BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, APRIL 15TH 2014 (CUOPM) – A reaffirmation to continue to invest in the people of St. Kitts and Nevis has come from Prime Minister the Right Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, as the curtains came down on celebrations to mark 25 years as a Member of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly.
Responding to several accolades at a “Red and Silver Dinner” in his honour at Carambola on Saturday evening, Prime Minister Douglas said his governing St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party will continue to invest in education, housing, health, tourism and the infrastructure.
“Let us remember where we have come from as we pledge to continue to invest in our people. We have to make sure that they are healthy. There is no stopping us in terms of what we will introduce in terms of the improvement of the health of our people. We will continue to provide opportunities so that if people are not able to find healthcare here at home, they can find it in the region or around the world with the support of public sector by the citizens who are making the necessary contributions,” Prime Minister Douglas told nearly 1,000 patrons.
He promised that the people of St. Kitts and Nevis will continue to benefit from educational programmes in response to a call from Rev. Father Isaiah Phillip in his invocation.
“We need to make a continuing contribution in the advancement of education, we will never ever forget that. We believe that we can achieve much more. We will not only put a laptop in the hands of every child in the high school, but it is a laptop for every family, in every home in every community in this country,” said Dr. Douglas.
He pledged his government will ensure that “the young people of St. Kitts and Nevis develop the competitive edge that is necessary to compete and to excel in the rest of this hostile world.”
“We shall continue to ensure that our people receive the necessary support, those who would have left school early and those who want to go on into tertiary level education, they shall receive the support from this government,” said Prime Minister Douglas, who disclosed that the new approach to education will be to ensure that there is a skill and there is technical vocation that is being embraced by our people, even though they may not be academically gifted.”
“It is going to be necessary to move our country forward as we continue the pace of construction of homes, roads and infrastructural development that is now driving the growth of the economy of St. Kitts and Nevis,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
Dr. Douglas, first elected to the National Assembly in 1989 to represent the people of St. Christopher Six (Newton Ground to Harris’) also pledged to leave St. Kitts and Nevis a better place.
“We believe that we need to leave a country behind where others would be proud of what they would have received compared to how we received it and they in turn would be proud to leave it for the next generation better that they would have received it,” said Dr. Douglas to the large number of patrons which included Governor General His Excellency Sir Edmund Lawrence and Lady Lawrence; former Governor General Dr. Sir Cuthbert Sebastian; Deputy Prime Minister the Hon. Dr. Earl Asim Martin and other members of the Cabinet; Speaker of the National Assembly, the Hon. Curtis Martin; Representatives of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps; Executive Members of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party and the St. Kitts-Nevis Trades and Labour Union; Parliamentarians from Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica, family members, local and foreign businessmen, close friends, well wishers and supporters.
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