 |
| Premier of Nevis Hon Joseph Parry. |
Charlestown Nevis (August 11, 2006) -- The following is the full text of an address delivered by Premier of Nevis Hon Joseph Parry, as he delivered a progress report of the Nevis Reformation Party's first month in office. The address was televised on the Nevis Television Channel 8, on August 10, 2006.
Greetings to all the people of Nevis.
I address you as the Leader of the Nevis Island Government and also as Leader of the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP).
Exactly one month ago, the people of Nevis participated in a Poll and once again placed their confidence in the Nevis Reformation Party. The campaign leading up to the election was relatively short, however, we were in the field for well over a year and brought the issues to you by town hall meetings, regular public meetings and many open discussions by radio.
The vote of confidence you gave to the Nevis Reformation Party is unprecedented since it is the first time that a political party on Nevis has survived a loss at the Poll and was able to regain the confidence of the Nevis electorate. This speaks well to the depth of support the Nevis Reformation Party maintained since its birth in 1970.
It is also a demonstration of the maturity of the people of Nevis, who were able to set aside any doubts regarding fears of victimization etc, and give the NRP a second opportunity to continue the march towards peace, progress and prosperity.
It is apparent that out greatest appeal was to the younger generations and they responded overwhelmingly.
Their response was the crest of the wave that took NRP to victory. We are humbled by this support. We are humbled by the support of young and old. We are also humbled that all Nevisians or nearly all Nevisians have so readily embraced the new government and in so doing, embraced the democratic process.
On behalf of the NRP Team, and I name them: Patricia Hanley, Patrice Nisbett, Robelto Hector, Hensley Daniel and myself, I thank everyone who participated in the election. I thank all the people who voted for us and we thank our long-suffering supporters, who stood solidly with us for the last for 14 years. We salute you and hold you dearly in our hearts. All of you are indeed champions.
I must thank everyone for their support of Culturama and all the events of Culturama. In the very least, Culturama 2006 demonstrated that if you think big, good things can happen to you and the events of August Monday manifested this. Herbert's Beach, Pinneys Beach and the show at the Village were all successes. May this be another exhibition and demonstration of what can be achieve by positive thinking and healthy competition and may we use this example as a guide in our future.
Kittitians came to Nevis in great numbers. We thank them for their support. However, my greatest praise is to all those people who enjoyed themselves so peacefully. The Police have reported that there was only one serious act of violence for the whole period of Culturama. Unfortunately, it involved two teenagers. This is of grave concern to us, especially as it appears that they are still in school. We will have to address this matter of teenage misbehavior immediately.
Culturama is over. The people of Nevis have to get down to work. Let me report that we have put in place the full team of Cabinet Ministers and policy makers who will serve you for the next five years.
From the very beginning, we are setting the tone of this Administration.
We are putting in place a code of ethics that will govern the Cabinet of the Nevis Island Administration.
1) We will lodge with the Cabinet Secretary our assets and liabilities on taking office. At the end of this term, it will be possible to compare what our possessions were at the commencement and at the end of the term for all Ministers of Government.
2) This Administration has already begun to work on an Integrity Ordinance that will be introduced early in the New Year to the Nevis House of Assembly. It will govern the conduct of all members of the Nevis House of Assembly.
3) No Minister of Government will be allowed to take traveling allowance if he has use of a government vehicle.
4) No Minister will be allowed to pass his or her gasoline bills to the Consolidated Fund.
5) For all those who have confused themselves, please note that P178 is my personal property and has nothing to do with Government.
The Nevis Island Administration shall seek to implement the following legislation early in the New Year.
1) The Appropriation Ordinance that allows Cabinet to take away people's property without public discussion shall be reversed. Such matters must be transparent and shall be discussed publicly in Parliament.
2) An Ordinance to introduce the Nevis Parish Council shall be introduced early in the New Year. This was one of NRP's major campaign promises to fully involve our people in the villages, to ensure that the needs of all our people are satisfied.
3) The Vendors Ordinance shall be modified.
The NRP will involve itself in modernizing our legislature and all our legislation and therefore will seek to be in Parliament at least once per month.
I am also pleased to make the following announcements as we seek to address the major concerns of our people:
1) The Dominica Boat will one again dock at the Charlestown Pier. We expect that the price of provisions from these boats will immediately become cheaper. It is my hope that the reasons for the prices to come down are obvious.
2) Baby food and Pampers will be exempt from duty immediately. So will food packages for home-owners. However, any known trafficker or business person shall continue to attract duty.
3) I will seek Federal permission for the Transfer Tax on land and property to revert to six percent to the buyer and six percent to the seller.
The Land and Housing Corporation shall immediately cease to charge 12 percent to all buyers. That Corporation is exempt from Transfer Taxes. Therefore, only the six percent to the buyer shall be applicable.
All charges by that Corporation shall be investigated to ensure that the public is no longer robbed by persons who they put in office.
4) All wholesalers will be approached with a view to visit their pricing strategies on Nevis. It continues to make no sense for goods on Nevis to be 40 percent to 50 percent more expensive than the goods in St Kitts.
I am also pleased to report that I have had the first meeting with Prime Minister Douglas.
He has given his support in regard to the guarantee for a loan to complete the Nevis Island Main Road.
He is also supporting a US$2million investment in a Fine Arts Theatre for Nevis and a Community Centre for Charlestown. These projects are already approved for funding by the Government of Taiwan.
I am also pleased to announce that the Government of Taiwan has offered immediate assistance to set up a multi-purpose fruit processing plant. It is up to us to do it quickly or play the fool with it.
St. Thomas' Parish has been a special case for the past 14 years. I am sure the people of Nevis understand and sympathize with the people of St. Thomas' for the neglect showered on them under the CCM Government. Starting immediately, the road from Jessups through Barnes Ghaut and Cotton Ground will be done.
Additionally, the road known as Barnes Ghaut Road through Paradise Estate shall also be done.
Construction of the Barnes Ghaut Community Centre shall start very soon. It is to be located east of the Basketball court in Barnes Ghaut.
Parcels of land are being purchased in Jessups and Cotton Ground to accommodate Community Centres and finally, Five Turnings will be cleared up, the stones will be removed and a bus stand constructed.
These are immediate programmes. Other programmes for the whole island shall be implemented on an on-going basis and everyone on Nevis will share in the benefits.
The sports project at Old Manor will continue so will the Community Centre at Zion. The road at Stoney Grove, which was started as an election project, will also be completed and so will all the low income houses around the island.
At this point, I must address the matter of education:
The Nevis Reformation Party has stressed the importance of education and training again and again. NRP is providing, as promised, text books to the children in the two Government High Schools.
In regard to the free lunch programme for Primary Schools, we seek your patience. It is difficult to organize before the New Year. We do not wish to introduce any programme before it is properly structured and ready for implementation.
Presently, all the Government Schools are being repaired to ensure that our children are comfortably accommodated on the first day of school.
~~Adz:Right~~Special attention is being paid to the Sixth Form College and the Charlestown Secondary School.
The Sixth Form College will remain at the Wards building and will operate separate and apart from the Charlestown Secondary School.
The two institutions will continue to share library facilities on the completion of the structure due east of the Charlestown Secondary School, until the Nevis Reformation Party constructs new tertiary facilities which will include the Sixth Form College with its own library.
The matter of the Charlestown Secondary School will be addressed over the next two years as we seek to modernize the building and improve conditions for students and teachers alike.
In regard to academic training, 18 persons have been granted assistance under the Nevis Reformation Party Government and 27 other persons continue to receive assistance. These were given grants under CCM. A comparison of this number is worth the while.
All persons who work for government and receive training on St Kitts will continue to benefit from their salaries. The NRP government must do what is necessary to help our people to avoid the hardships they have encountered in the past.
Certainly, these people will demonstrate greater commitment to Nevis and Nevisians if they are treated decently.
Finally, I must address the Government debt, including the Public Corporations and the state of the Public Corporations
The debt of the Nevis Island Administration, including domestic debt, overdraft and foreign debt is EC $218million. This does not take into consideration the debts of the Public Corporations which are wholly owned by Government. If we include these debts the total stands at $287million or basically $300,000,000.00.
I must remind you that you only have to refer to Mr Amory's statement in December 2005. He stated that the debt was $152,000,000.00. You need now to fill in the blanks and ask yourself several questions. I will NOT provide the answers. Only, I must say to you the Nevis Island Government under the NRP Administration will stay away from deception. We shall be transparent and shall report to you regularly and truthfully at all times.
The state of the Statutory Bodies
The Air and Sea Ports
The good news is that the Air and Sea Ports have been steadily improving its finance. From a debt situation of $988,000.00 in March 2004, there is an un-audited profit of $233,000.00 in March 2006.
The Land and Housing Corporation on the other hand, shows a debt of $52million. This institution shall be investigated and a small investigative team is already in place to determine whether a full audit of this body is necessary.
NEVLEC is also experiencing serious difficulties. Between August 2004 and August 2005 it recorded a loss of $5,000,000.00. It is my understanding that CCM intended to introduce the fuel surcharge after the election that was promised for January 2006. This was part of an understanding for the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) to receive a $29,000,000 loan from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to purchase two generators and to extend the housing facilities for the generators at Prospect.
I must report to you, that the matter of NEVLEC must be addressed immediately. I have been informed by the CDB that there is presently an 18 percent loss of energy at the point of transmission and delivery of energy to consumers. All of this is not due to the quality of equipment; there is obviously pilfering of electricity. NRP has asked for a team to be put in place to determine the cause of this loss before any consideration be given to the introduction of new rates or the rates which CCM delayed before the election. We are also asking Nevisians to help NEVLEC by paying for the electricity they consume.
The Sanitation Authority is also in debt. Cabinet has advised that that body's financial and operating structure must be reviewed immediately to make it profitable.
Finally, I must also report that the Tourism Board has been treated as poor relation. The funds that NIA has collected on behalf of the Board has not been paid since January 2006. It is instructive that Tourism is our number resource earner and our number one sector for development. It is also instructive that in the next few weeks five of our eight hotels will be closed and only three of the eight hotels have demonstrated any serious viability during the past five years.
Again, too much politics and too little construction. There is serious work to be done.
The Water Department has bills outstanding of $1,000,000. We appeal to everyone to pay their bills. We do need to provide good quality water regularly. We also appeal again to pay your bills to NEVLEC.
We also demand, now, that Government workers cease the abuse of Government vehicles. Do not take them home.
We appeal to Government workers to cease the habit of taking gasoline at the Government's expense.
We appeal to those who abuse Government in any form or shape to cease this abuse immediately.
The NRP intends that all Public Corporations must pay their way. They must be operated by business minded people along business lines.
We intend to monitor our finances. Our approach will be to inject investment into the economy to generate jobs and revenue. As one senior civil servant has said, "the impact of the Four Seasons is over. We need new investments in Nevis".
NRP has begun by working with the Hamilton Development, which will have 120 new rooms ready for the World Cup Cricket. Nisbetts and Mount Nevis are all at an advanced stage for further expansion. It will be a part of the injection of investment. However, there are other long term programmes which will come on stream in the New Year.
Finally, I have met with the Newfound Development investors. They already have title to the land at Pinneys in spite of the fact they have not fully paid for the land. The former Administration executed this arrangement. However, they have accepted that 600 acres of our best land is just too much for one development. We are in the process of negotiating to change that situation. It must be changed.
I have sought to give you a general review of the state of affairs in regard to the first month in office of the Nevis Reformation Party Government.
In a month's time you will be provided with a more up-to-date report. Additionally, we will inform you through village, town hall meetings and discussions on the radio about what programmes will be developed and implemented over the next 12 months and over the next five years.
As we go through the Hurricane Season, may you be assured that there is a very strong Disaster Preparedness Programme in place. However, we do seek God's protection and blessing that once again we are spared of any major visit or damage during this hurricane season.
Good night, and may God bless us all.
