Dear Nevisians at home and abroad,
I have been your elected servant since 2007. In 2017, you elected me to be the Premier of Nevis and you re-elected me in 2022 to continue the work that we started together. Your confidence in me has been shown over many years and many elections. I am humbled by it and remain resolutely committed to working each day to advance this land called Nevis which we are privileged to call our home.
There have been many challenges along the way. But leadership is not defined by the existence of challenges. Leadership is defined by the way we handle those challenges. The global Covid19 pandemic brought Nevis to its knees. Our island was locked down, our economy stalled, our people fearful. But steady, competent and compassionate leadership and the abiding grace of God brought us through.
I lead a Cabinet which took a salary cut for 6 months during the pandemic and, as Premier, I took no salary or benefits for 21 months. We did this to demonstrate to the people of Nevis that where there is struggle we must all share in that struggle.
During the pandemic, we ensured that all public servants were paid on time and in full and Nevis recorded the best Covid19 management in the entire Caribbean. Our handling of the Covid19 pandemic was not happenstance but proof of our capacity to lead in a sober, serious and compassionate manner even in the most difficult circumstances.
Brothers and sisters, each year our 5th and 6th Forms send hundreds of young Nevisians into the workforce. Each year we have young Nevisians graduating from colleges and universities around the world. Each year the demands grow for more water, more electricity, better roads and infrastructure. Each year the demands grow for better healthcare, better education, more affordable housing and greater safety nets for our most vulnerable.
As Premier, I am guided by the adage that if we do the same thing over and over we can only expect the same results. Our beloved Nevis finds itself now at a critical crossroad of development. We must grow our economy at pace and at scale in order to deliver for our people. Our youth need good jobs; our graduates need opportunities to come home to; our elderly deserve the best care; our families in the Diaspora want to come home. We must do all this while ensuring that we preserve what makes Nevis such a special place in the world.
We cannot pretend that business as usual will work for Nevis. Around the world we see that countries that innovate are the countries that thrive. We have no gold or diamonds or oil. Our main export in the past century has sadly been our best and brightest minds. Our people have contributed significantly to building Bermuda, St Maarten, the USVI, the BVI, the UK, the US and Canada. While those countries and territories have benefitted from our people, we here at home have been deprived of their direct contribution to our development.
When we search the world, we see countries like Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Rwanda that stand out. The hallmark of those countries is steady leadership and constant innovation. Nevis has a deep reservoir of intellectual capacity at home and abroad. In a recent meeting with students of our 6th Form, I was humbled at the incredible perspicacity displayed by our youth. It is this intellectual capacity that we must put to work to fashion new innovative pathways for our island’s development.
I know that Nevisians everywhere share a profound love for this island. We all cherish its tranquility, its history, its culture and its sense of community. Over the years, my government’s approach has always been one of thoughtful, people-centered development: the MGR Park, the Pinney’s Beach Development, the Bath Stream, the Oualie Water Taxi Facility, the Mondo Track, and now the historic Bath Hotel. Each initiative has been guided by a commitment to develop our island while preserving our heritage and ensuring access and benefit for all Nevisians. Our philosophy has always been clear— we are building Nevis by us and for us.
Brothers and sisters, our democracy is robust. Every voice counts and every opinion matters. However in the cut and thrust of public debate, we are sometimes caught between those who wish to hold on tightly to the past and those who wish to consecrate a new future. Many shout that “Nevis Nice” and let us keep it as it is frozen in time and space. Others, especially our youth and entrepreneurs, say let us develop Nevis to create opportunities for jobs and businesses and growth. Let us turn the centuries old brain drain into a brain gain. Let us create the environment at home to keep our best and brightest in Nevis and to attract talent from our Diaspora and the world.
As your Premier this is the paradox that I must navigate. How do we balance the views of those who wish to cling to the past with the views of those who wish a new future? I truly understand that some of us fear change. I understand that even those who left Nevis a half century ago still cling to the Nevis they remember. I understand the expatriate community who feel they have discovered paradise and want it to remain undeveloped for their continued winter sojourns. I do not seek to diminish the genuine fears and concerns of our people about development. But I recognize that fear can lead to paralysis and that we can never fathom the wonders of the ocean if we are afraid to leave the comfort of the shore.
As your leader, I ask you to display that indefatigable spirit of the Nevisian people. It is that spirit that saw our men and women leave the tropical shores of Nevis on old creaky ships for an uncertain future in the cold harsh winter of Mother England. This “Windrush Generation” stepped boldly into the unknown and refused to be paralyzed by fear. Today the spectacle of carnival in Leeds, England is celebrated because of its Nevisian founder Arthur France. This is the power of the Nevisian spirit.
I ask you now at this juncture in our history to step boldly into a new future; to embrace ideas which are transformative; to think of what can be instead of what was; to innovate and create opportunities for all; to create a Nevis that our graduates and our Diaspora can return home to; to create a Nevis where local businesses can thrive; to consecrate a new future for our children and their children. In so doing we must be resolute not to erase the past, but to build upon it. We must ensure that development means opportunity, not displacement; progress, not loss.
In all this I continue to ask for the prayers of our Church leaders and our Christian community. Let us as Nevisians at home and abroad gird ourselves with the armour of righteousness and with the sure conviction that God helps those who seek to help themselves.
Let us therefore continue to pray together, work together, and believe together in the promise of Nevis- our Nevis.
Your humble servant,
Mark Brantley
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