The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis deserves the highest compliments for deciding to return Fort Street to its original use prior to the ten-day inter-regnum of the World Cup.
According to our present update, this historic street which has always been among the busiest of commercial streets in Basseterre will again be open to vehicle parking.
The motoring and the business public can live with the stipulation that parking in the daytime will be allowed for only half an hour. We feel that this is reasonable. Even without the diversion from the World Cup, such a provision would have been justified against the realities of the traffic situation of our times.
The unlimited parking at nights between 7:00pm and 7:00am is also a reasonable condition since the presence of persons on the street during this period of the night could be a deterrent against the crimes of assault and burglary.
The revised parking for Fort Street is good for business. It is welcomed by all the business places on this spot. The public shares a collective sigh of relief of those anxious entrepreneurs on Fort Street who worried that the policy of no parking and no-traffic which the street went through, would ruin their businesses.
While we compliment the government for retracting on its policy, we are mindful that there are people who would like to experiment on our society by removing ancient landmarks established by our own people and replacing these landmarks with outlandish models.
Our society must be vigilant and guarded against these people whose agenda is definitely out of consonance with the better interest of our society and economy.
We have to be very careful not to let them disturb for their own selfish ends a stable and settled situation.
This recent outcome of the quiet Fort Street protest gives our community the assurance that the government is capable of listening to and acting on behalf of the disadvantaged.
For as long as this is the way in which the government will do its business, so long will the public rest its trust in the government; so long will those who believe in democracy wake up every morning expecting the right outcome of events in our country.
As we compliment Dr. Douglas and his Cabinet for making this positive move on historic Fort Street, let us continue to prod them into ever more good moves.
