BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Friday 5th July 2019) – Workers at the Ministry of Tourism will have to come up with EC$10,125 altogether to pay for the 75 St.Kitts Music Festival tickets that were reportedly stolen leading up to the 23rd annual festivity.
Minister of Tourism Lindsay Grant disclosed at the Prime Minister’s press conference held on Tuesday this week (2nd July) at Government Headquarters that “unfortunately, the innocent will have to pay for the guilty.”
“I am not pointing my finger at any one individual but when you are in a position of trust and confidence that must be displayed and so they will have to come up with the $10,125 and I’ve made that pellucidly clear and that is where it’s at,” he remarked.
According to Grant, the tickets were being managed by eight to ten persons.
“Those are the persons I had the discussion with. I indicated to them that if the tickets weren’t in the office by whatever means before the end of the St.Kitts Music Festival, those who had touched or had management of the tickets would be accountable for them, meaning 75 tickets at $10, 125 they would have to account for that individually and collectively and unfortunately, the innocent will have to pay for the guilty and that’s where we’re at. Well the tickets have not shown up and so the monies must show up in the government coffers at the end of the day and that is it. I can’t see any other way; they will have to pay for them.”
The Tourism Minister claimed that “this government is about good governance and transparency and in fact we could have said nothing about the 75 tickets because in terms of 25000 people, 75 is miniscule but immediately upon recognising that we had an infraction, we came out to the general public in a press release indicating to the general public that we had 75 tickets that we believed were for want of a better word, stolen and that we would have proceeded right away with an investigation. In fact when it came to my attention, I summoned the team within my office to a meeting and indicated to them what I understood to be the position.”
Members of the media were alerted on Monday 24th June via a press release that the organizing committee of the St. Kitts Music Festival had confirmed that they, and the police, were currently investigating the theft of 75 general admission tickets during the course of the week before.
It was stated that an official had
indicated that they are aware of exactly which tickets were stolen and had
noted the serial number for each of them.
It was also outlined that police and other security personnel were alerted and
briefed. Members of the public were warned against using the tickets.