Published 25 September 2019
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
Cabinet ministers hail PAM Charity Walk for bringing communities together
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, September 25, 2019 (PLP PR Media Inc.) — Team Unity Cabinet ministers who took part in the 2019 edition of the People’s Action Movement (PAM) Charity Walk are resolute that apart from helping the less fortunate in the society by raising funds for charitable causes, the walk also helps to bring communities together.
The walk, which is in its 36th year, was held on Saturday September 21 and took participants from Boyd’s in Constituency Number Three, to New Town in Constituency Number One. Cabinet ministers the Hon Lindsay Grant, the Hon Eugene Hamilton, and the Hon Ian Patches Liburd, were also joined by Prime Minister Dr the Hon Timothy Harris.
“I will say the walk was an exciting one – it was a good one,” observed the Hon Eugene Hamilton, a Deputy Political Leader of the People’s Action Movement. “We were able to walk leisurely, not too much speed, so people kind of stuck together, and we were able to interact with villagers along the way and we had some decent interactions.”
The Hon Hamilton, who is also the Minister of Health et al, noted that the walk was also useful as it underscores the fact that the country has been talking recently about SKN Moves, an organisation that has been launched to encourage people to do a bit of walking now and again. He recommended that walking events should be held at least monthly or bi-monthly.
“Our walk is traditional, this is the 36th year of our charity walk, and over the years we have raised thousands of dollars for worthy charitable causes, so this year is no different,” said the Hon Lindsay Grant, who is also PAM’s Deputy Political Leader. “I think it was pretty good, and we are hoping that we would have done justice and raised sufficient amounts of funds for the worthy causes as we have done every year.”
On the walk’s final leg in Constituency Number One, after criss-crossing a number of streets in New Town, Ponds Pasture, and Ponds Extension, it culminated outside the Constituency Office of the Hon Ian Patches Liburd, at the corner of Ponds Road and Stainforth Street. He noted that it was a good exercise where one could mobilise people, and added that there were good and healthy benefits that were derived from the three miles walk.
The Hon Liburd pointed out that when it started from Number Three, the walk was led by Akilah Byron-Nisbett who is Team Unity’s candidate for the constituency. It then moved into Central, where it was led by PAM’s Chairman and Team Unity’s Candidate for Number Two Ambassador Jonel Powell, while he took over when it moved into Constituency Number One.
“It is an opportunity to see the people within the community and constituency as well,” said the Hon Liburd. “But all in all it is a good exercise, and it was good to see the Prime Minister showing his solidarity as well on the march, and all who came out. It is a good thing and perhaps something we should do more often, it terms of mobilisation. If you have to mobilise people, this is one way of doing it.”
