BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, June 30, 2017 (PLP PR Media Inc.) — Health conscious walk enthusiasts who every last (and sometimes first) Saturday of the month join Prime Minister Dr the Hon Timothy Harris for a refreshing health walk, will on Saturday July 1 assemble at the St. Peter’s Community Centre at 5:00 in the morning for the walk’s new edition.
Prime Minister Dr the Hon Timothy Harris (right) with Parliamentary Area Representative for Constituency Number Eight, the Hon Eugene Hamilton pictured at the end of the last health walk at Ottley’s.
Excitement has been building from the day the announcement was made that for the first time the Peoples Labour Party (PLP)/Prime Minister’s Health Walk would not take its regular route where it always started at Belle Vue and ended at Ottley’s Village in Constituency Number Seven, but would start at St. Peters Community Centre in Constituency Number Eight and end at the last roundabout in Frigate Bay, in Constituency Number One.
Parliamentary Representative for Constituency Number Eight, the Hon Eugene Hamilton, who is also the Minister of Agriculture, Health, National Health Insurance, Human Settlement, Community Development, Gender Affairs, Social Services, Cooperatives and Lands who is a supporter of the health walks had joined Prime Minister Harris at the end of the walk that was held on Saturday April 29.
“The walk organised by the Prime Minister goes back many years, and it is clear from the support of the constituency that the individuals who walk are strong in the support of the Prime Minister and what he is doing in his constituency,” said Hon Hamilton in an invited interview at the end of the walk at Ottley’s.
“It is one of the things that every politician needs to do, not just only walk, but the socialising as this kind of event creates the atmosphere for people to communicate. Sometimes the Prime Minister is very busy and this is an occasion when he gets chance to talk to some people who he may not be able to see in his office because after all the office of the Prime Minister is very busy.”
When the Hon Eugene Hamilton spoke those words in April, he did not know that in July the walk would be starting on his turf. The fact that the walk is starting in Constituency Number Eight, PLP’s Deputy National Chairman Mr Craig Tuckett met on Tuesday June 27 with the PLP Branch Chairmen for Constituency Numbers Eight and Two at the intended starting point.
PLP’s Deputy National Chairman, Mr Craig Tuckett (centre) with PLP Branch Chairmen Mr Wendell Wattley (right) and Mr Nubian Greaux
The Peoples Labour Party Branch Chairman for Constituency Number Eight Mr Wendell Wattley, and his counterpart for Constituency Number Two, Mr Nubian Greaux teamed up with Mr Tuckett and they inspected the route which at the end they announced that it was just slightly over six miles or ten kilometres.
The walk from the St. Peters Community Centre which is in Constituency Number Eight, will proceed along the Main Road to the Shadwell Roundabout, then south towards the CFBC, then east along Cayon Street all of which are in Constituency Number Two, and continuing on to Constituency Number One walking east along Pond Road and ending at the last roundabout in Frigate Bay. Light refreshments will be served.
The PLP Branch Chairman for Constituency Number One, Mr Cante Bowry, who regularly joins the Prime Minister for the health walks in Constituency Number Seven said that he was pleased that the walk would touch his area and that the people who always accompany him would be joining him and have promised to bring their friends with them.
In the meantime, Mr Mario Wigley, PLP No Eight Branch Secretary is also thanking Prime Minister Harris for hosting the walk in Constituency Number Eight and is sending out an appeal for more persons from the area to join as they would not only have the chance to exercise, but also the chance to interact with the Prime Minister who is also CARICOM’s lead spokesman on human resources, health and HIV matters.
PLP Branch Chairman for Constituency Number One Mr Cante Bowry leading a group of walkers, among them Prime Minister Harris, in the last health walk
“We have been going to Number Seven for the health walks, and I now find it very convenient and timely that the Prime Minister has taken the opportunity and he has recognised that we who are in Number Eight we journey there from time to time to meet the other supporters, well-wishers and members of the People’s Labour Party,” said Mr Wigley.
“We are now basically are in a position to host them. This is a time for persons to recognise that the Prime Minister is very approachable, he is engaging, and he is someone you can basically speak to at any level. He always avails himself to the concerns of the citizens.”
According to Mr Wigley, bringing the health walk to Number Eight is a win-win situation: “Come and join the health walk, while at the same time you can interact with the Prime Minister, and use the opportunity, who knows, to express one or two levels of concern or interest you may have had that you would like him to assist you in.”
The PLP No Eight Branch Secretary commented that with the health walk taking place in Numbers Eight, Two and One, he saw it as a sign of better things to come noting that it might end up being held also in Constituencies Three, Four, or even Five next time and he appealed to residents of those areas to support the health walk when that happens.
