BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IN his July press conference, Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas sought to clear the air on the data from which the boundary changes were proposed, stressing that all the information was fully up-to-date.
Douglas stated that after the members of the Constituency Boundaries Commission had been identified, it became necessary for Parliament to appoint a Boundaries Technical Committee to advise the Commission.
The committee comprised of a surveyor, demographer, statistician and economist who were charged with the responsibility to undertake extensive research and provide informed recommendations to the Boundaries Commission.
Although the most recent census of population data was carried out nearly a decade ago, Douglas noted that updated information on population growth and density were provided to the technical committee to give the most accurate assessment of the constituencies.
“The basic data used comes from the Census of 2001, and that is why we have a demographer and a statistician on the committee. In fact, we have the Director of Statistics on the Committee because she is seized with the updated information as to how the population has increased beyond where it was back in 2001,” he explained.
There was very little mention of internal and external migration patterns, future housing development projects and prospective areas for heightened economic activity, but the PM reassured the press that the changes would be sustainable.
He expressed some concern about Constituency Nevis Nine, and attempted to explain what appears to be “an anomaly”.
“There is a large number of registered voters in Nevis Nine, and I really discussed at length making changes to Nevis Nine. They said to me the reason why this is what appears to be an anomaly is that a lot of people registered there are actually living overseas, and since our electoral system and laws allow for that, that is why you see this swelling of the voters in Nevis Nine. This is not good enough a reason to begin to subdivide the constituency,” Douglas explained.
According to the Prime Minister, recommendations were also made for further changes following the next Census, which is due in 2011. He informed that a permanent team of persons in the statistics department may be called upon to carry out necessary surveys annually in order to have updated information readily available.
It was further stressed that the boundary changes are not for the benefit of any political party but are “critical in the conduct of the elections”.
The Boundaries Commission Report identified the serious anomalies that existed in the sizes of the different constituencies and sought to address them, Douglas stated.
