The Quintessential Leader

Dr Janice Daniel Hodge as a matter of principle, eschews personal attacks on her opponents. Neither will the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) leader pander to mudslinging as a political tactic or spewing avalanches of lies to gain votes.

These personal philosophical positions are too cherished by Dr Daniel-Hodge to be compromised, despised or trodden under foot in a bid to reach the top of the hollow podium. This she made plain to enthusiastic supporters at a well-supported campaign rally Thursday night.

“There are some people who will want to launch personal attacks, but I can come here and speak to you confidently and effectively on plans and visions that I have in moving Nevis forward. I do not have to dig up lies; I do not have to come and give misinformation, because I can tell you that I would have lived and worked in the US Virgin Islands and when all was said and done, the person who was found to be most trustworthy, and the person who was found capable of implementing and running the programmes is yours truly,” she said matter-of-factly.

In her speech she reassured voters that under her watch all will be held accountable, as the Integrity in Public Life Ordinance will be upheld. She reminded campaign attendees of her unblemished regionally and internationally especially for her professional work in environmental matters.

“I have no fear of any investigation, and I can assure you that when the integrity in public life commission is put in place under the NRP, all will be held accountable,” she emphasised. “Imagine having a big fanfare of having Integrity in Public Life Ordinance and when it’s put to the test, it’s a toothless dog. So, when you have persons who are disingenuous and putting ordinances and legislations in place and when you test, it is not fit for purpose and you wonder if it is part of a larger scheme.”

“We are saying that we do not have time for that. We need programmes that will help our people, our young women, our students who go away to college and come back and cannot move forward because they have to pay heavy student loans,” she told eager listeners.

She continued, “We have said to you that we believe in empowering our youths, and when you go away to college and you come back, you can be assured that we will put a system in place to assist with your student loan repayment. The interesting thing that we find is that the problem with this government is the misuse and wastage of money.”

When you hear about the millions that were spent on the geothermal well…and now you are hearing that it must be filled and sealed and move on to another well. You must ask the question ‘why’?”

As a mother, Daniel-Hodge said she sees the pain, suffering, agony, hurt, lack of opportunities and victimization meted out to her fellow Nevisians routinely by the corrupt Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) government is a very corrupt one that need to be removed from office because of their lack of accountability among other things

She promised under her NRP, Charlestown will revive.

“When you rush to do things to get the support of people for an election, and you do not take the time to do it properly, it is we the people who will suffer, it is we the people who will end up and have to pay the price. When you do something once, and it’s not done properly and you do it twice and almost three times you will end up wasting money,” Daniel-Hodge counselled.

She recalled that “right here in St Paul’s we can see the perfect example at the hospital. How many times have they knocked down the walls and build it back? What are we saying is that the wastage of monies that can be put to more meaningful and useful programmes, (but) it is not there.”

“We understand that the CCM government…does not understand the need for creating jobs. If they did, then the EC $30M fish processing project that was approved for Gallows Bay… would have been employing people there today. Just like how they abandoned the dialysis machine, they abandoned the fisheries complex and they get money over and over again to assist with the fisheries (project); they received additional monies to help with the dialysis (machine) and you must wonder, do these people really care about the people that they are representing?”

“I am saying to you, that Janice cares,” the NRP leader said emphatically.