Last Updated on July 16, 2019, 12:39 AM AST by Anthony Morris
Political analysts are of the view that Monday morning’s Facebook posting by Premier of Nevis and the Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs and Aviation could be a response to a statement made on Saturday by Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr the Hon Timothy Harris while on an emergency visit to Nevis.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Harris rushed to Nevis and met with firemen at the Vance Amory International Airport, who had via Washington-based Nevisian and social media blogger, Everton “Obi” Powell, exposed the squalid condition of their living quarters.
The St Kitts-Nevis Times, which is under the control of Harris’ Peoples Labour Party (PLP) and one of several media outlets controlled and financed by the Team Unity Government reporting on Saturday’s meeting with the Nevis airport firemen said that Dr Harris in his capacity as Minister of Finance told the firemen, he had “sent to Nevis this year an additional one million dollars for the completion of the police station and as Minister of Finance, he has to ensure that monies aren’t squandered.”
Prime Minister Harris was notably absent from Sunday’s groundbreaking in Nevis for the construction of the Taiwan-financed Pinneys Beach Recreation Park during the State Visit of the President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Her Excellency Dr. Tsai Ing-wen.
On his Facebook account on Monday morning, Premier Brantley in what he was said is an owned quotation and viewed as a response to Dr Harris’ Saturday statement, posted: “There is nothing as ugly or destructive as the human frailty of insecurity. If you are confident to be who you are and what you do, then there is no need to fear any man.”
Both statements coincide with a June 22 FaceBook posting by an Andre Liburd, who has always expressed the views and policies of Prime Minister Harris and attacks persons including opposition politicians, Board members, senior civil servants and prominent residents. Dr Harris has never distanced himself from Liburd’s postings.
“So Off-De-Mark continues to demonstrate his ungratefulness – after receiving full support from Team Unity (TU), which they never get from any other Federal Administration,” posted Andre Liburd in June.
Liburd referred to Mervin Hanly as Brantley’s press secretary and accused the Nevis Premier of instructing Hanley “to undermine the leadership of Team Unity.”
“Now I know why people are saying that “…a Nevis man will always be a Nevis man,” said Liburd, who asked: “Is TU fault why you ain’t have anything to show for the over EC$100 Million?”
“Ungratefulness is worst than witchcraft. I think its time to bring down the hammer on some people head. By the way is only one Government Minister in the World getting two (2) salaries every month. A word to the wish is enough. I gone back to negotiate a new contract,” said Andre Liburd in the posting which has been removed.
Reference to the two salaries every month is directed to Premier Brantley collecting two salaries monthly – one as Premier of the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) and a second from the Federal Government in his capacity as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Aviation. Brantley also hosts a weekly radio programme called “On the Mark” on VON Radio.
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.
