BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – OVER a month has passed since the April 8 robbery at the Saddlers Branch of the St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank, and hundreds of customers and clients are still affected as the entity has remained closed without a public statement given.
Reports reaching this media house indicate that the Saddlers Branch and automated teller machine (ATM) have been out of service since the robbery and are causing grave inconveniences. Many individuals of the area described the decision to close the branch as “unfair” to residents of Saddlers and surrounding communities who would normally depend on the bank’s services.
Known businessman and resident of the area Warren Bradshaw told SKNVibes that he is not pleased with the way the matter was handled. He argued that the bank, because of its location and lack of “proper” security, is susceptible to robberies and the response should be to address the security problem and not “affect people by shutting the bank”.
“I find the management of the bank to be very irresponsible because the bank was robbed several times. If you put a guard there with a stick…what else do you expect to happen again? He will get robbed! But, the [Managing] Director is just showing that he does not care for his workers’ safety because he is well secured in his Basseterre office,” asserted Bradshaw.
The irate business owner said that he has been negatively affected because he does most of his business at that branch. He also argued that the incident at the bank should not subject senior citizens, who change their cheques at the branch, to travel long distances to do business. Bradshaw recommended that security measures be reinforced to ensure the safety of the employees and customers and to keep service at an acceptable level.
“Up to now, no statement has been made by the bank! They could use army men or police with a weapon. Cameras don’t mean a thing! They need to fix the cameras there because, if they were working, they would know who robbed the bank,” Bradshaw recommended.
Another resident of Saddlers, Rhonda Caines, told this media house that she has not been able to do her business at the convenient Saddlers Branch. She added that for a bank that boasts of significant profits, security measures should be easy to put in place.
“That ‘temporary’ seems permanent to me! I just don’t feel that residents of the area should bear the penalty for the slackness of the management of the company. They should have had security in the bank, especially when the bank seems to be making big profits. Not even the ATM is working! Not even that had security,” Caines asserted.
SKNVibes contacted the Bank’s Marketing and Public Relations officials who indicated that they are uncertain as to the decision to be made by the Executive. Efforts to contact Managing Director Edmund Lawrence were unsuccessful but his Administrative Assistant, Yvette Bowers, confirmed that the Saddlers Branch has been closed since the April robbery. She said she was unaware as to the reason for it being closed but assured the public that the Bank would issue an official statement shortly.
“The branch is closed since the incident. I do not know the reason why [it is closed]…all I know is that the bank will give a statement soon,” Bowers said.
