BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE culture which exists in Caribbean territories is that, whether for political expediency or other reasons, high levels of crime are often blamed on the ruling administration and, if and when that administration is replaced, it is expected that the new administration would shoulder the blame.
An integral part of this mechanism is the opposition which, for all intents and purposes, is tasked with keeping the Government’s proverbial feet to the fire and ensuring that they live up to expectations, fulfill promises made and cater to the needs of the people of the land.
But isn’t it possible to fulfil this obligation without the use of blatant disingenuous statements?
Last week, former Prime Minister of the Federation the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas made an appearance on a radio programme called ‘Issues’ which is aired on Freedom FM. And while there he made statements which were heavily cloaked in dishonesty.
The programme’s host questioned Dr. Douglas about crime in the Federation and his response was as follows: “In the first three weeks of Harris’ reign we had no less than four murders in the country, no less than four murders in the first three weeks. Nothing reported on SKNVibes and the other media outlets, social media in particular, as they did under the former administration… Nothing!”
Really, Dr. Douglas?
His comments posed some concern to this media house because, to put it frankly, they are untrue.
SKNVibes was singled out, by name, as one of the media houses which had not, to put it in our own words, fulfilled our responsibilities by informing and educating the populace on these major happenings within the Federation.
For the year, the Federation has recorded 11 homicides, two in Nevis and nine in St. Kitts. Just like other media houses, SKNVibes, contrary to Dr. Douglas’ assertion, has written an article on each, and in most cases, more than one article.
Let us suppose that Dr. Douglas misspoke when he said the murders were not reported by media outlets. But the fact that he found it necessary to engage SKNVibes suggested that no research was done, whether personally or through his associates, to conclude that our website was void of such articles.
A thorough search of www.sknvibes.com would show that, as has been the case over the years, from the beginning of 2015 to present, a number of articles about homicides committed within St. Kitts and Nevis have been penned and posted. As a matter of fact, they number in excess of 15.
So for Dr. Douglas to even suggest that this media house has not published articles about the murders, as it did in the past, is clearly untrue.
Dr. Douglas also said that during the first three weeks of Prime Minister the Hon. Dr. Timothy Harris’ leadership of the country, the Federation has recorded no less than four murders.
A breakdown of the figures shows that between January 1 and February 17, the day after the General Elections and the day before Dr. Harris was sworn in as Prime Minister, there were eight murders recorded. During the first three weeks of his leadership of the country, two were recorded. Thereafter, one murder was recorded.
It is quite possible that Dr. Douglas misspoke when he made the above-mentioned statements or he may not have.
The Opposition’s responsibility is to apply sufficient pressure to the Government and keep its feet close enough to the fire that it is kept in line. This holds true in any thriving democracy.
But both Opposition and Government must maintain their integrity and must be seen as credible sources, so that when they speak or act the populace would have little difficulty in accepting their words as being truthful.
Oppositions past, whether of their own volition or via their associates and supporters, were found at one point or another to be peddling untruths, and that is one trend that should not be proliferated.
