By Winn FM- Mr.Ken Richards: Long read but it is worth it... St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): The Nevis Island Administration is being urged to address Opposition allegations against leading members of the NIA by the Nevis Reformation Party.The NRP has been making reference to an alleged payment by an Iraqi for the sale of Crown land in Nevis, with the funds alleged to have been sent to the account of a company in which a leading government minister and his wife are involved. Earlier comments on the allegations prompted a warning letter from Premier Vance Amory’s lawyers explaining that he would take legal action if defamed over that matter. According to that letter Mr. Amory has had no involvement in the company since he was appointed Premier of Nevis in January of 2013. It also explained that Mr. Amory resigned as director of the company on May 26 2014. It said too, that Neither Octagon Consultants and Services Limited or Mr. Amory has ever had any dealing with the Nevis Housing and Land Development Corporation with regards to the sale of lands to an Iraqi national or any other person or company. At a news conference last week former Premier Joseph Parry called for transparency on the alleged transaction, while quoting from letters he said had been written by an NIA government minister. Joseph ParryHere I have two letters signed by the Minister Alexis Jeffers, both letters written on the same day, the 29th April 2014 and the subject, 10 Acre lot of Potworks Estate St. James parish, Mr. Parry said two letters, with the same subject headline, one addressed to a gentleman on Nevis, they say Naples General Trading Company..Charlestown, and nobody can find this company in Charlestown. Theres a company with the same name somewhere in Iraq, but nobody can find the one in Charlestown. The second letter is written to [another individual] again about the 10 acre lot, Main Street, Charlestown signed by the Minister. So I dont know if two different persons were going to buy the 10 acre lot, or what happened, but one letter ended up with documents, the documents...related to Octagon Consultants...and monies were sent from Iraq to Octagon Consultants to purchase 10 acres of land, at a value of 150,000 dollars US per acre, Mr. Parry said It doesnt say whether the land was in Potworks, or Brown Hill, or Gingerland, but the point is, there was this letter, signed by the Minister which confirmed and clarified what the transaction was about, so that monies were sent to that particular account, the Opposition Leader said. And then we have another transaction to a gentleman on Nevis, with the same letter, similar transaction from Iraq again to buy the same 10 acres of government land. We raise the question, what is going on here? Where is the transparency, and why...a Minister of government or his company got involved in the transaction? Weighing in on the matter, newspaper columnist James Gaskell said in a recent article, that while there is a presumption of innocence, there is need for full, comprehensive statements from the ministers alleged to be involved. Very little has been said to date by the Nevis Island Administration about the alleged Iraqi land payment. However Prime Minister Denzil Douglas confirmed recently that an investigation is underway as to how over $1.5 million wired to an account in the banking system in St. Kitts and returned, was later deposited into a private account in the banking system in Nevis. Dr Douglas said he became aware that a large sum of money arrived in the Federation from Iraq for the purpose of purchasing lands in Nevis owned by the Nevis Island Administration. He said too, that he was aware that the banking system in St. Kitts in particular refused to accept the money and refused to lodge the money into the account that was supposed to be owned by a company whose ownership is jointly held by a high official in the Nevis Island Administration and his wife. The Prime Minister, who is also the Federal Minister of Finance, further disclosed that, “the banking system in St. Kitts refused to accept the money and the money was returned to the place of origin.” “We have been further informed that what appears to be the very same money, but with an increased amount to it – over $1.5 million – then appeared in the banking system again, this time in Nevis and in fact entered into a personal account of persons who were deemed to be ordinary persons who may not have had good reason to have such large sums of money deposited in their account.” WINN FM is making attempts to get a response from Premier Vance Amory in his capacity as Head of Government in Nevis on both matters referred to in this article, the allegations of the NRP as well as the alleged transaction mentioned by the Prime Minister about the banking system in Nevis
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 23:42:13 +0000
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