Author: SKNISEditor

San José, 30 April 2021 (IICA). The Minister of Agriculture of the Dominican Republic, Limber Cruz, presented the eight pillars of the agricultural strategy implemented by President Luis Abinader’s government. This, in his view, is the adequate way to strengthen food security in this country, whose tourism sector, one of the main drivers of the economy, is facing the consequences of the drop in visitors caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. During the ceremony to bestow the title of Goodwill Ambassador of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) on former president Hipólito Mejía, which was held at the Institute’s headquarters…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 30, 2021 (SKNIS): The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis deployed a strong ministerial presence at a recent Latin America and the Caribbean water security conference hosted virtually out of UNESCO’s Regional Bureau for Sciences in Montevideo (Uruguay).St. Kitts and Nevis was elected vice-president of the 14th Meeting of National Committees and Focal Points of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP) in Latin America and the Caribbean (IHP-LAC), which took place between 26th – 28th April 2021. The meeting was attended by ministers, government water experts from across the region, presidents of the IHP National Committees and the Focal Points, NGOs, with…

As of today, April 30, 2021 the Federation has confirmed one additional case of coronavirusdisease. The national landed in the Federation on Wednesday April 28, 2021 from the UnitedStates of America (USA). The patient has been in quarantine at one of the COVID-19 certifiedsites since arrival. The patient was duly notified and is now in isolation. This additional case brings the total number of COVID-19 confirmed cases to 45 with 31cases for St. Kitts and 14 cases for Nevis. Please note that 44 cases have fully recovered withzero deaths. There is one (1) active case. This patient is stable and…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 30, 2021 (SKNIS): The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has made significant enhancements at the St. Kitts Meteorologist (MET) Office to improve its efficiency and accuracy, said officials from the Met Office during the popular radio and television show ‘Working for You’ on April 28.Former Met Officer, Ray John, who outlined a brief history on the developments at the Met Office said that the office “changed out of necessity.”“We were taught not just meteorology in a general sense but more aviation meteorology than anything else.”“And so, it was solely directed towards hourly observations and three-hourly synoptic…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 29, 2021 (SKNIS): The 2021 Hurricane Season, which officially starts on June 01, indicates another above-average period with 18 named storms, 12 less than the 30 named storms in 2020.“For this year, they are looking at a lower number and the reason for that is because last year we had a strong La Niña, whereas this year, we anticipate that as we go into the peak of the Hurricane Season, we are going to be experiencing a weak to moderate La Niña,” said Elmo Burke, Senior Meteorological (MET) Officer at the St. Christopher Air and Sea…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 29, 2021 (SKNIS): The St. Kitts Meteorological Department has evolved over its 50-year history moving from an office solely focused on providing information for aviation purposes to a more professional and extensive role in forecasting and recording weather phenomena and sharing with various institutions locally and regionally. On Wednesday’s (April 28, 2021) edition of the radio and television programme Working for You, Ray John, a former Met Officer, reflected on the services provided in the earlier years of the Met Office, as the department is commonly called. “We were taught not just meteorology in a general sense but…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 29, 2021 (SKNIS): Elmo Burke, Senior Meteorological (MET) Officer at St. Christopher Air and Sea Ports Authority (SCASPA) said that the St. Kitts MET Department has invested significantly in infrastructure and human capital over the last 50 years to meet the demands of an evolving world. “For us to move from 1971 to 2021, we would have had to invest – whether it be here nationally from the national budget or through SCASPA or various projects – we had to invest in terms of the infrastructure because we needed to keep up with the technology because having…

San Jose, 29 April 2021 (IICA) – The Central American Program for Integrated Coffee Rust Management, PROCAGICA, has worked successfully with the Executive Secretariat of the Central American Agricultural Council (SECAC), the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) and the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), to promote a production model for coffee that is sustainable and resilient to the challenges of climate change. This team effort has yielded major results: PROCAGICA has benefitted more than 7,000 coffee farmers in Central America and the Dominican Republic, by fostering coffee plantation restoration, crop diversification to bolster…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 29, 2021 (SKNIS): St. Kitts and Nevis Youth Ambassador Corps officially launched a new project on Wednesday (April 28, 2021) designed to increase the contributions of young people to the sustainable development of the twin-island Federation.The initiative, dubbed the Youth Capacity Building Small Grants Project on Youth in Sustainable Development, will build the capacity and practical skills of young people to design, implement, and monitor interventions relevant to the social, economic, and sustainable development of youth and their communities. The project is geared towards members of youth groups specifically. It is spearheaded by the national youth ambassador…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 29, 2021 (SKNIS): The Team Unity Cabinet of Ministers met on Monday, April 26, 2021, at the Ministry of Finance Conference Room, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris. Several issues affecting the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis were deliberated on. The National COVID-19 Task Force gave its weekly briefing to the Cabinet where the usual update on statistics with respect to infections, recoveries, and deaths locally, regionally, and internationally was given. The Chief Medical Officer presented to the Cabinet technical advice and recommendations as to how the Federation could relax COVID-19…