HEALTH AND ENTERTAINMENT Minister Akilah Byron-Nisbett faced residents’ wrath recently when she turned up at Boyds Community Centre for a public meeting which forms part of her ruling People’s Labour Party (PLP campaign to win the August 5th national polls.
“This lady within seven years just mashed up the health sector despite the tremendous achievements that we had over the years (under the Denzil Douglas-led St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party). The people nah want her here, we nah want she as our representative no mores she is a failure and disasters and she must go,” a resident complained.
Minister Byron-Nisbett is under mounting criticisms for what is dubbed her poor management of the once-thriving health sector since her PLP government has been in office since 2015. Her political rivals and now residents publicly chastise her for running the once-thriving health sector into the ground.
When she turned up for the Constituency 3 public meeting, residents booed Byron who is also the Deputy PLP Leader. Outraged residents also demanded the out-of-favour government minister leave their Central Basseterre community.
Her mismanagement of the vital health sector drew extended to her leadership during the deadly outbreak of the Corona Virus disease which has so far killed 46 of the 6420 residents who contracted deadly ailment first detected in Wuhan, China towards the end of 2019. The Leeward Islands residents have also heavily criticised Byron’s for her treatment of healthcare workers.
Residents complained to www.aroundtheregions.com about Byron-Nisbett’s laxed leadership blamed for the escalation in infections and deaths from COVID-19 in the country, and the current deplorable state of the Joseph N France General Hospital which houses cancer patients and severely ill COVID-19 patients.
“We registered our intolerance for her and we hope that she knows that she will be fired by the residents as St. Kitts and Nevis (at the forthcoming polls). We must return as one of the better managed OECS (Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States) countries because we have slipped down the ladder significantly over the past seven years,” a resident noted.
Another admitted, “I voted for the party (PLP) at the last two elections as I thought that we needed change and fresh leadership. But I firmly believe that it’s the worst decision anyone could have made in this country. Therefore, my family and I, along with others, are seeking to correct this grave mistake and return the management of the Federation into the trusted hands of tried and experienced leadership.”
“This is not a baby show party, this is serious business as you are dealing with. Health is one of the most important sectors in any country and her style of leadership and her inefficiencies are too much and we no longer want her as our Constituency Representative. Kittitians and Nevisians are known for giving politicians a fair and equal opportunity, but we are also known for not accepting mediocrity. With the power that we have, we will certainly use it to register our no confidence and fire her from office at the upcoming polls,” said a former PLP supporter.
MEANWHILE, long-serving former Prime Minister, Dr. Denzil Douglas at a massive campaign rally, announced to thousands of jubilant supporters that the next SKNLP government will construct a new General Hospital to help improve healthcare among the population and arrest the flight overseas by nationals for medical treatment.
“We shall build our new Joseph N France (JNF) General’ Hospital. The Health Minister Akeilah Byron-Nisbett is a disgrace to tourists; a disgrace to the people of St. Kitts and Nevis. We built up our hospital to be one of the first-class hospitals, as part of our thrust in Tourism development. The woman… in seven years…mash up every damn thing, everything is mashed up. So, we will have to build to a brand-new hospital in order to put our people into the best health care facility as possible,” the former PM and Caricom Spokesperson on Health declared.
As PM, Douglas was hailed as one of CARICOM’s most proactive leaders fighting both communicable and nom communicable diseases (NCDs). Through his innovative leadership and significant contributions in the area of HIVAIDS, former US President, Bill Clinton publicly commended him for his sterling work in the field.
Closer home, PANCAP, the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS also publicly recognised Douglas’ contributions in fighting the spread of the deadly HIV/AIDS in the Region.
A decision by Declaration of CARICOM Heads of Government on 14 February 2001 established PANCAP, to reverse the threat of HIV to sustainable human development in the Caribbean.
St Kitts-Nevis returns to the polls just two years after triumphing at the 2020 elections. However, the three-party coalition Government collapsed after six minister lost faith in PM, Dr. Timothy Harris and demanded he resigned or face a No Confidence Motion (NCM).
Harris subsequently fired from the six aggrieved ministers, but the NCM prevailed which forced him to name the August 5th new poll date.
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