The Skinny on St Kitts and Nevis Basseterre

The capital city of St Kitts and Nevis is Basseterre which had an estimated population of 15,500 in 2000. It is on the south-western coast of St Kitts and was founded in 1627 by the French. At the time the French colony was called Saint Christophe and consisted of just the northern and southern most parts of the island, while the centre belonged to the British.

Under French command the town quickly became a successful port and remains one of the chief commercial depots in the Leeward Islands. It still has a considerable number of historic buildings in the downtown area.

The city is also home to 2 prestigious American medical institutions which are the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine and the International University of Nursing. There is also the American owned medical school, Windsor University.

Basseterre is a financial centre within the Eastern Caribbean and the headquarters of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange are located here. It has the distinction of being a major Eastern Caribbean industrial centre which exports locally mined salt, electronics, their fridges and apparel. The harbour in the city is capable of handling cargo ships and cruise ships; Port Zante is used exclusively for cruise ships and is capable of accommodating the largest cruise ships in the world.

Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport is located in the north eastern part of the city and has direct flights to New York, London and Miami as well as a large number of seasonal flights to other major cities in the USA and Canada.

St Kitts and Nevis Establish Diplomatic Relations with Hungary

The Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, the honourable Dr Denzil Douglas, has met with the Special Envoy of the President of Hungary and Permanent Representative of Hungary to the United Nations, his Excellency Csaba Korosi, to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The ambassador was in St Kitts and Nevis to attend the recent meeting of Caribbean ministers of foreign affairs and met with the Prime Minister to discuss mutual areas of interest that could be pursued. These included establishing diplomatic relations, appointing honorary consuls and strengthening ties between Europe and CARICOM. They also looked at gaining support from the European Union to help diversify the economy of St Kitts and Nevis.

The special envoy to Hungary had already gained approval from his country for establishing diplomatic ties, and has proposed a date by which relations should be brought into effect. He also outlined areas where both countries could benefit from cooperation.

These included food, security and processing, and also research into cancer and diabetes. Other areas which were discussed included renewable energy and climate change. Renewable energy is especially important to St Kitts and Nevis as they have very little in the way of natural resources but are committed to becoming a green and energy-efficient nation.

Hungary asked for support from St Kitts and Nevis for their petition for a non-permanent seat of the United Nations Security Council, and for their part St Kitts and Nevis asked Hungary to support the CARICOM initiative during the special high-level meeting on non-communicable diseases. The meeting is due to be held at the United Nations this September.

St Kitts and Nevis Boosted by Renewable Plans

The government of St Kitts and Nevis recently finalised their National Energy Policy and the Energy Minister, the Hon. Dr Earl Asim Martin announced that they are hoping for a 60% increase in renewable energy by 2015.

Dr Martin expects this to be achieved through a number of different initiatives and it’s the government's aim to make the country the smallest green nation in the Western Hemisphere. At the moment the government run electricity department is 100% dependent upon fossil fuel but there are plans to exploit the geothermal energy capabilities on Nevis.

The West Indies Power Holdings BV, a geothermal developer is planning an 8.5 MW project on the island of Nevis with a $55 million loan from the Export Import Bank of the United States. This will also upgrade 8 miles of transmission lines. These projects will focus on Nevis and Saba. Exploration for geothermal energy has been ongoing 2006 with initial drilling proving extremely successful.

There are also plans for wind energy on St Kitts and the government has entered into an agreement with North Star Ltd for the construction of a 2.1 MW wind generation plant. It will be built in Bellevue and is expected to produce 20 MW of wind energy.

The government is also considering a waste to fuel plant and a solar energy plant as part of its plan to produce clean energy. It already has proposals from Concord Blue Energy for the waste to energy project and from Gigawatt Global for the solar energy project. Access to renewable energy should be extremely useful to the rapid development that is taking place on the island.

St Kitts’ Glamorous Harbour

The Caribbean island of St Kitts is as yet largely undeveloped, but that is changing rapidly as it is only just beginning to capitalise on the tourism market. There are a number of new developments under construction on the island, and they are trying to lure in buyers with the promise of dual citizenship for those investing a minimum amount of US$350,000. One of the largest developments is Christophe Harbour Marina which broke the ground in January 2010.

Once completed it will be a multi-billion-dollar development on the south-eastern peninsula of St Kitts. It estimated it may take as long as five years to fully complete as it will cover 2500 acres.

There are due to be 1400 residences, although there is space for 2000, and it will also include a hotel operated by Mandarin Oriental who has to be one of the most luxurious chains in the world. There will also be an 18-hole Fazio designed golf course. The marina will have 300 slips, 60 of which will be for mega-yachts.

Christophe Harbour is being sympathetically developed in keeping with the natural environment, with most of the land being left in its natural state, and light pollution being kept to a minimum.

As far as islanders are concerned that this development has to be a good thing as it will bring a considerable number of new jobs and the need for more skilled labour. The island itself is very beautiful and is perhaps unique in that its rainforest is actually expanding while most are shrinking, and the majority of visitors agree it is the best in the Caribbean.