SKNLP chairman says Harris is ‘selling out the country’

Last updated: November 3, 2017 at 11:56 am

The opposition in St Kitts and Nevis have accused the prime minister of going back on election promises not to sell land to foreigners under the Land for Debt initiative to foreigners.

Chairman of the opposition St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, Marcella Liburd, made the claim during a radio dicussion this week.

She said that Prime Minister Timothy Harris promised that the repeal of the Vesting of Certain Lands Act would give more land to people in the federation.

But Liburd stressed that after two-and-a-half years in office, the Team Unity government have not repealed the legislation within the first 100 days as promised.

“The government and Timothy Harris have now sold some of those very same lands to foreigners. Up to now Dr. Harris has not said a word to the country about the sale of lands to foreigners, “ she said.

“Who is now selling out the country? Who is selling out the patrimony now?”

Manifesto promise

Liburd, the member of parliament for Central Basseterre, said the previous Labour government’s initiative was the main reason for the fallout between then senior minister Timothy Harris and then deputy prime minister Sam Condor.

“Dr Harris and his Team Unity went to the length and breath of this country accusing Dr Douglas of selling out the patrimony of the country to foreigners and depriving Kittitians and nationals of being able to get a piece of the rock,” said Liburd.

“The issue was also the basis of the no confidence motion.”

Harris was elected prime minister in 2015, standing for his own breakaway party and joining the Team Unity coalition with two others.

Liburd referred to the Team Unity manifesto for the 2015 general election, which described the Vesting of Certain Lands Act as “worse than the travesty of Labour’s parliamentary decision in December 2012 to steal our hard-earned lands from the people of this country.”

It continues across pages 16 and 17: “The surrender of over 1,200 acres of prime land in the Sandy Point, Cayon, Lamberts and Lodge Estates means that such lands will be out of reach from the common man who dreams of building houses, developing agriculture and other development projects.”

Accusing the prime minister of deception, Liburd called on Harris to be transparent with the electorate.

“We also want Dr Harris to tell us why, after two and a half years, the Vesting of Certain Lands Act that he said he was going to repeal has still not being repealed,” she said.

“This is another deception, another broken promise and another example of lack of trust, lack of transparency and lack of accountability.”