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Posted: Friday 24 July, 2015 at 6:21 PM

Reform High on the Agenda of New St. Kitts and Nevis Government

Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris
By: SKNIS, Press Release

    Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 24, 2015 (SKNIS): Reform is one of the key words that is being implemented successively by the St. Kitts and Nevis Government of National Unity, under the leadership of Prime Minister Dr. the  Honourable Timothy Harris.

     

    Bearing in mind that Prime Minister Harris has applied the colloquial term “Hurry dog eat raw corn” meaning that it is most often better to do a thorough and gradual job rather than a quick and incomplete task, in response to press conference questions as to why actions are not being taken at a more rapid pace – there has been evidence to show that reforms have been taking place.
     
    Case in point – the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme.  Having won the 2015 elections the first marked action which was taken by the new government was to repair the damaged image of CBI programme by accepting the 20 recommendations provided by IPSA International and commencing implementation.  IPSA is a renowned US-based regulatory risk mitigation firm that delivers advisory and investigative services that are expected to increase specific programme’s transparency and efficiency.
     
    Prime Minister Harris made the commitment at his April 28 monthly press conference.  He revealed that IPSA had been contracted by the previous administration and whilst a review had been completed in the last quarter of 2014, the recommendations had not been implemented.  These include the implementation of a case management tool to streamline the application management process within the CBI unit; changes to the unit’s organizational structure to enhance processing capabilities and mitigate risk; an improved risk assessment process; and a review of previously approved applicants.
     
    Fast forward to the Chamber of Industry and Commerce Annual Banquet held July 18, Prime Minister Harris assured that training is ongoing for the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) staff.  Further, the CBI programme has recently seen the implementation of a Document Management System, which is designed to improve on the processing of applications and overall efficiency.
     
    The benefits: increase in staff productivity and accountability, reduced processing time for clients’ applications and strengthening of the CIU’s capacity to be more responsive to their clients.
     
    A consultative meeting is being planned to invite dialogue between the government, service providers and developers and other key stakeholders in the programme, before the end of July 2015.

    This follows on the heels of what has been termed an “historic” regional CBI meeting held June 15.  Government officials, industry leaders, service providers, regulators and other stakeholders deliberated under the theme “Transparency, Credibility and Efficiency,” at the St. Kitts and Nevis forum.
     
    The restructuring of the CBI programme has a direct link with improving the relationship with the United States, Canada and Europe, particularly since non-visa access was revoked by the Canadian government, over concerns with the CBI programme.  
     
    “In charting a way forward to comprehensively address the challenges, since assuming office as Prime Minister, I have spent the first five months building closer links with governments of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, as well as the International Monetary Fund (IMF),” Dr. Harris said. 
     
    The revision of the electoral process was another area of concern for Dr. Harris.  A series of irregularities and constitutional breaches plagued the local system and prompted an investigation by authorities.  Similar challenges have played out in other Caribbean countries.  It was agreed at the CARICOM level that such issues must be tackled to strengthen the diplomatic systems that exist in the Caribbean.  
     
    “Following the reporting of the returns by the Acting Supervisor of Elections, Mr. Wingrove George, and suspension of these returns between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. on the morning of February 17, there has since been serious concern among citizens that there was something wrong at the Electoral Office,” Hon. Byron stated. “Two days later it was brought to the attention of the government that the Electoral Office had been broken into and ballot boxes stored at the office had been breached.”
     
    As such the St. Kitts Electoral Office was reopened June 01 following a police investigation by Head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Superintendent Charles Smithen.  Attorney General Byron further reported during the June 30 Sitting of Parliament that Governor General His Excellency S. W.  Tapley Seaton had appointed Elvin Bailey as Supervisor of Elections and lawyer Nassibou Butler as Chairman of the Electoral Commission.
     
    Prime Minister Harris felt moved to address the matter of electoral reform at the June 23 CARICOM Overcoming Challenges: Pathway to Development forum held in Antigua.  He noted that motions of no confidence, integrity of public life legislation, tenders boards and freedom of information legislation were key components of good governance.  He described the voters’ list as “the heart of the electoral process,” and said it was necessary to clean it periodically to remove the names of the decease while campaign finance rules, the rights of voters residing abroade and support of the Electoral Commission were also identified.
     
    “We the servants of the people must have a clear sense of reform in which we must engage and plan the way forward to guarantee a true democracy,” he said at the meeting.
     
    The reform process has begun in St. Kitts and Nevis with the appointment of Elvin Bailey as Supervisor of Elections and lawyer Nassibou Butler as Chairman of the Electoral Commission.
     
    This new way forward under the government of St. Kitts and Nevis will see continued reforms including the resetting of relations with the governments north of the Caribbean.  Prime Minister Harris announced on a local radio station that in the very near future, for the first time there will be a St. Kitts and Nevis High Commissioner based in Ottawa, Canada.  A recent working visit to Lond also proved useful as meetings were held with high level UK officials including the Foreign Office Minister with responsibility for the Americas, with whom the reform agenda was discussed.  He also met with private sector representatives and members of the Diaspora who are interested in investing in their homeland.
     
    “For the first time, St. Kitts and Nevis, on its own, will be opening an Embassy in Ottawa, Canada; intending to interact steadfastly with the government of Canada to ensure over time we can return to them the comfort level, outside the circumstances of the past administration that led to their revoking our visa-free access to Canada,” he said.  Those circumstances he stressed no longer hold, while noting that his travel duty to London during the week of July 6, had proved productive.  Meetings with several prospective investment hopefuls particularly in high-end tourism development were also facilitated.
     
    What’s in store for the Federation over the next five years?  According to its leader Dr. Harris – development is the conclusive goal.  The means to this end: “a new way of doing business” in a technology-driven world, rife with many challenges for a Small Island Developing State (SIDS.) Creativity and constant adaptation were identified as the cornerstone of the forward movement.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

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