Last Updated on March 22, 2020, 8:21 PM AST by Anthony Morris
PM Harris addresses the nation of SKN tonight at 20:00 for the first time since Covid-19 pandemic after calls on him from the Covid-19 Task Force, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Premier of Nevis Mark Brantley and the Federal Cabinet, and Civil Society and Citizens and Residents who had taken to the social media to demand that he takes frontal leadership and be the Face of the Pandemic in St Kitts and Nevis. Harris has displayed grave incompetence and a severe state of paralysis as he ponders “what to do” as he faces a Hospitality Industry that is shutting down. The cruise ships have already halted their daily visits to Port Zante in St Kitts. Airlines like Delta, American Airlines, Air Canada and British Airways are announcing their scheduled cut backs and will eventually suspend their Internationsl flights into and out of the Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw International Airport. Hotels like the 900 room Marriott and the world renown St Kitts Park Hyatt Hotel at Christophe Harbour have announced their closures while other hotels and restaurants scale down their operations to a trickle.
The Business community led by the Chamber of industry and Commerce, inclusive of the Manufacturing Association, the Bankers Association, Businesses large and small, and the Parliamentary Opposition have all been demanding of the coalition government of Timothy Harris an Economic Incentives and Stimulus Package to assist consumers clients employees and employers to cope during this crisis. All these have gone so far on deaf ears.
The Medical Associatn and Nurses Association of SKN and medical personnel generally are all in a state of disbelief and near panic as frontline workers….health customs immigration security and cleaners are unable to obtain from the government answers to questions about availability of personal protective equipment (PPE), test kits, Quarantine Centers, the number of persons in quarantine and self isolation. It still remains a state secret to the Frontline health workers the number of persons who have been tested and awaiting confirmation of results. They are more troubled when the government Covid-19 Task Force and the government controlled media keep reporting every hour that “there is no reported confirmed cases as yet, but SKN is a high risk State and it’s not if the virus will get here but it’s just a matter as to when”.
One of the precautions that the government is asking our citizens and residents to take is social distancing. Yet although the private schools in SKN have taken the initiative to close down until after Easter break, the government public schools are still opened. In fact just last evening the Mimistr of Education who’s also the Deputy Prime Minister Shawn Richards gave a national Radio and TV broadcast EMPHASIZING that all schools will remain opened and classes will resume on Monday after this weekend and will continue UNTIL THE FIRST REPORTED CONFIRMED TESTED CASE of covid-19. Pastors of churches are discouraging congregational gatherings, yet the government itself has continued with its political campaigning of holding Town Hall meetings.Such callous actions of the government have reinforced the thinking that the government led by Dr Harrjs is only concerned about their re-election to office. It is believed that PM Harris is very angry that his Elections planning, involving squandering Tax Payers money on all kinds of political activities, is being interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
And so with bated breath we the Citizens and Residents of SKN await the long-overdue national broadcast from Dr Harris later this evening.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
