By IPS Correspondents
PORT OF SPAIN, Jul 16 2003 (IPS)

Five years after it narrowly lost a referendum on the issue, the 39-square-mile island of Nevis is once more attempting secession from the twin island federation of St. Kitts-Nevis.

The process to gain independence started with the first reading of the Nevis Secession Ordinance in the Nevis Island Assembly last week, followed by the distribution of a White Paper to the public outlining the pros and cons of going alone in a stormy global environment.

"We will ensure that a copy of the White Paper is given to every household. We are undertaking that because it is important," Nevis Premier Vance Amory told journalists afterwards.

Nevisians will have a 90-day period to digest the ramifications of the legislation before it is given its second reading and debated in the Parliament.

However, senior lecturer in politics and government at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Hamid Ghany says he is not convinced that "the people of Nevis will benefit from this new arrangement being sought".

He said Nevis, highly dependent on the tourism sector, could become a prime target for a "mafia style" takeover through the introduction of gaming. He also questions exactly how the administration in Nevis would be able to fund an island without any meaningful infrastructure.

"There is obviously a desire to be on their own, but it is not a happy situation and it is coming at a time when the region is moving towards greater unity and Nevis is moving towards full fragmentation of the state," Ghany said.

"The fragmentation – while it may be driven by nationalism – may more than likely create dependence," he added.

The move by Nevis has also not found favour with other Caribbean leaders who, at the end of their annual summit in Jamaica earlier this month, "declared their strong preference for the federation of St Kitts and Nevis to be preserved as a single nation within the international community".

Still, the ruling Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) has promised to continue its programme of educating the 9,000 islanders on the process so as to allow citizens to "to make a positive decision on the issue of independence for Nevis".

Both Denzil Douglas, prime minister of the twin island federation, and Amory have brushed aside any suggestion of animosity between the two islands, both former British colonies that formed the federation in 1983.

"There is really no tension between St. Kitts (the Federal Government) and Nevis (Nevis Island Administration) and it is not a question of I (as Prime Minister) resigning to the fact that Nevis will secede. There is a constitutional provision for the People of Nevis to advance towards Independence if that is the wish of the people," Douglas told reporters during the Jamaica summit.

"One has to be constantly reminded that this is the situation as placed in the constitution – the possible provision for two independent states out of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis. The critical question is, why at this particular time when the global challenges that we face are so enormous?" said Douglas.

The prime minister says he would have preferred to hold the federation intact, noting that it was possible "for us to increase the autonomy for the island of Nevis and have two separate governments at the state level and then have a true federal structure".

Ghany supports the position of Douglas. "That will be the better way to go, because I can’t see how they will make it on the world stage," he said.

He said the position being advocated now by Nevis would create a "micro state" that could find itself being taken over by drug lords whose finances could be used to "corrupt the whole process".

"I think in that context one needs to assess the entire situation and we may well find that after they have gained secession they may be sorry they got it," Ghany said.

So far it seems the road to independence has been a carefully planned one. In August of 1998, following the convening of a constitutional commission, Nevisians were given the opportunity to vote in a referendum on the issue of secession. The results were 62 percent in favour – falling short of the required two-thirds majority by a mere four percentage points.

Amory viewed the results as "a serious expression of the desire of the people of Nevis to support the issue of independence for our country".

The premier has indicated that moving towards independence would not preclude his tiny nation from having "cooperation and collaboration with St. Kitts, nor does it preclude cooperation and collaboration with the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)," a sub-regional grouping of eight of the lesser developed countries of the Caribbean.

And he is being cautious about Nevis and indeed the vulnerability of small island states in the new global environment.

"I don’t think that we are going to be more vulnerable. I think that is a fallacy that is being banded about because we try to equate smallness with absolute vulnerability and I don’t think that Nevis on its own or St. Kitts are going to be more vulnerable," Amory said. "I think it is just a matter of how we seek to manage our internal economies and how we seek to establish relationships."

"I think the issue is how do we use our resources, use the circumstances and cooperate within the OECS and among ourselves to make (better) lives for our people," he added.

In a recent editorial, the newly launched Sun St. Kitts/Nevis daily newspaper said with the White Paper now available, "it is hoped Nevisians will get the much-needed answers to the questions they have about their future".

"Although all Nevisians may be proud of finally embarking on this journey towards independence they must also be mindful of the consequences their decision will have," it added.

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