Published 8 January 2018
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
PM Harris slammed for hiding information on the St. Kitts Hurricane Relief Fund
Basseterre, St. Kitts, January 9th 2018 – Another indication that promises made by St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris remain unfulfilled.
Nearly four months after announcing the introduction of the Hurricane Relief Fund as part of a new option in the St. Kitts and Nevis’ Citizenship by Investment Programme, the country does not know how much of the EC$150 million has been raised to date.
A senior civil servant who spoke on condition of anonymity. pointed out Tuesday that the important Citizenship by Investment programme received just a one-paragraph mention in the 2018 Budget Address in December of last year presented by Dr. Harris.
“In paragraph 22 consisting of 11 lines, not once did Dr. Harris mentioned the Hurricane Relief Fund. Not once. We do not know how many applications were received, how many were successful, how many persons received St. Kitts and Nevis passports and how much money has been collected to date from the sale of our passports,” the individual said.
“All this talk about good governance, transparency and accountability is just talk. This government has a poor track record when it comes to providing information to the people of the country,” said the person, who pointed to the recent announcement by the Prime Minister of Dominica, Hon. Roosvelth Skerrit, who reported to his nationals in December that the Flash Appeal launched on September 29, seeking US$31.1 million to support the relief operations for three months.
“As of 18 December, $17.2 million has been contributed, including $3.0 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund,” said Prime Minister Skerritt.
“What is he hiding? The people of St. Kitts and Nevis are yet to hear the minute of details on the St. Kitts Hurricane Relief Fund. Also there has been no mentioned by Dr. Harris of the US$ 2,294,603 or EC$6,195,428, he has received from the CCRIF SPC (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility) as a result of the passage of Hurricane Irma.
Photo: Dr. Timothy Harris
