The Prime Minister of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. Denzil Llewelyn Douglas, is in Bermuda this week for Heritage Month.

He addressed the House of Assembly yesterday morning and signed a cultural memorandum of understanding between the tiny Caribbean nation and Bermuda. He spoke of the parallels between the two countries and what can be learnt from one another.

And at a luncheon at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute yesterday, hosted by the Kittitian community in Bermuda, Dr. Douglas spoke on the rich history between his country and Bermuda. He said that 60 percent of Bermudians can trace their ancestry, in some way, back to St. Kitts.

Throughout his visit the Kittitian Prime Minister will make a series of visits to some of Bermuda's cultural sites and events. His itinerary includes a trip, via ferry, to Dockyard where he will be given a tour of the Commissioner's House, and attending the 24th of May Parade on Monday.

After his lunch yesterday, Dr. Douglas sat down with The Royal Gazette to discuss common issues such as crime and culture. He spoke highly of Bermuda and her people, saying that he feels very comfortable here and that he has been received warmly by all those with whom he has met.

"Bermuda has not deteriorated since the last time I was here in 1996," he said. "In my view this is a very clean country with very kind people and an impressive financial sector. Bermuda is still very promising."

In his remarks to the House of Assembly Dr. Douglas stated that the recent rise in gang and gun violence is not isolated to Bermuda, he claimed it is an issue that is plaguing his country and the Caribbean as a whole.

"Throughout the hemisphere, we are all putting more Police on the streets," he said. "We are all using closed circuit television and we are all getting 'tougher on crime'. We are all doing whatever we have to do to prevent anti-social behaviour."

Later in an Interview with this newspaper Dr. Douglas listed some of the ways that St. Kitts has battled gang activity and worked to prevent

"We have had our fair share of gang problems in St. Kitts and it is a phenomenon foreign to our peaceful history," he said. "After bringing stakeholders together to analyse the patterns of youth crime in St. Kitts we found that we needed to introduce more wholesome activities for the youth. We found that young people who have dropped out of school who have no skills and are not ready for the job market were more likely to become street people.

"We reached out to the FBI and after some lobbying recruited them to do a full analysis of the gang problem and formulate a strategy so that the country could begin to tackle the problem. As a result we formed an anti-gang unit and declared a war on guns. Guns and drugs, like Bermuda, are all imported into St. Kitts so we restructured the Customs Department and created a new K-9 unit. With a massive drive of police and security forces we began to see some results."

Dr. Douglas said he and his fellow countrymen are proud of the "blood" relationship between St. Kitts and Bermuda as well as economic relationship between the two islands.

"Even though we live across the ocean from each other we are the same people," he said. "Bermudians have historically found and will continue to find great investment opportunities in St. Kitts and I hope to continue that relationship."

He said he hopes that Premier Dr. Ewart Brown will soon visit St. Kitts and Nevis to reciprocate his visit to Bermuda.

"An invitation has been extended to Dr. Brown and I hope he has the opportunity to respond appropriately – I look forward to his visit."