(Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 29, 2013) St. Kitts-Nevis Minister of Information The Honorable Nigel A. Carty has revealed that the rift between former Deputy Prime Minister The Honorable Sam Condor and Prime Minister The Right Honorable Dr. Denzil L. Douglas was rooted not in policy differences as Mr. Condor has claimed, but in matters of a highly personal nature.
Among the points raised by Minister of Information at a public meeting in West Basseterre on April 28, 2013 were the following:
1. Persons working on contract with the Government of St. Kitts & Nevis are not eligible for pensions, regardless of their rank or station. They are, instead, provided with a gratuity at the end of said contracts. The wife of former Minister Condor had worked with the Government on contract, and was therefore ineligible for a pension. She was, however, eligible for a gratuity, which she had been paid. In spite of this, Mr. & Mrs. Condor felt that some means should be found to provide her with a pension, and when this was not possible, they became enraged.
2. There is a four-acre plot of land along the Kim Collins Highway which a Condor family member wished to own. In addition, Minister Condor had requested of the St. Kitts-Nevis Federal Cabinet that this land be made available at below-market rates. It was explained to then-Minister Condor that the same land had been requested by the Royal St. Christopher Police Force in light of their need for location from which the expeditious dispatching of officers would be possible. And it was also explained that it would be difficult to justify providing this land at below-market rates. This, too, enraged the former Minister and his wife.
Differences over the Increase in Senators Bill and the Government’s debt reduction bill, Mr. Carty explained, may have been convenient excuses for Minister Condor’s rift with the Prime Minister and/or the Cabinet, but they do not reflect the truth.