NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (February 22, 2021) — A senior officer in the Ministry of Tourism in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) is encouraging Nevisians to understand the value of Nevis’ heritage.

Mr. John Hanley, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism was at the time speaking to the Department of Information during a recent visit to Fort Charles, one of seven heritage sites under the care of the ministry.

“I want to encourage everyone to value the immense heritage treasure that we have here on the island of Nevis. I have travelled to many Caribbean nations, and in terms of what we have here on Nevis I think it far exceeds what I’ve seen on a lot of islands, and we have gotten to the point where we are doing something to preserve and showcase these sites,” he said.

Mr. Hanley gave a general idea of the upgrade work the Ministry of Tourism has been engaging in with Fort Charles, located on the southern outskirts of Charlestown leading the way followed by New River in Gingerland. He also sought the publics’ patience during the process.

“The Ministry of Tourism is going to be doing some upgrades in terms of the landscaping and the curb appeal if you will of the site in the next few weeks…

“Our upgrades are not only specific to Fort Charles but also, we will be doing some new upgrades to New River. We will be fencing that property shortly because it is important for us to restrict access so we can keep out the animals…so that we can make the place more secure, put in place the plan we have had in place for some time. So we look forward to doing these upgrades and we crave the understanding of the public as we enhance this part of our heritage, history on the island of Nevis,” he said.

Mr. Hanley stated that so far, the Heritage Team in the Ministry of Tourism has covered much ground in the process and outlined the work already completed at Fort Charles.

“If you come and visit… at the moment, inside the fort there’s a lovely lawn which is well tended to by our grounds man Jamie Parry…The area immediately in front of the fort we are also landscaping that area… We started off with the fort itself and we will be working on the areas immediately adjacent…

“Then we are also going to have another area which can be used for parking because we do not want any driving of vehicles on to the premises once we have developed the site,” he explained.

The permanent secretary used the opportunity to commend members of the Heritage Team for their exemplary work done on upgrading the heritage sites.

“I certainly would not want to end without thanking my Heritage Team at the Ministry of Tourism headed by Mr. Sylvester Meade. I have a lot of respect for Mr. Meade. He had been very, very passionate about taking up our heritage sites to another level.

“I also want to thank the workers at the other sites. Here at Fort Charles, we have Mr.  Jamie Parry. At New River Heritage [Site] and Eden Brown we have other workers and I want to thank each and every one of them for the tremendous work that they have done in helping to improve and upgrade our heritage sites,” he said.

At the moment the Ministry of Tourism is responsible for the upkeep of Cottle Church, Bath Hotel, New River Estate, Eden Brown, Fort Charles, Fothergills Heritage Village and Saddle Hill.