By: E. Williams
Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 30, 2017 – Caretaker for St. Christopher 8 of the opposition St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP), Dr. Drew has slammed Minister of Tourism, Hon. Lindsay Grant for his apparent ambivalence to access by locals to the beach at the recently opened Park Hyatt St. Kitts.
“It is all about balance, balance knowing that all beaches are public, balance knowing that the individuals who are on the beach deserve privacy, balance knowing that the beach is to be accessible by the citizen of the country and work towards that. Obviously it’s not going to be no access; it’s going to be access. How we strike that balance is for us as individuals, individually and collectively for us to work out. It is not insurmountable,” Grant told WINNFM in an interview.
Mr. Grant said that access by locals to all public beaches will always be an issue and spoken about, but it has to be dealt with.
“With every development it is going to happen, but at the end of the day we must have cooperation between all the stakeholders involved, because at the end of the day we are going to rely on a hotel as this to propel the citizenry of this country by employment, more money in their pockets, the synergies between agriculture, so we are all dependent on it so we can’t throw out the baby in the bathroom. We have to work towards a common goal which is economic development and growth for every citizen of the country,” said tourism minister Grant, who has been tourism minister for two and a half years.
But Dr. Drew pointed out that the First Premier, First National Hero and the Father of Independence, the Right Excellent Sir Robert L. Bradshaw and the Labour Movement have answered the questions and in an effort to ensure that all beaches were accessible by locals, had to battle the plantation owners.
“Some persons did not want to see a certain class of people thrive. So (for Mr. Grant) to come here in 2017 and say ‘we will have access to the beaches, but, is almost suggesting that a guest from the United States or wherever for that matter, is on a beach by a hotel that Kittitians and Nevisians cannot be there at the same time?
“This is a matter of justice. This is a matter of discrimination. The minute Mr. Grant begins to introduce the words ‘balance’ and ‘but,’ Mr. Grant is restricting my rights and that of all the local people to use the beaches. All guests coming to St. Kitts and Nevis have access to all the beaches, but is he saying that local people must be denied access to the beach (at Park Hyatt St. Kitts)?
“Am I hearing correctly? I cannot believe what I have just heard. This cannot be St. Kitts and Nevis in 2017 in post colonialism. We welcome all our guests to enjoy all our beaches, but locals must also enjoy it and not restricted,” said Dr. Drew, pointing out that “money alone does not satisfy human beings all the time.”
“Human beings have to know that there is justice,” said Dr. Drew.
Photo 1 – Dr. Terrance Drew
Photo 2 – Hon. Lindsay Grant
