NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (January 04, 2024)- Premier of Nevis the Honourable Mark Brantley is urging the citizens and residents of St. Kitts and Nevis to work together to build on the successes of 2023 to create an even better future for all who call the Federation their home.

He made the call in his 2024 New Year Address, where he encouraged the populace to commit themselves to building a culture of responsible citizenship that is selfless, service-oriented, honest, trustworthy and compassionate.

“We must never view our citizenship as a luxury item or a status symbol. For all intents and purposes, it should awaken within our beings a deep desire to practice the ‘contact sport’ of national engagement and national involvement. It should stir our national consciousness and national pride and inspire us to focus on the task of nation building.

“As citizens of this country we must understand and accept that we are yoked together and that only together as one people with a shared destiny can we create a better today and a greater tomorrow.”

As Head of the Nevis Island Administration (NIA), Premier Brantley said he is proud that the government has fulfilled the commitment he made on January 01, 2023 to ensure that they listened and responded to the people of Nevis, and was therefore able to deliver on promises made.

“I made a commitment that we will effectively and efficiently deliver goods and services to you…I pledge today that, during the course of 2024, we will continue to serve, to deliver, to listen, and to respond. Indeed, we will do better in the year ahead.

“We will concentrate on continuing our growth momentum by giving focused attention to infrastructural development, providing opportunities for our youth, providing safety nets for our most vulnerable, and expanding agriculture. We will fine-tune our national trajectory by concentrating on areas of job creation, while reforming and expanding our delivery of education and healthcare. We will take ownership of our development by creating an environment for local private sector investment and public private partnerships.”

The Premier assured the public that in 2024 the government will take urgent action to spur economic growth through investment diversification and increased agricultural production, and strengthen economic inclusion by creating greater opportunities for the growth of micro enterprises and small business.

In addition to the projects and initiatives that are already on stream, including the second phase of the Pinney’s Park Project, delivering on the five percent salary increase for public servants effective January 2024, and the drilling of three additional water wells to increase the island’s water capacity, Premier Brantley advised that as the year progresses, much more will be rolled out.