I bring New Year’s greetings to the people of Nevis at home and in the diaspora, I also extend new year’s Greetings to the good people of St. Kitts as well.
The New Year is always a time of renewal. It is that period that we look forward to build on the platform of our endeavours and to forge forward to better times for our people. It is the time of optimism and hope.
I am here today to offer hope and promise to the people of Nevis. I am here to offer on behalf of my party, The Nevis Reformation Party, the hope and leadership that the hard-working people of Nevis deserve and wish for.
For the past two years, we of The Nevis Reformation Party, have witnessed a debacle in our Country. Our people have been overwhelmed with a vicious attack of victimization never before witnessed on Nevis. It was as if some foreign agent invaded the leaders of this land and caused them to unleash waves of indiscriminate dismissal, crippling so many households around Nevis.
Men, women, poor and helpless were dismissed without mercy. Over two hundred of our citizens were deprived of a living, of the opportunity to support their families, of the financial means to pay for their homes – homes they had been paying for with the sweat of their labour.
We have to ask: If Nevisians cannot work in Nevis, where are they expected to go?
Many of our students overseas who depended on government bursaries, were abandoned.
Obviously, they did not matter to their government!
Their government did not think that they were worth the investment!
Their parents took loans they could hardly afford and many were obliged to run to the Federal Government for rescue.
May God bless The Federal Government who did not discriminate between the people of St. Kitts and Nevis!
Imagine a Religious Mouth-Piece for the CCM government said from his pulpit, that government money should not be used to send students to study overseas. This was followed by wave after wave of of propaganda.
Aren’t students people?
Who elected the government? People !
People who pay taxes!
If people should not benefit from their taxes, who then should benefit from them?
Could it be that we have become so blind, that we can no longer see?
So deaf that we can no longer hear?
So dead we can no longer feel?
If we do not invest in our people, do we really have the right to expect anything from them?
If we do not invest in our people now, what kind of Society so do we expect to have tomorrow? We need to ponder these questions.
In six months, CCM did what no other political party in St. Kitts and Nevis ever thought of doing, in our history of Self-Government. They destroyed the self confidence, and smashed the Nevisian spirit into the dust!
They abandoned projects that would have created employment, and had nothing to replace them with.
And then, in a state of desperation, having failed to convince the public that N.R.P did nothing, they began to seek hand-outs.
What an embarrassment!
The leaders of Nevis had no plans for Development, no means of raising revenue! So with the support of certain elements in St. Kitts, they began to demand hand-outs.
How was Nevis saved then from the worst form of disaster? The People Empowerment Project! The PEP !
The PEP as we know it is and has been from inception, a Federally administered project. That is how it was presented to the N.R.P in government, and that is how it is.
Over six hundred and eighty ( 680 ) Nevisians, have been employed by the PEP.
These are Health Workers, workers in the Ministry of Works and Education, and of course, many of these victimized workers, who refused to work, according to the doctrine of CCM.
Heavy Equipment Operators went to St. Kitts, followed by contractors and construction workers. That is how our little island was saved from disaster.
And for this, we give the Almighty God thanks, for His mercy and for His provision.
For we certainly are a people in the hands of a clueless, incompetent and power-grabbing bunch, and under no circumstances must this state of affairs continue!
What are the priorities for the people for the New Year?
Nevisians are worried about job security, education and training for their children, health issues and crime!
The solution for crime reduction and prevention, is a matter for both the Federal Government and the Nevis authorities!
It must also involve the families, the communities, businesses and social groups, the churches and every person on Nevis.
We cannot afford to be “individual islands”, we must be “our brother’s keeper!”
The Nevis Reformation Party has demonstrated that it has the best initiatives to bring about change, to reverse the mind-set of young people, over time to focus on positive issues, education and training, and character building, to replace the lure of crimes.
In this New Year, we are asking the people of Nevis, to work with us, to develop the necessary programmes at a Federal level and through the medium of community programmes, to make Nevis, a better and safer place.
We are therefore asking for your fullest support in the upcoming Federal Elections, to achieve these goals.
At a Federal level, we will also influence the direction of the police on both islands for the mutual benefit of all.
After all, we accept that to fight crime successfully on Nevis, we have to be successful on St. Kitts as well.
We believe that the police are moving in the right direction and will be even more successful with total support from the political directorate.
Already many Nevisians have turned to St. Kitts for assistance in training, and further education. They have been forced to because of the ruthlessness CCM has exhibited in rejecting assistance for Nevisian students.
We know how important education is, therefore, it is the intention of N.R.P to continue to touch the lives of our students from a Federal level.
Ultimately, the goal is to expand the CFBC to Nevis; not only to support the Nevis Sixth Form College, but to offer a wide range of certified courses, and non-certified courses, to ensure our people are highly trained and ready for the future, at home, and throughout the Caribbean.
We must accept the fact, that in a small society, medical facilities will always be limited, but we must appreciate the fact, too, that we live in a modern world, that provides access to the best medical services available, such as, in the wider Caribbean Region and in North America, and further afield.
All of us are aware of the ridiculous behavior of the C.C.M government towards dialising our patients on Nevis. First, it was too expensive, now they will provide a state of the art facility out of Guyana.
How many of our people must die needlessly, I wonder.
It is no wonder that there those of us who believe that the Minister of Health trip to Guyana in 2014, had more to do with vote hunting, than life-saving.
N.R.P proposes a mature approach to saving lives in these islands. We support a Federal Programme of Health Insurance that embraces all Kittitians and Nevisians. CCM has not given any priority to this programme, although, and just maybe, because it was the brainchild of Hensley Daniel.
Too many persons have passed away for lack of immediate attention.
This does not reflect on our doctors.
There are two factors that contribute to this.
One, a helicopter service is needed between Nevis and St. Kitts. A speed boat is no place for the critically ill and injured.
Secondly, a prompt ambulance service is critical. Such prompt service can save lives. Too often patients spend a lengthy time waiting for service.
We must ensure that the services we provide for our people, are prompt and proper.
At a Federal level, N.R.P will ensure that Nevisians are fully benefitted from any such programmes.
As Nevisians, we will also continue to seek to attract investments to Nevis. The economic face of Nevis cannot be changed talk. It takes action. And this is what we are offering you – Action!
In conclusion, you have a choice. You have had two years of talk, blame and a government that is dependent on hand-outs to function.
On the other hand, you have before you six and a half years of high level performance and an offer of the same with your support, in the Federal Election.
You have a high performing Prime Minister, who have exhibited great leadership qualities, and who has been a friend to Nevis and to Nevisians.
A Prime Minister, who has demonstrated that he cares for all of the people of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Then there is this unknown force in St. Kitts made up of some elements who have a history of hostility to Nevis and a non-performing CCM government with a tendency to brutality towards Nevisians; and whose claim that “People Matter” is simply a war cry in disguise, for: “Lets fire as many people as we can!”
The New Year, 2015, can once again be the year for Nevis.
You can :-resist empty promises, close your ears to talk of hatred for Prime Minister Douglas,ignore all the negative political talk, and embrace a good and progressive future, or you can once again –be drawn