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August 10, 2023

by Kevon Browne

St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): Opposition Party, the People’s Action Movement (PAM), has questions for the St. Kitts Nevis Labour Party Administration a year after they took office.

The Leader of the PAM, Hon. Shawn Richards, held the SKNLP administration to promises made on the completion of their first year, which included a housing resolution, the commencement of construction on a climate-smart hospital and further upgrades in healthcare, water woes being addressed, social assistance regimes being revamped, further investments in agriculture and managing the increase in criminal activity.

The PAM leader on the issue of crime lamented the number of murders the Federation has recorded, standing at 19 murders for the year so far.

“Over the last 12 months, we have seen a frightening upsurge in serious crime compared to five short years ago. Statistics will confirm that not too long ago, under the Team Unity Government, of which PAM was a majority party, the top three criminal offences of murder, wounding, and robbery were on the decline. From 2018, homicides in St. Kitts and Nevis had been steadily decreasing from 23 in 2018 down to 11 in 2022. Today on this Labour administration, after the first half of 2023, the number stands at 19, almost a staggering 50% increase over the 2022 figures with five months left in the year.”

Richards continued, “The sad irony is that several of the murder victims in 2023 were residents of constituency number eight, the Prime Minister’s constituency, and not even that seemed important enough to stir him or his government into taking serious action. Five years ago, robberies were down from 69 in 2018 to 38 in 2022. In fact, in 2021, the figure was as low as 17, the lowest for the period under review. Having looked at these statistics, it is fair to conclude that the programs instituted by the former administration to stem the tide of criminal activities – they were indeed effective and directly impacted the downward trend I just spoke to. Now, no one is claiming that those programs were perfect. There’s always room for reform and improvement.”

The Former government minister stopped short of admitting significant issues with the then Alternative Lifestyle Pathway Program (Peace Program) during his tenure in office. However, in what he called the “dismantling of the Peace Program”, he shared that the gains in reducing criminal activity during the Unity Administration’s tenure in office had been reversed.

“In opposition, you criticised the Peace Program. But one year later, where is promised formula – the reforms for a more streamlined and efficiently managed program? If they exist, why is it taking so long to implement them? Is Law and Order even a priority for this government? This government was hasty and premature in halting the Peace Program, in effect, throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Why discontinue a program that was obviously working if you have nothing concrete with which to replace it? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to gradually phase out the program that you claimed was problematic while gradually phasing in the new, more effective program? If, indeed, such a program even exists and is ready to be implemented.”

Richards continues to question, “The public has heard in the last few weeks of the program called ELEVATE, but as has become the norm, nobody seems to have any real details about how the program is to be administered. Who will be managing the program, and who will benefit from the intervention? Why the secrecy? Is ELEVATE just another Labour concoction, some half-baked scheme that we will all soon realise is not fit for purpose? Or worse yet, is the usual routine – nuff talk, distraction and promises; while this government continues to filibuster, to engage in trial and error, to galavant across the globe, and to look for ways to sidestep and avoid the citizens and residents they have pledged to serve.”

The PAM leader said there is a crisis of leadership concerning the current work of the government as he laments what the PAM considers to be critical areas that the government has failed to address.