped address to citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis who live abroad, Prime Minister Harris, who is Minister of Finance, Sustainable Development, Information, National Security, People Empowerment and Constituency Empowerment, said that, “The Nevis Island Administration is now assured of regular budgetary support from the Federal Government for the very first time in its history, and the relationship between the two Governments is at an all-time best.”

Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris gave concrete examples of this amicable relationship when he delivered remarks Mondayevening at the Annual Prime Minister’s Independence Lecture Series.

“Our founding fathers of the Independence Constitutional Order would be pleased at the solid, genuine relationship and cooperation now existing between Basseterre and Charlestown.  They would be pleased by the substantial and substantive influence that the elected officials of Nevis, the Honourable Vance Amory and the Honourable Mark Brantley, have on the Federal Government,” the Prime Minister said.

“They would be pleased that 33 years after Independence, Nevis can see its sons and daughters in our Embassies in Washington DC, London and the Middle East. I hail the outstanding contribution of Ambassador Everson Hull, our Permanent Representative at the OAS [Organization of American States] and our own Vice-Consul Elsa Wilkin-Armbrister who is representing us in Dubai,” Dr. Harris added, noting that, “They would be pleased that we are working together as one Nation, one People, one Federation. They understood that Nation Building is no easy task.  It is not for the faint-hearted.  It is not without its disappointment and lows, but it is a wonderful feeling to make progress every step by step and year by year. As our National Anthem says: A Nation bound together with a common destiny.”