Charlestown, Nevis (Sunday, April 21, 2013)-Former Premier and Leader of the Opposition Nevis Reformation Party (NRP), the Hon. Joseph Parry said he is very disappointed that the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM)-led Nevis Island Administration has ignored the state of the Government and Hamilton roads in the St. Paul’s constituency, Charlestown.
Parry spoke out on Saturday following heavy rainfall on the island which did much damage to roads that were being upgraded by the NRP Administration before leaving office on January 23, 2013. The work on Government Road has since been stopped by the CCM Administration.
Parry noted that during his time in office, his NRP Administration had secured funding from the Sugar Industry Development Fund (SIDF) to fix the Hamilton Road, the bypass road at Brown Pasture, and do drainage work in Cotton Ground.
Under the NRP, the work had started with the Government Road project, and was being facilitated by Surrey Paving, a company which has been doing work in Nevis since the previous CCM Administration.
However, Deputy Premier, Hon. Mark Brantley had cried foul when Surrey Paving was awarded the contract, and told the public that Parry was insulting the government Public Works Department by not allowing them to do the work. Brantley even said, that “Parry said Public Works is incapable of doing the project,” and that he (Brantley) had evidence that Public Works had done an estimate which is considerably cheaper than Surrey Paving’s.
Hon. Parry said that his Administration had decided that Public Works would do Brown Pasture, but awarded Government Road to Surrey Paving because it is more complex, involving a drainage system that would take the water from Hamilton to Government Road through Stoney Grove and into the Bath Stream. They were also awarded the Cotton Ground project which was designed to take the water away from people’s home, and out of the village.
“As soon as the CCM got into government they propagandized the whole project and stopped it. Thus, we had half done drains in the Government Road area, and the road from the Alexandra Hospital to the top of Government Road area were dug up but not redone. The present CCM government was warned that it was a stupid thing to do, and that if the rains came we could have a disastrous situation in Charlestown. Obviously they had advisors and engineers in whom they had confidence, and they followed their advice,” said Parry.
The Former Premier Parry said that the people of Nevis are now left with another CCM catastrophe that the public will pay for. “Just like the catastrophe of the road between Cotton Ground and the airport, and the catastrophe of the airport terminal, that leaks uncontrollably every time it rains.”
Parry asked, “who would finish the project”? He said he would like to know who would be called upon to finish the project at Government Road, and at Hamilton. “Would it be Public Works or would Surrey Paving be called back to complete the project. If they use Public Works at least they would have stuck to their own conviction that Public Works can do it, but if they use Surrey Paving they will only compound their stupidity to a point where the smallest child would understand that CCM now is even more incompetent than the previous CCM,” stated the Hon. Joseph Parry.
“But worst, the CCM are willful, deliberate and totally lacking of respect for the people of Nevis, especially the people of Charlestown. The CCM will ignore every bit of sensible advice as they recklessly try to dismantle everything done between 2006 and 2013,” commented the Former Premier of Nevis.