Labour Government neglecting Nevis…says Mark Brantley

By Terresa McCall
Reporter-SKNVibes.com

Leader of the Opposition the Hon. Mark Brantley

This viewpoint was expressed in the context of the St. Christopher and Nevis 2009 Budget Address and also in what Brantley described as the failure to make the fight against crime and violence its [Budget] main focal point.

While giving a general overview of the crime situation in the twin-island Federation, Brantley spoke specifically to the island of Nevis and how the situation has deteriorated over the past years.

“From the Nevis perspective, the numbers are even more alarming. Crimes across the board are on the increase. Nearly daily in Nevis, there are break-ins and whole areas of the island are being terrorised by bandits who are breaking and entering and robbing and pillaging at will. Nevis, for the first time in over six years, will record over 340 reported crimes this year. And while there have only been five murders in Nevis, that is 2.5 times the previous record of two. There have also been other shootings which have thankfully not been fatal.”

The Opposition Leader said it was only last year that he “beseeched the government to pay greater attention to security in Nevis on the premise that criminals will look to that part of the country which is least secured and make that their base of operations.”

He said his cries were then unheeded and continue to be unheeded and warned if “the Labour Government ignores the security of Nevis it would be to the ultimate peril, not just of Nevis but of St. Kitts too”. ~~Adz:Right~~

As Brantley explained, one of his main contentions is that the 2009 Budget makes no mention of projects to be undertaken in Nevis under the umbrella of National Security as has been the case for St. Kitts.

“Yet even in this budget we see nothing for Nevis. With an alarming increase in murders in Nevis of 150 percent and an upward trend in reported total crime to date there of 19.72 percent over 2007, (and incidentally this figure may be far worse as many crimes go unreported), this Federal Government has remained unmoved at the carnage in the Nevisian streets.

“At page nine of Volume II of the Estimates for 2009, the government tells us that ‘Work on the Dieppe Bay Police Station is progressing and should be completed in 2009, this was made possible with assistance from the Mexican government. The construction of the Tabernacle Police Station should be completed in 2009’. The Estimates continue under the heading ‘Other Projects Judged Important’: ‘The CCTV Surveillance and Traffic Management System would increase police surveillance in the Basseterre area in an effort to reduce criminal activity in the city.’ There is not a single capital project slated for the island of Nevis.”

Manpower is another issue with which the Opposition Leader expressed dissatisfaction.

“When we look at Force personnel we see similar trends. Of a Force complement of just under 400 officers, only about 70 serve in Nevis. We have a Commissioner, a Deputy Commissioner and two Assistant Commissioners. All serve in St. Kitts, none serve in Nevis. It is past time Mr. Speaker that the Force in Nevis be headed by one of these very senior ranks…It frightens me in this climate Mr. Speaker when the presenter of the Budget can so glibly state that there will be no new officers added to the security forces on the basis that on a per capita basis St. Kitts-Nevis already has a higher number of officers per capita than most Caribbean Nations. I find that odd Mr. Speaker, for perhaps the mover did not recognise that St. Kitts-Nevis also has a higher murder rate than any of the Caribbean countries.”

The neglecting of Nevis, Brantley reminded, has long been the “bane of the peaceful co-existence of these two islands”. He reiterated that when the government ignores Nevis, it is “at your peril”.

“I am here today to say to the government that you continue to ignore Nevis at your peril. The policemen and women in Cotton Ground and in Newcastle need relief. The Fire and Rescue services need relief. Their condition is deplorable Mr. Speaker. When we were last here for the budget debate over one year ago, the Honourable member for the NRP stood in this House and told the Labour government that Nevis needed nothing and that the NRP in Nevis will pay for all that was required. I believe my good friend misspoke Mr. Speaker, and I remind the government again of its constitutional responsibility for security. We Nevisians do not come to this House cap in hand like mendicants. No Mr. Speaker, we come as equal citizens in this country and demand that our security be taken seriously by the Federal Government.”