What St. Kitts and Nevis PM Terrance Drew said in first Roundtable interview of 2025

The Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr Terrance Drew, on Tuesday, January 7, 2025, appeared for his first Roundtable interaction with the media where he touched upon several points related to the island-state’s development.

In his opening remarks, the Labour leader said St. Kitts and Nevis aims to see continued transformation in 2025 as it recovers from the post-pandemic era. 

He said the country will continue implementing policies and projects to facilitate its transformation and diversify its economy. PM Drew has termed 2025 the ‘Year of Recovery’ and sought collective efforts from his fellow countrymen to strive for national progress.  

Claiming that St. Kitts and Nevis Labour Party’s administration focuses on people, the PM said a lot had to be done and work is being done to put the country on solid ground. He said diversification of the economy is key so that the nation doesn’t have to depend on one particular sector. 

PM Drew thanks festival organizers, security forces

The prime minister lauded the successful organization of the year-end festivities in 2024 such as Carnival and thanked the security forces to ensure safe celebrations.

He also hailed the development of the tourism sector, saying, “Tourism continues to grow and I want to commend the (tourism) minister, Marsha Henderson, and her team for the excellent job they have done,” PM Drew said.

Reflecting on critical issues of national importance, the PM said 2024 saw many challenges but the government stood the test of time. He cited the government’s efforts to bring several retired GAEs (Government Auxiliary Employees) under the pension plan; raise the minimum wages and salaries of government employees; and launch the ASPIRE (Achieving Success through Personal Investment, Resources and Education) programme which he said will benefit generations to come. 

Speaking about the various work his government has done for St. Kitts and Nevis, the PM listed the water-crisis solution in Cayon, housing projects, Basseterre High School, a 90-day campaign against crime which saw a slump in criminal incidents, using advanced technology and innovation, investment of EC$320 million to support key social programmes and subsidies. 

The social programmes include LIFT (Livelihood Improvement for Family Transformation), STEP (Skills Training Empowerment Programme), and ELEVATE. 

PM Drew said the government has contributed to the modernization of healthcare and agricultural investments and helped the country become resilient to face both climate change and economic challenges. 

On the challenge of inflation, the prime minister said while it has affected all countries, his government implemented policies such as raising salaries, minimum wages and pensions and strategic economic decisions, such as reducing Value Added Tax from 17 per cent to 13 per cent for six months, and introduced Budget Boost Wallet (BBW) initiative in the recent Budget, to ease people’s burden.  

Under the BBW initiative, the government will give EC$250 per month to eligible individuals with a monthly earning of EC$5,000 or less. It will continue from January to June 2025. 

Media asks PM questions

One member of the media asked PM Drew questions about St. Kitts and Nevis’s food security, construction of the St. Peter’s road and bus service and station/terminal facility and BBW – whether the money will be given in the form of voucher or cash. 

PM Drew said the government is trying hard to implement the ‘25 by 25’ (reducing food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025) goal despite facing challenges such as drought. 

He said emphasis is being given to the production of eggs, fruits such as bananas and pineapples, and Tabasco peppers. He added the Tabasco pepper project is a holistic programme to boost the agriculture sector and diversify the economy. The prime minister said while investments are being made in agriculture, work is also on to find water resources to fight drought. 

The PM said the Labour government is keen to set up a bus station in St. Peter’s but problems over exorbitant land prices are causing an impediment. 

About the BBW, Drew said the government has also thought about giving the stressed middle class relief and said the money transferred to individuals under the initiative can be used through their mobile phones. He said the funds can’t be used for alcohol, tobacco or cosmetic things but only on essential goods. 

While Drew said the decision to reduce aims to give the common man relief, he was upset when another journalist at The Roundtable told him that there are traders who are increasing the prices of goods even under the decreased VAT regime. Saying it was unacceptable, he told traders they would also benefit under the decreased VAT rule since people would buy more. He also urged the media to raise awareness and said his administration will look into it. 

PM Drew also appealed to the people of St. Kitts and Nevis to abide by traffic rules on roads when another member of the media asked him about the growing number of road accidents, some of which involved ambulances. He said people were not ready to give way to emergency vehicles such as ambulances when they were responding to emergencies and accidents were happening in the rush. 

The PM added ambulances are expensive but the country needs them for critical care. Drew added a new fleet of Toyota ambulances was due to reach St. Kitts and Nevis in February and said his government would buy ambulances that can also reach narrow alleys. 

In his final remark, the prime minister thanked supporters of his Labour Party and said those who have not supported it have also made a difference in St. Kitts and Nevis’s transformative change.