BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, CMC -Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew Monday said that St. Kitts and Nevis will soon sign an agreement with Guyana covering at least seven areas, including food security, as the twin island Federation moves to deal with the impact of high food prices occasioned by the ongoing war in the Middle East.
Prime Minister Drew, who is also the chairman of the 15-member regional integration movement, CARICOM, told a news conference that he had held initial talks with President Irfaan Ali of Guyana and that the two countries will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) based on seven pillars.
“One of them would be food security, because again, Guyana has been identified as one of those countries that produce enough food, and the objective of that is so that we can get the food at a cheaper cost from a fellow Caribbean nation.
“So you will hear more of that,” he said, adding that the MoU will also cover energy, food, education, and health.
“We know that Guyana is moving steadily ahead because they have discovered a significant resource for which we are extremely happy for them. And Guyana wants to leverage some of that in the Caribbean to their benefit and ours as well.
“And so some more announcements will be made with respect to that, and how that is going to directly benefit us in terms of the cost of living here in St. Kitts and Nevis as well,” Drew said, telling reporters that his administration is continuing to monitor the global situation and will “prudently to protect our people, especially the most vulnerable among us”.
He acknowledged that the Middle East war between the United States, Israel, and Iran, which has already resulted in higher oil and gas prices, “is going to have an impact on our growth projection and support if we are realistic.
“All the countries in the world will be affected, including St. Kitts and Nevis,” he said, noting that Basseterre had already started registering growth beyond the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme, through which foreign investors were granted citizenship of the twin-island federation in return for making a substantial investment in the country’s socio-economic development.
He said this was part of his administration’s strategy on “how can we get the economy to grow with less dependence on the CBI because of the precariousness of that sector, though important…
“And so when you thought you were getting beyond, a next shock happened. But we are not shocked by the shocks. We know that these things can happen, and that is why we are accelerating towards a sustainable island state. Really, to put measures in place to protect our people here in St. Kitts and Nevis.
Prime Minister Drew said that since taking office in 2022, his administration has implemented several policies to ease the cost of living for the population.
“We came up with strategies to help ease the burden for people. So we have invested significantly and taken on that loss to ease the cost of living after COVID, that shock that affected all of us, geopolitical matters, what we call the policy crisis, even as far as climate change.
“We also subsidised heavily and continue to subsidise electricity costs, even presently, without the present rise in the cost of fuel,” he said, adding that St. Kitts and Nevis has one of the lowest electricity costs to consumers in the whole region, because we absorb so much of the cost and subsidise so much to help our people.
“Same way with water. We subsidise so much of the water they deliver to our people. Sometimes I think that when people see the water bill, they say, “Oh, that is nothing. “I don’t have to pay. But I want to encourage people, even if it’s a few dollars, that, you know, everybody paying a few dollars, you know, helps a lot.”
“And so we are dealing with another shock. And we are analysing the situation. But our people can be assured that we are going to come up with specific policies to deal with these specific matters,” he said, adding that at the next Cabinet meeting, “that will be a big topic”.
Prime Minister Drew said that there are a lot of things that may not be directly in any government’s control,” especially us who buy fuel on the global market.
“We don’t produce fuel here. We have to buy it at a very high cost. The Caribbean, including St. Kitts and Nevis, pays some of the highest fuel costs in the world, and it’s because we are islands; therefore, the unit cost for us is extremely high.
“I was speaking to somebody when I was in Nigeria. How much do you pay per kilowatt? They told me eight, seven, or eight cents. In St. Kitts and Nevis, that can be 30 US cents. That’s four times as much. And they produce it, but they are also buying it at the same cost.
“But just to show you, because of our size, how much more we have to pay for fuel. And so we are absorbing some of those costs. That is why we have to get to a sustainable island state.”
Drew said that the twin island Federation needs to become energy independent, and he is pleased that the Minister of Public Infrastructure, Energy, Utilities, Domestic Transport, Information, Communications, and Technology, Konris Maynard, announced on Monday that the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the 50 megawatt solar plant is out.
“So we want to get that done very quickly. And I dare say today that, with respect to geothermal, we are in the final stages of signing the contract to start drilling for geothermal on Nevis.
“I want to make that announcement today. So we have been putting all of these things in place to deal with an unpredictable world. A war breaks out, costs go up, and we’re not involved in the war, but we are suffering the consequences, and disproportionately so, because we are small and open economies.”
Konrad also announced that members of the population who have invested in solar energy will be able to sell electricity to the St. Kitts Electricity Company (SKELEC).
‘You can start the process now, you can visit our website …to get any preliminary information, and we will be putting out…information as we go along.
“But this is also major, especially in the global context,” he said, adding that the government is positioning itself to become “independent of the shocks that we see happening in the global sphere when it comes to energy.
He said that, in simple terms, anyone can put a solar panel on their roof, generate some energy, use some, and sell the rest to SKELEC.
Prime Minister Drew said he is urging all citizens to participate in the sustainable island-state agenda to help address the situation, a situation over which no one has control.
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