BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris, emphatically stated that there is no evidence of victimisation being perpetrated against anyone by his Team Unity Government as claimed by the Opposition.
Dr. Harris made this declaration, among others, yesterday (Oct. 7) during the launch of the Government’s weekly call-in programme ‘Working for You, aired on ZIZ, WINN FM and Sugar City Rock.
The host, Lesroy Williams, told Dr. Harris it was touted that just after he assumed office there was mass victimisation taking place in the country, many people went unceremoniously sent home and that it was a trademark of his Administration.
In response, Dr. Harris said: “Not one scintilla of evidence! What you have are the election losers misbehaving as usual. The election losers who have become miserable, now that they have lost the favour of the people of St. Kitts and Nevis they are attempting to store ill-will in the society. Everyone knows whenever there is a change of government the political appointees ought to resign. You don’t even wait! And some of these people had been so much in the frontline of the campaign that if they had a modicum of decency they would have sent in their resignation on day one.”
Dr. Harris singled out the former Prime Minister’s Press Secretary as one such individual.
“Erasmus Williams for example; everyone knows what Erasmus was...a political propagandist. And Erasmus Williams, for a while, for three weeks after the elections never once came to say good morning Prime Minister, what can I do for you today. For three weeks never put one story out with respect to the Team Unity Administration. Clearly the man had abandoned his work. Clearly that was not the person who could properly, even if he were to try, execute the agenda of the incoming government, having regard to the extremes to which he went before. So that is not a case of victimisation.”
The Prime Minister advised that whenever members of the Opposition raise the subject of victimisation, they must be challenged to provide names, followed by questions.
“We must challenge them each time they victimisation to name the names and ask them if these persons have been political activists. Ask them if the Permanent Secretary who journeyed to New York, spent two weeks up there organising for the flights to come in for the Douglas party, if that is a public servant in accordance with the best tradition expected of people in the Civil Service, and whether that person could continue in that particular way under any administration, not just Team Unity?
“Ask them, for example, that when on the third floor of Government Headquarters they set up a party center there utilising State resources, including the phones, dialling and have a cadre of people there, party activists, calling and begging for votes abroad, whether those people could properly serve the new Administration?”
In maintaining his stand that the Team Unity Government does not practice victimisation, Dr. Harris used his Ministries as an example.
“Look at the reality of the Civil Service now! Let’s look right in my Ministries. The Financial Secretary is still there…no victimisation. The Deputy Financial Secretary is still there…no victimisation. Let’s go into Human Resource. The Chief Personnel Officer under Douglas is still there…no victimisation. And we go to the Ministry of Health. Permanent Secretary Andrew Skerritt, who had a rough deal under Marcella Liburd, if truth be told, is still there whatever his politics was on February 16. How dare they bring the charge of victimisation against this Government?”
He said victimisation is empty talk being made by the Opposition.
“You could take every Ministry and go through it man by man, woman by woman and you will see what changes have been made, and you recognise it is empty talk. And you go through the relevant State Corporations and you ask yourself what has Team Unity done that is without basis and merit.’
The Federation’s Political Leader claimed that the coalition parties have been a decent and responsible Government and it had given individuals on various Boards time and the opportunity to do the decent things, but some of them did not.
“Some of them like Peter Jenkins, who was in charge of ZIZ Board, refused to do the right thing. But everybody knows that by the next day these people ought to have resigned.”
He stressed that historically Board members ought to resign and pointed to one individual whom he claimed did the right thing.
“Wendell Lawrence, for example, wrote a letter of resignation within days, and in it he said to me the new Government has a right to properly choose those of its functionaries…paraphrasing. That is the kind of service we want! You know who you are. Some of them on Election Day, they fought with candidates; fought with them in terms of their behaviour and their conduct. And you mean to tell me that they still have the brazen face on the next day to come with all the malice in their heart and then somebody wants to claim victimisation?”
Prime Minister Harris reiterated that “there is no victimisation here…not one scintilla of evidence of that”!
