BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, CMC—Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew has announced a new initiative to reduce the impact of poverty among schoolchildren on the Twin Island Federation.
Addressing the 92nd annual convention of the ruling St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) on Sunday, Prime Minister Drew said that two years after his party came to office, the government has embarked upon a policy to reduce student loans from nine to five percent for every child.
“We have made sure that we freeze the interest payment so that while you are studying, you do not have to pay high interest, which is difficult for many families here in St. Kitts and Nevis,” Drew told party supporters.
He said the new initiative will begin in September this year.” Every child in St. Kitts-Nevis between the ages of five and 18 will get an account of EC$1,000 (One EC dollar = 0.37 cents).
Drew said half of that amount would go towards savings, with the remainder being used as an investment, “breaking the back of poverty once and for all for our children. Watch video
“Never again, the script is clear. I understand the mission. The mission was set centuries ago: to work hard to uplift the people always.”
In his address, Prime Minister Drew said that workers who have had their benefits slashed by the previous administration would benefit from its resumption in July.
“They went to the hospital and took away the maid’s benefits; they took away your GAE, workers’ benefits by cutting it by two-thirds. In other words, if you were to get one hundred dollars, they would only give you 33.33 cents.
“And that is why when the Labour Party got in, we reinstated all of your money…and many have received their EC100,” Drew said, adding, “As a result of that, we are about to start for the first time in this country, a pension for the GAE workers which s due to start in July 2024”.
Drew said that one of the means of breaking the back of poverty is land ownership and that the SKNLP had embarked upon land reform, making it possible for our people to be landowners in our own country”.
He said the party had also introduced free higher school education, allowing the children of cane farmers, the unemployed, the downtrodden, and the forgotten “to have an opportunity to have a secondary school education.”
Prime Minister Drew said that his government must also ensure that the Development Bank here does not fail, adding, “The government is pumping millions of dollars into the Development Bank to save it so that it can save your pension at Social Security.” He noted that the bank owes in excess of EC$330 million because of the failure to conduct an audit there over the years.
“And that’s why we are saying whoever involved will be held responsible,” Prime Minister Drew said, adding that the bank owes Social Security over EC$100 million.
“This is a mess that we inherited. Comrades also inherited a government-sponsored state corrupt program where money was embezzled to tens of millions of dollars that they called the Peace program.
“Tens of millions of dollars gone missing comrades using a corrupt program for corrupt reasons to fill the pockets of those who are well connected, comrades, and therefore this too must be looked at,” Prime Minister Drew added.
Download video – Prime Minister St Kitts & Nevis Dr. Terrence Drew
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