BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - WHILE some have voiced their displeasure with a statement made by Opposition MP the Hon. Eugene Hamilton at the People’s Action Movement’s recently held Convention, Deputy Premier of Nevis the Hon. Mark Brantley said the debate is nothing more than a “nonsense distraction”.
While making a presentation at the event in which Brantley was the featured speaker, Hamilton spoke about the condition Nevis was in during the 70s and 80s before there was enough electricity to supply the entire island.
Hamilton explained that in that context he said when Nevisians saw the light on the lampposts in St. Kitts they commented that Kittitians had moonlight on sticks.
SKNVibes contacted Brantley to get his take on the issue and he expressed that anyone who listened to the speech and the context in which the statement was made would have understood that Hamilton meant no harm.
“If it is that people have nothing to say relating to the substance of the speech, they ought to just be quiet. This is just a nonsense distraction and I really don’t want to give it any further time or my time or anybody else’s time.
“Anybody who listened to that speech and listened to the context of what was said must understand what was being said. And I don’t know why people are suddenly so concerned about these types of comments which clearly are part and parcel of the history of our country.”
The Deputy Premier advised that rather than this “nonsense distraction”, “we must be focused on where we are and where we are going, and if mistakes have been made in the past, to ensure that those mistakes are not repeated. That is the substance that we need to be looking at.”
