Mrs. Veta Morton is consistent. She tells it as she feels it - as she sees it. I am sure, like Mrs. Morton there are many others that have held the Hon. Joseph Parry and the Nevis Reformation Party to a higher standard. There is whispering! There is grumbling! People are congregating and critiquing the Nevis Reformation Party led Nevis Island Administration. Not so anymore. Save for Marcus Hull and now Mrs. Veta Morton, the criticisms were perceived as partisan. Christian virtues and the dictates of a godly conscience must have been the propeller for Mr. Hull to take to the airwaves and Mrs. Morton to write publicly.

I do not believe that Mrs. Morton is attacking the Hon. Joseph Parry and the Nevis Reformation Party in government. If she is, then I say, she is true to form because the CCM Administration under the leadership of the Hon. Vance Amory did not escape the passionate scrutiny of Mrs. Morton’s pen as she took that administration to task for what she perceived as wrong.

Veta’s pain is palpable. She campaigned for a change of government and her contribution helped to ensure that the Hon. Joseph Parry, the Hon. Hensley Daniel, the Hon. Robelto Hector and the Nevis Reformation Party take the reign of government. Very shortly after the NRP took office, Mrs. Morton was appointed hospital administrator. With all her exposure and training and years of experience at the Hospital, all of us believe that Mrs. Morton was the ideal individual to take the Alexandra Hospital to the next level. Mrs. Morton was not only the right person to fill the position, she succeeded her predecessor who was promoted to the position of Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health. What a scenario for tag teaming! What seemingly seamless transition! But in the fullness of time ….

The agony of Mrs. Morton resonates. “I see doom … I feel hopelessness … I see despair”. I imagine that like the psalmist proclaimed, ‘we are his people, the sheep of his pasture”, there is a parallel to be drawn when one analyses Mrs. Veta Morton and the Hon. Joseph Parry and the Nevis Reformation Party relationship. This was no ordinary relationship. If there was a beacon in Nevis, the Alexandra Hospital was leading the way.

Mrs. Morton understands the administration of a hospital. She has participated in the evolution and transformation of the Alexandra Hospital during the term of the Concerned Citizens Movement tenure in government. Her appointment as hospital administrator and having the receptive ears of her colleague the permanent secretary and party leaders in Cabinet, there was nothing to hold back Alexandra Hospital and Nevis; but Veta’s (contribution) had a very short lifespan. She was cut off in the prime of her tenure as the hospital administrator because she dared to promote the ideals of professionalism.

I am bewildered! Logic escapes me! Veta’s support for the Nevis Reformation Party and the Hon. Joseph Parry is/was second to none. She has been a cheer leader for the Hon. Joseph Parry even from the pews of the Church. Her name was floated to be the NRP’s candidate for St. James’ in the upcoming local elections. It must be the proverbial rubbing of salt in raw sore to transfer an individual when she is doing a good job and having her under the guise of promotion as an Assistant Secretary, a position she held, if it ever was bestowed, for an ignominious four hours – a half day! As an outsider, if there were differences with the Minister and the Permanent Secretary, for the Hon. Premier and his other members of Cabinet to uphold and hasten the further humiliation of a sheep of their own flock is the ultimate display of paranoia!

We can only imagine the emotional trauma she is experiencing having been deceived by those whom she has held at a higher standard. I make bold the statement that what Mrs. Morton did not know is that neither the permanent secretary nor the minister of health are serious about the health of our island. I go further and say it is my conviction that the Hon. Premier and the remainder of Cabinet have no interest in the hospital.

They all thrive on destroying the bridge that they have crossed. They are trampling on the heads of those who have made sacrifices for their pride of position. They are taking their supporters for granted! It is now apparent that they believe that Nevis begins and will end with them! They are interested in themselves and their positions and to hoot to those who helped put them there!

Nobody would have expected Mrs. Morton to react the way she did. But “Only who feels it knows it”. No matter how we seem to commiserate with Veta, her pain is real. It is excruciating. It is debilitating.

Premier Parry miscalculated as he often misspoke! He and his colleagues were seeking to dress down an individual whose hallmark was professionalism and would call a spade a spade irrespective of party affiliation. I say Nevis needs more Veta Mortons. And to Mrs. Morton, your sight of doom and despair, and your feeling of hopelessness are all transient. If there is any comfort, I am to say to you, you have become my glittering star in the sunshine. Together, we can intensify our efforts for the restoration of our once halcyon island home.