New life for agriculture, entertainment sectors – Duggins

AGRICULTURE AND ENTERTAINMENT WILL FORM PART OF THE BACKBONE of the new St Kitts Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) government said Constituency Four representative Samal Duggins.

“I am ready to transform our agriculture sector to the point where you can walk into our supermarkets and see packages branded ‘…grown in St Kitts, made in St Kitts’ because we will become producers more than consumers,” Duggins said while speaking at a campaign rally Sunday night.

The Constituency Four SKNLP representative said the plan envisages nationals eating more locally-produced foods.

Before it lost the 2015 polls, the Denzil Douglas-led government introduced a four-year (2014 -2017) programme to promote local produce in a bid to help benefit St Kitts and Nevis food growers.

The project was envisaged to provide technical assistance to spur the country’s agricultural diversification vision to reduce the CARICOM country’s food import bill of selected produce such as onions and cole crops.

“By increasing production and marketing of onions and cole crops (cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower), the present project was designed to contribute to the creation of rural employment opportunities and, by extension the improvement of national food and nutrition security,” the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) explained on its website.

FOOD SECURITY is also a big part of the SKNLP agriculture sector plan as a net food-importing country, according to Duggin’s revealed plan.

The twin-island state is still “relatively food-insecure and vulnerable to extreme climatic events, as well as to global economic shocks caused by increasing food or energy prices,” the FAO said.

“We will embark on a MADE IN ST. KITTS campaign like no other Caribbean country as we seek to ensure that what is grown and produced locally is used.  I can see long shelves within our supermarkets with produce labelled ‘Made in St. Kitts,” Duggins boasted.

Constituency Six residents have a long and outstanding history of excellence in agriculture and when the sugar industry closed, many unemployed workers turned to other forms of agriculture which was a boon to the country’s tourism-dependent economy, Duggins recalled.

“Residents of Dieppe Bay, you have been in agriculture forever and I am saying to you that you will play a part in this agriculture revolution because you deserve it. You came from sugar production all the way through and has been faithful to agriculture and I am saying under a new labour government agriculture will be faithful to you as well,” he stressed.

THE ENTERTAINMENT SECTOR will also feature heavily in the SKNLP five-year plan, Duggins, a very popular entertainer, farmer and businessman of the island promised.

“I am ready to set our entertainers off to the international stage. Like I have said to Infamous, High Life and Ease out among others, that it is tie for our local entertainers to join the ranks of the very popular regional artistes. Why can’t we not have a Chronics? why can’t we not have a Alkaline? why can’t we not have a Macheal Montano”, why can’t we not have an international artiste right here from the shores of St. Kitts and Nevis,” he queried.

‘Chronics’ and Alkaline are Jamaican reggae superstar entertainers, while Machel Montano is a global Soca superstar from the twin-island republic of Trinidad and Tobago which gave the world the steelpan.

Constituents should peruse the SKNLP Manifesto to familiarize themselves Duggins reminded supporter s to peruse the manifesto to familiarize themselves with the benefits to be accrued under the party five-year political, social, cultural and economic development plan.

“I urge you to go through the manifesto as it has something for everybody. So, ensure that you go through it, so that you can see the plans that we have for the country,” Duggins counselled.

He reminded listeners to reject the corrupt coalition Team Unity government of Dr Timothy Harris incumbent regime when they vote on Friday.

“Why should you vote for a party who boasts that they have more money and will get votes. You are not in slavery and note that they are not giving you policies and programmes or the better team or have vision but going on the platform and boasting about their monies and that they will win means that they will seek to buy you remember do not sell your votes as they have nothing good in store for you,” he warned.