2023 Special Reports

Online Fraud in St. Kitts and Nevis, a Pervasive Problem for Public, Law Enforcement and Banks

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Law enforcement officials say that online scams in the twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis have been on the rise since the start of the pandemic in 2020. But how the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force (RSCNPF)’track and document these criminal acts makes it hard to know the prevalence of the scams. Thus, the measuring of the crime data continues as an issue. Over the last four years, the territory has seen sophisticated forms of online scams being reported to various law enforcement agencies, and it is proving to be a challenge for the agencies to curb the problem.

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2023 Special Reports

Pandemic-era Dip in Childhood Vax Rates Sparks Concern

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Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, the Caribbean had a vaccination problem. About 10 years ago, childhood immunisation rates began to slip below the World Health Organisation’s recommended 95 percent, leaving the region vulnerable to a potential re-emergence of deadly diseases like polio, measles or mumps. When the pandemic hit, those rates plummeted further in many countries. “If you look at the Caribbean as a whole, we find that of the more than 11,000 children younger than one year who live in the Caribbean, almost one in ten did not receive all of their vaccine doses,” Dr. Margherita Ghiselli, an immunisation advisor with the Pan American Health Organisation, told the Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network during a virtual PAHO media briefing in April. Much of the rest of the Americas faces a similar predicament, which health officials often blame on a Covid double-whammy: First, movement restrictions during the pandemic limited access to routine medical care; and second, misinformation associated with the Covid shot has made people more reluctant to trust any vaccine.

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2023 Special Reports

St Kitts and Nevis – Ripening Plans in the Agriculture Sector – Facing Food Security Challenges

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Farmers in St. Kitts and Nevis are losing out on more than USD $66 Million (EC$180m) in revenue annually due to their limited knowledge and skills as entrepreneurs within the agriculture sector and it is driving up the food import bill. The dependency on imported foods to St. Kitts and Nevis – with a population of 53,000 – cost the country more than USD $74million last year. The time has come for farmers and vendors alike to be more business-orientated to ensure that they capitalize on the benefits to lower the import bill.

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Procurement, Special Projects and Citizenship By Investment

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St. Kitts and Nevis is one of the smallest states within the Western Hemisphere as well as within  the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States. The Federation boasts a strong economy but even as it claims success in this aspect, there are serious concerns that its laws do not go far enough to minimize or stamp out corruption and corrupt practices. Attempts are now being made to remedy that situation through legislative amendments but progress is slow towards completion, especially the Tender and Procurement Legislation, which continues to be a major suggested area of corruption. For many years, there have been murmurs over the way successive governments have been operating the Tender and Procurement Processes, and whether they have been honouring the parameters of the laws of the land. 

With a population of more than 53,000, St.

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