Nevis Premier Mark Brantley arrives in Bermuda for key engagements

St Kitts and Nevis: The Premier of Nevis, Mark Brantley along with his wife Sharon Brantley have travelled to Bermuda for several important engagements over there.

According to the information, the couple landed safely in Bermuda on Thursday night and were seen holding the St Kitts and Nevis flag. Upon their arrival they were greeted at the airport by St Kitts and Nevis Honorary Consul Louise Tannock and a small group of friends who are citizens and friends of St. Kitts and Nevis.

Premier Brantley was delighted to receive the warm welcome and he also shared the glimpses of himself with his wife and others at the Bermuda airport through his official Facebook account.

He expressed his gratefulness for such a warm welcome to this beautiful island and thanked the Bermuda government for extending all courtesies on them on their arrival.

The Premier said that he now looks forward to a packed day of engagements today including an historic town hall meeting with citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis, descendants of Kittitians and Nevisians and friends of St. Kitts and Nevis in Bermuda.

Notably, Premier Brantley has always been active in meeting the St Kitts and Nevis diaspora living across the Caribbean region and the world. He believes that there should be a constant and deep link with the Kittitians and Nevisians who decided to move out of the country but never forgot their roots.

Earlier this week, he also made a call to the diaspora to ‘come back home’. He shared that the recent census figures for the Federation shows that the combined population is just more than 50,000 people. He added that remarkably, this is the first time since 1960, some 64 years ago, that the population of the island nation has reached to this count. 

According to him, of those, just over 13000 people live on the 36 square miles that is Nevis which is why it will be good if the diaspora returns home. 

While calling out the diaspora, the Premier emphasised that Nevis is being transformed and it is his sincere invitation to them to come home and be part of that transformation. He stated that Nevis needs their skills, their investment, their expertise, passion, love and patriotism. 

Not only this, but Mark Brantley specifically called out the retirees saying that he is certain that their retirement income will afford them a much better quality of life in Nevis than abroad. 

He claimed that Nevis offers a great quality of life with great schools, excellent primary healthcare, quality public infrastructure as well as a level of hospitality that is unmatched anywhere. 

Going forward, the Premier said that it is his government’s intention to establish a unit within the government specifically to streamline processes for any of the diaspora who wish to invest in or return home. 

He further added that soon they will be announcing a package of incentives to make it easier for them to return and play a more active role in the growth and development of the island.