AUDIO: STATEMENT BY DR. TIMOTHY HARRIS ON EMERGING SECURITY CRISIS IN ST.KITTS AND NEVIS ************************************************************** Click to Listen: https://soundcloud/team-unity-skn/statement-by-dr-timothy-harris-on-emerging-security-crisis-in-stkitts-and-nevis FULL TEXT: Statement By Dr. Timothy Harris On The Emerging Security Crisis In St. Kitts and Nevis ________________________ Fellow citizens and residents. I address you tonight in my capacity as the Leader of Team Unity. As I speak these few words, I do so with a heavy heart. Our little island of St. Kitts has witnessed an upsurge in crime and violence over the past few weeks which is unprecedented in recent times. Just two days ago, a young bus driver going about his lawful business was gunned down. Last night, someone was stabbed even as our people enjoyed a game of football. Today, shots rang out again in Newtown in broad daylight. The tragedy of violence, and in particular gun violence, continues unabated. Let me start this address therefore by expressing Team Unitys profound sadness at these events. I wish to record our deep condolences to the families of those who have lost their loved ones. To the parents, siblings and children left to mourn. To the aunts and uncles, the numerous cousins and friends, I extend condolences to you. Any death is a death too many. And any death through violence diminishes us all. I wish you to know that our prayers are with you even in this your darkest and in our nation’s darkest hour. Leadership has not and will never be easy. It requires us at times to deal with the expected and at other times to deal with the unexpected. Silence however should never be an option. In the vacuum of silence that currently exists on this wave of crime and violence that has now engulfed us, Team Unity has decided that it must speak. Enough is enough and what has been happening has now become too much. In our Nation we have paid much lip service to security. We have agonized and we have postured. But what truly has been done? I say to you tonight, that Team Unity has set the safety and security of our people and our country as its highest priority. Our people must feel safe in their homes. Our children must be safe at school and in their playgrounds and indeed in their communities. Our business people must feel safe in their places of business. Our bus drivers must feel safe as they ply their trade around the country. Equally too, patients and health workers must never again endure the terror of gunshots flying in our hospitals. Safety and security should not be a privilege. It should be a right enjoyed by each and every Kittitian and Nevisian and every resident here. Team Unity pledges to work closely with the security forces, in particular our Police, Coast Guard, Customs, Army and Fire Services and to provide them with the necessary equipment and forensic tools that they require to realistically confront this cancer of crime. It is unacceptable in modern St. Kitts and Nevis that our Police still do not have adequate transportation or adequate equipment and appliances to do their work. Cargo scanners must be provided at all ports of entry into the Federation in St. Kitts and Nevis so as to interrupt the flow of guns and ammunition into our shores. Our Coast Guard must be beefed up along with Customs patrols to ensure that our coastlines are free from smuggling. We have heard of local boats going to neighbouring islands to collect and transport contraband back to St. Kitts and Nevis under the cover of darkness. That must stop. Team Unity proposes to partner with our neighbouring islands to ensure that it stops. We must hire additional prosecutors and create special criminal courts as needed to clear backlog and ensure swifter justice. But whilst I speak to some of our policy prescriptions, we all know that crime and violence are socio-economic problems. It requires the society to become engaged in seeking to fix that which is broken. Our parents of course must become more engaged in helping. Our Churches must shoulder the responsibility of bringing the wayward sheep back to the fold. Our teachers must engage themselves in not just teaching math or English but in teaching life. And we as leaders must equally play our part. We cannot call on our teachers to mold young minds but yet abandon them and their students at the Basseterre High School. No, that is wrong and Team Unity stands even now with the students, teachers and parents at the Basseterre High school. We must through our leadership design and implement policies to steer our youths to greener pastures. Whilst I propose a zero tolerance policy to crime and violence, Team Unity understands that the iron fist of law enforcement has to be encased in the velvet glove of opportunity. My fellow citizens and residents, you have heard me speak, from time to time, to Team Unitys prosperity agenda. We believe that our people must not just be given a fish to satisfy a moments hunger at election time, but must be taught how to fish so that they can feed themselves all the time. A country where we put our people first. A country where all developmental goals are people centred. A country where we together become the kinder gentler society we wish to see. A country where there is prosperity for all, opportunity for all, fairness and justice for all. A country where none of our people are left behind. This is the country that I and my team seek to build. These are the ideals of our forefathers and which we must embrace if we are to overcome these tragic times in which we now live. I say to you today that Team Unity stands full square with those who are standing for a better St. Kitts and Nevis. We stand with the teachers, students and parents at Basseterre High School because it is the right thing to do. If indeed our children are our future then let us not abandon them now. Team Unity stands full square with the bus drivers who today took industrial action to protest their unsafe working conditions. Team Unity stands full square behind the Police and our security forces. We must work with our men and women in uniform to ensure a safer St. Kitts and Nevis. Team Unity stands full square on the side of righteousness and justice in our beloved Federation because in the battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil, Team Unity can say with conviction like the Prophet Elisha, when the Syrians threatened the people of Israel, fear not for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. My fellow citizens and residents, a new dawn is upon our land. You must decide where you wish to stand. It must be clear to all that what was and what is can no longer work. Too much blood has been shed. Too many tears have been cried. There is too much pain in our Nation. Only together in unity can we begin to heal. A new dawn is upon our land. And you and I, indeed all of us, must decide to stand on the side of right and condemn that which is wrong. Our Nation is now fighting against wickedness in high and low places. For my part, my breastplate is secure and Team Unity has armed itself with righteousness to seek to exalt this great Nation once more. In closing, I say to you that this now is beyond mere party politics. This battle now is for the very soul of our Nation. Team Unity stands willing and able to engage at all levels of our society, governmental and non-governmental to create a new paradigm and a new ethos for our Nation. I urge you to ponder on these things and decide for yourself where you will stand. May God bless you and may He continue to provide comfort and succour to our Nation in this our hour of great distress. Thank you and again, may God bless our nation of St. Kitts and Nevis Dr. The Hon. Timothy Harris, MP Leader TEAM UNITY 3 November 2014
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 13:43:52 +0000
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