BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – PRIME MINISTER of St. Kitts and Nevis and Leader of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP), the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas has labelled his former Cabinet colleague now Leader of the Unity Team, Hon. Dr. Timothy Harris, a hypocrite.
Dr. Douglas was at the time responding to a caller from Nevis during last Tuesday’s (Oct. 15) radio programme ‘Ask the PM’, who stated that Dr. Harris is a hypocrite because he claimed that “one of his major problems with you and your leadership as Prime Minister was that you want to sell out the people’s land for the debt swap that you had going with National Bank”.
The caller added that Dr. Harris did not agree with what Dr. Douglas did and he did not support the Bill, but yet he could be on the People’s Action Movement’s (PAM) side and “cuddle up with people like Lindsay Grant, who was caught on a tape last election offering to sell away St. Kitts’ people land to an investor in exchange for campaign funds”.
In response, Dr. Douglas said: “I want to thank our last caller for putting into perspective what are the real issues regarding Timothy Harris. Because, again, the question is being asked…’Is Timothy Harris a hypocrite or not? The answer obviously is yes! Timothy Harris, as the caller just reminded us, indicated publicly he could not support the leadership of the Labour Party any longer because we were allowing the National Bank, own by the people of St. Kitts and Nevis, own 51 percent by the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis, a bank which has advanced $900M of depositors money as loans to the government.
“Government was now transferring some lands to National Bank in order to wipe off the debt. He couldn’t support that. But yet the caller is just reminding us that he is supporting Lindsay Grant, who was caught red handed on a tape that has gone throughout the entire world, where Lindsay Grant was arranging to sell at significantly reduced price. In other words, giving away land which he did not possess in order to get in exchange campaign financing! And Timothy Harris, Flip Flop, is willing to support Lindsay Grant and the corrupt practice of disposal of government land, people’s land for campaign financing. But giving National Bank, transferring land to National Bank for $900M, that the National Bank had in fact had loan to the government and people of St. Kitts and Nevis, he can’t support that but he is supporting Lindsay Grant.”
Questioning the reason for Dr. Harris taking that stand, Prime Minister Douglas asked, “What is the motive?”
Echoing what the caller posited, Dr. Douglas added that the PAM is a weak political party.
“Because, as the caller said, PAM is no longer a political entity in this country. PAM is so weak it cannot find a leader to match Labour. But conveniently, they have found a former hypocrite of Labour…a hypocrite in the person of Dr. Timothy Harris to lead PAM because Timothy wants prime ministership now.
“He can’t get it now from Labour because there is a process, according to the caller, that he has to go through, a democratic process. He has to get support, naturally, from the people in the party. He has to get support from his own colleagues in the government. He can’t get that, but he seized an opportunity, he thinks, by hoodwinking weak leaders, weak discarded leaders like Shawn Richards and Lindsay Grant, hoping that he would become Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis. But as some PAM people said recently, they just wetting their hands and waiting for him.”
Exactly two years after the last Federal Elections, Dr. Harris was unceremoniously fired from the ruling Labour Party Administration.
The official announcement was made on the evening of Tuesday, January 25, 2013 by Dr. Douglas, who explained that he had asked the Governor-General, His Excellency Sir Edmund Lawrence, for a revocation of Dr. Harris’ appointment as a Minister of Government, which was granted.
And in explaining reasons for his decision, Dr. Douglas indicated that Dr. Harris’ opposition to the government’s thrust has become “more and more vocal and intense” and is “accompanied by political activity in the wider community, aimed at undermining the programmes and initiatives of the government”.
He said it is evident that Dr. Harris “does not regard himself as being bound by the collective responsibility of the Cabinet and this could become disruptive to the smooth flow of government business”.
Dr. Harris, he said, had refused to support the Senators (Increasing of Number) Bill, 2012 and the St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank (Vesting of Certain Lands) Bill 2012 (both government-sponsored) and has indicated that he would not support the 2013 Budget when tabled in Parliament.
Additionally, the PM explained that Dr. Harris did not indicate whether or not he would have vote against the Opposition’s Motion of No Confidence against the government in which he was serving.
“This action became necessary because of the need to ensure that the government continues to function smoothly and that the investment climate is not unduly affected by the political manoeuvring that has become evident in recent months. Whatever the outcome of such political manoeuvring, it is my duty to ensure that the government continues to carry out its mandate with a view towards advancing the quality of life of our people until the next general election whenever such elections are held,” Dr. Douglas said.
Since then, Dr. Harris had crossed the floor in Parliament and had formed a political party called the People’s Labour Party with him as its Leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Sam Condor as his Deputy. Together, they have joined with the PAM and the Concerned Citizen’s Movement to form the Unity Team of which he is also the Leader.
Dr. Harris and Condor had challenged the government and Dr. Douglas on a number of issues, criticising them for making what they claimed were imprudent decisions that would adversely affect the people of the land.
Dr. Harris, since being ousted from the Labour Party, claimed that that party would not regain power once under the leadership of Dr. Douglas, noting that the Prime Minister’s stint as Political Leader of the Federation, especially during the latter years, has been classified by maladministration and dictatorial tendencies.
“Because the people have had enough of his style of leadership, dictatorship, his mismanagement of the country. And judged by any criteria, (he is) a man who has bankrupt the country, who basically gave it a record in terms of its history of mismanagement; a man who has created so much crisis in the country, political crisis after crisis and is undeserving to continue. Why would we give Dr. Douglas five more years of our lives after 17 years of him debasing every institution of which he has been a part?” Dr. Harris told SKNVibes in early February this year during an exclusive interview.
And with regards to Lindsay Grant, shortly before the last General Elections, he was embroiled in a cash-for-land bribery scandal with a so-called international property investor.
A video posted on YouTube had shown Grant meeting with an international property investor, who turned out to be an undercover journalist, on Sunday, January 10, 2010 in which he allegedly negotiated the sale of 200 acres of land in Brotherson’s Estate on the outskirts of Newton Ground Village at a price of US$20 000.
According to the video, Grant, in agreeing to the land price of US$20 000, asked the investor for “some other benefits to offset that” in return for US$1.7M to fund his party’s election campaign.
Grant was heard on the video telling the investor how the funds could be transferred to his accounts.
“I have some outside accounts I operate, which are trust accounts, so that when I filter the funds it won’t really show.”
He was also heard telling the investor: “As you appreciate, time is of the essence but I can assure you that if you are able to pull this off, you will be given top priority.”
The meeting with the so-called investor took place at a certain room at the Marriott Hotel and, at a public political meeting, Grant had denied the accusations and told the attendees that he had met with a white “business executive representing some large company” with a British accent by the name of Graham Wells.
Dr. Douglas had called for Grant to resign as Leader of the PAM, saying that he had shown serious “corruption tendencies” that render him unfit to hold public office.
Grant had since resigned as Leader of the PAM but remains the party’s candidate for St. Christopher Four.
