By Anna Gaskell Observer Staff Writer (Charlestown, Nevis) – Politicians are ambitious people. Just because they lose an election, that shouldn’t mean their ambitions wither overnight into nothing. The CCM lost the election to the NRP in July, 2006. It has been over two years since their 14-year reign of power came to an end. Its politicians have gone back to work. And if the business card of party Chairman Stedmond Tross is anything to go by, they are very busy indeed. (Mr. Tross’s business card reads: ‘Services Available: Offshore Financial, Real Estate Developers, Property Management, Shipping Agents, Accounting). According to Mr. Tross, this doesn’t prevent them from being very active in the community. Former Premier Vance Amory’s opening statement during an interview was that party members were also “active in ensuring that the party remains in the people’s consciousness.” In an individual capacity, Mr. Tross and certain other CCM people, such as Mr.Amory and Mark Brantley, have been putting in their own money to support sports teams and sports tournaments around Nevis. Mr. Tross co-sponsors the Charlestown Secondary School football team, while Mr. Brantley sponsors the Brown Hill team. The basketball tournament that started three weeks ago is sponsored by Mr. Amory. Mr. Amory also sponsors football and cricket teams in his neighborhood in St. George’s, though he says that unless it’s cricket he can do no more outside the formal sponsorship than just advise the team on discipline. But with cricket, he can coach, too. “The reason CCM people are putting their resources into these sports teams is because, according to Mr. Tross, they are “getting our youngsters involved in meaningful activities.” “Those same young people might otherwise be sitting by the side of the road drinking, he says. The party leaders say there is no political motivation behind the sponsorships. Mr. Amory backed this up in his interview, though he did say, “If the party gets benefit then that’s fine, but that’s not what I do it for.” In fact, both Mr. Tross and Mr. Amory implied that if any of these sporting events were openly associated with the CCM, that could well prevent certain people from participating in them, or even supporting at them. This must be restricting for the politicians who made names for themselves during the time that CCM was in power. If they want to do more than just hand over money, the worry is that things become politicized, and that paralyses further progress. Aside from the sponsorship of several sports teams, certain members of the party, including Mr. Tross, are also active in the “mentoring schemes” that the Education Department runs. This may be one of the rare incidences of cooperation between the current government and members of the former government. All of this focus on young people might make it seem as though Nevis has an age limit of 18. When asked if there were any social programmes that CCM people were running for the elderly, Mr. Tross said that there were none. He said that they were still building on thoughts about projects, but that it would be “premature to say” exactly what they were. He pointed out that it was under the CCM that the one time “Poor House” next to the Alexandra Hospital was turned into the “Flambouyant Nursing Home” of today. Mr. Amory thought that care for the elderly was more a matter of one-to-one contact: “We can only help on an individual basis,” he said. Although he said he wouldn’t want to brag about it, he claimed to be looking out for those in need within the Gingerland community, spending time with the elderly to help them realize that ‘they are important” in society. The CCM-run event which Mr. Amory is most proud of appears to be the Herbert’s Beach get-togethers. This social event happens “whenever there is an opportune time,” especially around Culturama, and it aims to bring people together in a public place, where they can relax and socialize, he said. The Herbert Beach events are for the young, the elderly, and the in-betweeners.” Mr. Amory says that the current government is not keen on keeping it running, so the CCM are working hard to make sure that the event continues to take place. Events like this, he says, prove that despite the current political tensions in society, people of “different political persuasions” can still get along. The CCM certainly do remain “in the public’s consciousness.” They hold regular public meetings to which anyone can attend, listen, ask questions and air their grievances. The radio talk show “On the Mark,” hosted by Mark Brantley, provides another opportunity for the CCM to air their views and for listeners to ask questions.”
