Friends of St Kitts and Nevis Guerilla news

1. INSIDE:
Courting disaster Pg 2
PAM intellectually Bad mouthing
beloved country Pg 4
bankrupt Running on slogans Pg 6
When political parties have Mammaguy electorate
no platform, they give the It boggles the mind that
people “fluff”. In St. the leadership of PAM has
Kitts/Nevis, a Caribbean chosen to engage in what
country, the opposition party Trinidadians refer to as
the People’s Action “mamaguying” the popula-
T
Movement (PAM), unable to tion. As educated people you he Labour Party Government
mount any meaningful alter-
native response to the
Government’s 15 years of
positive social development
and economic growth, is hop-
wonder about their motives.
Why would a national party
that wishes to become the
government, misrepresent
information that is not only
under Prime Minister, Dr.
Denzil Douglas, is not respon-
sible for the present financial crisis
that has sent the economies of all the
countries of the world into chaos and
Sorry Chicken Little,
ing the population will sim-
ply vote for PAM because “It
is time for change.”
Fluff and more fluff
in the public domain, but is
available where people can
read and understand for
themselves.
Is it that they believe that
Minding people uncertainty. Yet, the Opposition party,
PAM, is blaming the Government for
causing the crisis.
It is very much like the unfair criti-
the sky is not falling!
Most recently, in a mani-
festation of PAM’s reliance
on what can only be termed
as “fluff”, it informed its sup-
the majority of voters are
illiterate or ignorant? That
would be sad because it
would mean that as a region
business
There are some things in a democracy that Crime committed
cism and attacks being made on
President Barack Obama by the bitter
Republican Party in the US. President
Obama did not cause the crisis and is
dren’s story, keeps scaring people with
his false alarm that the “sky is falling.”
It is evident the Government has
taken this country through the worst
• This Government has
created many improve-
ments in the quality of life.
In the present financial climate,
leaders of the G8 and other developed
countries want to know to whom they
are talking. They will be asking them-
porters that the Court’s rul- doing his best to manage it and of the free fall that other countries like selves, “Can we trust these people who
we have not taken our demo- are everybody’s business. Two of these are by citizens on
ing in a case related to new improve the employment situation, yet Iceland went into. Iceland had to • The Government has taken came into office without any pro-
cratic system to the level crime and health. other citizens
electoral boundaries meant required of developing he is getting a lot of flak for it. declare its country bankrupt. This will this country through the gramme?” They will not listen to any
I know a lot of people will disagree with me It is easy to blame This is exactly what is happening in
that the Government could nations. but let me explain my position. the government when never happen to our country because worst of the global upstarts, full of talk, but with nothing
only conduct elections on the It appears that politicians St. Kitts/Nevis. The PAM gang is of the fiscal vigilance and expertise the financial crisis. else—no track record of achievement.
crime seems to be get- using Obama’s campaign theme, with-
old boundaries. feel comfortable just lying to Citizens must play important role Government demonstrated when the This Government is better placed to
ting out of control, but out the depth of ideas that illuminated
What is fascinating is that the population. Is this No government has the resources needed to crisis hit. • This Government is better manage the future than anybody else.
we should never for- it, to attack a government, which like
the judge in the case never progress? prevent every cause, detect every case, or Despite being tied up in legal red placed to manage the If you add up the years of experience
get that crime is generally committed on citi-
indicated or implied that the prosecute every perpetrator, of every crime. Obama, has performed brilliantly in tape, stalled and forestalled by injunc- future than anybody else. in managing the country in the pres-
zens by other citizens. We, as citizens, need to
election must be held using PAM: No evidence While it is important for governments to work together to create an environment
navigating the dangerous waters to tion after injunction, the Government ent Government team, the total is
the old boundaries. What the Fortunately, there is no ensure that its citizens are safe, much of the take their people safely to the prom- employment is increasing.
where crime is discouraged and where every is coping extremely well with the reali- about 120 years or more. How many
judgment said in effect was evidence that this intellectu- responsibility for their personal safety and ised land of future prosperity and sus-
effort is made to ensure that crime does not ties of life during and after the great This Government has created many years of genuine experience and
that the mechanism used to ally bankrupt approach used their families’ protection also devolves around tainability.
pay and criminals pay dearly for their crimes. global financial crisis. Tourism is improvements in the quality of life, in expertise in governance do the PAM
review the electoral bound- by PAM in its ongoing cam- the citizens of a country. The sad thing is that both in the US
True we must ensure that the machinery of doing better. Unlike our neighbours, jobs and livelihoods, and in what are people have?
aries was flawed and that the paign of litigation and fabri- and in our beloved country there are
justice does not rust; that the facilities we are expecting more, rather than called “Life Chances” over the past 15 Don’t listen to those who want to see
boundaries could be reviewed cation is typical of the Your own eyes and ears people willing to listen to the naysay-
required for dispensing justice are sound; and less cruise ships. We are expecting years. the country ruined—they already have
using the mechanism set out approach of opposition par- You have to be your own eyes and ears. You ers, the prophets of doom and gloom,
that the resources required are available. new airlines to become our partners Where St. Kitts/Nevis has been suc- their green cards. Those of you who
in the Constitution. ties in other countries of the have to exercise vigilance and caution. True, who like Chicken Little in the chil-
However, in the midst of a global recession we and bring hundreds of tourists here cessful and other countries have failed are here for the long haul, whose navel
According to the Sun St Caribbean. We are also fortu- the government and its security forces must must be tolerant and lend a helping hand to during this winter. We are ensuring is that we have a government led by strings are buried in this beautiful
Kitts/Nevis (Tuesday October nate that while St. Kitts/ be both pre-emptive and responsive, but it is
27), “Justice Thomas in his Nevis continues to be a para- important that all of us learn to look after
assist in preventing or reducing crime by our
own efforts to help ourselves and our neigh- PEOPLE METER that we maintain jobs and that farm-
ers and ordinary citizens have an
people with experience in managing
the Federation’s affairs. To think of
land of ours must ensure that Chicken
Little and his boys never become the
judgment never ruled or dise, it is not Fantasy Island. ourselves and our loved ones. bours. Who has the better programmes? handing the affairs of our country to
implied in any way that the The people of St. Increasingly, communities have established amnesty programme in place to cush- government of our beloved country.
elections be held on the old Kitts/Nevis need to ask ion them in this difficult, though tem- PAM is like the Queen of England
neighbourhood watches, householders have Greater role for churches, handing over the Royal yacht
boundaries. What Justice themselves whether a party porary, period. Instead of declining as
civil society
Thomas ruled is that the whose only campaign plat-
invested in alarms, some have watchdogs and
barbed wire fences. These are responsibilities Churches, as well as schools, can certainly it has done in other countries, Britannia to the Somali pirates. PEOPLE METER
proclamation, which purport- form is “Time For Change” is we cannot pass totally on to our government. play a major role to ensure the message gets Who has the better plans?
ed to give effect to the ready or equipped to run a through to young people that violence is not
Constituency Boundaries country. Decrease crime the way to manage problems and that crime
Committee (CBC) report, was Studies have shown where citizens and the will not be tolerated in the home, in the school
made null and void by the Procedural issue government get together to protect communi- or in society at large.
Court and of no legal effect Meanwhile, in a clear ties, neighbourhoods and streets, there is a
because the judge ruled that example the Government is considerable decrease in crimes and criminal Together we can stop dengue
‘the Commission in accepting in charge and is a better activity. Perhaps the government here may Then there are the problems of mosquitoes.
the recommendations of the structured and more efficient need to do some more to get the protective The most dangerous mosquito, Aedes Aegypti,
Boundaries Technical organisation, they are pre- services to do their jobs more efficiently, but which causes dengue lives in our homes. They
Committee (which was pared to accept the judge’s again, the members of the services come from love clean water. They don’t live or breed in
deemed unconstitutional) ruling and correct the proce- families and live in communities where they dirty water or in drains and swamps.
abdicated in favour of that dural issue that was cited. have links. If they fail in their duties or are When the government sends out the vehicle
body.’ The learned judge When this happens, how will lax, if they’re involved in criminal activity or with the spray most people lock their doors
paved the way for the gov- PAM explain it to its sup- they turn a blind eye to them, the citizens and windows because they can’t stand the
ernment to correct the porters. The answer is they with whom they interact on a daily basis smell of the insecticide and with the high
Constitutional flaw.” will resort to fluff and more must share some of the blame and take some walls in front their houses, the insecticide
fluff. of the responsibility. can’t even get into their yards.
Published by Friends of St. Kitts and Nevis Cruising into the future...
Printed by Trinidad Express Newspapers, 35- 37 Independence Square, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, West Indies.

2. 2 • Insight • November 2009 Insight • November 2009 • 7
In true banana republic
FOREIGNERS WANT TO LEAD ST. KITTS/NEVIS
the Ku Klux Klan out of
SAME OLD BACCHANAL
style, the leaders of the coun-
Courting disaster Louisiana to install him as A 1991 political science text-
No plan PAM
try’s Opposition Party, the prime minister and for the book attempts to define the
People’s Action Movement Klan to run the country. Eastern Caribbean system as a
(PAM), have over the years strong democratic system and
sought and obtained foreign Jamaica and Trinidad where Legal delays identifys that all the institu-
citizenship in western coun- Members of Parliament have tions that comprise a democra-
tries in order to ensure they been forced by law to revoke The other negative impact of cy are in place in the region—
have a safe haven to run to in their foreign citizenship to the move is that it further the Courts, free and fair
case the fragile and small remain or to be re-elected postpones an election, which elections, freedom of speech bankruptcy in 2000 to one with end of its third term or fif-
economy of the country fails at Members of Parliament. has already been subject to are all alive and well. a projected growth rate of two teenth year in office. One strated a paradigm shift in
any time. The Government of St. Kitts/ legal delays brought by the percent (2%). The opposition would think that in 15 years both policies and programmes
When the going gets tough, Nevis, in an effort to minimise Opposition PAM. People in St. Lack of accountability In the meantime, he has the Opposition would have had from the Bush government.
the “tough” get going. The conflict and arguments, has Kitts seem to be completely What the publication also instituted progressive pro-
grammes, including universal
parties have ample time and opportunity to
develop a comprehensive,
This is the essence of a cam-
poor people of this country taken steps to strengthen the fed up of all the legal wran- identified was the lack of paign for genuine change—that
don’t have such luxuries or existing legislation. The law gling and manoeuvring. accountability and standards education, built the country’s
first and only tertiary institu-
presented strategic national plan for
replacing the incumbent gov-
underpinning of fact, research
opportunities and must now requires that all candi- Instead of waving flags they from candidates seeking to and solutions to the self-inter-
remain as citizens of the coun- dates seeking election for are wavering, unsure of why lead governments, or from gov- tion (Dominica State College),
introduced programmes to take
nothing in ernment.
The opposition People’s
est issues that preoccupy the
try through good and bad Parliament and who hold or the Opposition would put the ernments when elected. The public opinion agenda.
times. have held foreign citizenship ment? Can Colonel Gadaffi with this, it would mean that country through all the trau- election process I defined as a care of the elderly, day care for terms of what Action Movement (PAM) has
must provide proof that they leave Libya to his many sons any country could be taken ma, expense and suspense. In “carnival”, but some will children, a state-of-the-art pri- taken the easy and lazy way Strategy not constructive
Give up renounced their foreign status and with the promise of oil over by foreigners and then fact, as one man said yester- describe it as “bacchanal” com- mary healthcare system and a
programme of a university
they can do out and has relied entirely on
the rhetoric that it is “Time To
From what we have seen, the
and are no longer citizens of wealth run for office in St. sold to the highest bidder. One day in the streets of ing from the Greek God PAM strategy lacks construc-
Those leaders appear to see those foreign countries. Kitts? is reminded of the sad lesson Basseterre, “If the Opposition responsible for that country’s graduate in every family.
Against this background, the
that is better Change”. That approach has
developed in the past 30 years
tive or developmental initia-
no problem with managing a PAM leaders seem to be Without pre-judging the of Patrick John in Dominica in was a business, their name equivalent of “wine and jam”. tives. It has instead gone to
country while they are citizens unhappy with that require- decision of the courts, it would 1985, when he contracted with would be Courts.” Fast forward to 2009. In an two opposition parties have pre-
sented nothing in terms of what
than what by what is now characterised
as a de facto term limit in the
court with injunctions against
of another or representing the ment and have filed an injunc- seem that such an injunction effort to revisit the socio-politi- the present Government, which
citizens of St. Kitts/ Nevis while tion against the Government is frivolous and manifestly cal system in the region for they can do that is better than
what Skerritt was now deliver-
Skerritt Eastern Caribbean.
In the past three decades the
have effectively caused the
they represent and have sworn of St. Kitts/Nevis to block intended as a red herring, dis- another publication, I have postponement of the General
allegiance to a foreign country. implementation of this meas- tracting the population from been reviewing the election ing. Instead their campaigns
are centred around the govern-
is now population of the region in the
different countries have
Elections due this year.
Fortunately, the people of ure. Where is this heading? If the serious issues on which process in the Caribbean to see This reliance by PAM on the
St. Kitts/Nevis and all the citizens of other countries are the election of a government if we have made any progress. ment’s overpayment for garbage
cans and the Prime Minister’s
delivering. allowed their governments no
more than 15 years in office. It
politics of what Karl Marx
other Caribbean countries allowed to hold electoral office ought to be based. The Antigua elections came called “the politics of non-
have in their constitutions a up to, and including, the post Students of political science and went. In that one the prerogative to build his home. does not seem to matter if the issues” is typical of weak politi-
clause that ensures that their of prime minister; what next? need to be concerned about the Opposition actually had a plat- governments were doing well cal parties.
Minister Skerritt and his
leaders are citizens and patri- Can Mr. Mugabe, if ejected direction in which PAM has form, but it was the same old Rudimentary methodology Labour Party will win the
or were failing; the people sim- Unable to win elections in 15
ots, loyal and dedicated to the from Zimbabwe, make his way headed and the implications of platform with which they had In this case the methodology ply went to the polls and voted years, the PAM has now
forthcoming election due in
countries of their birth. to St. Kitts/Nevis and run for its actions on the politics of governed the country five is rudimentary, accuse the in a new government. resorted to rhetoric, stalling
early 2010. He will win
There have been cases in office or take over the govern- the Caribbean. If it gets away years before and since the Government of “bobol” or cor- tactics and fairy tales as a plat-
because, fortunately, in
world has changed significant- ruption and hope that people
Dominica the people seem to
No realistic programme form for change while hoping
ly in the last five years, those believe you and hand the gov- Familiar with this senti- the people will decide that
have become a lot more politi-
programmes were no longer ernment over to you regardless ment, the PAM is running a maybe “we should give them
Find us on the Web: http://friendsofstkittsandnevis.com feasible or applicable to this
new world economy system. So
of your lack of plans, strate-
gies, platform and vision.
cally conscious and ask politi-
cal parties to show what they
campaign with no realistic pro-
gramme or plan to manage the
fellers a chance”.
The future of a country can-
can do or have done for the
the Opposition lost. This approach characterises country, but is instead running not be left to chance.
country.
AWARD OF DUBIOUS DISTINCTION Empty Opposition
opposition politics in the
Caribbean and has not
Easy, lazy way out
a campaign that says “It is
time to change.” In fact a
We can all only hope that
the population of St. Kitts and
We are now looking at two changed since the Crown major PAM billboard in Nevis will think for themselves
The case in St. Kitts is
Booby prize for Chicken Little gang upcoming elections in Colony era of the 1950s. They Basseterre reads, “Crime and and not give their country
almost hilarious and typifies
Dominica and St. Kitts/Nevis. seem to rely primarily on fabri- Violence: Time for Change”. away to chance.
what some American political
In Dominica, the Roosevelt cations, gossip and stories to What does that mean? More
scientists once referred to as
Skerritt Government is ending win elections. They attempt to crime and more violence or
Friends, this has to be seen to be driven campaign. exchange, which they will want to give the “banana republic syn-
its second term in office, a peri- vilify the government and its what permutation of crime and
believed. Do you know that there is The second criterion is whether the you for your vote. drome.” The current govern-
od in which Prime Minister leaders, while offering no alter- violence is desired for the
actually a “Chicken Little” Award? falsehoods are deliberate. Of course Then there is the FEAR factor and ment of St. Kitts/Nevis is the
Skerritt has delivered the native to counteract govern- future?
Labour Party led by Prime
Check on Google and you will find it. It
is really an award of dubious distinc-
they are. Chicken Little is a schemer
from a long time ago. His second-in-
the SCARE syndrome. They want to
scare you into thinking that the coun-
kinds of programmes and out-
comes that have seen
ment’s successful programmes.
My prediction in the case of
Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas.
What is the relationship
between “Time For Change”
We can only
That party is coming to the
tion for people or organisations who
are engaged in “deliberately false,
command, part of his clique-o, is even
worse, profiting from the failure of a
try is falling apart. They are saying
that to every Tom, Dick and Harriet
Dominica move from a state of Dominica is that Prime and “Crime and Violence”. Is
this political shorthand,
hope that the
mass media-driven scare campaigns.”
Does that sound familiar? Well
company that was stripped of its
assets, while the poor people who
here and everywhere, bad-mouthing
the country to whoever will listen.
sleight-of-hand or merely a
hand-me-down from the past?
elections will
Chicken Little and his fellow finger-
lickers have been deliberately running
believed in him are suffering. In true
Chicken Little style, they feathered
They are trying to place FEAR in your
hearts. Not like Obama
go on without
a false, media-driven, scare campaign
to try to get the people of St. Kitts to
their own nests.
They are so false they might be made
Don’t bother with them. When the
original Chicken Little went around
It is not Obama’s “Time for
Change”. That campaign was
further
put them in power.
Do they qualify for the Chicken
of silicone for all you know. Next time
they come around make sure that Miss
telling the other animals that the sky
was falling, fortunately they did not
structured and manifested the
fundamental changes with pro-
hindrance
Little award? Let us see. Can we con-
sider what they are saying and doing
PAM’s assets are real and not there
just to fool you into thinking they have
take him on. Don’t take on what this
fresh Chicken Little is saying. They
grammes the new government
intended to implement, some
and the party
to be “deliberate”? Yes! Resoundingly
so! You don’t choose a theme without have not changed and are incapable of
resources that Mother Nature didn’t
give them, otherwise they would end
might be extra spicy but it is the same
old recipe—fear, scare and nothing
of which have already been
delivered.
that offers the
thought, especially one intended to
mislead. You don’t try to piggy-back or
changing anything, unless that is
deliberate. So Chicken Little qualifies
up taking your assets and we the peo-
ple of St. Kitts will be catching ours.
new or nothing more.
Drop the boom on Chicken Little.
The Obama campaign pre-
sented an alternative form of
best solutions
chicken-back on the Obama campaign
by using the slogan without the sub-
on the first criterion that his campaign
inaccuracies, lies and distortions are
If it is time for change, then PAM
must change first. If it is time for
Give him his booby prize and the lick-
ing he deserves, not just on his finger
government, which was essen-
tially a platform for progress.
for will win
stance unless it is deliberate. You don’t deliberate and that his purpose is to EXCHANGE then the US citizens in but on his entire barnyard—cock, roos- It added substance to style,
talk about change knowing that you win an election by an untruthful fear- the PAM will have lots of foreign ter, pullet and hen. deeds to words and demon-