BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, September 6, 2017 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris was out and about in his constituency (St. Christopher #7) as early as late Wednesday morning assessing the damages left by the passing of Hurricane Irma, and also to assist residents where possible as they seek to restore their lives to normalcy.
While walking through the communities, Prime Minister Harris visited a number of emergency shelters and residences to assure citizens and residents of his Government’s commitment to assist in any way possible in the rebuilding process.
The honourable prime minister noted that while there have been significant damages to a number of properties throughout his constituency, he is relieved and thankful there was no report of loss of life or significant injury to anyone.
“My view is that St. Kitts and Nevis has been spared the ravages of what could have been total devastation given the magnitude of the hurricane—the size and expanse of it as it approached St. Kitts and Nevis. A category five hurricane is the most dangerous of hurricanes, and yet today we can come to film, to video and to speak about the sparing of our lives, which is of critical importance because with spare lives we can now move on to pick up the pieces, as several families within my constituency, and I suspect throughout the country, would have to be doing,” Prime Minister Harris stated.
Dr. Harris also expressed his profound gratitude to the men and women of the emergency services who braved the weather conditions to ensure the safety and security of other residents.
He said, “I’ve interacted with the fire and rescue [services] and in that regard I would like to commend those from the Tabernacle [Fire Station] and no doubt that is typical of the work fire and rescue would have done throughout St. Kitts and Nevis—being on the road early, clearing our roads of debris but more importantly, the fire and rescue services have been bringing relief to those property owners who have suffered fallen trees on their roofs and who required this relief at this time.”
Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris said the Government would respond to the needs of the country once a full assessment of the magnitude of the damage has been carried out by the relevant authorities.
“We will help our people to rebuild individual by individual, household by household and community by community. So far the efforts that I’ve seen give me the courage to continue to render good service to the country because our people are determined to take matters into their own hands, as we have seen reflected in several of the communities, where people were out early and doing their very best to restore their communities to normalcy and I want to commend that patriotism.”
Prime Minister Harris is also encouraging citizens and residents of St. Kitts and Nevis to keep the people of the neighboring islands that are still being affected by Hurricane Irma in their prayers.
