BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Friday 31st July 2020) – St.Kitts-Nevis has recorded instances of down trees as part of its damage assessment following the passage of Tropical Cyclone #9 including an incident which has seen damage to a family home in Basseterre.

Deputy National Disaster Coordinator at the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Claricia Langley-Stevens, while speaking at the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) Tropical Cyclone #9/ COVID-19 Daily Briefing (5:00PM) on Wednesday 29th July 2020, disclosed that the Fire and Rescue Services responded to a call of a down tree in central Market Street and that the tree fell on a home where a family resides.

“Thankfully, there were no injuries. However, the report indicates that the tree needs to be assessed because it’s a really huge tree; one of age and that assessment will be done tomorrow but there was some mild clearing of the area so that the family can have access to the home and so were very thankful for that.”

Langley-Stevens said the Community and Services Department has reached out to the family to ensure that the support that can be given to them was made available.

She thanked the general public who contacted the NEOC with that information.

The NEMA official said further that the Damage Assessment Committee indicated that the assessment that was done at Old Road Bay area was a very successful one and the area was deemed safe and clear.

Further assessment was planned for into the night and the next day so as to give updates to the general public.

Meanwhile Nevis Premier Mark Brantley at his monthly press conference held on Thursday 30th July, spoke about the “all clear” that the island had been given noting that the only thing suffered was a down tree on island main near Noel’s Courtesy Garage that was cleared. He also said that there was major damage on the island except for beach erosion.

The Federation has been spared a direct impact of the storm.

Senior Met Officer Elmo Burke, in giving an update on the weather informed: “As of 5pm today, tropical storm warnings were discontinued for us here in St. Kitts and Nevis. At the same time, 5PM Tropical Cyclone # 9 was located at 16.4 degrees north, 65.6 degrees west and that puts it at about 200 miles southwest of the St. Kitts. It was moving in west north westerly direction at 24 miles per hour with maximum sustained winds of about 45 miles per hour. Based on the trajectory, it will continue to move further and further away from St.Kitts and Nevis and as such the weather conditions are expected to improve.”

That day also a down high voltage pole in the vicinity of John England Village in St.Peter’s led to a disruption in service affecting customers from New Road heading north to Milliken.

No injuries or damages were reported.

At an emergency press conference organised by NEMA on Tuesday 28th July, members of the public were advised that only essential workers were expected to report to work the following day as the storm’s impact was expected at 8AM with weather peak conditions around 12 noon.

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Friday 31st July 2020) – “This tragedy we know has been seen as a Nevis tragedy all these years; we’re saying it is time that the nation recognizes it as a national tragedy. That yes the majority of persons who died were from Nevis but many from St.Kitts also perished on that fateful day. We have persons who have also survived and so we pay homage to them and of course to their memory of loved ones lost.”

So said Premier Mark Brantley at his monthly press conference on Thursday 30th July 2020 whereby he informed that a special sitting of the Nevis Island Assembly is scheduled to take place on Friday 31st July 2020 in observation of the 50th anniversary of the Christena Disaster.

“This weekend, we are going to have a very important commemoration and that is the 50th anniversary of the Christena Disaster. The Christena, as we know, was the inter-island ferry that transported persons between St.Kitts and Nevis. It was the only ferry at the time. It was government-owned and on that fateful day of August 1st 1970, it left Basseterre on its final trip to Charlestown badly overcrowded. We are told that it should have had 150 persons onboard; it had well over 300. The consequence was that in calm seas on that day just off what is referred to as Nag’s Head, it sank, and in sinking over 230 persons perished. Many their bodies have never been found, many were buried or trapped inside the vessel and were buried at sea. Still others are in a mass grave at the Bart Cemetery, still others – we are told are in a mass grave at the Springfield Cemetery in St.Kitts, and that has been the legacy.”

He continued: “We in the government and the Nevis Island Assembly have seen it fit to mark the 50th anniversary in a very significant way. We will have tomorrow-God’s willing-Friday at 10 am a special sitting of the Nevis Island Assembly. The sitting of the Nevis Island Assembly is designed to give those who will speak an opportunity to pay their respects and also commemorate in a formal and dignified way this tragedy.”

According to him: “This sitting will be a sitting with a difference to mark the somber occasion and the significant milestone of 50 years since the tragedy. We have invited all of our former prime ministers and our current prime minister to speak, and this would be the first time that they would be addressing the Nevis Island Assembly. In addition, we’ve invited all of our former premiers and the current Premier also to speak. Of course, we have lost Sir Simeon [Daniel] and so he cannot speak. Interestingly enough, however, is that one of the speakers who we expect- Sir Kennedy Simmonds, our only living national hero who was the only medical officer on Nevis at the time of this tragedy and so he brings a unique perspective to this tragedy that we hope he might be able to share with us tomorrow.”

Individuals can tune into NTV and VON Radio for live streaming of the event.

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Friday 31st July 2020) – Although the annual Culturama festivity on Nevis-promoted for 23rd July to 4th August-has been cancelled due to COVID-19, there are plans in place to have some festive activities but street jamming is not one of them as rumours claimed.

Premier Mark Brantley at his monthly press conference held on Thursday 30th July 2020, extended an invitation to residents of St.Kitts to visit Nevis and join the festivities as well as to partake in some touristic type of outings during their trip.

“This weekend of course is what we also call the emancipation weekend. We are aware that traditionally, Culturama now would be climaxing this weekend. Of course due to COVID-19, we are unable to have our huge Culurama activities…what we have decided to do of course, we have launched a campaign where we’re inviting our brothers and sisters from St.Kitts to come over and spend the weekend in Nevis. Some calling it a staycation; whatever you wish, we are saying to them that we know they usually come over for the jamming and the J’ouvert and all of that but that is not going to happen and let me just reiterate, there is no jamming or J’ouvert this weekend. That might disappoint many but that is the reality. We cannot afford that type of behavior during this particular time.”

Brantley continued: “However, what we have sort to do is to put on some events. We have sort the cooperation from of the police to organize in Charlestown a sort of a mini food fair…where we hope that we can have booths spaced at 10 or more feet apart going along Charlestown and that persons will be able to go and buy fruits, vegetables, buy food, buy drink and we hope that we’re going to have poets…and perhaps a string band will be there; a bit of folklore but we’re not having the bands and DJs and the jamming and so we’re putting that together just so that people have someplace to go and that our vendors can capitalize and make a dollar or two.”

He pointed out that his administration is aware that some hotels are offering specials and that Sunshine’s is also having what is being referred to as a Wine, Food and Carib Festival.

According to the Nevis Premier, many Kittitians have told him that they have never visited Nevis and further urged them to visit with the mindset of learning about the island.

“All across the island, I assume will be having get-togethers, family reunions and the like and so we welcome our brothers and sisters. We look forward to seeing them, and I trust and hope that I can meet as many people from St.Kitts as possible. Many Kittitians don’t know Nevis. In fact as I go over, some of them tell me that they’ve never been to Nevis. You may find that hard to believe but some of them say they’ve never been to Nevis. Well, I hope they can hear me. I’m inviting them personally to come and see their sister island this weekend.”

He encouraged visitors to get on an ATV tour, horseback riding, Funky Monkey tours and hike the rainforest and mountains.

“Do something but learn about your sister island. This is your country as well and we invite our brothers and sisters to come over and be a part of that. So the Emancipation weekend, Culturama is cancelled but we want to have some activity such as the food fair as I’ve said so that persons can purchase food and purchase fruits and vegetables as we push for more in terms of our own food security. We have preponderance now of crops, fruits especially, watermelon, mangoes, ginnips, avocado that all are becoming available and so we ask our people to go out and take advantage of that. So we look forward then to a good weekend in that regard.”

On the topic of COVID-19, Brantley praised the efforts of the national task force for doing “excellent work”.

He, then zoomed in on the work of the team on Nevis headed by Dr. Judy Nisbett saying “through their efforts, Nevis had not had a case of COVID-19 since the 7th of April” whilst highlighting that there had been a total of four cases with no new case to date.

“That means that we can truly say that we’ve done better than virtually everyone else in the region.”

Brantley went on to encourage individuals to continue to follow safety guidelines.

“However, I hasten to say that we expect that we will get more cases…so while we like the tag of being COVID free and Nevis is certainly a healthy place to be, I believe the nature of it being what it is , we must brace ourselves for the possibility and the narrative that must come from leadership has to be that we anticipate that other cases may come , and so we have not relented in terms of our preparations for any new cases and we continue to beef up in terms of our supplies, in terms of our equipment and we would want to thank the federal government for its partnership, we would want to thank friendly governments such as the Republic of China (Taiwan) for their partnership which has helped to put us in a state of readiness and so let us continue therefore to be vigilant as we continue to adhere to the necessary protocols.

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Friday 24th July 2020)- Residents of St.Kitts-Nevis are being encouraged to monitor the developing system of the new Tropical Storm Gonzalo closely and have their hurricane plans completed, as the peak months of the hurricane season draw near.

Such advice has been issued by the St. Christopher Air & Sea Ports Authority (SCASPA) Met Office in monitoring the movement of a newly-formed tropical storm called Gonzalo expected to pass the federation this weekend.

On the morning of Thursday 23rd July 2020, SCASPA Met Office in collaboration with the Antigua Met Services provided an update on such watchful activity of the storm positioned just about halfway between the continent of Africa and the Caribbean Island chain.

“On its current trajectory, it is expected to pass well South of St. Kitts & Nevis. However, due to the fact weather can be dynamic in nature, any northern deviation from the current trajectory can bring it closer to St. Kitts & Nevis and the Northern Leeward Islands,” it was stated.

It was further explained that at that moment “we are uncertain of the exact magnitude of any potential impacts from the system as it is expected to continue developing while moving towards the Island chain.”

The two-day weather forecast that day valid until 8:00 am the next day outlined-cloudy with a 60 percent or moderate chance of showers and a 20 percent or slight chance of thunderstorms and for Friday 24th July- cloudy with showers and 50 percent or moderate chance of thunderstorms.

On Thursday 23rd July, a hurricane watch was issued for the island of Barbados as Tropical Storm Gonzalo strengthened.

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Friday 24th July 2020)- Well-known Cultural Preservationist Winston ‘Zack’ Nisbett says COVID-19 safety guidelines will be of top priority for the upcoming 14th annual Traditional Instrument Musical Workshop in light of the what has been described as the new normal regarding the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The summer workshop, which caters for children ages 5 and up, is slated to take place at Zack’s Historical- Cultural Library and Museum located at Buckley’s Estate from Monday 27th July to Saturday 22nd August 2020, 9AM to 1PM daily Mondays to Fridays while the Saturday is expected to see the closing ceremony.

In an interview with Nisbett, who is the coordinator of the workshop, he highlighted he that he has already met with Chairman of the COVID-19 National Task Force Abdias Samuel when quizzed about plans and preparations this time around.

“The workshop this year is with a difference because we have the COVID-19 pandemic which is disastrous and to get something done with some sort of professionalism is a daunting task. However, I’ve indicated it to the COVID-19 National Task Force [Chairman] in the person of Abdias Samuel who indicated that he’ll be bringing the Chief Medical Office Dr. Hazel Laws to pay a visit to see where I’ll be hosting the function.”

According to him: “I’ve already gotten some hand sanitizers from the St.Kitts-Nevis Carib Brewery Ltd. I’ve also recognized the importance of the children who will be at the workshop wearing masks and so protocols will be observed there.”

Asked about what measures to be put in place at the hosting venue and for such a setting involving children, he shared: “In an environment like mine at Buckley’s Estate, we will be putting things in place like I said but as children, they would want to play with each other. Nothing is wrong with that but it’s all about how that will be done in terms of them being monitored on a proper basis to make that whatever they do, they do it in a decent way and to ensure that their hands are always clean.”

“ There is a pipe close to the workshop area with soap so that they can keep washing their hands frequently so that even when they’re playing the banjo and the making of the fife in particular, they will have to be close but with the masks it will be of some assistance and even if they don’t have the masks, we’ll make sure at all time they are certain standards so it wouldn’t be the usual hugging and that sort of thing but rather we’ll make that the physical distancing significant,” Nisbett added.

When questioned about if there will be a restriction in the number of participants attending the workshop, he commented: “It appears to me that we’ll have a number of young participants like ages 4, 5 and 6. It appears as though we’re going to have about 40 to 50 students but I think that will be too much so we’ll try to monitor it down to about 20 to 25; that will be good enough because we’ll have two tutors. With the safety concerns surrounding COVID-19, we will have good spacing so we can space them out and so on.”

Nisbett gave assurance that all instruments will be sanitized and that participants will each be provided with an instrument for their personal use.

“We have more than enough instruments and God bless Mr. Willy Dore because through him, we have an excessive amount of instruments and that will be explained in a broader perspective later on.”

The chosen theme for this year’s workshop is ‘Discipline Continues to be the Key.’

Nisbett pointed out that the main objective of the annual event is to create an inspiring and motivating environment for our disturbed youths from underprivileged backgrounds, mainly from Buckley’s area and its environs.

He said the workshop this year is expected to be a two-part one.

As understood, the banjo, guitar and cuatro will be taught Wilmoth Solis better known as the Mighty Jules out of Dieppe Bay while the fife segment- sponsored by Mr. William ‘Willy’ Ferdinand Dore a renowned educator-will be taught by a former student Givings Isaac who is the son of Joaf Payne a longstanding musician of Grand Ash 2 fame.

Notably, Delisle Walwyn and Company Ltd. sponsored the workshop for the past 11 consecutive years.

Individuals interested in partaking in the workshop are asked to contact Nisbett at 664-9016 to register.