CTO Conference Opens in Basseterre Wednesday

porfiriopickard6340@mpszcsoport.xyz October 10, 2012 0 Comments

This is the first time that St. Kitts and Nevis is hosting the event that brings together ministers of tourism, directors of tourism, hoteliers, airline representatives, allied tourism business leaders and the media; and this year, delegates will be focusing attention on “Developing a Winning Tourism Strategy”, as the theme for the conference.

The Opening Ceremony slated for 7:00pm-8:30pm will hear from US Congresswoman, Dr. Donna Christian Christensen. Welcome remarks are also expected from the Minister of Tourism & International Transport of St. Kitts & Nevis, and outgoing Chairman of CTO, Richard Skerritt.

Also planned for Wednesday is the Caribbean Tourism Youth Congress to be staged at the Sir Cecil Jacobs Auditorium of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank in Bird Rock Basseterre. The Youth Congress, explained the CTO, is intended to stimulate greater awareness about tourism among young people in the Caribbean. Participants have been asked to research various topics within the sector and to share their perspectives for a vision for the future.

Earlier in the day, key officials from various member destinations were engaged in a series of press briefings with visiting and local media representatives, as the opportunity was used to highlight various developments taking place in a number of Caribbean destinations. Visiting media workers were also taken on a tour of Nevis on Monday.

The 32 member CTO is currently headquartered in Barbados with offices in New York and the United Kingdom. It provides services to its members in the areas of human resources development, information technology, research and statistics, sustainable tourism, marketing, advocacy and other disciplines.

Chamber of Industry and Commerce lauds the Development Bank

porfiriopickard6340@mpszcsoport.xyz October 10, 2012 0 Comments

Executive Director of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Mr Calvin Cable, says that the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis has been supportive to its members, both large and small ones, and the Chamber in its part encourages its members to go to the Development Bank for financial advice and assistance.

“I personally have brought several small business persons here after a seminar we have had to access financing to assist them with agricultural projects that they are working on,” observed Mr Cable. “For our larger members we also look at the bank for assistance in buying machinery etc when we are doing expansion.”

Mr Cable made the remarks on Friday October 5 when he received a Gold Sponsorship cheque for this year’s Manufacturers’ Awareness Week from the Development Bank’s Executive Assistant, Ms Danienne Brin, at the Bank’s head office on Church Street in Basseterre.

“The management of the industrial sites, where most of these factories are located, is done by the local Development Bank and in terms of expansion we are now bursting at our seams and looking for additional space,” noted Mr Cable. “We look towards the Development Bank for helping us to secure new locations for industrial sites.”

While the Chamber of Industry and Commerce is cognisant of the financial limitations of a small country, the Executive Director pointed out that the Development Bank has been very supportive.

“They have bent over backwards in a lot of cases that I have known to assist manufacturers to secure factory space, to deal with utility problems etc and I know that they are feverishly looking to assist in getting us a new site, at least one new site, perhaps more,” commented Mr Cable.

The Executive Director, who was accompanied by a member of the Organising Committee of the Manufacturers Awareness Week, 2012, Ms Malvie James and Projects Officer, Ms Amanda Williams, said that the awareness week is held every two years, the last one having been held in 2010.

Manufacturers’ Awareness Week 2012 is being held in the period October 7-13 at different venues, and according to Mr Cable, this year the Chamber has sought to bring all entities together in an atmosphere of education, growth, social awareness and entertainment as they underscore the importance of manufacturing in the economic landscape of St. Kitts-Nevis.

“As I see, manufacturing has been a silent contributor to the growth domestic product of the nation for many, many years. In some cases there are certain stigmas which were attached to manufacturing. We feel that the sector has come of age, its contribution is significant,” concluded Mr Cable.

Basseterre High School Wins Effective Speaking Competition

porfiriopickard6340@mpszcsoport.xyz October 10, 2012 0 Comments

The competition brought together secondary schools with the objective to improve the public speaking skills of our high school students. After remarks by Minister of Education, the Honourable Nigel Carty, the competition got started.

The five schools which vied for first place were Basseterre High School, Gingerland Secondary School, Immaculate Conception Catholic School, Verchilds High School and Washington Archibald High School which won the competition three years in a row. This year the tides turned as Washington Archibald High School (Annick Bedford) was dethroned by the Basseterre High School (Delvyna Thompson) who won by a mere two-and-a-half points! First-timers Gingerland Secondary School (Neila Jones) placed third overall. As winners, the Basseterre High School received a cash prize of EC$500 compliments LIME.

The prepared speech was based on the topic “Traditional Education Has Failed and Students Should Now Be Trained in Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurial Skills”. The judges remarked that all the schools were well-prepared as evidenced by their excellent research. In the end the best speaker of the prepared speech segment was Delvyna Thompson of BHS with Annick Bedford of WAHS placing second. The order was reversed In the impromptu segment with Bedford (WAHS) placing first and Thompson (BHS) placing second. The best speaker overall was adjudged to be Delvyna Thompson (BHS), who for her efforts received an android smart phone compliments Digicel. heny-morton

Mrs Rita Cable, Mr Kennedy Pemberton and Ms Jeanelle Kelly were eminently qualified to judge this year’s competition as they are all well-versed in language and public speaking skills. The competition was chaired by Ms. Desi Brown (SKNYPA), and Davicia Browne (SPIRIT) acted as time-keeper.

NAAP would like to extend its sincerest gratitude to the teachers and students, officials and all the following who helped to make this event a great success: ECCB, Ashburry’s, Karibhana, O D Brisbane, LIME, Digicel, ECHMB, Warner’s One Stop, Carib Crafts & Graphics, Ileta Fulton, SKNYPA, SPIRIT, Ministry of Education, Jason Connor, the Media, and Nell Jacobs.