Dr. Simeon Daniel accomplished much for Nevis
Four panelists, Premier the Hon Joseph Parry, retired politician Mr Uhral Swanston, the Hon Carlisle Powell, and Mr Llewellyn Parris, bolstered by numerous callers to the program and the 1992 speech by Dr. Simeon Daniel detailed the many achievements of the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) for the residents of Nevis in the period 1980-1992.
In the June 1992 speech when he retired from politics, Dr. Daniel outlined his performance during his tenure; In education, he ensured that teachers received training and 21 teachers graduated from the Miami-Dade University program established then in Nevis. The Government run pre-schools were opened in Nevis for the first time; the Nevis Sixth Form College was established and a multipurpose center was set up for the welfare of educating the masses.
Before Dr. Daniel and NRP, obtaining land was a dream for many. Land ownership soon became a reality, when under Dr. Daniel the Land Reform Program was set up and it became the first such program in the OECS. The Nevis Housing and Land Development Corporation gave land ownership to ordinary Nevisians at $3,000 per half acre and $6,000 per acre. In addition, domains for residences were newly established in Ramsbury, Cades Bay, Hamilton, Prospect and other areas around Nevis.
In Tourism, members of the then NRP Cabinet negotiated for the Four Seasons Resort to be established in Nevis and the Mount Nevis Hotel opened and combined, the new hotels gave over 650 Nevisians employment.
The lucrative Financial Services market and the establishment of the indigenous Bank of Nevis were put in place under the NRP government in order to create financial pay days and savings for Nevis. He also ensured that a branch of the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis, and a foreign bank, the Bank of Nova Scotia were opened in Nevis and encouraged the growth of the Nevis Co-operative Credit Union.
Sports training for young people were set up with Cricket fields in Charlestown and Cotton Ground and Basketball courts in Brick Kiln.
Telecommunications and Works became visionary with over 2,000 telephone lines and 1,000 cable television users coming into existence.
Roads on Nevis before the NRP were poor, under Dr. Daniel older roads were revamped and funds were allocated for new roads.
Electricity development on Nevis saw new generators put in place to enhance electricity on the island, while the government’s water improvement program included the building of new reservoirs, which gave residents a 24- hour supply daily.
At the end of the captivating speech, host of the program, Mr. Carlisle Powell said that he had asked Dr. Daniel in a 2006 interview how he felt following the loss at elections in 1992, especially about the name calling by the supporters of the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM), the black monkey situation and the coffin incident that were done to try to belittle Dr. Daniel in a situation where no leader of that party came out and said it was wrong or disassociated the incidents with the party, especially after all that Dr Daniel had done for the people of Nevis.
Mr. Powell said that Dr Daniel said, “I did not feel very upset with those incidents but I was very upset with the lies that were told by the CCM such as Mr. Daniel owned ten percent of every company in Nevis or Mr. Daniel is giving large amounts of the land to white people.” This according to Mr. Powell was what hurt Dr Daniel as they tried to demonize the man who was the first Premier of Nevis and who many have said that he is the “Father of Modern Nevis.”
Tonight, (Thursday, June 7th)) the “Tell Me” program on Choice 105.3 FM will feature the Dr Simeon Daniel’s funeral, which took place on Tuesday, June 5th at the St. Thomas’ Anglican Church. The radio program will include clips of the much talked about Eulogy presented by Mr. Victor Jay Martin, a former member of Dr. Simeon Daniel’s Cabinet.
A replay of the program will broadcast on Friday at 1:00 pm on Choice 105.3 FM.