Sunday May 18, 2014
Basseterre, St. Kitts
Thank you, Mr. Chairman
I have come to congratulate an illustrious political movement on its 82ndAnnual Conference.That is a big achievement.
Holding together as a heroic political force for the benefit and welfare of the people of St Kitts-Nevis for over eight decades is a tribute to your diligence and persistence as much as it is to the courage and fortitude of your forefathers.
I bring you fraternal greetings from the Leader, the Executive and the Membership of the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party. The Honourable Gaston Browne, who will be sworn-in as Prime Minister on the morning of June 13 2014, sends you his congratulations. He wishes the SKNLP the very best in your deliberations during this important 82nd Annual Convention. Prime Minister Gaston Browne looks forward to visiting with our most important neighbour shortly after the election campaign has ended, in Antigua and Barbuda.
Our two Political Parties have a long tradition of cooperation and mutual respect,dating back to the days of Sir Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw and Sir Vere Cornwall Bird, our national heroes. These two great leaders dismantled colonialism,beginning with the struggles in the 1930s right up until statehood in 1967; the powerful trade unions which they led, successfully tackled the challenges of their day.
When Winston Churchill said: I did not become Her Majesty’s Prime Minister in order to dismantle the British Empire, he did not know that leaders like Vere Bird and Robert Bradshaw existed in these colonies. Our leaders succeeded in dismantling colonialism because they were courageous,determined, and unrelenting. Leadership is the ability to transform vision into reality. These two great leaders from our two countries transformed our reality. They performed their duties, not because they loved power, but because history imposed upon them the power to create a new reality.
For you ran with the baton they passed to you on that long race that is service to your country.
Inspired by their selflessness, their dedication to their nation, and their ambition to make this country great, you have worked industriously to continue the noble task they began.
And you have succeeded.
And, you have succeeded well.
Today, your country’s standard-of-living surpasses that of the majority of developing nations of the world.
Today, your people’s quality of life is equal to that of people in many highly developed countries.
Today, St Kitts-Nevis is admired by many and respected by many more.
You deserve heartiest congratulations and warmest applause.
And, I am delighted to congratulate you and to applaud you on behalf of the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party and its leader the Honourable Gaston Browne from whom I bring fraternal greetings and good wishes.
Mr.Chairman, no movement becomes grand without a talented and skillful leader.
However,good the team – the Captain makes the critical difference.
For it is the Captain who must have the vision; who must determine the strategy;who must employ the tactics for success.
Those principles are as true for sport as it is for business and for the conduct of the affairs of a nation.
A poor Captain, a weak leader, an indecisive frontrunner will lead the best of teams to catastrophe.
You the membership of the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party and the people of St. Kitts-Nevis are fortunate to have as your leader a man who may be small in size, but who is large in stature; a man whose every fibre and every sinew is devoted to the well-being and upliftment of his country; a man who is celebrated internationally for the eminence of his work despite the small size of the nation from which he proudly comes.
You are blessed by the leadership of The Right Honourable Denzil Douglas.
This is a man whose leadership has taken the people of St Kitts-Nevis to the rank of the richest in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.
This is a man whose leadership has catapulted St Kitts Nevis to the rank of 72ndof 194 nations on the UN Human Development Index.
This is a man whose vision turned adversity into opportunity, when in the wake of the collapse of the sugar industry he envisaged the Citizenship by Investment Programme that has financed sustainable development projects and improved the lives of the people of this – his beloved – nation.
Prime Minister of SKN since 1995 to present;
-His4th term, and has the overwhelming support of the popular vote of the Country
-International presence of which we can be proud of,
-Dean or longest serving Head of Government of the Caricom region
-Consulted by international bodies on all kinds of topics
Example;
· health HIV /AID the UN Clinton Foundation
· Debt Management and Finance by the Commonwealth Secretariat
· Moved our Country from just a middle income Country to a higher Income as Country,one of only 4 in the region – the others being Bahamas, Trinidad, and Barbados
All workers are now entitled to gratuity payment after leaving employment after10years,
-Minimum wage of Government employers has been increased
-All students can secure scholarships and loans to for advance training and education
-The PEP program work experience, training and opportunities for youths
-Since in Office this Government has increased the work force by 50% the highest number employed ever in our country.
-We are the highest in manufacture exports
-We are the number one country in investments
-Number one in Economic growth
-A computer for every student
-strides in education, now leading the Caricom region in Mathematics and English in the CXC (O’level)
These days, as the 21st century reaches its teen years, both the St. Kitts and Nevis Labour Party and the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party face different challenges. Our countries face significantly different trials today. Attracting foreign direct investment, in order to spur job-creation, is the foremost task which our leaders face.
The Citizenship By Investment Program which Prime Minister Douglas inherited has been significantly revamped. The benefits flowing from this program are significant and worthy of praise. A slew of new hotel and upscale housing properties have emerged from the reformulated St. Kitts CIP. I have been shown more than 57 new projects around the country that have generated permanent jobs, high incomes and resounding benefits for the people of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Prime Minister Douglas recognized that exporting sugar was unsustainable. What was once an economy dominated by sugarcane for more than three centuries—an economy that left the people of this land landless, and in perpetual poverty—has now been transformed into an economy based on tourism, financial services, and light manufacturing. The new economy has launched a new era in the development of St. Kitts and Nevis. Housing has been modernized; the infrastructure has been advanced; economic opportunities for new businesses have mushroomed; health, social services and sports have vastly improved.
The Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation, created to smooth the transition from the past to the present, was the outcome of imagination and foresight brought to bear by Prime Minister Denzil Douglas. His boldness and his superb leadership have been the twin servants of the people of St. Kitts and Nevis. He has exercised power for the benefit of the people, and he knows that his power flows from the people, intended to make their lives better.
St. Kitts and Nevis has become a model state in the OECS, in the CARICOM and in this Hemisphere. Under the Honourable Denzil Douglas, you have addressed successfully the challenge of youth unemployment, generating jobs for school-leavers, providing an income for young men and women desirous of starting families, owning homes, or studying abroad to earn college degrees. The People Empowerment Program (PEP), which provides training and employment for those entering the job market, is an invention that wins applause from your neighbours in the OECS. Prime Minister Douglas has to be congratulated.
Evidence of your country’s success is gleaned from the latest publication of the United Nations Human Development Index. In a world of 194 sovereign nation-states, St. Kitts and Nevis in 2012 is ranked 72nd and climbing. You have climbed the ladder and are ahead of more than 120 countries whose natural endowments exceed yours, whose populations are larger, whose resource base is greater. But good leadership truly matters! Performance counts! The Honourable Denzil Douglas performs, his achievements count, and the SKNLP is very fortunate to have this great leader at the helm.
Leadership matters.
Farsightedness matters.
Creativity matters.
And, Denzil Douglas has shown that he is a creative, farsighted and accomplished leader.
Beyond the shadow of any doubt, Denzil Douglas is the father of modern St Kitts-Nevis creating a tourism industry – as he did – on the ashes of burnt-out sugar production.
Just look at what his stewardship has achieved from the CIP and its contribution to the Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation.
There are almost 60 investment projects on the ground at various stages of development including Beacon Heights, Tamarind Cove Marina Development, Christophe Harbour – Range Development, and Kittitian Hill just to name a few.
Health Care
The fabric of our Society has changed;
we are now, the doctors, the lawyers, the businessmen the farmers, building contractors, skilled workers and tradesmen.
It is now our children that occupy the places at university, position in the Banks and are our Parliamentary Representatives.
Thanks to the leadership of this one man.
Whatever the critics and detractors may say those projects translate into jobs for Kittitians and Nevisians, food on the table of hundreds of families, more business for the business community and a better life for all.
As a regular visitor to St Kitts-Nevis over many years, I have been a witness to your country’s modernization in every sector.
You have every justification to be proud, and every reason to be particularly proud of your leader.
That he has had the strength of mind and the will of purpose to be focused on his responsibility to guide your nation’s development even as he tolerated dissension and disaffection from within the party’s ranks, is an accolade to his devotion to the nation’s business and to his people’s welfare.
The persons who once claimed that they loved this great institution, SKNLP, if they really wanted to remove and replace Prime Minister Denzil Douglas they should follow the lead of our young ambitious and fair minded leader Gaston Browne, and challenge Denzil Douglas at this forum, this convention, on this convention floor like Gaston Browne did two years ago, but not to try to destroy and betray this great Labour movement for self aggrandizement.
As your next door neighbour, I am very much aware that challenges to the Prime Minister’s leadership have emerged from within. Those who are interested in replacing the Leader of the political party ought to rely on the forum that is provided for challenges from within. That is the view of my political leader, the Honourable Gaston Browne, who mounted a challenge for leadership in 2005 and again in 2012. It cannot be right to undermine the work of the Labour Party by joining hands with those who wish to see the SKNLP fail. The objective of any ruling Labour Party is grounded in the history of bringing greater benefits to the people who elected a majority to office. Power must never be sought for its own sake. The object of exercising power must be for the benefit of the people, not for the aggrandizement of leaders. Prime Minister Douglas knows this only too well.
Of particular note is that even while he contended with the decision of former colleagues to separate from this great, founding, political movement of the people of St Kitts-Nevis, he did not once falter in his duties and obligations to the nation.
As Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, he brought down the national debt, convincing creditors to accept terms and conditions more favourable to the State including land-for-debt swaps that have given the government greater fiscal space to deliver programmes that benefit people directly – in education, in health, and in jobs.
Dr. Douglas also did not neglect the interests of neighbouring countries or the plight of small states in the international community.
He has been a relentless champion in the battle to secure financial and other resources to address the pandemic of HIV/Aids.
Every country in the Caribbean owes him a debt of gratitude for his exemplary role; a role publicly acknowledged by former US President Bill Clinton who revealed that it was Denzil Douglas who urged him “to fix the problem” and caused him to turn his rhetoric to action.
His successful performance in reducing the national debt of St Kitts-Nevis proved so inspiring to the Commonwealth of Nations that the Heads of Government turned to him to lead the argument with the IMF and World Bank and other international financial institutions on the urgency of addressing the debt and financing challenges of small states.
This is the quality of the man, the leader, the champion of the people – Denzil Douglas.
We of the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party have watched the magnificent accomplishments of Dr Denzil Douglas with admiration and respect.
For while he has superintended a government in St Kitts-Nevis that has reduced debt, attracted investment, created jobs, given young people a future, and older people contentment, we – in Antigua and Barbuda – have seen our national debt rise astronomically; we have endured extravagantly high taxes on our people; we have suffered extremely high unemployment among our youth especially; we have borne the weight of an economy that has contracted year after year.
You, the people of St. Kitts and Nevis, are meeting your challenges, vanquishing developmental tribulations, and enjoying the benefits of hard work, intelligent leadership, visionary planning, and the people’s determination to succeed.
But, as you know on June 12, the people of Antigua and Barbuda will have the chance to put an end to the last 10 years of misery that we have had to tolerate.
We expect that the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party which, like the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, was the catalyst of the people’s political awakening and the instrument of their economic progress, will be given the mandate to correct the failures of the present government and to restore our nation’s economy to health and prosperity.
When I return to Antigua tomorrow, I will tell my people of the great achievements of the SKNLP. I will share with my people the evidence of your country’s success. And I will tell of the importance of strong and effective leadership. The people of St. Kitts and Nevis are moving forward. The country which you have worked so hard to build is trampling down the grapes of under-development. You have a great country, and great leadership. PRIME Minister Douglas’ high standing in the Hemisphere for his work on HIV/AIDS cannot be matched. He is seen as a visionary, applauded by US President Bill Clinton and the General Secretary of the CARICOM for advancing the international agenda, and bringing relief to thousands of sufferers. Your Prime Minister is a great man, a great human being, and a wonderful leader.
In that mighty endeavor, which we will embrace with commitment and resolution, the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party will reach out to you – our comrades in the St Kitts Nevis Labour Party; we will engage with your government and with your celebrated leader, Denzil Douglas; as neighbours we will seek collaborative efforts that will improve the well-being of both our peoples.
You of the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, like we of the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party, are champions of the cause for which our founders – Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw and Vere Cornall Bird – pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor.
That cause was to make our countries strong and our people prosperous.
Comrades, if that is the cause to which you remain dedicated, then you must re-elect Denzil Douglas to lead you to victory at this nation’s next general elections.
He is, by far, a man for this season and for all seasons.
For all the good reasons I have given here, and many more of which I could speak had time permitted, I urge you Comrades to stay with your winning formula – a formula that has modernized and enhanced your country and your people; a formula devised and delivered by Denzil Douglas for the benefit of all.
So I call on you Comrades….
Stand-up for St Kitts-Nevis
Stand-up for the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party
Stand-up for your outstanding leader – the Right Honourable Dr Denzil Douglas.
In the words of the hymnal:
Bring to our troubled minds,
Uncertain and afraid,
The quiet of a steadfast faith,
Calm of a call obeyed.
Increase justice in our land
That all may dwell secure,
And finely build for days to come
Foundations that endure.
God bless you.
God bless the SKNLP.
God bless the Right Honourable Dr.
Denzil Douglas.
God bless St. Kitts and Nevis.
Thank you.
Keyword-Antigua and Barbuda labour
party,ABLP,ALP,Antigua
Labour Party,Asot Michael, Asot Michael MP,Asot Michael Anti Corruption,Asot Michael Corruption
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