Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis thanks OAS for Support

“The OAS must be commended for lending support to its smallest member in the Western hemisphere” declared Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis in his recent visit to the OAS. Highlighting support provided in the area of development, the Prime Minister made special mention of joint work completed in advancing education and renewable energy in his country.

The Prime Minister was welcomed by OAS-SEDI Executive Secretary, Sherry Tross; Sustainable Development Director, Cletus Springer and other Senior Staff members from the Secretariat who discussed current work and potential for future joint collaboration.

In reference to the "Partners in Education" Award recently given to the OAS by the country’s Ministry of Education and Information, he emphasized the support provided to the Caribbean country's education system over the last three decades. “In looking at the path that we have taken for our own sustainable development, we recognize that education is one of the areas of success. The Organization of American States (OAS) is one of the partners who have assisted us to obtain this success.”

Specifically, Prime Minister Douglas mentioned current efforts to promote the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education “Since the closure of the sugar industry in 2005 - after being the staple of the economy for 400 years - we embarked upon the transitioning from sugar to a service economy. Education -especially computer literacy- has been one to the areas that we have used to hasten our way forward to where we were now.” He continued by noting the success of existing programs that provide computer labs to schools and laptops to students, mentioning that “to a large extent, the foundation for this success has been laid with support, services and projects provided by the OAS.”

In reference to other strategic areas that have benefited and can continue to benefit from the support of the organization, the Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas highlighted the area of energy “The high cost of fossil based energy is a setback for the development of our country, not only in terms of social development, but also for business development. Trying to find alternative sources of energy has been one of the challenges that we are facing.”

In addressing this challenge, the Prime Minister underlined that “the OAS has been able, from very early on, to map the potential for geothermal energy in Saint Kitts and Nevis and was largely responsible for providing support for initial research and documentation. We are now at the stage where we have documented the potential not only to be self-sufficient in geothermal energy in our country, but where there is enough reserve to sell to our neighboring countries in the north.” “So, here we are, a small country basically pursuing the notion of being the first country that is totally green and totally dependent upon renewable energy. The OAS has been the pioneer in setting that stage for us.”

To listen to part of the Prime Minister's address, see video below.

» Back to newsletter