by monique washington blue day · 2 days ago · by monique washington the nevis national citizens...

The Federation’s Politically Independent News Source

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By Monique Washington

Will he stay or will he go? That remains the big question for the Nevis Reform Party which was the big loser in Monday’s elec-tion. Will party leader Joseph Parry step down? So far the man isn’t saying much...

Friday December 22nd, 2017 Issue #1208

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The St.Kitts Nevis Observer - Friday December 22nd, 2017 LOCAL NEWSPage:2

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New Island main road to commence in 2018

By Loshuan Dixon

The St. Kitts Island Main Road is set to get a makeover beginning in 2018 the Minister of Public Infrastructure and Transport the Hon. Ian ‘Patches’ Liburd has announced.

“Infrastructure is criti-cal to our continuing economic development. In terms of our road in-frastructure, we have

over 105 miles stretch of roads including the is-land main road and the secondary roads. It is critical to us and that is why we are presently implementing these projects,” Liburd noted.

Liburd explained that his ministry was recent-ly allocated $72M EC for the 2018 fi scal year of which $21M will be used for recurrent ex-penditure while $51M

he indicated will deal with projects that are people oriented.

He added that the up-grade of the Island Main Road for the entire is-land was allocated and approved for $15M for the fi scal year 2018, but will roll over into 2019.

“The overall project is some $67M, but will be implemented over an 18 month period so we

don’t necessarily have to dedicate all the funds for fi scal year 2018.Liburd criticised road maintenance practices in the past stating work only would occur on the verge of an election and not when it was desper-ately needed.

“In the past we have seen road maintenance and road infrastruc-ture development have been left to political expediency.

“If you look back at previous budgets you would fi nd in 2004, a road project was ap-proved, look back at 2010 another road project was approved, 2015 the Southeast Peninsula road project was approved.”

He however, vowed

to done away with that practice. “We are not going to operate in that manner we have identi-fi ed things to be done and we are going to do it in a timely manner and ensure people benefi t from what we do.”

Minister Liburd also disclosed that they have already done some pre-liminary work in terms of doing a road condi-tions survey that was done over the last three or four months by ADB consultants.

“The report from that survey is what we are using to guide us go-ing forward. The survey will guide us on the conditions of the roads in particular areas. The survey will tell us that in some areas we will need to put drainage, widen the roads and in certain

areas we will have to give priority to resur-facing of that area.”

He added that the work will start sometime in February 2018 when the tendering process get on the way and emphasized that all local contractors will be utilized.

Liburd once again vowed to address the Old Road Bay issue. “People died...travers-ing that particular piece of network and so we as a team unity adminis-tration has said enough of that, no more cars should be running over Old Road Bay and no more accidents across Old Road Bay because of the rock slippage. We have to address it and will address it in the next fi scal year.”

Hon. Ian Patches Liburd

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The St.Kitts Nevis Observer - Friday December 22nd, 2017LOCAL NEWS Page:3

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Nevis National Citizens and Friends Society hands out Christmas gifts


The Nevis National Citizens and Friends Society has once again assisted 25 families in having a happier Christmas on the island of Nevis by handing out a number of food hampers this week.

The society, that began three years ago has contributed food ham-pers, assisted Nevisian college students fi-nancially, helped the ill with their medical expenses, donated to the Flamboyant Nursing home and the Gingerland Nursing home ,assisted the Prison Farm on Nevis

among other things.

The society raises funds annually by membership fees, yard sales, walk-a-thon and other fund raising activity.

According to the President of the society Rolston Deson the 25 hampers were distrib-uted to five elderly or most needy family’s in all five parishes.

Four persons ac-cepted the hampers Wednesday. . .Those were a brother and sister whose mother, Lydia Jacobs, was gunned down in front her door earlier this

year, a cancer survi-vor and a resident of Jessup.

The hampers were filled with various food items and toiletries.

Cancer survivor Florine Cider thanked the society for their contribut ion. “I want to thank the society and all who was really involved in it. I just want to say thanks, deeply from my heart . May god protect them, guide them and provide for them bless their going out and coming

in,” she said.

Also speaking at the brief presentation ceremony was Daisy Pemberton the grand-mother of Jacobs chil-dren who also gave a tear-filled thanks. “Thanks everyone. These children only have me and their fa-ther, someone killed their mother. They have no more mommy. I thank the society for this gift,” she said.

President Deson told the Observer that they have given help to various

causes. “We support the youth because one of the things that is tearing our community apart is the violence. The society supports the national youth movement annually. The society also gives assistance to those who are ill. If their medical bill reaches a certain amount the society gives assistance.”

He said that he would like to see more people “putting other firsts rather than self.”

“We have asked some

people to come into our society and they ask what’s in it for me .It is not a ques-tion to what is in it for them it is a question of reaching out and helping those that we are able to help . That what we are for. That is what God brought us on this earth for. I re-ally would like to see Nevisians have more of an outreach atti-tude,” he said. In con-cluding Deson said, “we are an openheart-ed society. Everyone is welcomed.”

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Publisher/Editor-in-Chief: Kenneth Williams

Website: newstkittsnevisobserver.com

Editorial Policy: The Observer reserves the right to edit, rewrite, summa-rise or reject any unsolicited material. We will assume that all letters ad-dressed to The Observer or its staff are intended for publication unless oth-erwise stated. Letter writers are required to sign their names and are asked to include a telephone number to allow verification. Views expressed in letters, commentaries or personal columns do not necessarily represent the viewpoint of this newspaper. Limit submissions to 1000 words

St. Kitts Nevis

POB 657, Lower Market Street #1 Observer Plaza, Observer Drive

Basseterre, St. Kitts, W.I. Charlestown, Nevis, W.I.

Tel.: (869) 466-4994 Tel.: (869) 469-5907Fax: (869) 466-4995 Fax: (869) 469-5891Email:[email protected] Email: [email protected]

The Federation’s Politically Independent News Source

Times and Timing.By now everyone is aware that there is a new Premier, a new Deputy Premier, a Sheriff and a Mayor in Nevis. There is also a Brand new form of politics in Charlestown.

By now too, everybody ought to recognize that this Supervisor of Elections is determined to be different. While the last one was being arrested for mis-feasance and malfeasance in public office, his successor was preparing to conduct the most transparent plebiscite ever in our country.

One aspect of the stewardship of the Supervisor of Elections that many were watching, was how early he would come in with results. VON Radio’s Evered Herbert defined “early” as any time before 2:00am. The final announcement started at 2:05 am. By Caribbean standards, the Supervisor was early; very early, considering that this was virgin territory for him. It was the first time, too, that so many aspects of our electoral processes was on full public view via TV and social media. We hope that this is a foretaste of things to come because that is the future of business!

Timing, they say, is everything. This election was timed for deep into December, the first time this has ever happened. There was an election in December before (1st December, 1975), but never this late. It was com-pressed between religious festivals, community programmes and heightened business activities. One business man lamented to the Observer that the is-land lost an additional 48 hours of time as staff were distracted on the one day and celebrating on the other. Next week is Christmas and Boxing Day, another two holidays!

For the first time, there were two first-timers, Eric and Virgil. One won, the other lost. There were two second timers, one won the other lost. Seems bal-anced, right? But the result was heavily skewed towards CCM, four seats to one. This is the third time of a 4:1 result, once in favour of NRP and twice in favour of CCM. Also, for the first time, St Thomas’ seemed vulnerable to turning blue.

Despite the assurances of the NRP, clearly the lateness of the election caught them off guard. Maybe they were wasting time demonstrating, cursing and scapegoating, but it certainly appears that they didn’t have enough time to prepare and mobilise. The timing of the elections caused the NRP to run out of time! So much so, that it has ended Mr. Parry’s time as Leader.

Happy Christmas to Nevis, bluetiful Nevis!

EDITORIAL

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EU’s Blacklisting of CARICOM Financial Centres

The following state-ment is issued by the Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles on the EU’s blacklisting of CARICOM fi nancial centres.

In spite of being an envi-ronment ravished by the effects of global climate change, and the specifi c economic challenges of being small, open economies, CARICOM states have achieved and maintain the status of middle-income develop-ing countries. They have maintained modest rates of economic growth al-though being the region most adversely affected by the global fi nancial crisis. This accomplish-ment has necessitated building resilience, the identifi cation of niches in the higher echelons of global value chains and continually improving their international com-petitiveness in a chang-ing global economy. Resilience has helped to ameliorate the impact of

frequent climate-related natural disasters and the adverse consequences of exogenous events such as oil price fl uctuations. However, it is diffi cult to insulate against policies of other countries which have deleterious effects such as the December 5th publication of the Council of the European Union‘s (CEU) “List of non-co-operative jurisdictions for tax purposes”.

While unforeseen events are inherent in the global-ization of the world econ-omy every effort must be made to ensure a rules-based multilateral regime which is fair, transparent and non-discriminatory, offering equal opportu-nities for all countries. Small countries are par-ticularly disadvantaged by rules imposed unilater-ally or by groups of coun-tries through fora in which they are not participants in the decision-making. The “blacklisting” by the EU of several CARICOM off-shore fi nancial centres as non-cooperative juris-dictions for tax purposes

is yet another instance in a recurring pattern of con-duct. Both the evaluation and designation made by the EU were not consulta-tive and hence their trans-parency and impartiality are open to question.

This latest decision by the EU is based on new, unilaterally-determined and unclear criteria that differ signifi cantly from the currently accepted international standards of tax transparency, anti-money laundering and accountability. These universally accepted standards were estab-lished by the Financial Action Task Force and the OECD Global Forum and demanded by the very EU. CARICOM countries have met or exceeded these accepted international standards and best practices over many years and demon-strated a long-standing, unwavering commitment to adhere to them. The unilateral EU blacklisting is de facto a derailing of these standards and un-dermine the entire process

of accountability and fair-ness in fi nancial matters carefully constructed by the world community.

The unfavourable and un-fair categorization of cer-tain CARICOM countries is likely to result in repu-tational damage, encour-agement of “de-risking” including the withdrawal of correspondent bank-ing services and the im-position of costs in the adjustment to new oner-ous regulatory require-ments. Further, whether intentional or accidental, this action is tantamount to creating a competitive advantage for off-shore fi nancial centres operat-ing within the national jurisdiction of European Union member states.

The UWI stands with the governments of the Caribbean in protesting

the recent actions by the EU and calling for a more transparent and equitable regulatory system and joins the call for the EU to enter into a process to resolve the issue. To this end The University of the West Indies (The UWI) will continue to put its expertise and research capacity at the service of governments, the private sector and regional orga-nizations to craft appro-priate policy responses.

CARICOM’s continuing

successful involvement in the highly competitive international fi nancial services will be driven by knowledge, innova-tion and the quality of human resources and hence the central role of The UWI which has the principal source of qual-ity higher education, research and develop-ment policy advice for CARICOM and on sev-eral developing country issues.

Professor Sir Hilary Beckles Vice-Chancellor, The University of the West Indies

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Functioning of Traffic

fic lights in Basseterre

and reach the whole communityLocal News Sports Commentary Business Fashion Health Classifieds

[email protected]

469 5907

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Functioning of Traffic lights delayed

By Loshaun Dixon

The commissioning of the newly installed traf-fic lights in Basseterre is being postponed be-cause of some missing parts needed for proper functioning. When they will be delivered re-mains a mystery as are the non working lights.

The lights that were in-stalled last Friday and set to begin operation this week, plans which

have now been shelved, while authorities work on getting the proper regulations in place.

Head of the Traffic Department of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police force Inspector Carl Caines speaking on radio indicated that the regulations would be in place in a short matter of time, but no date has been given

for the commission-ing. “I don’t believe it will take any length of time. It can be done within a week or two. I believe when the lights are switched on every-thing will be in place,” Caines said.

He added that the new protocols will also have stricter rules on Jaywalking. “That is something the traffic safety board looked

and we have sent our recommendation as to what needs to be and the law makers will take it to Parliament and we also have the legal drafts personnel working closely with the police department.”

Caines also addressed public concerns about drivers and pedestri-ans ignoring the lights. He noted the technol-ogy isn’t present in the

lights to detect those people at the moment. “But if someone does run the light there could be an accident and of course we don’t want that to happen.”

Caines also urged indi-viduals to give them-selves some space when the lights actually turn to green to avoid a collision with a driver that may still be in the intersection.

“When the green light comes on you should give it a little space be-fore you move because other drivers may still be in the intersection at the time. You can’t say the light is on green and I am going go. You are supposed to pause a while. So unless your passage is clear you can’t move.”

Minister of Transport Ian ‘Patches’ Liburd speaking recently said a traffic flow study was done to determine the feasibility of traf-fic lights around the busy intersections of Basseterre and it concluded that traf-fic lights were needed in major intersections in the town area.

“Having done that it

confirmed the need for installation of traffic lights at major intersec-tions of Basseterre,” Liburd said.

The Intersections iden-tified were Fort Street, Cayon Street, Victoria Road, the Bay Road and for street, as well as Wellington Road and East Independence Square Street.

Liburd noted that the current lights installed is phase one of the programme with other intersections to have similar upgrades in the future. Phase two of the project will look at installing lights at up-per Wellington Road, Sandown Road and the upper Bay Road.

He said that the traf-fic lights mounted around Basseterre came at an estimated cost of USD$572,000.

Liburd also addressed concerns about hav-ing the lights opera-tional during the busy Christmas and carnival season. “It is perhaps the best time to sen-sitise now that you have more people in Basseterre and have a physical sensitization,” he said.

Traffic Light

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Blue Day on Nevis as CCM and Brantley Romp to Victory

By Loshaun Dixon

The Hon. Mark A.G Brantley is Nevis’ fourth Premier after his Concerned Citizen Movement (CCM) Party was successful at the polls, Monday, se-curing a new fiver year mandate in an election marred by a low voter turnout of 58% down from the last election in 2013.

Brantey, in celebrat-ing the win, called on Nevisians to forget their political differences and come together in the spirit of Christmas.

District One had an up-set where the incumbent Robelto Hector of the NRP narrowly lost his seat to Spencer Brand by 585 to 596 votes, ending his ten year hold of that constituency.

District Two had Brantley successfully thwarting a challenge from Hensley Daniel 1334 to 1000 to keep his seat in the assembly while District Three had newcomer Eric Evelyn easily dispatching NRP’s Cory Tyson 761-233 votes in the seat va-cated by the Hon. Vance Amory.

In District Four the in-cumbent Alexis Jeffers of CCM hammered NRP’s newcomer Virgil Browne 833-528 votes, while NRP’s only victo-ry came in District Five with their leader Joseph Parry sweeping aside Keith Scarborough of the CCM 518 to 229.

The CCM won four of the five seats on of-fer increasing on their previous narrow 3-2 majority.

Brantley will now replace the retiring Hon. Vance Amory as Premier of the Nevis Island Administration. Brantley was sworn in

as Premier Tuesday eve-ning at the High Court in Charlestown.

Speaking after their sweeping victory that was confirmed at 3:00a.m Tuesday morn-ing, Brantley labelled their victory as not only a victory for CCM, but a victory for Nevis.

“We now have an op-portunity to go into the Christmas season and I am saying now we must heal Nevis. There’s been a lot of di-vision and divisiveness. Political campaigns by their nature are divisive, but we now have an op-portunity to really put good meaning and real meaning to the idea of Christmas, the senti-ment of Christmas.”

He continued, “So let us now live with each other as Christ would have us live with each other and let me ask God’s bless-ings upon us as a new leadership for Nevis, but for also upon the is-land of Nevis. We can-not do it without God’s blessings and I ask you to pray for us, to pray for Nevis, to pray for

your premier, to pray for the Cabinet. To pray for good leadership, decent leadership that would take us forward.”

Brantley also hailed Amory for the work he has done as the islands political leader and hav-ing served in the assem-bly for over 27 years.

“I want to thank the Hon. Vance Amory, because without him, none of this would have been possible. He is the one who built the foundation on which we now stand. Vance Winkworth Amory, thank you. Thank you for your service. Thank you for being the man who you are because you have allowed oth-ers now to come and, because of you, I am standing here at this moment tonight in the very crossroads of our history,” Brantley stated.

Following victory at the polls Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis the Hon. Dr. Timothy Harris congratulated Brantley on his success on behalf of the Federal

Government.

“I extend my hearti-est congratulations and warmest wishes to you on attaining a decisive electoral victory in the Nevis local elections and becoming the is-land’s Premier-elect to-day, Tuesday, December 19th, 2017.

“I also congratulate your Concerned Citizens Movement colleagues – the Honourable Spencer Brand, the Honourable Eric Evelyn, the Honourable Alexis Jeffers, and Mr. Keith Scarborough – as well as your supporters on securing a solid win of four out of five seats over the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP).”

Dr. Harris express his happiness for Brantley and also hailed Amory for his years of service. “I am very happy for you, as you prepare to assume the mantle from our dear friend and mentor, the Honourable Vance Amory, who provided the CCM and the island of Nevis with strong, principled leadership for more

than two decades, helping to develop the next generation of nation-builders.”

PM Harris also noted the “special bond” that has been devel-oped between his Administration and with members of the CCM who are key part-ners in Dr. Harris’ Team Unity Government who was successful in removing Dr. Denzil Douglas in 2015 at the helm of the Federal Government.

“Our friendship and mutual respect have only grown stronger over these past 34 months as we worked diligently towards achieving greater pros-perity for all citizens and residents of both Nevis and St. Kitts, and ushered in an un-precedented level of cordiality and coop-eration between the Federal Government and the Nevis Island Administration.

“I give you my high-est commendation and unwavering support as we continue to work for

further progress for all of our people,” he said.

Deputy leader of CCM who is set to become Deputy Premier Alexis Jeffers speaking with The Observer on Election Day noted that the party will remain committed to principle and ideas of the party.

“We have been groomed by our former leader and he has taught us well. He has done a great job as leader of this great party for the last 30 years and well over 20 years of leadership from a gov-ernment standpoint.”

Jeffers was also confi-dent in Brantley’s ability to serve as Premier.

“We are rallying behind our leader the Hon. Mark Brantley he is going to be our next Premier and I am saying to you we will do an excellent job with him as the Premier and with all the persons who have decided to throw their hat in the ring.”

The new NIA Cabinet is set to be sworn into office at a time not yet decided.

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Terron “Invincible” Webb takes Third

Consecutive Crown


It was third time lucky and three lucky times for 12-year-old Nevisian Terron “Invincible” Webb who once again took the an-nual National Carnival Primary School Calypso competition.

Hundred turned out at the Circus in Basseterre, St. Kitts to witness Terron’s third con-secutive winning per-formance. Following the Primary School

Calypso competition was the Best of the Rest Calypso show where10 competitors vied for the crown.

At the end of the night Godfrey captured the crown with 210 points, 1st runner up – Queen Kibie: 197 points, 2nd runner up – King Dwightie: 194 points and 3rd runner up – Lucius: 189 point.

Ten competitors battled for the crown. Five of whom were from Nevis

and fi ve from St Kitts, with ages ranging from 8-12 years old. The competition was held on December 14 at the Circus and was imme-diately followed by the Best of the Rest Calypso competition.

Webb, was crowned Nevis Culturama Junior Calypso King in July this year. He will also be traveling to Barbados earlier next year for a regional Junior Calypso

competition.

The 10 competitors in the 2017-2018 compe-tition were: Shernicia Miller, Honey B with My Life (St. Kitts), Z’Quan McDowell, Mighty Z with I will sing (St. Kitts), Divonique Liburd , DV with Tribute to Carnival (Nevis) , Ethan Edwards, Mighty Edwards with walk the walk (St. Kitts ), Micque Washington, Lil legend with I will be (Nevis) , Zyon Harding , LegaZ with write me a song (Nevis), Marques Washington, Mighty J with Carnival celebra-tion (Nevis), Tiaunna Warner , Sweet T with Granny’s Advice (St. Kitts) Kiman Burnham (St. Kitts), and Webb

with Social Media Addiction (Nevis).

The calypsonians were judged on lyrics, music and performance. At the end of the night Terron

proved Invincible with 252 points, fi rst run-ner up went to Sweet T with 225, second runner up was LegaZ with 196 and third runner up was Mighty J with 191.

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Developing a more high tech CXC discussed in St. Kitts

By Loshaun Dixon

Transitioning from pen, pencils and Typex to a technologically based organisation serving the needs of modern students is the goal ex-pressed by Chairman of the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) Sir Hilary Beckles. The group held its 49th annual meeting in St. Kitts December 16-17.

Sir Hilary, who is also Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies (UWI), speaking at a press conference indicated that the meet-ings will be remem-bered for laying the foundation for further development of the ex-amination body.

“This meeting will al-ways be remembered for the affirmation of the need to transform the CXC to one of the most technologically advanced and robust in-stitutions in the region, if not in the world.” He noted that over the year the organization has evolved to a more modern and effective institution.

“As you all are aware, we have moved expedi-tiously to increase the efficiency of our proce-dures and our business activity, and we have

gone aggressively into the business of marking, testing and monitoring electronically so that CXC is now clearly an institution that is distin-guished in terms of its technical efficiency,” he said.

Beckles stated that from a developmental stand point they were able to indicate that the sylla-buses and programmes are designed to achieve two fundamental objectives.

“Equity within the so-ciety for the different categories of students, students who are also involved in academic streamed programmes. No child left behind remains the vision,” he said.

He added that the sylla-buses have all reached a level of alignment with the specific needs of Caribbean people and economies.

“We are constantly looking at the future of our academic structures and wellbeing and an-swering the question ‘What kind of syllabus-es and programmes will be required to produce the skills that are neces-sary to drive economic modernization and di-versification?’ I am sat-isfied that we have now a slate of programmes

in traditional areas of course, but also in the new and modern ar-eas that are required to take us into the digi-tal age and the digital revolution.”

Professor Beckles stated that CXC has enhanced its relevance in the point of economic transforma-tion and diversification, but “at the same time it has paid close atten-tion to how all citizens should be taken care of around the principle of

equity and justice.”

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Vincent Hodge expressed his de-light at hosting the meet-ing and stated that CXC was something of which Caribbean citizens can be proud.

“This year we are de-lighted to host the 49th meeting of the council. CXC is an examination body we can all be proud of…When CXC was

born I think that was the answer to our Caribbean generation of young people.”

Hodge referencing hav-ing to do exams out of Britain that spoke to top-ics he was not familiar with stated the CXC pro-vides a sense of familiar-ity with the student of the Caribbean.

“St. Kitts and Nevis continues to endorse the work of the Caribbean Examination Council,”

Our principals and teachers work very hard to be in compliance, and we see this, as the way that our young people can receive the educa-tion and training that would make them truly a well-rounded Caribbean person who can fit into a global market.”

CXC is responsible pro-ducing exams for the re-gions secondary school leavers as well as for some tertiary level insti-tutions in the Caribbean

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No public announcement of Parry’s resignation but Party

member hints it is true.

Even after Concerned Citizen Mark Brantley was sworn in as the new Nevis Premier, Parry remained si-lent and out of sight.. That was until the Observer contacted him Thursday a about circulating report of

his resignation.

Mr. Parry said, “While there are changes ahead as the NRP moves forward,there is noth-ing to announce right now. We as a party will meet and decide which is the best to move forward and we will make announcements

accordingly.”

The Observer then contacted NRP’s can-didate for St. Johns Hensley Daniel who said “I have seen it all over the Internet that he has resigned” but “when he is ready he will make he will make

it public.”

When questioned about a leadership change Daniel defeat-ed by Brantley, said that is a matter for the party. “The party has to decide that. The party has an Executive and a General Counsel.

A powerful 75 member General Counsel and an even more powerful 22 member Executive. The recommendations will come from the constituencies and then they will be endorsed by the General Counsel then approved by the Executive. We have a structure,” he said.

The Nevis Island Assembly’s election had the Concerned Citizens Movement CCM being returned to offi ce with four (4) seats to the NRP’s one (1) seat.

Mark Brantley of the CCM won Hensley

Daniel of the NRP in district 2 St. John by 334 votes, Spencer Brand of the CCM won Robelto Hector of the NRP in district 1 St. Paul’s by 11 votes, newcomer Eric Evelyn of the CCM won Corey Tyson of the NRP in district 3 St George by 528 votes, Alexis Jeffers of the CCM won newcomer Virgil Browne of the NRP in district 4 by 305 votes and the Joseph Parry of the NRP won Keith Scarbrough of the CCM in district 5 St. Thomas’ by 289 votes.

Daniel didn’t lose gracefully, crying foul. He lamented,“Our de-mocracy has now gone from one man one vote to one dollar one vote.”

“The worrisome thing is that money is the deciding factor in an election. Money played a major role in moving people to vote. There are several people who

would not go to vote unless money is in-volved and that is a se-rious problem. How do you fi nd all the money to meet everybody is the challenge?” he said.

“It is very common in politics to win an election and lose the country .Winning the election is the easy part, managing the country and providing opportu-nities for the people in the critical area of de-velopment like health education, housing and in particular crime reduction is a much harder affair . The truth is, is that people, we of-ten don’t make the con-nection when you are electing people you are electing them to man-age the state,” he said.

Daniel once an elected member in the Nevis Island Assembly sat with responsibili-ties in Health, Social Development, Culture,

Hon. Joseph Parry

Contined from Pg 1

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ADVERTISEMENTPage:12 The St.Kitts Nevis Observer - Friday December 22nd, 2017

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ADVERTISEMENT Page:13The St.Kitts Nevis Observer - Friday December 22nd, 2017

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SAGICOR FINANCIAL CORPORATION LIMITED

PRESS STATEMENT

The Board and Management of Sagicor Financial Corporation Limited (Sagicor) noted with concern, the article published in the BARBADOS

TODAY on Monday, December 18th, 2017 and wish to make the following statement in the interest of our many and various stakeholders:

• Sagicor is a well governed, financially strong international financial institution. Our total assets at September 30th 2017 stood at US $6.8

billion with capital of US $1.3 billion.

• We operate in 21 countries in the Caribbean, Latin America and the United States and are actively regulated by all of the regulators in these

countries. We are in good standing in each of these jurisdictions.

• Sagicor is listed on the Barbados Stock Exchange, the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. We fully comply

with the rigorous requirements of these exchanges.

• While there are no uniformed capital standards for the Caribbean, Sagicor has voluntarily adopted the Canadian international capital

standard, “Minimum Continuing Capital and Surplus Requirements” (MCCSR), and has been following this standard since 1991. The MCCSR

seeks to demonstrate to policyholders and shareholders the capital strength of the company, as a measure of its ability to meet its long-term

obligations. Canadian regulators expect insurance companies to maintain an MCCSR ratio of 150% and Sagicor has consistently maintained a

ratio above 175%. As at the end of September 30th 2017 our MCCSR Ratio was 304%.

• Sagicor is rated on an annual basis by AM Best, Standard and Poor’s Global Ratings, and Fitch Ratings. We have been rated by AM Best since

1998, S&P since 2006 and Fitch since 2015. These ratings are an independent measure of our financial strength. The current ratings are as

follows:

o AM Best - “A-“ Excellent

o S&P - BB- stable

o Fitch - B stable

The ratings are assigned after a comprehensive and independent review. We encourage readers to view these independent reviews on our

Sagicor website (www.Sagicor.com) or alternatively on the websites of the rating agencies: www.amBest.com, www.StandardandPoors.com

and www.fitchRatings.com.

• Sagicor is a publicly listed company with over 36,000 shareholders. We publish quarterly financial results and audited annual financial

statements that are subjected to external audit every year by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). These financial statements are delivered to

and approved by our shareholders at our annual general meetings. In addition, because Sagicor is listed on the London Stock Exchange,

PwC’s audit of Sagicor has periodically been subjected to further independent review from time to time.

• Sagicor is therefore, one of the most highly and actively regulated financial institutions in the Caribbean. While there are no provisions for

Group Regulations in the region, Sagicor has always treated the Barbados Financial Services Commission (FSC) as our Home Regulator and

has an open and transparent relationship with the FSC.

We frequently share Group wide information with all regulators and have met with the Caribbean College of over 100 Regulators on more

than one occasion to update them on the Sagicor Group’s strategy.

We, therefore, find it grossly inaccurate and indeed recklessly careless that an article or a report can be published to suggest that Sagicor is an

under-regulated financial institution. This assertion is not supported by the facts as all can see from our frequent and various public disclosures. We

are a large company by Caribbean standards, but we are a well-governed, successful, solid institution. We would like to assure our policyholders,

shareholders and customers of our financial strength. We remain committed to delivering quality products and services to our customers and

competitive returns to our stakeholders.

On behalf of the Board of Directors:

Stephen McNamara Dodridge Miller

Chairman President & CEOChairman

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PROPERTY FOR SALE

The property described below is offered for sale by Royal Bank of Canada in their

capacity as Mortgagee:-

Description of Property: ALL THAT lot piece or parcel of land and building thereon

situate at Wellington Road in the Town of Basseterre in the

Island of Saint Christopher aforesaid bounded and measuring

as follows, that is to say:- On the East by Wellington Road, 72

feet 10 inches; On the West by Lot No. 8, 38 feet 10 inches;

On the North by lands of the Central Housing Authority, 63

feet; On the South by Lot No. 6, 37 feet 7 inches more or less

or howsoever otherwise the same may be abutted known or

described and containing 2,832 square feet; all the same as is

described in an Indenture of Mortgage from Byron Greene to

Royal Bank of Canada dated the 15th day of November 2002

and recorded as Deed No. 12760 in Liber U Volume 7 at Folios

2839 to 2846 of the Register of Deeds for the Island of Saint

Christopher.

Tenders: Interested persons may obtain the Conditions of Sale from

Royal Bank of Canada’s Attorneys-at-Law, Kelsick, Wilkin &

Ferdinand, not later than Friday January 12, 2018 and the

closing date for the return of Tenders is Friday February 2,

2018.

KELSICK, WILKIN & FERDINAND

Attorneys-at-Law for Royal Bank of Canada (Mortgagee)

Fred Kelsick Building, Independence Square South, Basseterre, St Kitts

Tel: (869) 465-2645 Fax: (869) 465-7808

Attention: Mr. Garth L. Wilkin

Email: [email protected]

IN THE MATTER OF THE COMPANIES (TRANSFER OF DOMICILE) ACT 1998 OF THE ISLE OF MAN

BERKLEY PROPERTIES LIMITED

(NEVIS COMPANY NO. 6141)

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to Part 1 of the

Companies (Transfer of Domicile) Act 1998 of the Isle of Man

that the above named Company incorporated in Nevis and

having its registered office situated at Hunkins Waterfront

Plaza, Suite 556, Main Street, Charlestown, Nevis intends to

cease to be registered in Nevis and to continue in the Isle of

Man, under the name “Berkley Properties Limited” and to

have its registered office situated at 8 St Georges Street,

Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 1AH. Interested persons are invited

to make any comments with respect to the above to the Nevis

Financial Services Regulatory Commission during the 10 days

following publication of this notice.

For and on behalf of Eight Corporation Limited, Director.

C H A R L E S T O W N G A L L E R Y

rtANEVIS

presents

Support Local Artists & Homeless Pets

ART SHOW &

SILENT AUCTION

Wednesday, Dec. 2710am-2pm

Thursday, December 2810am till Noon

presents

Meet Special Guest featured Artist

Easton Davy

A percentage of Art Sales will be donated to the CARE Animal Shelter

Must be able to speak fluent Spanish & FrenchWorkingHours: 9am - 5pm, Must be able to work on Sundays when ship in port.

Apply to: I LOVE ST. KITTSBLDG #5, Store #101, Port Zante, Basseterre, St. Kitts

Email:[email protected]

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VACANCY Comforto Aircolooking for experience Accountant3 years in business plus software

please send email:[email protected]

Square Duty FreeContact: Bunty 1869-763-9721

Store Manager(Liquor Knowledge, manage inventory, sales, etc.)

Vida Liquor & TobaccoContact: Prem:1869-760-5355

Store Manager(Liquor Knowledge, manage inventory, sales, etc.)

CLASSIFIEDS CLASSIFIEDS CLASSIFIEDS CLASSIFIEDS REAL ESTATE REAL ESTATE EMPLOYMENT EMPLOYMENT REAL ESTATE REAL ESTATE EMPLOYMENT EMPLOYMENT

Arabic Restaurant located in

Buckleys looking for 2 Chefs with

experience in doing Meditaranean

Food. Please call:765-2946

PLACE HOLDER FOR YOURCLASSIFIED ADVERT

Cook NeededAt Jamakie's Restuarant

Telephone: 660-9257

Waitress NeededContact Number: 1-869-662-5550

Joiner NeededAt Angles Wood Work ShopTelephone: 763-4808/668-0633

Flamingo ConstructionServices is seeking one Carpenter with5 years experience. Contact 668-8081

Cleaner Wanted Full Time

Tel: 869-662-5550

AA Tech ServicesOne Office Worker

Telephone: 668-4367

Cashier NeededAt Tasty Jamaican

Telephone# 660-6196

Cashier NeededAt Royal Palms

Telephone# 660-6196

Two Cashier NeededAt Teddies Bar

Telephone# 660-6196

Mechanic Wanted

Must have :

5 years experience, withsmall medium engines

(both gasoline & diesel)

Application should bemade to Carib Scoots &

Bike Rental

Tel: 662-8047

Oualie Beach

Needed Machine OperatorTelephone: 869-469-8026

Needed Two Labours, Two Cleaners

Slims Construction & Electrical PlumbingTelephone :663-5518

N E E D E DKitchen Helper

Telephone: 469-1007/669-3988

A L E X B A R B E R S H O POne Experienced Cashier

Call: 765-7092

JOHNNY CONSTRUCTIONOne Experienced Carpenter

Call: 763-7682

2 Storeroom Attendants needed atBest Buy Supermarket

Applicants can fill out forms at the BranchOffice located in Charlestown

Driver’s License would be an asset

Using your phone whiledriving is dangerous...Don’t take a chanceon someone else’slife, Drive with some

concern.

VACANCYCompany Name: Vida

Liquor & Tobacco

Contact person:

Prem : 1 869-760-5355

Inventory manager

Requirement: ( Liquor Knowledge, man-age inventory, maintain records etc).

Vacancy Sales RepresentativeMust be able to speak fluent Spanish & French

WorkingHours: 9am - 5pm, Must be able to work on Sundays when ship in port.Apply to: I LOVE ST. KITTS

BLDG #5, Store #101, Port Zante, Basseterre, St. KittsEmail:[email protected]

VacancyWarehouse Supervisor, Working Hours: 9am - 5pmMust be able to work on Sundays when ship in port.

Apply to: I LOVE ST. KITTSBLDG #5, Store #101, Port Zante, Basseterre, St. Kitts


ISABELA SNACKETTE & BARNeeded: 1 Bar tender

2 years experience Call: 662-8431

RUTH BEAUTY SALON Needed: One Stylist4 years experience

Call: 667-1290 or 764-8230

LAND OF SALE At Stoney Grove in Nevis

5000 square feetTelephone :669-5616

1208.indd 15 12/27/17 12:39 PM


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have been confirmed to

booked well in advance.

1208.indd 16 12/27/17 12:39 PM


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Spice, Lauryn Hill and Patti LaBelle announced for St. Kitts Music Festival

By Loshaun Dixon

Legendary vocalist Patti LaBelle, American snger Lauryn Hill and Jamaican dancehall artiste Spice have been confi rmed to appear next June at the St. Kitts Music Festival in what the event chair-man calls “a great day.” for the festval.

The festival may be six months away, but top name acts have to be booked well in advance. The event is set to run from June 27 to July 1, 2018.

Chairman of the Music Festival Committee Damion Hobson indicat-ed that it was a great day for the St. Kitts Music Festival. “After 22 years, we have surprised and shocked our fans and the public generally with the

early release of our artist, some six months ahead of the start of the June 2018 celebrations.”

Hobson noted that the reaction to the notice of this announcement that was fi rst shared last week was positive as most fans were happy to see the fes-tival’s committee making these early moves.

“This has been the aim of the committee and earlier this year the minister re-sponsible for the Festival Lindsay Grant chal-lenged the management team to work harder to make earlier announce-ments. Today as the new Chairman I am happy that my team has made this occasion possible, but all this is refl ective of the new approach that we had been harnessing since I was appointed a

few months ago.”

He added that after he was appointed they set out to restructure the operations and manage-ment of the Festival.

“This new vision we have established it is important for me to state that the St. Kitts Music festival is more than just the three nights of festival. The fringe and promotional activities that we and private organisations organise is just as impor-tant and helps to create a greater festival with bet-ter levels of excitement and satisfaction,” he said.

Minister of Tourism the Hon. Lindsay Grant in-dicated that the festival was not only an oppor-tunity for the Federation to showcase the local talent, but also to bring

a talented festival to St. Kitts.

He reminded that the aim of the Festival that is heading into its 22nd year was to drive the tourism industry during the slower periods. Grant noted that the Committee recognized that they had to change a number of things in order to achieve better results of the festival.

He added that on major change is fi nishing each night of the festival ear-lier so that the audience will have time to attend other fringe events and spur economic activity around the Federation.

“In order to achieve that result we can’t have the number of artist that we have been having because that of course extends the time of the festival. I am hope-fully that we can keep within that remit and end each night at a reason-able time.” Grant noted however that he was

happy with the selection of artiste that were an-nounced. “I am delighted with the names and I hope that my delight is the delight also of the persons who have heard them at this announce-ment and I hope they would be very satisfi ed.”Head of the artiste selec-tion sub-committee Jonel Powell stated that they were aiming to improve the quality of acts while reducing the quantity. “We have been blessed over the years to have some fantastic artiste coming to St. Kitts to perform and we only in-tend to build on that.”

He however, noted that when it comes to the se-lection of artiste there are some factors that must be considered. “This is a Government sponsored event which means the budget is not that big, so we are limited in the reach of acts we are able to get. We cannot afford Rhianna we cannot af-ford Beyonce that is the

reality of the situation.”

Another factor Powell stated was the avail-ably of the artiste. “The availability of acts is something else we are restricted by. Believe it or not we started this pro-cess in August and some of the artiste we would have like to get were just not available for June next year but we push on.”

Powell was positive that they will be able to de-liver a line-up that will be approved by the public. “We are very confi dent that the line-up that we are going to produce for you is reminiscent of what the people want and what the tenants of the Music Festival want and is going to be a good rep-resentation of what you can expect for the 2018 St. Kitts Music Festival.”

He also noted that the fi -nal roster will be released by mid-February

1208.indd 17 12/27/17 12:39 PM

REGIONAL NEWSPage:18 The St.Kitts Nevis Observer - Friday December 22nd, 2017

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Montessori Academy

Pump Road, Stoney Grove, Nevis

Tel:469-1074


Montessori Academy Nevis We are seeking an innovative and qualified Montessori teacher

to join our team. You will be a hardworking and enthusiastic

teaching professional with a Montessori certification at both the

Primary and Elementary levels. You will have an excellent

subject knowledge and a sound understanding of the Montessori

ethos.

The position will involve teaching students from years 1 to 3 and

also assisting in the encouragement of extra-curricular activities.

The applicant will be a motivated individual with a keen interest

in encouraging and inspiring students to love learning.

Please submit your resume and cover letter by email:

Denise Morgan, Principal,

[email protected]

PROPERTY FOR SALE

The property described below is offered for sale by Royal Bank of Canada in their

capacity as Mortgagee:-

Description of Property: ALL THAT lot parcel of land and the appurtenances thereto

situate at Canada Estate in the Island of Saint Christopher

and bounded and measuring as follows, that is to say:- On the

North by other lands of Canada Estate, 337.1 feet: On the

South by other lands of Canada Estate, 459.1 feet; On the

East by an Estate Road, 158.7 feet; and On the West by other

lands of Canada Estate, 172.6 feet and containing by

admeasurement 1.805 acres; all the same as is described in

an Indenture of Mortgage from Alistair Williams, now

deceased, to Royal Bank of Canada dated the 16th day of

December 1993 and recorded as Deed No 8617 in Liber M

Volume 7 at Folios 471 to 478 of the Register of Deeds for the

Island of Saint Christopher.

Tenders: Interested persons may obtain the Conditions of Sale from

Royal Bank of Canada’s Attorneys-at-Law, Kelsick, Wilkin &

Ferdinand, not later than Friday January 12, 2018 and the

closing date for the return of Tenders is Friday February 2,

2018.

KELSICK, WILKIN & FERDINAND

Attorneys-at-Law for Royal Bank of Canada (Mortgagee)

Fred Kelsick Building, Independence Square South, Basseterre, St Kitts

Tel: (869) 465-2645 Fax: (869) 465-7808

Attention: Mr. Garth L. Wilkin

Email: [email protected]

Guyana and Suriname expected to support UN resolution on

Jerusalem despite US threatsBy Ray Chickrie

Guyana and Suriname are both expected to support a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that criti-cizes President Donald Trump’s decision to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, despite US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley’s threatening let-ter to General Assembly members not to sup-port the resolution and that Trump “will be watching [Thursday’s] vote carefully” and “re-quested I report back on those who voted against us…” The US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on Monday against Trump’s de-cision on Jerusalem,

despite being outnum-bered 14 to 1.Turkey and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) members are leading this push in the UNGA, and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Palestinian coun-terpart, Riad Al Maliki, will be present for the vote calling on the United States to reverse its decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Guyana has had strong historical ties to Palestine. Since 1975, Guyana has been a member of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of

the Palestinian People. Ever since, Guyana has been a strong ad-vocate of Palestinian statehood, and was the first country in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to rec-ognize the state of Palestine. At one point in its history, the party in office under President Forbes Burnham sev-ered diplomatic ties with Israel.

Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness, an ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will most likely support Israel in the General Assembly vote. The Bahamas, Barbados, St Kitts and Nevis, and Trinidad and Tobago will most likely

abstain.

Israel is hoping to break CARICOM and African Union’s Palestine soli-darity and has targeted countries in these blocs with security aid.

Suriname and Guyana have given no official indication as to how they will vote, and up to Wednesday evening were apparently weigh-ing their options. No response was received from either the Suriname

or Guyana foreign min-istries by the time of publication.

It seems certain, how-ever, that Suriname will vote along with Cuba, Chile, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Venezuela and Guyana. Both Guyana and Suriname receive lit-tle US aid and much of it has been cut over the past decade. Guyana, soon to be a major oil producer, will need no foreign aid in the foreseeable fu-ture but the situation is

complicated by the own-ership of US energy giant Exxon-Mobil of the new-ly discovered oil reserves offshore Guyana.

UPDATE: Senior diplo-mats from both Guyana and Suriname indicated late Wednesday night that their respective countries will vote in favour of the resolution. The Guyana UN mission and a senior Suriname diplomat each said their Palestine policy hasn’t changed.

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REGIONAL NEWS Page:19The St.Kitts Nevis Observer - Friday December 22nd, 2017

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US threatens to end aid to Caribbean(CMC)

United States President Donald Trump has threatened to cut off American aid to any country, including those in the Caribbean, that votes for a resolution at the United Nations condemning his recent decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Trump’s statement, delivered at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday in which he exulted over the passage of a

tax overhaul, followed a letter to UN General

Assembly members from US ambassador

to the United Nations, Nikki R Haley, in which she warned that the United States would take note of countries that voted in favour of the measure.

“All of these nations that take our money and then they vote against us at the Security Council or they vote against us, potentially, at the Assembly, they take hundreds of mil-lions of dollars and even billions of dol-lars and then they vote against us,” Trump said “Well, we’re watching those votes,” he added. “Let them vote against us; we’ll save a lot. We don’t care.”

But while Trump can hold up aid unilaterally as a form of leverage, cancelling it would re-quire new legislation.

The bitter confrontation at the United Nations shows the lingering re-percussions of Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem, which de-fi ed world opinion and upended decades of American policy.

While the decision has not unleashed the violence in the Arab capitals that some had feared, it has left the United States diplomat-ically isolated.

The UN General Assembly is scheduled to vote Thursday on a resolution that would express “deep regret at recent decisions con-cerning the status of Jerusalem,” according to a draft text. It would urge other countries not to move their embassies there from Tel Aviv, the Times said.

Earlier this month, Trump announced that the United States would relocate its embassy to Jerusalem, though State Department offi cials said a move was several years away because of the logistics of con-structing a new embassy

complex.

“As you consider your vote, I want you to know that the president and US take this vote personally,” said Haley in her letter.

“To be clear, we are not asking that other countries move their embassies to Jerusalem, though we think it would be appropriate,” she added. “We are simply asking that you acknowledge the his-torical friendship, part-nership and support we have extended and re-spect our decision about our own embassy.”

In a Twitter post on Tuesday, Haley said of the vote in the General Assembly, “the US will be taking names”. On Monday, the United States used a rare veto to block a resolution in the Security Council calling for the administration to reverse its decision on Jerusalem.

It said the vote on the resolution, which was drafted by Egypt, was 14 to 1, suggesting there could be a similarly wide margin against the United States in the 193-member General Assembly, of which all 14 members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are members.

“People are tired of the United States — people that live here, our great citizens that love this country— they’re tired of this country being taken advantage of and we’re not going to be taken advantage of any longer,” said Trump on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, St Vincent and the Grenadines urged the United States “to re-frain from recognising Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel.” as Washington had pre-pared to do so.

“Any such recognition

would imperil the internationally-agreed Two-State Solution, de-stabilise the Middle East region, and invalidate the important role of the United States as an hon-est broker and driver of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process,” said the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement. The Ralph Gonsalves’ adminis-tration noted that, in 1980, in response to an Israeli attempt to de-clare Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel, the United Nations Security Council condemned that declaration as a vi-olation of international law.

The Security Council stated that “all legisla-tive and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, the oc-cupying Power, which have altered or purport to alter the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem are null and void and must be rescinded forthwith,” and that such actions “constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East,” accord-ing to the St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “St Vincent and the Grenadines is, there-fore, deeply concerned about any attempts to deviate from the settled parameters governing the delicate quest for peace between the State of Israel and the State of Palestine,” the state-ment said.

“There can be no more destabilizing and po-tentially incendiary de-viation than unilateral declarations concerning the status of Jerusalem. The role of the United States as a valued fa-cilitator and interlocutor would be irreparably compromised by any attempt to pre-empt the negotiating process by making unilateral pro-nouncements on fi nal status issues,” it added

USAPresident Donald Trump

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REGIONAL NEWSPage:22 The St.Kitts Nevis Observer - Friday December 22nd, 2017

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but...Cops arrest 11 defiant CubansJensen

Trini wins tech award for countering fake news

Nigel Simon

Trinidadian Stefan Uddenburg, left, and members of the win-ning team at the recently con-cluded YHack event hosted by Yale University. Uddenberg and his team won the prize for “best hack to counter fake news” for the browser applica-tion they created during the 36-hour hackathon.

Trinidad-born, twenty-nine-year-old Stefan Uddenberg along with his three friends are expected to appear before US Congress in 2018 after becom-ing winners of the YHack com-petition earlier this month.

The four created a browser to detect fake news and won the prize for, “the best hack to counter Fake News” at the YHack Challenge.

The competition is hosted by Yale University and encour-ages students to be innovative

in technology.

The event itakes place over a 36-hour and is considered to be a festival of innovation where the participants overnight in a gym or open space.

This year’s event was held between December 1 and 3.The former St Mary’s col-lege student spoke to the T&T

Guardian about the program the four created and the prize they won which was a visit to US Congress to present their find-ings and to Facebook’s corpo-rate headquarters.

The other three friends who participated in the competition were 20 year-old Alexander Cui, 19-year old Jeff An, and 24 year-old Michael Lopez-Brau.

Uddenberg said the group of four entered the competition for “fun,” and since the news broke that they won, it has been a whirlwind.The US embassy in T&T also posted the article written by Yale University, con-cerning Uddenberg and his friends.

Uddenberg, who is an addi-tional scholarship recipient,

along with his friend, Lopez-Brau are both pursuing PhDs in Cognitive Psychology at Yale.

The Yale article described the competition in detail, “The students teamed up with Alex Cui from the California Institute of Technology and Jeff An from the University of Waterloo and presented a solution called Open Mind, beating out 22 other student teams from around the coun-try to win the “Best Hack to Counter Fake News.”

Their solution is a Google Chrome extension that iden-tifies if an article a user is clicking on is likely to be fake and suggests alterna-tives from established news sources from both sides of the political spectrum.”

The program also tracks the type of stories which the user reads.

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REGIONAL NEWS Page:23The St.Kitts Nevis Observer - Friday December 22nd, 2017

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Some take up shelter at Living Waters but...Cops arrest 11 defiant Cubans

Jensen La Vende

Members of the Police Service’s Child Protection Unit remove children from the campsite set up by Cubans seeking asylum outside the UN’s Chancery Lane, Port-of-Spain headquarters yesterday.

One day after Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi offered to mediate in the impasse involving the

Cubans dissidents living on the pavement out-side the United Nations’ Chancery Lane, Port-of-Spain headquarters, police removed 11 adults and three children from the location yesterday evening.

The adults were at the Belmont Police Station last night while the chil-dren were in the care of the Child Protection Unit of the T&T Police

Service. According to po-lice, around 5 pm officers from the Child Protection Unit and Port-of -Spain CID returned to Chancery Lane and attempted to convince a remaining group of 14 Cubans (11 adults, three children) to accept shelter at the Living Waters Community for two weeks. Police had spoken to the initial group of 18 earlier and managed to convince some of them

to accept the offer.

When the police returned last evening, the gathered the remaining 11 adults and children, put them into a maxi taxi and took them to the Belmont sta-tion to be processed and charged with obstructing a footpath, loitering and other offences. UN came outside during the activ-ity and were in tears as they tried to convince the police not to arrest the

Cubans.

Approached for com-ment, however, the UN employees declined.

The Cubans, who are seeking resettlement in the US and other countries as political refugees from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), have been demonstrating in front of the UN build-ing for the entire year. The tarpaulins they erected were torn down after they left and their belongings placed in it and thrown in a police bus. A half bucket of partly eaten fried chick-en left on top a bucket and part of a two-litre soda were placed in large gar-bage bag and that too was put in the police bus with their cases of water and other edibles.

The group had moved into the UN building’s yard on Monday and UN officials called in the po-lice, claiming the group was not abiding by the regulations and an inva-sion of private (UN) prop-erty. UN officials later said the Cubans left the yard Monday night, re-turning to the pavement. UN officials claimed some of the Cubans want to stay in T&T. The T&T Guardian was told police spoke with the group for hours from lunch time yesterday before deciding to arrest them.

The group told the T&T Guardian they fled Cuba because they were

persecuted for “being peaceful opponents to the totalitarian regime of the Castro brothers.” They sold all their belongings and journeyed to Trinidad and Tobago legally by sea and air hoping to make it to the US, but they first wanted to seek asylum so they won’t be deported back to persecution.

In the region, T&T is the third most popular country for asylum seek-ers behind Belize and the Dominican Republic respectively. As at May this year, there were 336 applications for asylum in this country. In 2016 there were 163 asylum applications. Cubans ac-count for the largest num-ber of asylum seekers in T&T. Asylum seekers are people who have sought international protection and whose claim for refu-gee status has not yet been determined. A person is a refugee if they fulfil the criteria set out in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, according to the UNHCR.

Police said if the group is charged for child en-dangerment, the children may become wards of the state until 18, while their parents will be deported back to their homeland on the completion of their sentences. Since they are seeking asy-lum, the group will have to surrender their pass-ports to the UN in keep-ing with the regulations.

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The St.Kitts Nevis Observer - Friday August 20, 2015 ADVERTISEMENTPage:24

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1208.indd 24 12/27/17 12:39 PM

by monique washington blue day · 2 days ago · by monique washington the nevis national citizens...

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