BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, July 9, 2017 (PLP PR Media Inc.) -- As part of his responsibility as a Parliamentary Representative, Prime Minister Dr the Hon Timothy Harris on Saturday July 8 spent well over three-and-a-half hours meeting with his constituents at the library of the Joshua Obadiah Williams Primary School in Molineux where scores turned up for the one-on-one consultations with their Prime Minister.
While the meetings were primarily for residents of Molineux and Phillips villages in Constituency Number Seven which Dr Harris represents in Parliament, those turning up came from other villages not only in the constituency, but from other parts of the island. So keen to meet the Prime Minister, the first persons had arrived at the venue shortly after six in the morning, while officially the meetings were due to have started at 10:30 am.
“Today was another important day of outreach to the constituency in particular but to the citizens and residents of the country,” said Prime Minister Harris, who is also the Political Leader of the Peoples Labour Party (PLP), one of the three parties that form the ruling Team Unity Administration.
“We have had a very large turnout, more than we would have normally expected because persons came from throughout the country and we have a policy that we will accommodate all once they would have reached within a particular moment in time.”
Prime Minister Harris explained that as the Parliamentary Representative it was his responsibility to make himself available for service to the constituents. He observed that he had sought to make it convenient by holding those consultations within the constituency on a rotational basis. That way he would see his constituents in their home villages instead of their coming to him.
“I would say it was a good day,” said the Prime Minister. “Good in terms of the large number of persons who we were able to serve, but also all the issues that they brought forward are issues which properly put, the relevant government agencies and departments would be able to assist. I am hoping that we will be able to get the results that they require in a timely way so that this becomes even more meaningful.”
He thanked Ms Myrtilla Williams from the Department of Constituency Empowerment who came and successfully coordinated the effort, and the persons who came because it was in their coming to the particular forum that “they allowed me an opportunity for greater service and more meaningful service.”
As Government attempts to do the National Agenda, to build homes for people, to keep the communities safe, to deal with the roads, to promote the economic health of the country, Prime Minister Harris noted that by holding the one-on-one meetings it allowed him to go personal to those people’s needs separate and distinct from satisfying them and the community.
“I really do love this,” concluded Dr Harris. “It is time consuming and so on, it takes a lot of time but it also gives you a better picture of where our constituents are and how we can better serve each one in their individual circumstances.”
According to the event’s coordinator, Ms Myrtilla Williams of the Department of Constituency Empowerment, a large number of persons was able to sit and sit and have one-on-one with the Prime Minister which she noted was unprecedented.
She said that the meetings were supposed to last two-and-a-half hours, but they went on for three-and-a-half hours due to the large turnout. Those wish to see the Prime Minister came from all parts of the island “and the Prime Minister as usual always takes the initiative and goes the extra mile to try to see everyone.”
Persons wishing to see the Prime Minister had started arriving shortly after six in the morning and a civic minded constituent, Ms Venesha ‘Phoebe’ Scarborough from Phillips, decided to start recording the names of persons coming to the venue to avoid confusion when the Prime Minister would arrive.
“When I came, people were already lining up and there wasn’t anybody here to take names and I know with the amount of people, everybody is always eager to see the Prime Minister, and persons just kept coming,” observed Ms Scarborough.
“I said no, it would create havoc, and be a topic of confusion if we wait until the person who is supposed to come to coordinate the effort arrives. So I decided to do something about it. I did not even have anything to write on, I decided to ask around who has a pen who has a paper and I just decided to help the situation.”
The meetings were supposed to start at 10:30 am and by 10:00 am when Ms Myrtilla Williams of the Department of Constituency Empowerment arrived, Ms Scarborough had already recorded large numbers of persons on her unofficial, though helpful, list as it was later used to ensure that people were served as they would have arrived at the venue.
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