Press Secretary to the Premier and Nevis Island Administration
On Friday 8th February, Premier, the Honorable Vance Amory travelled to St Kitts to meet with the Management of SKNA National Bank to discuss the finances of the Nevis Island Administration and to discuss means by which the Bank could continue to provide such a financial facility to enable the NIA to carry out its functions and to provide the essential services for the people of Nevis. The discussions were very positive given the heavy financial commitment of the NIA to the bank.
The Premier was accompanied by Mr Laurie Lawrence , Permanent Secretary and Mr Colin Dore , Treasurer in the Nevis Island Administration. These Public Servants provided the financial information which set out the state of the finances of the NIA as at 31st January, 2013 .
The state of the finances as set out necessitated the Premier with his financial team to seek the facility of the bank to enable the NIA to carry on its functions for the people.
The Premier set out the policies which his new administration will implement to service the extremely high debt which has been inherited and to find new economic activity to generate such increase in revenues to enable the NIA to finance its day to day operations.
The Premier and his team were satisfied that the discussions were very positive and will exercise the fiscal prudence and pursue such investment to create employment opportunity to improve the economic activity in Nevis .
While in St.Kitts, Premier Amory also took time to discuss with the principals of Newfound Company who in 2005 had signed an agreement to develop the Pinney’s Estate lands to construct a 150 room high end hotel and a number of villas similar to the development done by the Four Seasons Resort (FSR) and the Four Seasons Resort Estates (FRSE).
The discussions were preliminary but there will be follow up meetings in the near future to get this project on the ground for the full benefit of the people of Nevis.. This project when it is implemented will provide more than 300 hundred permanent jobs at the hotel similar to the FSR and some more than two hundred jobs in the construction phase.
As time goes on more details will be given on the progress on the moving forward of the project to develop the Pinney’s Estate Property.