BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE recent incident in which the Fire Chief of the St. Kitts-Nevis Fire and Rescue Services was sent on pre-retirement leave has been viewed by some as constituting part of a victimisation exercise being perpetrated by the government.
SKNVibes understands that Chief Hester Rawlins, having returned from a Caribbean Fire Chiefs Annual General Meeting in Dominica, arrived for work on Monday (Dec. 15) to find a letter on his desk indicating that he should proceed on 71 days pre-retirement leave.
This publication spoke with Rawlins who declared that he is happy to be going on retirement, but said his only displeasure is the manner in which the matter was handled.
Former Minister of National Security Dwyer Astaphan - while speaking with this publication - explained his belief that Rawlins was intentionally disrespected.
He indicated his suspicion that Rawlins’ treatment is directly linked to the fact that his brother, Dr. Timothy Harris, broke ranks with the government and has been openly vocal about what he believes to be corruption and the mismanagement of the country’s resources.
“It is sometimes said it s not what you do but how you do it. And the way this matter was treated was not the nicest and the most courteous way to do it, given the fact that the man has been in the service for 36 years.
“You can follow the rules as an administrator but still victimise me and marginalise me although you are acting within the rules...I am saying it doesn’t take a lot of convincing for me to believe that given the treatment meted out to Dr. Harris and the treatment being meted out to his sister Mrs. Janine Harris-Lake, that their brother Mr. Hector Rawlins is not being treated in the same manner simply because of who he is. And whatever little wiggle room to embarrass or disrespect him, the wiggle room is exploited and he is embarrassed and disrespected when that could have been avoided.”
Astaphan suggested that a move such as this must have had the input of the Prime Minister and he should be made to take responsibility.
“Mr. Rawlins is still a public servant so I’ll imagine he would be very tempered in what he says to the media. But there is no question in my mind that this thing could have been handled better. And when a person at his level, even far lower levels, when this kind of action is taken, the Prime Minister knows about it, he must have an input in it. And he would have known it could have been done better and in an appropriate way, professional and courteous and respectful. And they chose not to take that path. So who is going to take responsibility for that but the Prime Minister!”
Rawlins entered the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force - which then subsumed the Fire Department - in the late 1970s. And when his pre-retirement leave shall have ended, he would have served 13 years in the Fire Service, the last 10 at the helm.
The outgoing Fire Chief told this publication that his pre-retirement leave would end on March 26, 2014.
