Local News

In a commentary which underlined support for the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Valston Graham taking action to combat “conduct unbecoming of a magistrate, former Chief Medical Officer Dr. Patrick Martin made an informative tie between the workplace and one’s health and personal development.

Dr. Martin said that he satisfied that the Office of the DPP correctly asserted and validated the independence and professionalism of Caribbean justice. The principle of separation of powers is alive and working; albeit partially, pending the necessary division between the executive and the legislature.

“Only a selectively deaf legal practitioner could claim to be unaware of the recurring pyroclastic flows of overlord behavior spewing from on high,” he added.

The former CMO also while expounding on the relationship between the workplace and a person’s health noted that the DPP was ultimately championing the cause of quality health for his staff.

Dr. Martin also indicated that there was a direct relationship between justice and the country’s prosperity.

The DPP had temporarily removed prosecutorial services from Magistrate Donna Harris court, after an incident with an incident which was seen as the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back.”

A young man was gunned down last night, February 11, and the community of Pond’s Pasture, Basseterre , was sent into shock and fear, as residents try to deal with the emotional weight of a third murder in St. Kitts, in four days.

The Police, in confirming the latest homicide stated that “28-year-old Eric Thompson, also known as Jun Jun, of Ponds Pasture had arrived at his home when he was shot several times about the body by a lone gunman. He was pronounced dead at the scene.”

The shooting occurred at approximately 10 p.m.

Sources have indicated that the young man was killed execution style.

Reports also indicate that the deceased was known by the Police.

This latest killing highlights an increasing level of gun violence in St. Kitts and Nevis. There have been numerous reports of shots being fired throughout the twin island state, thankfully though no one is hit in most instances.

On Friday last (February 8), two cousins were gunned down in the Green Housing Project area of Old Road. Less than 24 hours before that, a young man was very fortunate to escape with his life, only sustaining a gunshot wound to his hand, in the Shadwell area.

The Police are reaching out to the public for assistance as they seek to solve all three incidents.

The Bar Association’s statement Friday followed one issued earlier in the week by its president, Dahlia Joseph Rowe that gave support to a decision of the Director of Public Prosecution, Mr. Valston Graham to pull his prosecutorial officers and orderlies the court room of Magistrate Donna Harris, a sister of Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris, after she threw out a Crown Counsel.

In its statement Friday, the Bar Association again commended “Mr. Graham for taking a strong stand in defence of a member of the Bar, Crown Counsel Teshaun Vasquez,” following the recent incident involving Magistrate Donna Harris.

Referring to responses by political activists for the government, including attorney Mr. Terrance Byron Jr., the Bar president noted “the various comments, allegations and discussions in the media recently, some of which are intended to portray the Bar Association in a negative light and make allegations against Mr. Vasquez and others to distract the public from the issues at hand.”

“The sole focus and aim of the Council of the St. Kitts and Nevis Bar Association in the recent issue is to see that the Magistrate’s Court is conducted in a way that is professional and respectful to all who use the services of the Court, including Attorneys-at-Law, so that we have a justice system that inspires confidence in those who approach the Court seeking justice,” the Bar said.

The Bar noted that as a result of a request by DPP Graham for a meeting “a speedy resolution has been reached in the interest of the administration of justice” and looked “forward to the Magistrate’s Court being conducted in a manner which respects the role of legal practitioners as being integral to our system of justice and the protection of the rights of litigants.”

A male pedestrian is said to be in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the J. N. France General Hospital.

The man, whose name was not released, was reportedly struck by a passenger bus in Half Way Tree on Saturday night.

Police have confirmed the incident but offered no further information.

According to an eyewitness “the driver hit the man as he was walking along side the main road in halfway tree.”

“He was lying in blood and breathing heavily; I took out my phone and dialled 911. The ambulance came and went with the injured man, when they left he was still alive but he got a hard lash from the bus. I hope he is alright.”

Police are still looking for a breakthrough in the horrific double murder that took place in the Green Tree Housing area, on Friday night last, February 8, while the community is struggling to recover from the shock of the incident.

The two cousins were gunned down, less than 48 hours after a government affiliated mouthpiece gloated of 120 days passing without any murders in St. Kitts.

According to a Police statement, “thirty-three-year-old Musa “Ziggy” Warner and 22-year-old Shakeem Warner were shot multiple times about the body by masked gunmen. They were transported to the JNF Hospital by the Emergency Medical Service, where they later succumbed to their injuries.”

Sources spoke of hearing a barrage of bullets, just a few minutes after the 10 o’clock hour.

The double homicide came on the heels of another shooting incident of Friday morning, in the Shadwell area, which left a young man with a gunshot wound to his hand.

The security forces- inclusive of the Police, personnel from the Regional Security System (RSS) and the Defence Force- have been involved various operations throughout St. Kitts and Nevis to counter crime and violence but clouds of fear and concern loom as many incidents go unsolved.

Robelto Hector, Political Leader of the opposition Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) says his party denounces a recent signing of a deal by Jonel Powell, the Chairman of the People’s Action Movement (PAM), in the capacity of Managing Director and Legal Counsel of B&L Worldwide Ltd, which grants a concessional agreement involving Nevis’ Vance Amory International Airport, labelling it political corruption.

“This is outrageous and it spells corruption and conflict of interest to see that the Nevis Island Administration (NIA), headed by Premier Hon. Mark Brantley, together with the Nevis Air and Sea Ports Authority (NASPA) and a so-called investor, sign a concession agreement,” Hector said on Friday last, February 8.

He said the presence of Powell, acting as managing director and legal counsel for B&L Worldwide, is a collective agreement spearheaded by the Cabinet of Nevis to give the airport over to a Team Unity friend.

“We have asked the CCM government as part of their job to improve the structure of the airport and to improve airlift. They have failed us. They are seeking to sign an agreement to give away the airport, our one national pride as they have been doing through their term of office. It borders corruption and in a sense it has indicated a failure of the government on behalf of the CCM administration (led by Premier Mark Brantley),” said Hector.

He raised what he described as the “deliberate absence” of the Premier of Nevis, Mark Brantley, who is the Federal minister responsible for aviation.

“Our airport now is caught in the web of corruption between the Team Unity Government, friend, Mr. Jonel Powell of no known knowledge of managing an airport but is now managing director of a company and is also the legal counsel for the same company,” said Hector, an attorney and former minister in the Nevis Island Administration.

He promised to address the people of Nevis today, Monday.

Over a half pound of cocaine (325 grams) and a quarter pound of marijuana (111 grams) were confiscated by security forces during an operation on Thursday morning, February 7.

The find was confirmed by the Police in statement which read, “officers from the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force and Soldiers from the St. Kitts and Nevis Defense Force uncovered 325 grams of cocaine and 111 grams of cannabis that were hidden in an abandoned house in the Newtown area.”

The Police are yet to charge anyone with the find, up to press time, but they have indicated that investigations are ongoing.

The release further indicated that the operation was part of a crackdown against elements involved in the illegal firearms and drugs business.

The Police have confirmed a shooting incident in the Shadwell area, earlier this morning, February 8, which has left one young man injured.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that the young man, with the initials K H, is from the McKnight area and he was shot in the hand.

The time of the incident has not been confirmed but informed sources have indicated that it was around 8 a.m.

Shadwell has been a hotspot for a number of gun crimes and the mobile Police command was stationed in the area to address the apparent increase in violence.
Credible sources have also indicated that there is an ongoing feud between rival gangs from the Shadwell and McKnight areas.

There is no information of any arrests in relation to this morning’s shooting but the Police are continuing their investigations.

St. Kitts and Nevis is not listed in the fastest growing economies in the region, according to information sourced from the Caribbean Development Bank. This revelation indicates the proverbial “maths don’t add up”, as implied by Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris.

Prime Minister Harris has repeatedly boasted of St. Kitts and Nevis as being the best regional economy and his gloating suggests that the twin island state is among the top growing economies in the Caribbean and Central America.

In 2018, the St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, declared that “St. Kitts and Nevis was the only country in the sub-region projected to see five percent growth rate in 2018.”

President of the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Dr. William Warren Smith, in his annual news conference, named the fastest growing Caribbean economies in 2018 as Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada and Guyana. The revelations contradicts the implications by the St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister.

Grenada’s region-leading performance of 5.2 percent continued a five-year positive trend as that country continues to experience the financial growth coming out of its home-grown economic reform programme.

The CDB President said reconstruction efforts led the way to 3.5 percent growth in Antigua and Barbuda, as the country rebuilt and recovered following the passage of Hurricane Irma on Barbuda in 2017.

Dr. Smith said growth in Guyana, recorded at 3.4 percent, was mainly due to increased construction activity, in advance of the first commercial production of oil in 2020.

Conversely, in his review, Smith noted that in Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands, the devastating 2017 hurricane season stymied economic growth as visitor arrivals declined sharply – by 40 percent and 50 percent respectively, due to extensive damage to hotel stock. A fall in construction activity as well as the impact of the fiscal consolidation led to economic contraction in Barbados, despite a modest increase in tourist arrivals.

Smith said that the majority of the bank’s borrowing members recorded economic growth averaging 1.9 percent, compared with 0.5 percent in 2017.

Both the Basseterre-based Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) and the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) have projected a growth rate of 2.7 percent for 2018.

The report by the CDB president comes at a time when Prime Minister Harris has blocked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from publishing the Article IV Consultation on the state of the St. Kitts and Nevis economy which was assessed by an IMF Mission Team in June/July 2018