Basseterre – Former St Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Rt Hon Dr Denzil Douglas said his St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) Administration developed a number of policies and strategically applied them in the successful turnaround of the economy following the global economic and financial crisis.
Dr Douglas, in an interview on Freedom 106.5 FM with General Manager Juni Liburd, said the stabilisation and rebound in the national economy would have led to the trained and skilled PEP workers getting permanent jobs.
Dr Douglas praised the public servants for their dedication for returning St Kitts and Nevis in the words of Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Sir K Dwight Venner to become “The bright star in the ECCU.”
“We entered into a debt restructuring exercise with the IMF where we had the land for debt swap among other things and asking our creditors to bear with us, to understand our plight in St Kitts and Nevis and to work with us to overcome the enormous debt challenge that we face,” said Dr Douglas, who noted that the measures had to be taken if St Kitts and Nevis would be able to meet its committed payments on debt and keep it under control.
“We also recognized that we had to grow the economy and we introduced several stimulus packages for small, medium and large businesses strategically,” said Dr Douglas, now Leader of the Opposition.
He said his Labour Administration used the Citizenship By Investment Programme which realized enormous returns, introduced the SIDF and used the money to stimulate the economy.
“We introduced the PEP programme and began training our young people to acquire skills that can be applied when the St Kitts and Nevis economy would have turned around and hundreds if not thousands of permanent jobs become available. We knew the economy would have stabilized and then begin to grow again when it bounced back,” Dr Douglas said.
The Labour Government initiatives included attracting the CBI-approved projects with massive construction of hotels and the new road network which would have created employment.
“Those who were in the Peoples Employment Programme would move gradually from where they were in government offices, the private sector and other areas and been paid through the SIDF to go into gainful full employment with their salaries beyond the minimum wage which we were giving them,” said Dr Douglas.
He lamented that with the Timothy Harris/PAM/CCM government in office all those opportunities for the PEP workers, other who young people and students have been dismantled.
“Only last week the Prime Minister gave instructions to his Permanent Secretary Osbert De Souza to go to the Customs Department and threaten 83 young people who had acquired certain skills because they want to send them home,” said Dr Douglas, who asked: “What are they going to do at home.”
“The economy has bounced back and this is the time for them to become permanently employed either within the public service or in the private sector, but instead of that they are been kicked around and been threatened and treated with disrespect by Dr Harris and his government that said when it was in opposition it will keep the PEP programme and increase the wages to $500 per week, but instead of that they are sending the PEP workers home.”
“The people need to understand that they must take control of their lives and do what they have to do to show the government that their action is not acceptable,” said Dr Douglas.