BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, May 25, 2022 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, has recorded his profound appreciation to the members of the new Federal Cabinet who remain faithful and committed to the task of delivering for the people.
The honourable Prime Minister was referring to Deputy Prime Minister the Honourable Eugene Hamilton; the Honourable Akilah Byron-Nisbett; Attorney General the Honourable Vincent Byron, and Senator the Honourable Wendy Phipps.
Appearing on the new radio programme, The Point, on Tuesday (May 24) evening, Prime Minister Harris said, “They have been working very hard to ensure the stability of the country. They have been working hard to ensure that we could continue to deliver. [Today], for example, the 25th of May, our civil servants will be receiving their retroactive payments of the historic 10 percent wage increase proposed by my administration.”
“This new Cabinet has been able to oversee the smooth, phased implementation of the regularization of our STEP workers, giving them now permanent jobs, giving them now an opportunity to go to banks and secure loans, giving them now a letter on which they could rely upon to access visas and other benefits,” the Prime Minister added.
Prime Minister Harris also used his appearance on the programme to publicly express his disappointment in the actions of the six former members of Cabinet “for abandoning their posts” and undermining the many achievements of the Government over the last seven years.
“They literally stopped showing up for work—shame on them. They failed even to attend Cabinet meetings which are critical to the functioning of an effective people-centered government. They therefore failed in their ministerial stewardship at Cabinet and they failed as representatives to be in the Cabinet to support matters which were of concern to the country generally and to their constituencies particularly. They have self-indulgently turned their backs on the promises they made to the people in 2020. They have selfishly gone back to the old party politics that has not served neither them nor our country well. That is, they have put their personal ambition above the needs of the people,” said Dr Harris.
As a result of their actions, the six members were stripped of their ministerial portfolios and their appointments as Ministers of Government were revoked.
The new Federal Cabinet continues to meet regularly as the work of the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis continues.
-30-