Ahead of Budget Day in St. Kitts and Nevis on Wednesday, the opposition St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) says Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris “has proven irrefutably that he and his Cabinet are incapable of maintaining the economic growth and progressive pace of development at which the Labour Party administration had the country going.”
“They have reduced economic growth from 7% in 2014 to 1.9% in 2017, according to the latest projections by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank. What appear to be the strong points of this government led by Timothy Harris are victimisation, public abuse, corruption, nepotism and mismanagement. We can only expect these atrocities to continue and even increase in 2018,” said St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) Deputy Political Leader, Dr. Earl Asim Martin in the statement read on behalf of National Political Leader and Leader of the Opposition, the Right Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas who was attending a funeral of a constituent when the press conference started on Tuesday afternoon.
The statement said the economic decline caused by Dr Harris and his Ministers’ incompetence, and lack of fiscal prudence and innovation, in conjunction with their decision to supposedly “streamline” the PEP, have led to a direct increase in the Federal crime rate.
“As many of the nation’s youth who were employed by this programme are now unemployed, desperation has taken over and persons are doing what they feel they must to acquire the basics,” said Dr. Martin.
He said that the economic failings of the Team Unity Government are a direct threat to the nation’s future.
“At this rate of failure and mismanagement, the Federation’s once bright future will be relegated to just a dream, its tangibility having been destroyed by the gross ineptitude exhibited by Dr Harris’ administration,” Dr. Martin told reporters and the nation in the live coverage of the SKNLP press conference.
He said adding insult to injury are the many instances of nepotism and cronyism that have taken place throughout the civil service over the near three years of the Team Unity administration.
“We have spoken about this repeatedly since 2015 and we will continue to speak out against it because it is inherently wrong for a Prime Minister to have his sisters virtually in charge of our Judicial System, a niece in charge of government payroll, a brother poised to take charge of Her Majesty’s Prison, a brother who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Development Bank who received a 100% pay increase to over $30,000 per month and is a director on the Social Security Board and a nephew who sits as the Chairman of the Board of Directors in the St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank,” said Dr. Martin, who served as parliamentary representative for the East Basseterre constituency from 1993 to 2015.
“Dr. Harris, his family and his ministers are opening businesses to supply cement, lumber, insurance and other services to the government. The corruption could not get any worse. The government is being operated like a family business and this cannot go on,” he said.