By: Precious Mills
BASSETERRE, St.Kitts- Six contestants expected to compete for the crown in the prestigious annual Miss National Carnival Queen Pageant were officially unveiled on Thursday 3rd July on social media via the Carnival’s Facebook page.

They are: Cornella Daniel of McKnight, Zonique Browne of Sandy Point, Teresa Dias of Challengers, Sarafina Osborne of St. Peter’s, Sheniqua Lanns of La Guerite and Beliesa McDonald, Conaree.

This year’s pageant will be held on Thursday 28th December at 8:00pm at the Sugar Mill (Warner Park Cricket Stadium) under the theme ‘The Regal Journey’.
Pageant Chairperson Judy ‘Purple’ DuPont says the public can expect a first-class competition.

“We are anticipating yet another elaborate and exciting pageant for Sugar Mas 46. With six (6) beautiful, talented and extraordinary Ambassadors vying for the coveted Crown, the public can be assured that this will again be a first-class competition inundated with mind-blowing exhibitions.”

It is said that the six ambassadors have already commenced their preparations to further augment their physical appearance, personal and professional persona, as well as their health and beauty care.

Pageant segments include Introduction, Swimsuit Appearance, Performing Talent, Costume, Evening Gown Presentation and On-stage Interview.

As gathered, the Carnival Committee started much earlier with preparations for Sugar Mas’ 46 which included the candidate registration running from May 6th to June 6th, 2017.
Additionally, the casting call was held on July 23rd whereby nine (9) females were interviewed by a panel of seven (7) independent judges.

By: Precious Mills

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts– A former senior official of the St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force says that “it is strange” that police officers delivered a letter requesting immediate retirement to the home of the now ex Chief Medical Officer (CMO) 58-year-old Dr. Patrick Martin.

“They do have messengers at Government Headquarters so all I can say for now is that it is strange”, he said in response to this reporter who questioned the type of delivery method used.

This latest controversy concerning Dr. Martin and the government comes one year after he was apparently forced on pre-retirement leave amidst the hot topic of a stem cell research scandal.

On Thursday 16th June, 2016 he had received a letter at 3:00 P.M indicating that he was to go on leave effective midnight.

Dr. Martin had discovered a stem cell project operating at the private ward of the Joseph N. France General Hospital without his approval and consequently ordered a Brazilian physician, not licensed to work in St. Kitts, off the hospital’s compound.

The letter requesting his leave from work came within 24 hours of that scandalous incident.

Such became a widely debated topic for many people including members of the opposition St.Kitts-Nevis Labour Party.

Shortly following Dr. Martin’s pre-retirement leave, the hospital’s Chief of Staff, Dr. Cameron Wilkinson, was appointed as the Acting CMO before Dr. Hazel Laws took up the post in September 2016.

Now, on Tuesday this week (25th July), Dr. Martin, via a press statement informed that he had received a letter some 11 days before which pushed his scheduled retirement four months early.

“Through your kind auspices, I wish to inform the general public that my retirement from the public service, originally scheduled for November 2017, has been brought forward to Friday 14 July 2017. The instruction to retire “with immediate effect” was received by way of letter delivered to me at my private residence by two police officers at around 330pm that same day,” he disclosed.

The letter was signed by Mrs. Torfrida Rochester, Chief Personnel Officer, Human Resource Management Department, Office of the Prime Minister, according to Dr. Martin who also indicated that “Matters arising are being addressed by my attorneys.”

He added: “The Chief Medical Officer is a very senior post in the public service. As such, significant personnel changes warrant timely public disclosure. Therefore, noting the absence to date of an official statement, I reiterate that I am no longer the substantive holder of the post of Chief Medical Officer of the Federation effective Friday 14 July 2017.”

As a civil servant, Dr. Martin had been working past the mandatory age of retirement set at 55.

In his written address to the media, he expressed that he was honoured to have taken up the post in 2004.

“I was honoured to take up the mantle of CMO in October 2004. This health leadership post is demanding especially in a country with very limited resources. All that was achieved was due entirely to the guidance of and the collaboration with colleagues in population health and clinical medicine, at home and the region.

He continued: “It has been a pleasure and privilege to work within and across departments, sectors and borders to advance health policies, programs and services. The intellectual battles, successes and friendships are treasured memories. Appreciation is extended to the successive governments, ministers of health and officials in national and regional health entities for the opportunities provided to serve my beloved country and region.”

Additionally, Dr. Martin told that he will continue to be available to the media and others on matters of health and development, and related subjects.

By: Precious Mills
BASSETERRE, St.Kitts– Well-known protestor Curtis Crooke is back on the streets of the island’s capital of Basseterre protesting against the Team Unity Government headed by Prime Minister and Minister of National Security Dr. Timothy Harris.

On the afternoon of Thursday 27th July, this reporters spoke with him as he stood on the opposite side of Church Street facing Government Headquarters holding a placard.
The message, in part, displayed read: “Let that Jamaica man go back with his foreign accent (.) dictator Timothy lying Harris… CG from St.Kitts…”

When asked what his sign is about, Crooke lashed out at Dr. Harris for criticising St.Kitts-Nevis national former Police Commissioner Celvin ‘CG’ Walwyn whilst indicating that he (Crooke) has a concern about Major General Stewart Saunders of Jamaica being appointed as the Advisor in the Ministry of National Security.

“I find that is very disrespect on behalf of the people of St.Kitts and Nevis. When Timothy was in opposition, his word was clear… that ‘CG’ came here with his foreign accent. I take that personally.”

The resident of the West Basseterre community which is commonly known as the ‘Village’ said further: “ ‘CG’ is from the ‘Village’. A lot of people wouldn’t know him because he went away when he was young so he has been away for years but when you can say that the man come here with his foreign accent and he is a Kittitian, that is very disrespectful and then on top of that you’re going to bring a man from Jamaica. What accent does the Jamaica man has?”

He added: “Is he going to take over the country and bring in all the Jamaicans? It’s a concern. So that is my reason for being here and I will be here as much as I can, everyday whenever I could.”

Crooke said his day one of his fresh protest action was on Monday 24th July. Yesterday was his second outing.

When asked about what protesting means to him, he highlighted that it is a way to get messages out publicly.

“It means a lot to get the message out and this is the way I could get the message out. I saw them (the present government) when they was in opposition, they did the same…protested. This is the way to get the message out; you come and you stand up and you get the message across; people passing, people reading, people taking pictures so, it means the message is getting out. People have to stand up. We have kids coming up; what will the future look like?”

Commenting on why he was demonstrating in that area, Crooke told: “To send a message to those in charge. This is where the prime minister comes so it is to send a message to say ‘You are in charge of the country so I’m going to stand outside of Government Headquarters’ and when I’m ready maybe stand by the Police Headquarters or ride my bike around town. The message must get out. The message have to get out. People are listening and people are watching.”

By: Precious Mills
BASSETERRE, St.Kitts- In an exclusive interview with this media house, a veterinarian from the Behavourial Science Foundation talked about the differences between a tamed monkey and a wild monkey.

In light of the recent monkey attack which left a woman injured, this media house reached out to that foundation unit, also known as the ‘Monkey Farm’ located in Estridge village, in an effort to get some information on the green vervet primates including tips on human being to monkey interactions and also whether or not bites are infectious.

In speaking with the expert, she initially explained that monkeys are a flight species.
“They choose to run away from danger versus facing it unless you threaten them or they are cornered or you’re taking their infant.”

She continued: “But when you try to tame them to make them a pet, you change that natural behaviour and they are very smart and so they imprint very quickly. Human beings become the source of family, for food, for protection or whatever and so they don’t have that flight response instinct anymore and so they act like a naughty toddler.”

According to her, their intelligence level goes up to that of a five or six year old human being and so such tamed monkeys can act like an angry toddler.

“They get angry and they behave like an angry toddler and so that’s why they lash out but that’s not normal monkey behavior; that is generally a tamed monkey. A natural wild monkey will run from a threat and a human being is a threat because we are really are the only predators that they have on St. Kitts.”

Asked whether or not their bites can be infectious, in her response she likened that impact to that of a bite from a human being whilst noting that monkeys in St.Kitts are not dangerous in that regard.

“Their bite wounds have been studied and it is the equivalent of a human bite wound whereby the infecting agents are generally are on the surface of the skin of the person who gets bitten and so when they (human beings) get bitten; the teeth drag that bacteria into the skin…”

The Veterinarian added: “These monkeys in St.Kitts are generally not very dangerous as far as infections go and that has to do with the fact that they have a very closed environment. Now again, if you have a hand raised monkey that is living in a household, it is exposed to whatever that household has so it would be like that person’s child biting you.”

The veterinarian, however, pointed out the difference in the monkey’s teeth size compared with a human being.

“The danger is that they have big canines so they can cause a lot of damage and also like traumatic damage. They can also make a big puncture which you don’t want to close up, you want that puncture wound to stay open and heal so that’s the difference with the human teeth is that they have these big canine teeth.”

The animal expert was asked to provide some guidelines as it relates to what persons should do when they come across a wild or tamed monkey.

“You should react the way you react to any wild animal. Don’t lash out at them and don’t approach them. If you want them to go away, you can try to make a loud noise or pick up a rock and throw it towards them; anything that you’ll do to scare away a wild animal. In general, if you walk by, they will ignore you but that’s a wild monkey. A monkey that’s been tamed is going to approach you because it has lost that boundary of fear so what is normal is not normal anymore so the best thing is not to overreact (but rather) try to calmly get away from the animal and go somewhere secure where you can close the door or something like that and you can find the owner to come get it.”

By: Spokesman Newsroom
BASSETERRE, St.Kitts– A women who allegedly became the victim of a recent monkey attack, which saw her getting stitches to cut on a lower leg, is claiming that when she visited the Basseterre Police Station, the on-duty officers laughed at her.

Reportedly, the incident took place on Thursday 13th July sometime after 7:00 PM at a friend’s rented home at College Housing.

“Reach down the station, de police dem thinking it was funny, like ‘a monkey bite you?’ but they seeing the blood…I started feeling weak and dizzy and they like wanted to take a statement but I was like ‘I can’t give a statement in that condition.”

So said Shadwell resident Narissa Wilson during an interview with media house SKNVibes after recalling what led up to her becoming the monkey’s target.

According to that media house, when asked if she believed it was a wild primate, the woman replied no whilst indicating that it is owned by a popular businessman (whose name was provided) who was communicating with it.

Wilson reportedly visited the Joseph N. France General Hospital where she received five stitches and spent the night with a number of needles attached to her body.

The woman claimed she saw a monkey approaching the residence and that it began pounding on the fly screen of one of the living room windows that was opened.
“The monkey continued knocking the sifter. It was trying to get into the house but, even so, the house has on burglar bars. But for some reason I felt that it would have come in anyway so we decided to pepper spray the monkey. We didn’t have any pepper spray, so we used a Bop (spray)”, she told.

Notably, Bop is a brand of insecticide spray. As understood, while using that insecticide spray, the monkey became aggressive and began pounding heavier on the window.

Wilson claimed the neighbours down the road was calling the monkey by its name but that she could not understand what was being said.

As told by her, the monkey stood on its hind legs and looked in the direction of the neighbour who was calling it.

Furthermore, she disclosed that the monkey left with the neighbour but returned shortly after and that her friend asked her to take their baby outside after two individuals took control of the primate.

Wilson informed further that after placing the 2-year-old infant in the rear seat of her vehicle, she heard a voice crying out that “the monkey is coming, the monkey is coming” and it began his attack.

“The monkey came back to the door of the jeep after it chased the woman and she ran inside the house. After my daughter closed the door, I knocked on it because she was scared. When my daughter opened the door all I saw was the monkey leaping after me and I had no other choice but to toss the child.”

According to the SKNVibes report, Wilson said she had to fight with the primate to get it off of her at which point she had sustained injuries.

The woman noted that she did not realize that she was bitten but during the struggle she said that “I hit it in the head and it ran”.

“I thought that the monkey had gone so I got inside the jeep but the monkey started jumping up on the bonnet and pounding it. I started screaming and I thought it had left after hearing the noise, but he jump up on the roof and threw himself on the windscreen. I then started the vehicle and turned off with a lot of speed, and that was how we got away,” she said further.

The woman informed that she went to the Basseterre Police Station to lodge a complaint and was laughed at.

From the interview audio shared with this media house by SKNVibes, the woman’s expressed concern about possibly becoming sick from the monkey’s bite has been noted in this article as well.

“Reach down the station, de police dem thinking it was funny, like ‘a monkey bite you?’ but they seeing the blood…I started feeling weak and dizzy and they like wanted to take a statement but I was like ‘I can’t give a statement in that condition. I told them that I need somebody to drive me to the hospital because I don’t know what sickness the monkey could have had that penetrate my body.”

Wilson said she drove herself to the hospital and that upon arrival having informed nurse that a monkey bit her and that saw that the wound looked “severe” they started “plugging up all kind of drips and so on me.”

By: Spokesman Newsroom

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts- After a piece of document recently surfaced revealing that over one month ago, members of the Defence Force have had upgraded powers to that of the Police Force, opposition parliamentarian Hon. Konris Maynard is questioning why the government continues to be so secretive towards the public when it comes to sharing information.

“This is unheard of and we take umbrage with this because this is not how good leadership works. We have to inform the public of what is happening. People must be aware that now when they see a member of the St.Kitts Nevis Defence Force that they now have the powers of the police… vested in them by the Governor General so that they can respond appropriately,” he remarked while speaking on the Labour Party-sponsored ‘Issues’ programme aired live on Freedom FM (106.5) on Wednesday 19th July.

Maynard added: “This is really bad but broader than that it shows that in this secretive way, the government has gone about doing this perhaps because they feel it will not look good on their part that they had to request the services of the St.Kitts-Nevis Defence Force in aid of the police because they did not want to signal that they may have lost confidence in the police forces but this is what this effectively does. It’s saying that the police have reached a stage where they feel that they do not have the resources or man power to handle what is clear to everyone , an escalating crime problem in St.Kitts and so they have asked the Governor General to give these powers to the Defence Force.”

In criticising the details of the document, he stated: “It’s a step you do when you have a state of emergency. What is disheartening about this though is that this was made on the 22nd day of May, 2017.The 22nd day of May 2017, the proclamation was made by our Governor General on instructions from the Cabinet of our government. It is now a month and a half, almost two months since and this government does not have the decency, the decorum, the leadership to inform the public that these are the steps that have become necessary in their view to help address the escalating crime wave in St.Kitts-Nevis.”
Maynard expressed that while the two forces would always need to team up, the public should have been informed of such a move by the government.

“Now, there will always be the need for collaboration between the two forces but something like this should always be made public so that we the general public know what our government is doing and how we should respond to the forces.”

He accused the Harris-led administration of having mischievous management ways.
“We do not like the fact that this government continues to do everything under a cloud of darkness. Everything that they do has to be underhanded, has to be mischievous even if perhaps it is for some perceived good. Why was it necessary for this to be done without informing public? Why did this have to be done and not inform everyone of what was transpiring? It is because they were trying to hide their own inadequacies of dealing with the issue of crime and felt that by making this public, it would be a public admission that what they are doing with crime has not been working so they had to resort with the next level of assistance to out police forces.”