St Kitts and Nevis is undergoing a political trauma: Mark Brantley

Premier of Nevis and Leader of Concerned Citizens Movement Mark Brantley stated that it is no secret that St Kitts and Nevis is undergoing a political “trauma.” He said different things are being said by different people. He made the remarks during his show "Straight Talk Across the Narrows" on Wednesday. Brantley said, “Team Unity” has still not fulfilled its promises to the people of Nevis. He said he has been Premier for over four years and constantly agitated inside the government that “we do better by the people of Nevis.” “I did not campaign for Team Unity, fight for Team Unity to now being in a position where Team Unity has abandoned Nevis and abandoned all the promises; that is not what I fought for,” said Brantley. He stated that prior to Team Unity, Nevis was getting nothing from the Citizenship by Investment Programme, “When we did get something, it was categorized as a loan that was on NRP and Labour; it is something I was passionate about, it was something CCM was passionate about It was unfair it could not continue, it was immoral billions of dollars coming into the country, and people of Nevis were locked out, we campaigned against it, PLP, PAM, and CCM formed the document of Charleston Accord,”.                                      He stated that the “Team Unity” coalition was made possible with Concerned Citizens Movements’ (CCM) involvement in it. He said CCM had a history of not aligning with any other party, but he insisted on joining “Team Unity” because it was the right thing to do. 

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Brantley stated that as the leader of CCM, he welcomes debates and does not shy away from them. He said people who choose the path of public service should be willing and welcome public scrutiny, public criticism, and discussions. He said people are questioning his intentions, but he is just fulfilling his duties towards Nevis.“They are saying Nevis got $400 million, but one question is missing from the discussion, how much did St Kitts get only so then we will be able to decide whether or not this is a fair share?,” questioned Mark Brantley. Brantley stated during the COVID-19 pandemic, the unfairness and inequality increased when the revenue to Nevis was reduced. He said while Nevis was trying to make ends meet during the pandemic, St Kitts was enjoying a surplus.“We still had to keep our people employed; we still had to keep our hospitals open; we still had to keep our lights on, our roads open, our garbage collected. We borrowed money to make everything happen,” said Brantley.Furthermore, he stated that he would continue to fight for the people of Nevis, and the island must be given its fair share of citizenship by an investment programme. “The island of Nevis is my life, there are many places in the world that I could have been, but I have chosen to be here among the people of Nevis; if the good comes, we enjoy it, and if bad comes, we must suffer together,” said Brantley.