By Steve Thomas
Observer Nevis Editor
(Basseterre, St. Kitts) – The Federation’s national security minister took issue with remarks made by Nevis Island Administration Premier Joseph Parry, who earlier this week criticized the federal government for failing to provide enough support for Nevis’ anti-crime battle.
The Minister of National Security, Hon. G. A. Dwyer Astaphan, said in a radio interview that Nevis should share some of the responsibility for maintaining the police force.
“I do not subscribe to the argument that expenses toward maintaining the police operations are exclusively the purview of the fed government,” Mr. Astaphan said.
He called for sharing costs between the two governmental bodies.
“I think the responsibilities are to some extent responsibilities that ought to be shared. That is not abdicating one’s responsibilities,” he said.
Mr. Parry asserted in his speech that people from St. Kitts were coming to Nevis, committing crimes and returning.
This drew a reply from Mr. Astaphan, who said, “If the premier has this information and identifies it as factual information, he may be in a position to assist the police apprehending criminals or would-be criminals or preventing criminal activity in Nevis.”
Criminals come from both islands and other countries, then returned Mr. Astaphan said, to Mr. Parrys statement.
“I don’t think it is very helpful for a statement like that to be made, you know,” Mr. Astaphan said. “I think it foments insularity and a lot of unhelpful energy that can be better directed. I don’t think that is a helpful statement, with the greatest respect.”
Mr. Parry criticized the federal government for not moving forward with a program of installing security surveillance cameras.
In Sept, 2006, the process began, Mr. Astaphan said, with plans for cameras in Basseterre, Charlestown and Frigate Bay.
“The fact that it is not operational yet, it is not a sign that it will not be,” he said, reiterating the government’s commitment to the system.
“What the premier would be well aware of is that time will always have to pass between conceiving a project and operationalizing it,” Mr. Astaphan said.
Mr. Astaphan rejected a statement by Mr. Parry that guns were making their way from St. Kitts to Nevis and being used in crimes.
“That sounds like such a one-sided and definitive statement. Again, I find it, with respect, to be an unfortunate statement,” Mr. Astaphan said. Then he offered an overview of the situation:
“We have a situation in the country where we need tools and we need infrastructure to discharge the responsibilities of the national security apparatus we have. We are significantly short of the mark. In order to get where we need to be, we have to find a lot of money. It is not realistic to expect that money to materialize out of nowhere all of a sudden, like manna falling from heaven. We have to work to get it. We have to find ways and means to get it. The fed government and the Nevis Island Administration have to collaborate. We have to be social and economic partners.”
On one point, Mr. Astaphan expressed the same view as Mr. Parry.
“I agree with Mr. Parry. There should be no room for politics in this,” he said. Mr. Astaphan found a little more common ground with Mr. Parry.
“I’m hearing Mr. Parry’s voice screaming in protest right now and it is all understandable right now, but it is a sound I’ve been making since I became minister of national security,” he said.
Mr. Astaphan said K-9 units and other resources were available before expressing his reactions to Mr. Parry’s remarks.
“It’s not fair to say Nevis is being neglected,” Mr. Astaphan said. “I really do not think it helps, even in the moment of extreme frustration and hurt, to articulate the feelings that were articulated by the premier this morning because the resources available to Nevis are more than the boots on the ground day in and day out.”
