With great relief I am delighted to say a hearty Thank You to Minister Hensley Daniel for providing a key for the Albertha Payne Community Center at Bath Village to Sensei Vincent Maynard.” That long over-due decision has been very much appreciated by Mr. Maynard, his staff and by extension his students and their parents. I am a bit troubled by a few articles published in the Friday July 25, 2008 Observer.” All these articles are rather sad in different ways and we need to pay close attention. 1) “Geothermal: We Must Do Better Than the Bill Allows” By Carl Nisbett: The writer provides enormous food for thought and Nevisians must take heed.” 2) “To The Dog Killers on Nevis” by Elizabeth Smith: The killing of animals cannot be condoned and it’s truly sad to lose any animal, especially a pet.”” Most sheep and goats are also cherished by their owners and obviously, for different reasons.” Believe me, it wrenches every sinew in the body when dogs take out some or the entire flock.” The financial loss is often extravagant and I believe the plight of these animal owners were taken rather lightly by the writer of this article. 3) Now, The Editorial: “Have You No Shame?”” This is stunning and begs for some response. It is a known fact that many crimes are being committed on our island and we are trying to deal with the unusual and unfortunate wave that’s lingering. However, there is no justifiable reason for any of us to publicly refer to perpetrators of crimes, petty or otherwise, as was done in this article.” It sends a hateful message that will not be taken in a positive frame of mind by many – especially those who might be involved in similar wrong doings. I consider the article as pathetic, sickening and disgusting.” Perhaps the writer was still hurt by what happened to the little girl’s bag. Perhaps for other reasons the emotions rose beyond managerial points. Regardless, the tone, language and adjectives used within did more harm than good in relationship to the matters discussed.””” Absurd arrogance won’t help the situation, won’t soften the person’s heart if anyone did in fact take the bag as mentioned.”” I don’t think the editorial will bring much sympathy to the child, her parents, siblings, friends or the writer himself.” It probably will harden the stance of individuals who accept that such nasty description of an individual is being dished out in our paper. Where is the substance of the allegations?” Where is the proof to justify such accusations? Our people are very sensitive and such an approach will not sit well in this community. I am to hope that the 12-year-old, her parents and Mr. Henderson will by now be over their ordeal.” I hope Nevisians will understand, sympathize and try to help make Nevis a crime-free place. What happened is rather unfortunate and should not have happened.” What was written for public consumption in the editorial also is unfortunate. Let us hope that we use words that will have more positive effects instead of trying to throw gasoline on fire. “
