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WAHS Wins Miss Talented Teen Pageant

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WAHS Wins Miss Talented Teen Pageant

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Tuesday 24th December 2019)- Shanika Johnson of the Washington Archibald High School (WAHS) was crowned the 2019 Miss National Carnival Talented Teen before a packed audience gathered at the Sugar Mill housed at Warner Park for the 48th annual Sugar Mas (St.Kitts-Nevis National Carnival) as the field of six competitors observed the theme: SAVE THE EARTH! Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

The young ‘brain and beauty’ teen queen won two out of the five segments namely Best Performing Talent and Best Onstage Interview.

Placing first runner-up was Ashely Wilson of the Charles E. Mills Secondary School (CEMSS) while second runner-up spot went to Xyarra Wilson of the Basseterre High School (BHS) and Shakira Browne of the Immaculate Catholic Conception School (ICCS) placed third runner-up.

Miss ICCS also walked away with two segments- Best Ambassadorial Speech and Best Evening Wear.

Shai-Ann Tyson of the Gingerland Secondary School (GSS) in Nevis won Best Ambassadorial Costume. The other participant was Quniecia Gilbert of the Charlestown High School (CHS) also of Nevis. 

Chronixx Returns To SKN

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Chronixx Returns To SKN

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Tuesday 24th December 2019)-Well-known Jamaican Reggae sensation Chronixx has been revealed as one of the latest announced entertainers slated to perform at the 2020 edition of the annual St.Kitts Music Festival in what would be his second showing on that stage.

The announcement was made by Chairman of the St.Kitts Music Festival Artistes Selection and Production Committee, Jonel Powell at Cooler Fete -a popular Sugar Mas fringe event held at the Conaree play field on Saturday 21st December 2019 sometime shortly before 2:00am (the wee hours of the next day).

At a press conference held earlier this month for the first wave of artiste festival Chairman Damion Hobson did disclose that there would have been a Cooler Fete announcement similar to what took place for the revealing of Jamaican Reggae icon Buju Banton in 2019.

Notably, Chronixx first performed at the June 2014 edition of the St.Kitts Music Festival. He is the artistes behind tops hits such as ‘Eternal Fire’, ‘Majesty’ and ‘Behind Curtain’.

Hours later shortly after 11 am, a social media reveal via the official St.Kitts Music Festival Facebook page unveil local jam band Kollision Band is expected to light up the stage for the upcoming 24th annual production, 24th to 28th June 2020 at the Kim Collins Athletic Stadium in Bird Rock.

For the December 2019 press conference, Powell had revealed the first three acts namely: Jamaican Reggae icon 71-year-old Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican Reggae sensation 19-year-old Koffee and Nigerian afrobeats sensation 29-year-old Wizkid.

Awesome Navigator Sings Praises For Donation From Fellow Calypsonian

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Awesome Navigator Sings Praises For Donation From Fellow Calypsonian

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Tuesday 24th December 2019)-President of the St.Kitts-Nevis Association of Persons with Disabilities and wheelchair user Joseph ‘Awesome Navigator’ Bergan has expressed thanks to his fellow calypsonian Craig ‘ King Calypso Craig’ McDowell who recently donated his winning $1500 prize money to him from the Extempo Calypso Competition geared towards assisting with medical expenses overseas.

Speaking to this media house, Bergan shared: “In relation to that, earlier this year, I attended a meeting with the Carnival committee and I made a plea to the chairman and calypsonians and judges alike that I’d be travelling to Cuba by the ending of January to take care of some physical rehabilitation bearing in mind that I had preparations already planned  for January and because of some unfortunate circumstances with my family I had to forfeit the trip so I was most grateful when I took part in that competition  that me and Craig and the others  spoke about earlier  attended with the Carnival committee. He was generous enough to extending his winning monies to me and I’m grateful; I’m thankful for his generosity and this money will help me to go Cuba and receive the physical rehabilitation which I seek to better my conditions.”

McDowell, during a chit-chat with this media house also, talked about why it was easy for him to make the donation.

“…he would have made a plea to the persons present to contribute to his trip and care and I had promised I would and then on the night of the competition. When I realised he was doing so well, I said to a friend of mine that if I make it to the finals I hope it’s with him and if I win or lose I will give him my winnings. He has always been a big supporter of me in calypso and so it was easy for me to make that contribution. I believe in helping if you are able to.”

Commenting on what he would say to the public  concerning persons who are differently challenged, Bergan had this to say: “My message to the general public in relation to how you look or how you feel about persons with disabilities, it’s a very hard and struggling road for us so I would like to appeal to the general public to just be as generous as you can in terms of like helping them and making whatever contribution there may be if you can do so and for those who are operating businesses I would like them to make their business place more accessible for persons with disabilities.”

He commended the few places that have got that done including some of the sidewalks that already have the little indenture for persons with disabilities.

“I appreciate it and I welcome it and embrace it and we have a lot more work to be done because we disabled persons patronize just about every business place in town so I would like the others who operate businesses to just get on board and prepare your building for the accessibility of the persons with disabilities.”

Following the Extempo calypso show held on Sunday 24th November 2019 at Vibes Beach Bar and Grill, the Awesome Navigator scored 215 points in the first runner-up spot, coming behind King Calypso Craig who captured 236 points.

Cultural Icons Applaud Youth Folklore Involvement

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Cultural Icons Applaud Youth Folklore Involvement

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Friday 20th December 2019)- Children and other young people who are involved and interested in keeping the folklore cultural heritage alive in the Federation of St.Kitts and Nevis are being showered with praise by two top cultural icons in the Federation.

On a visit to Fort Street in the heart of Basseterre on Wednesday this week (18th December 2019) for a showing of Folklore Avenue as part of Sugar Mas 48 calendar, this media house spoke with Well-known music icon Michael ‘Mic Stokes’ Heyliger and Cultural Preservationist Winston ‘Zack’ Nisbett.

Performances included the St. Peter’s Actors, Valon’s Masquerade Troupe and bull troupes.

Heyliger expressed: “It is good to see the young generation keeping up the tradition. I’m surprised really because I didn’t expect this because I thought it was going down the drain but now it’s appearing in front of me I see they have more bulls; they have three to four bulls in one troupe they are. I remember one time back there were nine bulls that came down from Nevis, and those bulls really turned up Basseterre. It’s good to see that we still have it continuing and we should invite those from Nevis too.

Asked what advice he has for the youngsters, he told: “Just try your best in being positive in every way you could and whatever you love doing…if you want to play bull, play masquerade or you want to be a drummer go ahead, and also there needs to be more fifers so go ahead and pursue that; hit the ‘green light’..”

According to Nisbett: “It is an important aspect of our cultural heritage.”

He shared that the junior performers had an appearance last week of which he had was part of as it involved “most of the schools.”  

Troupes such as may pole, mock-a-jumbie and young mummies, David and Goliath, the clowns and the Nerga Business were among the featured performers.

For Nisbett, in order to further boost the culture heritage of St.Kitts-Nevis, “it just needs to be enacted upon and to advance it, apply more financial support towards building the whole esteem of our cultural heritage because it’s a very good thing and it’s only going to get better and better; it will get better. The scenery today is good. I like the atmosphere. It just needs to be capitalised upon.”

Soldier Robbed Supermarket

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Soldier Robbed Supermarket

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Friday 20th December 2019)-Police have revealed that one of their security force colleagues of the St. Kitts-Nevis Defense Force was one of the two masked men wearing camouflage who recently carried out an armed robbery at the Island Foods Center supermarket in the Camps community.

The statement from the Police Public Relations Department informed yesterday (Thursday 19th December 2019) that Private Michael Saunders of Conaree Village has been charged for the offence of Robbery which took place at a supermarket in the Camps area on Friday 6th December.

He was formally charged on Tuesday 17th December, eleven days after the robbery incident which was caught on surveillance camera.

This media house understands that a second person has been charged. The police have yet to issue the official details.

Police investigations had revealed that on the day of the incident, two masked men entered a supermarket on the Island Main Road and demanded money from one of the cashiers and took a sum of cash from the cash register before fleeing the scene.

Reportedly, they had what appeared to be firearms. No one was injured during the incident

Police investigations into the matter continue.

Opposition Advises Gov’t To Hold Off On Further Pier Use

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Opposition Advises Gov’t To Hold Off On Further Pier Use

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Friday 20th December 2019) – The historic operation of a newly-constructed second cruise ship pier at Port Zante on Monday this week (16th December 2019) has been tainted by controversy for what has been described by the Opposition St.Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) as an “incomplete project.”

The Opposition Leader Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, in a written statement issued that day expressed: “The SKN government, without the agreement of the Contractors, captured the new cruise ship pier this morning to facilitate a mock opening ceremony because of serious criticism that “the Second Cruise Ship Pier is Spoiled” during the Parliamentary Debate of the 2020 Budget last week Friday.”

“$160 million and it spoil; that is a lot of money to spoil. What it is Mr. Speaker that has gone wrong here? A whole song and dance that it is going to change tourism in St. Kitts; a whole pier built, $160 million spent and still can’t use de pier. De pier spoil they say”, commented Dr. Douglas in part during his budget response address in the National Assembly session on Friday 13th December 2019.

He is calling on the Dr. Timothy Harris –led administration to operate in the interests of our national image and international best practices.

“Since this government has created a crisis and has acted without any disciplinary limits in order to promote an incomplete project with millions of dollars of unpaid bills still outstanding, just to meet its political agenda for upcoming general elections due early next year, I call upon PM Harris and Minister Liburd to abolish their outrageous crisis-creating behaviour immediately.”

Dr. Douglas added: “I urge in the interests of our national image and international best practices, that both governments continue to operate within the framework of their signed Agreements and that the Contractors and SCASPA [St. Christopher Air and Sea Ports Authority] be guided by the arbitration guidelines and await the outcome of the arbitration process and hearing scheduled for July 2020. Please stop the chaos and shut down this escalating catastrophe!”

As gathered from the government’s media outlet SKNIS (St.Kitts-Nevis Information Services), that day, with an article regarding a ceremony to welcome to second pier construction, highlighted a comment by  Minister of Public Infrastructure and Transport, the Honourable Ian ‘Patches’ Liburd in addressing criticism received.

“The only sad part to this is that those who aspire for leadership in this country are the ones who are influencing and trying to damage the potential of those who will benefit most from the pier,” he is quoted as saying.

As shared by SKNIS, the second cruise pier welcomed its first two cruise ships, the Celebrity Summit, with a maximum capacity of 2,450 passengers and the Seabourn Odyssey, with a total capacity of 450 passengers, on December 16, 2019.

Also reported: Two other cruise ships berthed at the first cruise pier—the Britannia with an overall capacity of 4, 372 passengers and the Anthem of the Seas with a maximum capacity of 4,905 passengers.

Young Children Were Present During Armed Robbery Caught On Camera

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Young Children Were Present During Armed Robbery Caught On Camera

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Friday 13th December 2019) –Police on St.Kitts are searching for two masked men seen on video recently robbing a supermarket at gunpoint.

Camera footage has shown that there were at least two children under the age of six were present during the broad day light armed robbery which happened about 4:50 p.m. on Friday 6th December 2019 in Basseterre.

Surveillance video shows the masked suspects dressed in camouflage leaving a vehicle which was driven onto the business place’s compound. At one point, one of the intruders is seen approaching the female cashier with a gun apparently demanding money from the cash register.

The cashier complies and the man is seen taking the money and stuffing into his pockets and collecting some of the cash that fell onto the floor before the other robber assisted him by taking up the cash pan, following which both men left the building.

Additionally, from the video footage, a young woman holding a child is seen moving out of the way near the cashier’s area when the masked men entered the supermarket while a second child who is seen underneath at the cash register’s area seated with an electronic device is moved away by the cashier while the robbers carried out their act.

Police investigations so far have revealed that two masked men entered a supermarket on the Island Main Road and demanded money from one of the cashiers.

“They had what appeared to be firearms. They also took a sum of cash from the cash register before fleeing the scene. No one was injured during the incident,” a police statement informed.

This media house understands that the business place robbed is Island Foods Centre located in the Camps community.

Persons with information about this incident are asked to contact the Criminal Investigation Department at the Basseterre Police Station by dialing 465-2241, their nearest Police Station or the crime hotline at 707.

Occupational Safety and Health

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Occupational Safety and Health

Workers (People), Romans 13:1 says ‘Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities.

Hello! Listen to this: In many parts of the world when you are walking in a food store to pick up meat or milk, you do so with confidence that both items are free of contamination (impure) and that the label on the package is accurate (representing the truth). The kind of product reliability (able to be trusted) was not developed overnight.

Many years ago, we would have had no guarantee of either freshness or truth in labelling. Since then, governments have passed laws to help protect the consumer by assuring the quality of products from food to perfume; they required standardized labelling and strict safety tests, and so I too need it when it comes to Occupational safety and Health at the workplaces. Chaos (confusion) would reign without it.

I am saying laws must be enforced to safeguard the health and well-being of the workers and the public in a day when government is often severely criticized.

I will stop here for now and move on to toxic (poison). Hello! There are large numbers of chemicals with which particular care needs to be taken too prevent them from having harmful effects on workers. Listen to this: The major discipline of Occupational  Hygiene exists to develop the methods necessary to control exposure to these chemicals possibly over as long a period as the lifetime of  a plant operator. This is of fundamental (essential) importance to workers’ safety.

The effects of toxic chemicals when considering major hazards. On the other hand are quite different and are concerned with acute (severe) exposure during and soon after a major accident rather than with long term chronic (disease) exposure.

Workers (People), consider the use and storage of toxic chemicals often in very large quantities which if released would disperse with wind and have the potential to kill or injure people living many hundreds of miles away from the plant and being unable to find shelter.

I am closing now. All that I have written, I leave with you workers (people). The toxicity of chemicals is commonly determined by using four (4) major methods. These are (1) incident studies (2) epidemiological studies (3) animal experiments and (4) microorganism tests.

Despite their obvious value these methods, all suffer from weaknesses but don’t forget which mean that caution and ‘Awareness’ should be exercised.

Continue reading the Labour Spokesman.

*Note Well* Realize what you really want; it stops you from chasing butterflies and put you to work digging gold.

Thank you.

Taiwan Ambassador Observes Media Freedom In SKN

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Taiwan Ambassador Observes Media Freedom In SKN

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Friday 13th December 2019)–Resident Taiwanese Ambassador to St. Kitts-Nevis Tom Lee has shared his observation as it relates to the media freedom that exists in the Federation.

“I see the media here actually as similar to all media in Taiwan because our media in Taiwan, they have can have a different stance; they [don’t just] report what they think is the truth, and I think the media here is very similar. So, I think that’s why we are democratic and also we enjoy the freedom so I think it is important.”

He shared such thoughts while responding to this reporter during an interview following an annual Christmas luncheon courtesy the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan), held on Friday 6th December at Palms Court Gardens located Fortlands whereby local journalists, editors and other media workers were invited as special guests of the ambassador.

The menu included vegetable rice, fish, chicken, salad with beverage options of fruit punch and passion fruit as well as dessert choices of cake and ice cream.

 “Today, basically you know usually at the end of the year, we invite our friends form the media to sit down and have a very casual lunch. Basically, it is to help them to know of our embassy and close friendship (with St.Kitts-Nevis) so that’s the main purpose of today’s lunch. We of course have a prepared a small gift as a token of our appreciation for the past eleven month you have kindly provided to us,” Lee told.

Asked what areas is expected for media coverage in the upcoming year from the embassy’s end, Lee highlighted that such would be known after the elections in the Republic of China (Taiwan) come next month.

“We are going to have elections in January so our embassy basically we have to wait until January and then we know whether or not if the government is the same so it’s difficult to say it right now what we are going to do next year but our embassy, we want to focus more on green energy and also some environmental issues that is probably what we are going to do more next year, and of course, we will also focus on human resources development and we hope that we can provide more, and send more people to Taiwan to study because I think it’s important.

The 15th President and Vice President election is slated to be held in Taiwan on Saturday 11th January 2020.

When asked by another reporter to describe the diplomatic relationship between St.Kitts-Nevis and the Republic of China (Taiwan) over the course of 2019, the local Taiwanese top official had this to say: “This year, our embassy has been very busy. Let me give you an example: Your Prime Minister visited Taiwan in April, your Foreign Minister led a delegation to visit Taiwan in May and then our Foreign Minister visited St.Kitts and Nevis in May followed by our President visited St.Kitts and Nevis in July and then you Speaker [of the national assembly] visited Taiwan in October so you can tell our embassy has been very busy and the relationship between our leaders is very, very close.”

Notably, this reporter also travelled the Republic of China (Taiwan) in October as a St.Kitts-Nevis representative as part of the grand celebration is a Double Tenth National Day Press Tour for the 108th National Day on the 10th of the tenth month.

Rapist Caught By Police

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Rapist Caught By Police

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Friday 13th December 2019) – A man who raped and robbed a young female in her home over the past weekend has been caught by police.

Local authorities are reporting that on Monday 9th December, police formally charged a male on for the offences of Burglary and Rape committed two days earlier on Saturday 7th December 2019, and that the individual remains in Police custody.

Reportedly, the sexual assault incident took place on Saturday 7th December 2019 in the western part of the island and was reported at about 5:25 a.m.

Preliminary reports indicate that a male assailant took personal items from the female and sexually assaulted her in her home.

Police had indicated that a man was in police custody assisting with the investigation into the incident on that day that sex crime happened.

In general, persons who might have any information regarding any rape incident are asked to contact the Special Victims Unit (SVU) by dialing 465-2241 ext. 4252 or via cell phone at 665-3091.

Individuals may also contact your nearest Police Station or call the crime hotline at 707 if you have information that can lead to the apprehension of the perpetrator.

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