PM Douglas calls on nationals to renew Labour Party mandate in the next election
 |
|
Hundreds of delegates atteneded the 76th Annual Conference of the ruling St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party on Sunday 18th May at the Grand Ballroom of the St. Kitts Marriott Resort and Royal Beach casino, Frigate Bay. (Photo by Erasmus Williams)
|
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, MAY 19TH 2008 (CUOPM) – Nationals of St. Kitts and Nevis should ponder on the achievements made by the twin-island Federation and appreciate the strides that have been made in the past 13 years, before casting their minds on the future and what it will take to sustain this progress and development over the next 15 years.
So says Political Leader of the governing St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas in addressing the 76th Annual National Conference at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort at Frigate Bay.
“Thirteen years ago, it was suggested by persons of privilege living in the Federation, that a government made up of the seven Labour Party members you elected and the two we nominated, would and could not have lasted. We were not supposed to know how to carry this country forward.
We were not supposed to display the vision, the capacity and the tenacity to deliver on the promises we have made to our people of the Federation and to systematically and substantially improve their quality of life,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
He said that there were those in the Federation who thought then and still think now that none of “us elected back then, and serving ever since, had the political, social or economic pedigree to lead this country of ours.”
“But we rallied together! Members and supporters of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party and the St. Kitts-Nevis Trades and Labour Union harnessed their skills and expertise and borrowed on the experience and well wishes of others in the public and private sectors and we begun a rescue mission on this beautiful country of ours.
Comrades, we started first with the basics! We set out to put food on your table, a roof over your head and money in your pocket. Cast your memories back to 1995 and recall where you and your family were back then. Recall how you sat on the periphery of social and economic development in St. Kitts. Most of you in here and within the hearing of my voice would have by then become spectators to progress and development in the Federation,” said Prime Minister Douglas.
He noted that under the previous government, there were two types of health services in St. Kitts and Nevis. ~~Adz:Right~~
“One that the rich friends and families of the then powers that be could have afforded, and the other that you were forced to endure, after waiting hours, days and even weeks for attention. Thirteen years ago, there were two St. Kitts and two ‘Nevises’. One for persons looked favourably upon by the then political leadership, and another for those considered critical of, or irrelevant to, the concept of development in the country,” stated Prime Minister Douglas.
He said that he did not want anyone ever to forget what the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party government inherited back in 1995.
“Do you remember the incomplete, the deliberately sabotaged, island main road? Do you recall who were receiving scholarships and grants to study and work abroad? Do you recall how people were selected to work at Jack Tar and OTI Hotels? Do you recall the responses you received when you enquired about the possibility of you or your child getting a job in Frigate Bay…doing anything other than cutting the grass or sweeping the streets, or making the beds or bartending?,” asked the Labour Party Leader, who called on Kittitians and Nevisians to recall all this and more before beginning to assess the work of the St. Kitts Nevis Labour Party in government.
“I want Kittitians and Nevisians to consider all this in order to appreciate the magnificence of what is taking place in the Federation today,” said Dr. Douglas, who noted that a sister Labour Party in the Caribbean adopted the theme many years ago, warning “Labour built it…Don’t Let them wreck it.”
“I will not plagiarize that slogan today. But I will ask two simple questions: Which party built the modern federation of St. Kitts and Nevis? Which party can best be relied upon to continue that growth and upward development FOR AND BY ALL THE PEOPLE?
If you know the correct answers to these questions; if all the Federation knows the correct answers to those two questions, then persons, who love and believe in the tenacity and capacity of this country, have absolutely nothing to fear,” said Dr. Douglas.
Prime Minister Douglas said that if the electorate of this country vote with their heads and not their emotions, “then I am saying today that I can see no reason why the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party will not be given the mandate to continue the transformation of this beautiful country of ours. My simple thesis today, therefore, is that this country and its people have come a long way under Labour.”
The Labour Party leader asserted that the other side, after 13 years, has still not gotten it right.
“They (People’s Action Movement) still have not changed their ways. Their modus operandi is the same. The leader they have will never see St. Kitts and Nevis as a country of 55 000 peoples. His concept of St. Kitts and Nevis as a country while growing up 40 odd years ago is still his concept of St. Kitts and Nevis today. He sees this country as fertile real estate for the pleasure and benefit of just a few. He still does not believe that persons bearing the demographics that most of you did in 1995 are entitled to sit and sup at the table of opportunity in this fair land of ours,” said Prime Minister Douglas, who reiterated that in preparing his Conference Address, he is reminded of another famous admonishing from a now deceased former leader of the Caribbean, who simply said to voters, headed to the polls in a matter of hours “protect your bread!!”
“All he wanted them to do was safeguard the gains they had made in previous years and not to make the error of returning persons to office who would dismantle the gains and the quality of life that they were leading and enjoying as a result of the enlightened policies of his political party while in office,” said Dr. Douglas.
He called on the people of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis to “promote and protect your interest in this coming general election. You must vote to safeguard the progress you have made as individuals and as families. You must cherish and maintain the opportunities that your children have for upward social and economic mobility in this country of ours.”
