His Excellency Governor Eugene B. Holiday paid an official visit to St. Kitts from June 20 to 21, 2012. The visit was the Governor’s first official visit to a neighboring country in the Eastern Caribbean aimed at strengthening relations in the region.
On June 21, the Governor started his official program and paid a courtesy visit to Sir Cuthbert Sebastian, Governor General of St. Kitts and Nevis. The Governor also met with the Hon. Sam Condor, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, National Security, Labor, Immigration and Social Security with whom the Governor exchanged views on among others the structure of the safety and security systems of both countries. In addition they discussed regional cooperation as well as the challenges associated with migration.
Governor Holiday also met with Sir Dwight Venner, Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank. During that meeting, Governor Holiday and Sir Dwight Venner discussed the structure of the central banks and the single currency systems in the respective monetary unions. Furthermore, they discussed economic developments and spoke about the promotion of savings, the exchange system as well as the balance between monetary and fiscal policy.
Governor Holiday was subsequently received an outline of the policy plans in the field of primary and secondary education by officials of the Ministry of Education and Information.
The formal meeting was followed by a visit to Irish Town Primary School where the Governor got a bird eye view of the various programs that are run at the school. The Director of the St. Christopher National Trust and the National Museum then gave the Governor a guided tour of the facilities, whose mission is to preserve and promote the natural, historical and cultural heritage of the island of St. Christopher (St. Kitts). Subsequently, together with officials of the Ministry of Health, Social Services, Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs the Governor visited the Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park. Both education and culture formed an important part of the visit in keeping with Governor Holiday’s interest in developments in education and heritage preservation.
The Governor ended his official visit to St. Kitts as guest at the official passing out ceremony of the Graduates of the St. Kitts – Nevis Defence Force at Camp Springfield.