BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, October 29, 2018 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – Citizens and residents are being urged to work with the Government to help protect the gains made in St. Kitts and Nevis over the last three and a half years under the Team Unity administration.
Gains made by the Team Unity Government include achieving four consecutive years of economic growth (2015-2018); St. Kitts and Nevis being named a marquee tourist destination, having attracted more than 1 million cruise passengers in the 2017/2018 cruise season, and delivering significant improvements in primary healthcare services.
“Protecting the Gains” was the overall theme under which Sunday (October 28) night’s Prime Minister’s Forum was held at the Edgar T. Morris Primary School in Tabernacle.
Minister of Public Infrastructure, the Honourable Ian Patches Liburd reminded listeners and viewers that the Team Unity administration inherited a dilapidated public infrastructure – a situation he says the Cabinet has sought to address.
“Last year, we gave you a brand new terminal…we gave you traffic lights, modernizing the country – and come this Christmas we have another gift for you. We are going to give you a brand new East Line Bus Terminal,” Minister Liburd said.
Deputy Prime Minister, the Honourable Shawn Richards, in his presentation, said there are significant gains in the education sector that must also be protected. These include newly upgraded schools throughout the country. Schools were allowed to enter various stages of disrepair under the former administration.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris called for greater support from the public for law enforcement, as he noted that criminal activities threaten to undermine all the positive achievements made by the Team Unity administration in such a short period of time.
“When we invest over EC$100 million to build a second cruise pier and the criminals are at large with their guns and mischief, how are we going to attract the other million [cruise] passengers that we want so that people like Veronica Bernier and others can be successful tour operators in our country?,” Dr. Harris said, referring to a tour operator who was in the audience by name.
The Prime Minister said that it is for reasons such as this why his administration, after consultation with the High Command of the security forces, brought in the Regional Security System (RSS) to boost the efforts of local law enforcement.
“We have to protect these investments and these gains,” Prime Minister Harris emphasized. “We make no apologies for [inviting] the RSS; no apologies for making law and order a priority; no apologies for saying to the criminals that whenever law and order clashes with lawlessness, law and order must be left standing…for we will never become a lawless society.”
