BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, March 20, 2017 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – The Team Unity Government recently came in for high praise from the Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), Timothy Antoine, for its ramped up efforts in the fight against crime.
Governor Antoine’s commendations came during the 2017 Officers’ Mess Dinner and Awards Ceremony held at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort on Friday, 17th March, 2017.
The ECCB official singled out the government’s move to allocate $72 million to the Ministry of National Security in 2017, which represents the largest yearly budgetary allocation to that ministry.
“There’s more help today than ever before. In the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis for example, I am advised that the 2017 Budget provides $72 million to deal with security, double as I understand it, prime minister, the allocation for 2015 and 2016. We think that’s a good move and we want to encourage governments to continue to invest in this area,” the ECCB Governor said.
In the interest of advancing national security, Governor Antoine called for an increase in police presence on the streets and further investments in technology, not only by security forces but also by private citizens and the business community.
He added, “I want to encourage the continued use of Situational Prevention Strategies such as ramped up police presence, and we’ve seen the effects of that on the suppression of crime in the federation and elsewhere; the use of CCTV, and I want to thank the government for the initiative to give tax breaks on that – to give householders and corporate businesses (and) firms a chance to be able to acquire the technology without paying taxes.”
Earlier, Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris said “the last two years have been critically important because we have accepted from day one that one of the most critical roles and functions of a government and any government, in any society, is the maintenance of law and order.”