Grant blasts Ministerial Portfolios restructure… 
Claims a case of shuffling chairs on Titanic’s deck

By Stanford Conway
Editor-in-Chief-SKNVibes.com

Leader of the People's Action Movement, Mr. Lindsay Grant

Grant noted that the measures taken by Dr. Douglas serve only to confirm that he is hopelessly at sea and is driven essentially by the desperation of a drowning man, who he claimed is the cause of the country’s problems.

“His Cabinet reshuffle, mere months before our country’s election date with destiny, will do nothing to turn back the wind of change sweeping the Caribbean, nor will it do anything to change the mood of an electorate poised to change their government,” Grant said.

The political leader reiterated an earlier statement in which he claimed that PM Douglas and the Labour Party Government were guilty of total abdication of their obligations for the safety and security of the citizens in St. Kitts and Nevis in the face of serious rising national crises.

“The Prime Minister,” Grant added, “has confirmed my assertion with his announcement that while taking on the National Security, as I have called upon him to do, he has also taken responsibility for immigration, and appointed himself Minister of Foreign Affairs.

“Foreign Affairs, together with the tourism portfolio, and his already extensive Prime Ministerial travels, will quickly qualify the Prime Minister for expanded frequent flyer miles at the level of the size of the Central Government debt.”

Grant said that was compelling proof of abdication of the obligations of national security on the day Dr. Douglas took over that ministry.

“It is significant that as Minister of National Security and as Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister will have direct oversight of applications from foreign governments, such as the government of the United States, for the extradition of St. Kitts and Nevis citizens for drug running, money laundering and other crimes.    ~~Adz:Right~~

“In this context, it is also significant that the Prime Minister is yet to give the country the specific reason for Dwyer Astaphan’s resignation as Minister of National Security and Immigration. They both owe the country an explanation on a development that has triggered a major Cabinet reshuffle,” he said.

Noting one of Dr. Douglas’ statements made last Friday during his announcement on the reassigning and restructuring of ministerial portfolios, Grant said the PM would be giving senior law enforcement responsibilities to foreigners and he would also appoint a foreigner as his National Security Adviser.

Questioning the PM’s intention(s) for wanting to meet with the security forces to get a first hand understanding of the problems and challenges they face, Grant asked, “In which country has Denzil Douglas been living all these years?”

“His statement is an admission that in this small society, which has long been devastated by crime, the Prime Minister is shockingly remote from the problems facing our law enforcement personnel and the dangers facing all citizens. This is in spite of the fact that he presides over weekly meetings of the Heads of the security agencies.

“That the Prime Minister now finds it necessary to announce a decision to import a battery of foreign law enforcement officials raises serious questions about the kind administration that Dr. Douglas is operating,” he said.

The Leader of the PAM is of the view that since Dr. Douglas could now bring foreigners to assist in finding solutions to the problems and challenges being faced in the Federation, why were these options not available to or accessed while the Hon. Dwyer Astaphan was the Minister of National Security.

He claimed Dr. Douglas is aware that time has run out on his Administration and that he is disrespecting and attempting to hoodwink the nation with smoke and mirrors.

~~Adz:Left~~ Grant also claimed that Dr. Douglas, in last Friday’s address to the nation, displayed a sudden concern for industrial workers “whom he has systematically betrayed, neglected and ignored”. This, he added, is typical pre-election gimmickry from the Labour Party Leader.

“In this context, we expect Dr. Douglas to talk next about integrity legislation and freedom of information. We also expect that the Prime Minister to start talking about the money he promised sugar workers when he closed down the sugar industry. He might even report to the country on the collapse of the By Pass Bridge and the death of a worker on the site.”

He stressed that Dr. Douglas, at the 11th hour, has taken his advice and is following the example of Antigua and Barbuda’s PM by bringing foreign lawmen to deal with the out-of-control crime and violence situation in the Federation.

This, he argued, is not a substitute for the development of local human capital within the Police Force, as Antigua is finding out. He explained that two of the three top officers brought in from Canada to run the Antigua and Barbuda Police Force have quit, and it has created a new crisis in crime fighting in that country.  

Referring to PM Baldwin Spencer’s early call for election observer teams from CARICOM, the Organisation of American States and the Commonwealth Secretariat to be in Antigua and Barbuda well ahead of that country’s General Election, which is due next year, Grant said the same should be done in St. Kitts.

“In view of the national concern over the ongoing electoral re-registration process, Prime Minister Douglas should now follow the example of the CARICOM Chairman and invite foreign observers to monitor the conduct of the voter registration programme, which our Prime Minister has hijacked in violation of the Constitution and the law.”

Grant claimed that as time is running out Dr. Douglas’ rule, he would attempt “to bend, if not break, every rule of good governance in a desperate bid to retain power, and the population must therefore be vigilant and vocal”.

He said the people’s voices must sound as trumpets for the change of government that is coming, and after, Jamaicans, Bahamians, St. Lucians, Barbadians and Grenadians were the last people in the region to change their government, “Kittitians and Nevisians are about to likewise”.