A Snapshot of St. Kitts and Nevis in 1969

When the Rotary Club of St. Kitts was chartered as a member of Rotary International on 11^th July 1969 St. Kitts and Nevis had 25 months prior ceased to be a colony of Britain and, together with Anguilla, become the Associated State of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla. The State had full internal self-government with Britain responsible for defence and foreign affairs.

The economy of St. Kitts was at the time based almost entirely on the production of sugar. The sugar cane was grown on privately owned estates comprising more than 10,000 acres, almost all the land on St. Kitts. The cane was harvested in the early part of the year and sent by rail and tractor to the central sugar factory at Kittstoddart which was owned and operated by a British company under management of an English manager. Most of the sugar produced at the factory was shipped at fixed prices to Britain to be refined for sale on the world market at Britain’s profit. 

The sugar factory and the estates were the main employers on the island. Most of the employees of the sugar estates lived on low wages and in poor housing in the small villages on the marginal lands and ghauts around the estates. The sugar workers were represented by the St. Kitts Nevis Trades and Labour Union, the only union on the two islands.

The Nevis sugar industry had died many years prior and many Nevisians worked in St. Kitts. The Nevis economy revolved around cotton production, small farming and a few plantation hotels. 

The second largest industry in St. Kitts was the assembly of television sets by the US Company Curtis Mathis at its plant at Bird Rock now part of the St. Kitts seaport. There was however no TV service on the islands. The only local radio station was ZIZ.

There was a fledgling tourism industry with Fairview Inn established by founding Rotarian Fred Lam and Ocean Terrace Inn by the Pereira family both in 1969. There were less than 100 hotel rooms on the two islands. The other major development in tourism was the establishment by statute in 1968 of the Frigate Bay Development Corporation which was responsible for the development of the Frigate Bay estate which had been compulsorily acquired by Government in 1965 from ownership of the Wigley family. The planning but no development had begun. Roads at Frigate Bay at the time were unpaved. There was no electricity. The price of the first residential lots put on the market by Frigate Bay Development Corporation was 68 cents per square foot. Rotarian Colin Mallalieu built one of the first residences in the Frigate Bay Development in 1972.

The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis was controlled by the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party which emanated from the Union. The Premier was the country’s first National Hero Robert Bradshaw. The elected Assembly comprised seven seats in St. Kitts and two in Nevis. Labour held all the seats in St. Kitts but none in Nevis. Almost all development was focused on St. Kitts to the great chagrin of Nevisians. Anguilla was still legally part of the Associated State but had rebelled in 1967 and de facto separate with Anguillians running their own affairs. That unsettled situation continued until 1980 when Anguilla was legally separated enabling St. Kitts and Nevis to proceed to independence in 1983. 

The infrastructure on the two islands was very basic. St. Kitts had a very small airport called Golden Rock which could only take small aircraft. The Nevis airport was even smaller. Many homes in St. Kitts, mainly in the rural areas, did not have access to electricity and running water. The telephone system was very basic with landlines affordable only by businesses and better off residents. All calls were made via an operator. There were no direct calls. Utilities in Nevis were even sparser. The passenger ferry service between the two islands was limited to a single Government owned ferry with one round trip on weekdays except on Wednesday when there were two round trips. Many people traveled between the islands in small boats and barges which also brought fruit and vegetables from Nevis to St. Kitts. 

The health service was limited to one hospital on each island with very basic facilities and clinics in the country areas run by nurses and district doctors who visited from Basseterre. There were less than ten doctors in total on both islands. 

The food supply was for the most part locally produced. Beverages were in large measure freshly produced from local fruit but the St. Kitts Bottling Company produced Coca Cola and other soft drinks and Carib Brewery produced Carib, Giant Malt and a few other products. 

The banks were Barclays Bank (British), Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of America. Merchant business was carried on mainly by S.L. Horsford & Co. Ltd and J.W Thurston & Co Ltd. There was a limited number of local stores including Rams, run by the family of founding Rotarian Kishu Chandiramani and A.M Losada run by the family of founding Rotarian Jackie Cramer. There were a few small supermarkets and very few restaurants. The small village shop was a feature of life in the rural areas. Many assisted the sugar workers with credit during the dull season. 

Free secondary education had been introduced in 1967 with the replacement of the fee based St. Kitts Nevis Grammar School and the Girls High School with the Basseterre High School as the only secondary school in St. Kitts. The Charlestown Secondary School was the only secondary school in Nevis. The only Sixth Form was at the Basseterre High School. By comparison with present day standards a miniscule number of students went on to university.

Organised sport was centred almost entirely on Warner Park. Very few teams from the rural areas participated in the recognized leagues for the main sports of cricket and football. Cycling was a popular sport also centred at Warner Park as was netball, the most popular female sport. The biggest sporting event was the Leeward Islands Cricket tournament which St. Kitts dominated during the 1960s. Thousands attended matches. Large crowds also attended local football league matches. 

Carnival was privately organized with a small number of troupes parading on New Years Day. There was jouvert on Boxing morning with music by steel band but the rest of the day was dominated by the traditional “sports” of masquerades, clowns, mock jumbies, actors, the Bull all of who performed to big drum or string band music. Jamming was done to steel band music on Boxing night and New Years Day.

There was little crime. Murders were very rare. The village raised the child. Parents respected teachers. The Police Force was relatively small and its Officers well respected. Several Officers came from the other islands. The Church was a strong influence. The tribal politics had begun in 1967 arising out of the turmoil surrounding the Anguilla revolt.

Thursday was a half holiday. That was the reason that the Rotary Club of St. Kitts decided to hold its weekly meetings over lunch on that day. Businesses opened on Saturday which was the day when the sugar workers were off and came to Basseterre to shop. The Thursday half holiday meant that members of the club could remain at Fairview to talk club business and to fellowship. Some stayed until nightfall and sometimes after. Others moved on to other bars to continue the after meeting. In fact some ended up at the Anchorage which was the only restaurant on what is now The Strip at Frigate Bay. The feature there was that the owner remains on premises after he closed and was willing to be awakened at any hour to cook a lobster or steak for Rotarians hungered by the long meetings.