BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS – A unnamed source in the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has confirmed that the Federation’s Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris, is spending more time out of the country than in.
CaribUpdate News Service with offices in Florida and Grenada was at the time reporting on the statement by Leader of the Opposition, the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, in which he apologised to Prince Harry for the absence of Prime Minister Harris during the one-day visit to Basseterre.
In its headline story: “Dear Harry, sorry for the ‘snub’,” CaribUpdate News reported that the absence of Prime Minister Harris “came at a time when questions have begun to be raised about his travel schedule.”
“One government source indicating to our news desk that he has spent more time out of the country than in during 2016,” said CaribUpdate News Service.
CaribUpdate News provides content to radio and television stations in the Caribbean and select cities in North America, as well as content for newspaper and web throughout the world.
Dr. Douglas, Leader of the Opposition, blasted Prime Minister Timothy Harris for his “no show” having travelled to the Phillipines three days before Prince Harris arrived.
Since last year, opposition parliamentarians have repeatedly questioned PM Harris’ travels which takes him out of the country every week with nothing to show for it.
“Where is the EC$700 million left in the Treasury when the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party left office? How much money has Prime Minister Harris , who has been out of the country almost every week, spent on travelling?,” St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party chairperson and Central Basseterre MP, Hon. Marcella Liburd has been asking.
“Where have all this money gone in 21 months? How is this money being spent? Ministers are still spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in travelling first class,” she said.
MP Liburd has also been questioning the EC$1 million of taxpayers’ money allegedly spent on security equipment on the private home in Tabernacle of Prime Minister Harris and stark evidence of nepotism with family members of the prime minister and other ministers being appointed as directors and top positions in the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Education, the High Court, the Magistrate’s Court and the Boards of the St. Christopher Air and Sea Ports Authority (SCASPA), the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis, the St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank, the St. Kitts Electricity Company (SKELEC), the Solid Waste Management Corporation and the St. Christopher and Nevis Social Security.
She said despite of the Prime Minister and his ministers travelling frequently for long periods, it is always at First Class and accommodation at the most expensive hotels.
“With all the spending of the taxpayers’ money we are still not seeing any new development on the ground. The country has not benefitted,” said Ms. Liburd, who pointed to the numerous projects that started under the Denzil Douglas Labour Party administration. Some have been completed while others are still under construction.
