St Kitts and Nevis Labour Party: Architect of Modern St Kitts and Nevis

St Kitts and Nevis - a small island nation in the Caribbean region has come a long way since its early days of reliance on the Sugar Industry. Over the years, the nation experienced different periods of development, growth and challenges with changes in administration.

Since Independence in 1983, St Kitts and Nevis has confronted numerous challenges, including economic instability, political turmoil, and issues related to climate change. The foremost challenge was rebuilding an economy and paving the path to sustainable development with different strategies as the Sugar Industry, which had long been the backbone of the economy, also started facing decline with time.

Along with economic instability, the geographical location of the Federation also started posing a threat to its growth as several hurricanes affected St Kitts and Nevis since the 1990s.

Rising from Ruin: Era of Dr Denzil Douglas & Aftermath of Hurricanes

Severe hurricanes have affected St Kitts and Nevis since recorded history and destroyed almost every house in the country. In 1989, Hurricane Hugo impacted the country and produced significant damage to infrastructure and the economy.

St Kitts and Nevis was again hit by severe Hurricanes Luis and Marilyn in 1995 which almost every development sector was impacted. It had damaged not only the housing stock but also impacted the tourism sector by threatening tourist arrivals, devastated the tourist plant as well as severely destroyed the agriculture sector.

Following the natural catastrophe in 1995, Dr Denzil Douglas took charge of St Kitts and Nevis by becoming the second Prime Minister. The responsibility of the restoration had come into his hands following the election victory of St Kitts and Nevis Labour Party.

His party won 7 of the 8 seats, and Dr Douglas became the prime minister on July 4 and set the framework for creating a diversified economy based on agriculture, tourism, information and communication services, housing, education, and health sectors.

Due to the hurricane, the soil erosion had washed out a large section of the sugar cane railways, the only means of delivering cane to the sugar factory.

At the time when the country was struggling with the trembling economy, the passage of the Hurricanes had further intensified the situation. In the attempt to revive the growth, the natural calamity hindered their efforts and made them restart the process of development.

At the time of Dr Douglas’s administration, St Kitts and Nevis was battling with several challenges including development, economic fluctuations, and sustainability. He started his government with a mandate to revive the tourism sector, resolve the country’s problems with crime, and improve the agricultural economy.

Many of the reforms Dr Douglas established in his first term led to a significant decline in crime cases by implementing a strategic police force in 2000.

Due to his developmental policies and growth initiatives, the citizens of St Kitts and Nevis again elected the Labour Party for the second term with Prime Minister Dr Denzil Douglas in the general election of 2000.

Marriott Resort

The second term of Dr Douglas succeeded in reestablishing St Kitts and Nevis as a major tourism destination in the entire Caribbean region, giving as evidence for this a new 600-room Marriott Hotel. With his initiative, he worked for social justice in domestic policy and positioned St Kitts and Nevis as an ideal destination in the international community.

Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport

This has led him to win a third consecutive term in the prime minister’s office in the general election of 2004, providing St Kitts and Nevis with a major infrastructural project named Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport.

The construction of the international airport was started in early 2004 and completed in 2006, aiming to enhance the tourism sector and diversify the economy. Due to the airport, St Kitts and Nevis received direct access to foreign countries with massive airlines including British Airways, American Airlines, United Airlines, JetBlue, and many more.

To date, St Kitts and Nevis has direct connectivity with several international countries due to the international airport including the United States, UK, and Europe.

As the sugar industry was moving forward toward closure in St Kitts and Nevis, the government of St Kitts and Nevis started focusing on the tourism sector and the international airport was one of the projects.

Port Zante

Further, the government aimed at reviving cruise tourism for which PM Douglas came with a plan of constructing Port Zante for the accommodations of the massive cruise vessels and yachts.

Port Zante was opened in 2005 and turned out to be the most successful project as St Kitts and Nevis welcomed numerous major cruise vessels including the World’s largest ships, Icon of the Seas and Wonder of the Seas.

With Port Zante, St Kitts and Nevis welcomes more than 5000 passengers a day who explore the country and contribute significantly to economic aspects.

Kittitian Hills & Park Hyatt

Another tourism hotspot of St Kitts and Nevis was Kittitian Hill which was a great milestone provided by Prime Minister Dr Douglas. The project was founded in 2006 and contributed significantly to attracting tourists from across the globe and offers an exquisite experience of luxury and a tranquil environment.

With the significant boom in the tourism sector and economic revival, Dr Douglas won for the fourth consecutive term in the election of 2010. The term provided Park Hyatt to St Kitts and Nevis which has also won prestigious Best New Hotel Construction and Design in the Caribbean and Best New Hotel Construction and Design at the International Property Awards.

The renowned 603-room Douglas Ramada Hotel was also given by Dr Denzil Douglas in 2014 to the country which opened in the first phase in 2021.

These groundbreaking initiatives position Dr Denzil Douglas as a highly regarded leader in the political landscape of the Caribbean region. However, he was deceived by one of the ministers of his own party who made an alliance with the opposition and formed Team Unity.

Team Unity Era

In the election of 2015, Team Unity won and came into the government in St Kitts and Nevis for seven years. In these years, the St Kitts and Nevis administration had not come up with any new projects to continue the development started by the Dr Douglas administration.

For seven years, only two projects were initiated by the Team Unity government, a Prison Project and Ocean Terrace Inn hotel, both were started by the government which were surrounded by controversies. Prison Project was considered the major scam in the history of St Kitts and Nevis as numerous frauds, and transparency issues have been associated with it.

Meanwhile, Ocean Terrace Inn was acquired by MSR Media company to create a film studio and boutique hotel, but after possession the company failed to develop it as tourist attraction or a studio.

The questions were raised on the authenticity of the project as it was outlined that the funds of the CBI Programme were used to benefit the government and the people in the Caribbean Galaxy, a company which was given a contract to construct the correctional facility (Prison).

In the name of infrastructural growth, the project was being used for the underselling of citizenship applications, which also caused harm to the integrity of St Kitts and Nevis CBI Programme.

Due to this project, Team Unity lost the faith of the citizens and was dethroned in the elections of 2022. As people got upset with the administration of Team Unity as they had lacked vision, people gave a clear mandate to St Kitts and Nevis Labour Party and once again won 6 parliamentary seats in the elections.

It was a time of change and a new vision coupled with experience was required for St Kitts and Nevis to bring it back on track of development. During this period, the young and inspirational leader, Dr Terrance Drew took over the charge of Prime Minister and Dr Denzil Douglas became Minister of Foreign Affairs.

It is essential to mention that Dr Terrance Drew has showcased his leadership worth by providing medical assistance to many in St Kitts and Nevis. He helped the public and gained recognition across the country with his new vision and agenda for development.

PM Terrance Drew Era

After the dismay of seven years, people showcased their belief in St Kitts and Nevis Labour Party once again. Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew pledged to enhance the country and its citizens by following the footsteps of Dr Denzil Douglas who was recognized as a great leader in the country.

Meanwhile Dr Douglas with his great developmental work, was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs of St Kitts and Nevis – one of the highest cabinet ranks. Following the footsteps of Dr Douglas, PM Drew started his work for the enhancement of the economic citizenship programme.

PM Drew suspended Caribbean Galaxy from its operations in the country with immediate effect and took numerous steps for maintaining the high standards of the CBI Programme and its due diligence.

The government implemented mandatory interview procedures for the applicants and increased the minimum investment threshold. The government replaced the Sustainable Growth Fund (SGF) with the Sustainable Island State Contribution (SISC) to fulfill their goals of becoming the first sustainable state and increased the investment to US$250,000 to match the international standards.

In just two years in power, Labour party led government started several new development projects including the commissioning of the Cayon Well Project, Modern Health Facilities with new MRI machines, the Climate Smart House, Pensions for GAEs workers, the Renewable Energy Agenda, and the Basseterre Smart Hospital.

Building on the legacy of Dr Denzil Douglas, PM Drew is poised to propel twin-island federation into its next phase of growth and innovation. Embracing the extensive groundwork laid by his predecessor, Dr. Drew’s administration is enhancing the economic diversification and sustainability initiatives begun under Douglas.