Published 23 April 2018
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
By: Media Source
Human Rights Report Highlights Corruption in Timothy Harris-led Team Unity Government
Corruption within the Dr Timothy Harris-led government of St. Kitts and Nevis has been significantly highlighted in the United States Department of State’s Annual Human Rights Practices for 2017.
The report was officially made public last Friday 20th April by the United States Acting Secretary of State, John Sullivan.
The report is as a result of on the ground surveys and sessions conducted with locals and residents regarding life in St. Kitts, the workings of the ruling government and their policies and practices.
Their findings noted that local media practitioners and many private citizens had expressed that corruption within the local government was a problem. In particular, private citizens continued to express concern about the lack of financial oversight of both the Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation (SIDF) and the Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP).
In further investigating the two programmes, the report cemented their notion that corruption is indeed existent within the Team Unity government.
Regarding the CBI programme, the report outlined that the Timothy Harris-led government did not release publicly, the number of passports issued and the nationalities of the holders of these passports.
This, they noted is a major corruption indicator, adding that the government also did not publicly release details regarding the operations of the SIDF nor the CIP.
The Human Rights Report on St. Kitts and Nevis also noted that public officials are not subjected to financial disclosure laws and while the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) investigates reports on suspicious financial transactions, along with the police white-collar crime unit, these reports are not available to the public.”
The government’s negligence of the local constitution was also documented in the report, regarding the block on opposition parties and the media to exercise freedom of peaceful assembly and association and freedom of expression.
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