CMC
Newly appointed Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr. Denzil Douglas says St. Kitts-Nevis must not be passive in its interaction with the rest of the world and that the twin-island Federation does “not intend to sit by and just let the world make decisions for us
A Government Information Service (GIS) video released following Douglas’s first meeting with the staff of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, showed him saying “we want to be part of those decisions, and we want to make decisions that the rest of the world will understand and appreciate what we are doing”.
Douglas, a former prime minister and one of the Caribbean’s longest-serving legislators, was appointed to the position of Foreign Affairs, Economic Development, International Trade, Investment, Industry and Commerce, following the August 5, victory of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) in the general election.
Douglas told the staff that while the twin-island Federation has no natural resources to export like Trinidad and Tobago with asphalt, oil and natural gas; in Guyana, with the discoveries of oil wells recently made, and bauxite in Jamaica and Guyana “we have one crucial resource that we should not neglect.
“We are a small nation the only resource that we really have is our people. Some people say passports, but it’s a people that we really have as a resource at this particular time, and so, it is important for people to be properly trained. Training is critically important. It’s important that other people understand what is happening in the rest of the world.”
Douglas said he was humbled to serve in his new capacity and expressed gratitude to the Nevis Premier, Mark Brantley, who served as foreign affairs minister in the last coalition administration.
“I want to thank the former minister of Foreign Affairs, that is, Premier Mark Brantley, for serving in this capacity, serving the interest of the people of St. Kitts and Nevis and the government of St. Kitts and Nevis in this particular capacity for I think the last near seven years.
“Of course, a lot has been achieved, but [what] we would want to do now is to build on that which has been achieved from the standpoint of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” he added.