Number of internet users in St. Kitts and Nevis jumps
Tuesday, July 6, 2004
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts: The St. Kitts-Nevis
Administration’s policy to exempt nationals and residents from the payment of
customs duties on computers has been paying dividends in ensuring a computer
literate society. The Washington-based World
Bank World Development Indicators database for April this year in reporting
positive trends for St. Kitts and Nevis states that internet users jumped from
1,500 in 1998 to 10,000 in 2002. Kittitian-born
Economics Officer in the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa at the United
Nations Headquarters in New York, Mrs. Willa Liburd, points out that St. Kitts
and Nevis is classified as “an upper middle income and moderately indebted
country.” “For comparison, St. Lucia is also
classified as an upper middle income and moderately indebted country. Barbados
and Antigua and Barbuda have incomplete information. On the other hand, both
Guyana and Jamaica are classified as lower middle income and severely indebted
countries,” said the senior United Nations official.
According to Mrs. Liburd, the World Bank data also show good progress in
technological advancement in St. Kitts and Nevis.
“In 2002, St. Kitts and Nevis with a
population of 46,000, had 606.4 units of fixed lines and mobile telephones per
1,000 people; 191.5 personal computers per 1,000 people and 10,000 internet
users. In 1998, there were only 1,500 internet users,” she pointed out.
In comparison, Antigua and Barbuda, with a population of 69,000 had 977.6
units of fixed lines and mobile telephones per 1,000 people and 10,000
internet users, while Barbados had 104.1 personal computers per 1,000 people
and 30,000 internet users for its population of 269,000.
“In regard to the environment, in absolute
terms St. Kitts and Nevis has one of the lowest levels of carbon dioxide
emissions in the CARICOM region, indeed in the world and in line with the
islands of the Pacific region. Data for 2000 show levels of carbon dioxide
emissions of 103 thousand metric tons for St. Kitts and Nevis, 352 thousand
metric tons for Antigua and Barbuda and 1,176 thousand metric tons for
Barbados,” said the United Nations official.
Mrs. Liburd said given the turbulent political/military and economic
international environment in which small Caribbean islands have to operate,
“these are heartening trends and something to hang on to as we endeavour to
tackle the difficult problems of youth unemployment, crime and pockets of
poverty, among other things, that continue to bedevil us.”
“As we engage in the difficult task ahead, continued good governance is a
sine qua non for ensuring that the ship of state is steered in the right
direction,” opined the Kittitian-born economist.
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