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In a fiery address, former Prime Minister and PLP Leader Dr. Hon. Timothy Harris strongly criticized the Drew administration for its failure to resolve ongoing water and power crises, dismissing claims that the issues stem from the previous Team Unity government.

“The issue of water and electricity is really sour grapes,” declared Dr. Harris. “This is a government that has been there for going on three years. Every time they face a problem they can’t solve, they try to shift blame. They applied for the job, said they could govern, promised better water—and after three years, they haven’t delivered.”

Dr. Harris emphasized that his administration had left the Drew government in a strong financial position. “I left them with 700 million dollars available to tackle these issues. We wiped clean 117 million dollars of IMF debt, paid off 408 million dollars of the Douglas land swap, and still left hundreds of millions for Nevis and COVID-19 response.”

Harris took credit for significant strides in water infrastructure, detailing payments his administration made to drilling company Bede. “By June 2022, we had paid Bede 2.35 million US dollars for wells at Shadwell One, Shadwell Two, and Kayon. All the work was done under my leadership. They’ve done nothing since then but make noise.”

Turning to the electricity crisis, Dr. Harris accused the Drew administration of wasting time on renewable energy initiatives. “We had an 80 million US dollar solar farm project ready to go—contracts signed, groundbreaking done, and experts on board. That project could have reduced electricity bills by 30% by now. Instead, they stalled it and robbed citizens of relief.”

Harris did not mince words about the administration’s handling of governance. “They are a problem government. Fixing problems is the job, and they’re failing at it. They’ve taken pay raises and higher per diems while leaving citizens to suffer.”

The former prime minister pledged that his party is ready to return to government and solve the crises. “When we return, we will bring solutions. Government is about solving problems, not making excuses.”

Dr. Harris’ scathing remarks have intensified political debate over the Drew administration’s handling of the country’s worsening water and power issues.