BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IN yet another move to distance himself from the Denzil Douglas-lead administration, former Minister of Labour Hon. Dwyer Astaphan has resigned from his position as a Legal Advisor to the government.
Astaphan terminated the contract in late January, shortly after Prime Minister Douglas and Minister of State Nigel Carty made public references to it. He had agreed to assume the year-long position in October last year.
According to Astaphan, the advisory position would have entailed undertaking research of the Federation’s entire regime of labour and industrial laws in order to prepare a national labour code. He noted that it would be “a very consuming and monolithic exercise”, but it was one that he would still like to see done.
“Our current labour laws are inadequate and we must address this inadequacy if we want to regard ourselves as a modern democracy,” he said.
However, the former Cabinet member stressed his belief that he had done the correct thing in stepping down from the position and articulated why he had undertaken such action.
“There seemed to be a suggestion, or even a feeling in some quarters, that my being given the position was an act of generosity or a favour, and that did not sit well with me. The fact of the matter is, it was and is an important assignment. I was qualified to take it. To suggest anything else would be unhelpful and would give it a connotation that is not reflective of the reality.
“The Prime Minister made a comment and Carty made another comment, and there seemed to be a posturing or even a disposition towards the contract that was being expressed...and I wanted those who may have gotten the wrong conclusion to be disabused of that notion. If anyone had harboured this notion, the integrity of the work and the integrity of the product of the work would have been compromised,” Astaphan declared.
Additionally, Astaphan revealed that he had returned all the monies he received as compensation to the government.
“I do not want favours; I want to be treated equally and fairly, like I want every other person in this country to be as well. I did what I thought was best for myself, and best for the interests of this country.”
