POST-CABINET BRIEFING FOR MONDAY, MARCH 13, 2023

Basseterre, St. Kitts, March 14, 2023 (Cabinet Secretariat): The Cabinet Ministers met under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister, The Honourable Dr Terrance Drew, on Monday, March 13^th, 2023, and made several important decisions to improve the welfare of our people.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Ageing and Disabilities, The Honourable Dr Geoffrey Hanley, updated Cabinet Members on the start date for the Senior’s Day Care Programme, which will be officially launched on March 20^th at the East Basseterre Community Centre in Pond’s Pasture. Following the launch, the programme will be held as follows:

On Mondays at the East Basseterre Community Centre;
On Tuesdays at the St. Peter’s Community Centre; and
On Wednesdays at the St. Paul’s Community Centre.

The Senior Day Care Programme will be monitored and evaluated during this pilot phase, with the goal of expanding to other communities throughout St. Kitts.

The Cabinet also received an update on various projects from the Department of Statistics within the Ministry of Sustainable Development. The Honourable Dr Joyelle Clarke shared that the Population and Housing Census is ongoing with the goal of completion by the end of 2023. Additionally, the Enhanced Country Poverty Assessment Report conducted during 2017-2018, is to be bolstered by an additional survey to assess the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on poverty in the Federation.

In highlighting the critical importance of data collection to informing government’s policies and programmes, Dr Clarke stated that the Department of Statistics will undertake two new projects during 2023, namely:

A Visitor Expenditure and Experience Survey – to capture detailed information on both expenditure estimates and experience in the destination in categories such as air and yacht passengers and crew and students at offshore medical schools; as well as an Agricultural and Fisheries Census – to update the baseline for agricultural production, from backyard gardening to ocean fishing.

During this week, Minister of State with responsibility for Gender Affairs, The Honourable Isalean Phillip is attending the 67^th Annual United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, where she will be engaged in discussions on innovation, technological change and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. The Honourable Konris Maynard, in his capacity as the Leader of Government Business in the National Assembly, is attending the 71^st Westminster Seminar on Effective Parliaments, which provides an opportunity to explore parliamentary democracy, practices and procedures and to share experiences and challenges faced in parliamentary work.