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| Basseterre Police Station |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, NOVEMBER 1ST 2006 - The Federation's daily independent newspaper, Sun St. Kitts/Nevis is of the view that President of the Police Welfare Association, Woman Police Sergeant Carla Wallace needs to have greater control and exhibit respect for the holder of the office of Prime Minister.
In its editorial for Tuesday October 30th, Sun St. Kitts/Nevis is of the view that the exchanges between Woman Sgt. Carla Wallace and the Chief Secretary in the Prime Minister Office, Mr. Joseph Edmeade reek of discourtesy, especially since the size of the PWA delegation to meet with the Prime Minister was already agreed.
The editorial was triggered follwing a demand by the PWA President that the Prime Minister meet with a 10-member delegation instead of the five Executive Officers and had demanded that the Prime Minister either find a larger room to accommodate the entire group. ~~Adz:Right~~Wallace then led the delegation from the waiting room, thus aborting the scheduled meeting.
"Whether you like the prime minister or not, is irrelevant. Respect for the office and not necessarily the holder must always be foremost in the minds of people. In the Caribbean, we have become very complacent about respect for office and office holders. Let us in St. Kitts/Nevis try to reverse that trend. The prime minister is the head of the country and must be respected as such," Sun St. Kitts/Nevis opined.
"We hold no brief for either the association or the government, but we believe we hold a brief for the Federation in ensuring that the country keeps travelling along the right road by putting on the front burner, issues which, in our view, stymies the progress and development of the country," said the Sun St. Kitts/Nevis editorial, which pointed out that the twin-island Federation "is right now on a roll with investor confidence rising and the upcoming Cricket World Cup CWC) matches scheduled to be played here, which are anticipated to bring an unprecedented number of visitors to our fair land, we cannot afford to have "family squabbles" like this affect in any way the developmental thrust we are now experiencing."
Sun St. Kitts/Nevis is of the view that quite apart from the rights or wrongs of the issues, which have led to this sorry impasse, "there is something called respect - something which individuals, groups, associations and governments which all developed and developing countries, must regard as an essential to the proper development, especially of a small, twin-island, Caribbean state like we are."
~~Adz:Left~~Sun St. Kitts/Nevis believes that everyone understands that negotiations, especially when it impacts on salaries and working conditions, are not easy. The pitfalls are many and too many times the adversarial stances adopted by one side or the other, bode ill for both entities and hamper the successful conclusion of the discussions, emitting more unhappiness than joy.
Sun St. Kitts/Nevis called on the Police Welfare Association to rethink its position, not on the many issues which have to be settled, but rather on its approach to the matter and if its current leadership is unable to present itself as a formidable, yet respectable team, there is obviously need to do something about that, so that in the end the discussions will be fruitful and beneficial to both sides.
As policemen you have sworn to protect and serve and regardless of the state of the negotiations, you are responsible to serve the people of this country in a fair and fearless manner, said the independent daily.
