Post Cabinet Briefing for January 8 & 10, 2018

Basseterre, St. Kitts, January 12, 2018 (SKNIS): The formal meetings of the Cabinet took place on Monday, January 8, and Wednesday, January 10, 2018. The meetings were chaired by Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris. Here are the salient matters that were discussed at that meeting:
The Chair of the Cabinet advised on the plans and programmes of the Government for the year 2018 following the guidelines set out in the recently passed Budget.
Cabinet held several discussions on infrastructure projects to be completed in the year.
Cabinet discussed planning for the 35th Anniversary Celebrations of Independence this year and agreed that a special committee will be set up to plan the events.
Cabinet held discussions on the recently concluded Elections in Nevis and congratulated all the winners and the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM), which was returned to power, having won four of the five seats.
Cabinet held a post-mortem on the recent hosting of Carnival 2017 and deemed it to have been a success.
Cabinet held discussions on the traffic lights that have been mounted at several junctions in Basseterre. Cabinet will inform on a date for their commissioning.
Cabinet also deliberated on the third anniversary of the Team Unity Administration, which will come around on February 16 this year.
A comparative study on crime statistics for the past two years was discussed with the Cabinet. The study revealed that major crimes were trending downwards and that there were major successes in drug interdiction, but that some crimes such as burglary and larceny had shown increase.
A number of submissions for concessions to assist small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) were discussed by the Cabinet.
The matter of land distribution engaged the attention of the Cabinet and an extension to the policy was agreed for persons who occupy crown lands for over thirty (30) years to be allowed to purchase land at a reasonable price.
The Chairman of the Development Control and Planning Board along with its secretary came to the Cabinet to request an amendment to the Act to give the Board more flexibility and allow it the ability to function more effectively.