80 percent of Kittitians concerned about government corruption

Contributing Editor

BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, April 12^th 2017 – A recent poll conducted by the renowned Jamaican pollster Bill Johnson has found that over 80 percent of Kittitians are concerned about the high levels of corruption in the Timothy Harris-led Team Unity Administration.

The poll conducted on behalf of the opposition St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) by renowned Jamaican pollster, Bill Johnson found that over 60 percent of likely voters feel that the country was heading in the wrong direction.

Among the top issues rousing public concern and major setbacks are crime, corruption and nepotism victimisation and the Citizenship by Investment Programme.

81 percent of voters are concerned about corruption, 70 percent on nepotism, 75.6 percent on crime, 51.8 percent on victimisation and 46.4 percent on the Citizenship by Investment Programme.

“In a scientific poll consisting of  a sample size of 1100 likely voters, only 33.6% of the population viewed the country as moving in the right direction whereas significantly 61.2% thought that the country was heading in the wrong direction,” said the news release.

Opposition parliamentarians and members of the public have been openly critical of Dr. Harris for stacking government ministries and departments as well as state corporations with members of his family.

Two of Prime Minister Harris’ sisters are magistrates/additional magistrate, another sister heads the payroll within the Human Resource Department of which Dr. Harris has ministerial responsibility and his child’s mother heads the Government Printery.

Brothers are CEO of the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis and sits on the Social Security Board, a Chief Prison Officer and a nephew who earns a monthly salary as the butler/gardener at the Prime Minister’s private residence.

Prime Minister Harris’ brother in law was promoted to a new post in the Ministry of Health and several members of his family are appointed directors on the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) Board, the St. Kitts Electricity Company (SKELEC) Board, the Board of the St. Christopher Air and Sea Ports Authority (SCASPA), the St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank Board.

The poll results also comes two weeks after Clecton Phillip, former Secretary of Timothy Harris’ Peoples Labour Party (PLP) said former executive and founding members who were booted from the recent hastily-called PLP convention said he and other members still want answers to millions of unaccounted campaign funds.

Phillip, along with Ambassador Sam Condor and Douglas Wattley, who were also ousted from their posts of Deputy Leader and Chairman respectively, have been critical of what they describe as a lack of transparency on the campaign funds issue within the PLP.

Several Harris family members have also established companies or entities renting vehicles, tents, chairs, tables, generators, selling tires, ice making and providing services in landscaping and trucking.

*This article was posted in its entirety as received by SKN PULSE.  This media house does not correct any spelling or grammatical errors within press releases and (or) commentaries. The views contained within are not necessarily those of SKN PULSE.