CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (February 17, 2010) —

Premier of Nevis Hon Joseph Parry welcomed the visit of Deputy Premier and National Security and Immigration Minister to Nevis on Tuesday, citing there was much work to be done in the area of national security since it was the top priority on both St. Kitts and Nevis.

The Premier said he had briefed Mr. Condor on what was being done on Nevis in relation to security on Nevis among them the assistance received from the Government of Taiwan which would assist the Police in their crime fighting efforts.

“The (security) cameras are here and they are being put up and by the end of the month we will have a ceremony in which we will thank the Government of Taiwan for their help.

“We are trying to get more vehicles which we hope will be here at the end of the month as well, that will make the police more mobile but the point I have made is that with all those things you still need human beings, you still need people you still need that type of resource to make sure that things happen,” he said.

Mr. Parry also pointed to two areas of criminal activity which he said were major point of concern on the island.

“We have two areas: this business of young people killing young people must stop.  We have had three murders in the space of six weeks and it never happened before, something has to be done about that and the break-ins.

“They are terrorising people and it does not seem to me that the break-ins are being done by seasoned criminals anymore but young people having fun. That is not a good reflection on the Administration, this is not a good reflection on the Police and this is not a good reflection on the community and we have to do something about it,” he said.

However, Mr. Parry said he was pleased to hear from Minister Condor of the new approach towards national security in particular the area of recruitment.

He said there was some dissatisfaction expressed by the Police on Nevis with regard to incentives and other issues that had been adversely affecting them and how they felt about being members of the St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force.

“It has to be of the greatest importance because we cannot do without police officers. We need to have very good police officers. I would not say we need to have satisfied police officers but we need to have comfortable officers who feel they are making a contribution to the development of the country,” he said.