Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 25, 2020 — The Office of the Prime Minister is channeling millions of dollars under the guise of consultancies to mislead the local, regional and international communities about developments in St. Kitts and Nevis.
The Office of the Prime Minister in 2019 overspent its allocation by some EC$56 million, some of which has been paid to local and regional media entities not to carry information on opposition statements and activities.
“A lot of this money is being spent publishing misleading information which shows the government in a good light, publishing misleading and false and defamatory statements and information about the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party and its NextGen SKN candidates,” said SKNLP political leader Dr. Denzil Douglas.
He said the prime minister has used every single platform — from town hall meetings to COVID-19 press briefings, National Assembly meetings, press conferences and social media — to intimidate and make false and divisive statements. He pointed to the government’s continuing denial of SKNLP access to ZIZ Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) and to several community centres constructed by the SKNLP administration while in office from 1995 to 2015. “Our Party has had to learn how to effectively use technology to spread its messages. We have mastered the innovative and overcome the challenges effectively,” Dr. Douglas said.