Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 15, 2015 (SKNIS): The Appropriation Act (2016), 2015, is specifically designed to usher in a new era of positive change and transformation in the lives of the people of St. Kitts and Nevis, said Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, during the Budget Address on Tuesday, December 15.
In presenting his address of the EC$608.3 million budget, Prime Minister Harris highlighted areas for additional investments including healthcare, education infrastructure development and national security to name a few.
Prime Minister Harris described his delivery of the address as momentous.
“This is indeed an awesome responsibility,” he said. “My upbringing has predisposed me to ensure that the decisions of the Government are targeted at empowering the vast majority of our people who have been previously left out.”
Dr. Harris echoed his Government’s mandate in ensuring that ordinary persons are brought into the mainstream of the economic life of the country as productive actors.
“The policies of the new Government will instill in our people, particularly those who are marginalized, a new sense of hope and confidence that they too can move from very humble circumstances to achieve great things,” the minister of finance said, while noting that they too can rise from a life of poverty, to one where they are the creators of and partners in enterprises.
Prime Minister Harris made mention of persons who have risen out of poverty and amounted to great things. Such persons include a gentleman who started out as a mechanic and rose to become a leading entrepreneur in the Federation, as well as a nurse who has returned from the United Kingdom to provide world class healthcare to citizens and residents alike, specifically the Elderly at the Grange in Ottley’s Village.
“These people have demonstrated that the possibilities are endless,” he said. “I encourage all of our people to emulate such good examples in our society, to take inspiration from these success and create their own space, their own opportunities.”
Dr. Harris stated that it is his Government’s hope that the budget will help to “enable and empower nationals” in order to advance their lives and uplift themselves to higher positions so that they can in turn contribute to building St. Kitts and Nevis.