CHARLESTOWN, Nevis, Jan.1.18 – PREMIER, Hon. Mark Brantley has indicated in his New year’s address, that his government would be doubling their allocations for officers, as they step up the fight against crime.
“For 2018, my Administration pledges to redouble its efforts in fighting crime. We will commence shortly with the construction of the Newcastle Police Station. We will double our budgetary support for the Police Officers residing on Nevis and we will ensure, that these officers have proper access to training and are equipped with modern crime fighting tools,” Brantley said.
According to the new Premier, attention would be placed on improving CCTV cameras around Nevis, both at the local and federal levels.
“We will see an improvement in our crime fighting capacity with the construction of a state of the art Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) room at the Charlestown Police Station and as part of the Federal CCTV project, cameras will be installed across the length and breadth of the island of Nevis.”
Brantley declared that this year they will continue the protracted struggle against the scourge of crime and violence. As in 2017, the island recorded seven homicides and a large number of shooting at with intent - an increase over that of 2016.
“My fellow Cabinet Members and I, wish to make it quite clear that we abhor and deplore all acts of violence, be it in the home or in our communities. There should be no ambivalence to crime and to criminals and they should have no safe haven or respite.
“Crime and good social order cannot co-exist, particularly in an economy like ours that is heavily dependent on tourism. Make no mistake, crime represents an existential threat to our tourism industry, our economy and our very way of life,”
In his first major address as the political leader of the island, Brantley stated that 2018 represents an opportunity for the people to reflect on the lessons learnt from the past year and “focus on the challenges and opportunities that will arise moving forward”.
He said that 2017 was a year of hits and misses, successes and failures and, “It taught us that our success as a small island state is not dependent on the size of our nation, nor on the actions or inactions of others but that, with a resilient human spirit and unwavering commitment to succeed, we can overcome all odds.”
He urged parents to encourage their children to think big and to dream big, and in so doing, would succeed in all of their endeavors.
“The year that has passed, would not have been the success that it was without the sacrifice that was made by our citizenry. I wish to express my profound gratitude to all those who have given yeoman service, in inspiring national growth and sustainable development.”
Despite the challenges Nevis faced, the Premier pointed out that much was accomplished during 2017, with Culturama 43 exceeding expectations “and was a tremendous success”.
In the area of sports, Brantley said that 2017 proved to be a year of notable accomplishments, with young Nevisian Kian Pemberton being selected to the West Indies Under19 Cricket Team, to participate in the Under 19 World Cup in New Zealand.
Additionally, Mr. Kimbell Ward of Bath Village officiated in several World Cup qualifiers and other international matches.
He is also a finalist for the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Referee of the Year.
Carl Tuckett and Clida Christmas were also recognized for their accomplishments.
In Education, the Premier said, “it was a year in which we saw a marked improvement in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) pass rate (from 81 percent to 84 percent) and a modest improvement in Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) results (from 80 percent to 81 percent).”
Brantley reminded that it was the Gingerland Secondary School, which once again, emerged as the top performing educational institution in the Federation for 2017.
