Wants Nisbett and Liburd to retire
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TONY NIAS of the People’s Action Movement, who had represented Team Unity as a panellist on WINN FM’s flagship current affairs programme ‘Inside the News’ last Saturday (Nov. 15), has called for a public apology from Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas following his recent statement on the Basseterre High School’s (BHS) health situation.
Nias also called for a public apology from Minister of Education Hon. Nigel Carty for what he termed “mishandling the situation”, and the resignation of Ministers Patrice Nisbett and Marcella Liburd.
He made the pronouncements when asked by host of the programme Ken Richards what the government should have done about the International Labour Organisation’s Report and what they should be doing at this stage.
“In the light of recent developments is a call for the public apology from Dr. Denzil Douglas, who just recently stated or state his medical credentials on the line when he declared I am a father, I am a medical doctor, I have read the reports, there is nothing wrong with the Basseterre High School. Dr. Douglas, first of all, was misleading, giving the impression to us that he was a parent of some student at the Basseterre High School. He is not! Secondly, if he read the Report, there was definitely a problem at the Basseterre High School,” was Nias’ response.
Nias was about to make a comment on Carty when the host rebuked him on his attack on the Prime Minister, saying: “Before you go on to Nigel Carty, let’s look at the Prime Minister. He may have been responding to what he saw as a political backlash and felt that was the best way to address it. Now he also said he is a parent, he didn’t say he was a parent of a student at the Basseterre High School.”
Nias quickly came back with: “That is why I am saying he was misleading...I said the statement was misleading.”
He continued: “Mr. Carty should also apologise since he mishandled the situation from day one, speaking to people being psychic and it’s all in their heads and all that kind of nonsense. Patrice Nisbett, who is the Minister responsible for Labour, had access to this and he too should also resign. Marcella Liburd, who is the Minister of Health and should have been taking on this thing from the get go as a health and safety issue, did nothing and should also resign.
“If this happened in anywhere else or in any other jurisdiction, I know, especially in the USA, the government would have been dragged into court with huge claims for reckless endangerment in the lives of children. And these public officials would have had to resign.”
He stated that what occurred at the BHS for over two years to date is “is clear evidence of incompetence, arrogance and mismanagement on the part of public officials entrusted with the safety of our people and the stewardship of our country’s resources. I am appalled and all should be appalled, and indeed everyone should be when we learnt this week of this report on Basseterre High School submitted since June. A report that notes that not only the situation on the campus was an occupational safety matter, but a public health issue, since right next door there is an institution with children there as well”.
Noting that it is now public knowledge that there is a public health issue at the BHS, Richards asked Nias what the authorities should be doing about it.
“This authority should go to begin with! I am asking to do anything else but go. There are people competent to handle this matter and they should go as a matter of a first step. That is what they should be doing right now! “
Responding to Richards’ question of what he thinks is the best way for whoever is in control to deal with the situation, Nias said: “This authority should go to begin with! And I am asking to do anything else but go. There are people competent to handle this matter and they should go as a matter of a first step. That is what they should be doing right now!”
He posited that the entire structure of the BHS should be “knocked down and treated, and should not be a place to house our children”.
On Tuesday (Oct. 28) during his weekly radio programme ‘Ask the Prime Minister’, Dr. Douglas said: “There is nothing wrong with the school. I am a parent, I am a medical doctor, I have seen the reports myself, I have read them both and the school is safe for us to continue to conduct our business of teaching students and learning as students, and thus making sure that the fears and the anxieties of our parents disappear. Let the school settle down…”
The Basseterre High School’s health situation has been ongoing for more than two years to date and, most recently, stakeholders have been blaming the relevant authorities for not making them aware of a report submitted by the International Labour Organisation since June this year on the health situation at the learning institution.
It is reported that the school’s management, the St. Kitts Teachers Union and the Parent-Teacher Association did not receive copies of the report until Tuesday Last (Nov. 11), after a request to the Labour Department.
According to Dr. Yuka Ujita, the ILO Occupational Health and Safety Specialist who had visited St. Kitts in May, she had shared her preliminary observation with the Minister of Labour, Hon. Patrice Nisbett, that the BHS situation was also one of public health.
