Brian A. David – Nevis Customs Facility
Charlestown, Nevis
October 26, 2018
The Customs and Excise Department on Nevis posthumously honoured one of its stalwarts for his unwavering service to the department. The Customs facility in Charlestown was renamed the Brian A. Davis Customs Courier Facility, at a renaming ceremony on October 25, 2018.
Hon. Mark Brantley, Premier of Nevis and Minister of Finance, who cut the ribbon and unveiled the name with Mr. David’s son Sheldon David, described the initiative which forms part of the St. Kitts and Nevis Customs and Excise Department‘s 60th anniversary celebrations, as a momentous one.
“I believe that today is significant because the Customs Department is demonstrating that it has not forgotten the shoulders on which it now stands. It has not forgotten the people who would have laid the groundwork that we all now take for granted, sometimes, that we all now enjoy.
“So to put his name on this innovation, I believe is of significance to our island… I want to thank those in Customs who made this decision. I want to thank the leadership of Customs who are here now, and I want to say this sends a very clear message to our populace. Let us continue to do the best that we can,” he said.
The Premier noted that naming the facility after a fellow Nevisian, and one who had a marked human spirit sends a profound message to the community.
“We honor a Customs officer. We honor a man from Hanley’s Road. We honor someone who is one of our own, and I believe that it sends a very important message out to the community that if we do what we do and we do it to the best of our ability, that others are looking on and others in due time, will honor us for doing a good job.
“It is important in any country that we recognize those who are worthy of recognition. It is important in any country that we rename and remake and reshape our country in the image of our own people,” he said.
Mr. Brantley, who is related to Mr. David of blessed memory, described him as one known by everyone to have a ready smile or laugh and was a gem of a human being.
He added that even after his retirement from the Customs Department, Mr. David continued to have an amazing human spirit which characterized his life in and out of the public service.
“In his later years when we all know that he suffered from various illnesses, he appeared to continue to have that amazing human spirit and I believe, he brought that to Customs. He brought that to his life and he served Customs well. He served Customs honorably. He served Customs with integrity and when he was done, he continued with his life in a similar way.
“I think we all knew him. We all loved him and as the head of the Nevis Island Administration I am very pleased today to be able to be a part of this very simple but significant ceremony,” he said.
Among those present at the ceremony were Hon. Eric Evelyn; Hon. Spencer Brand; Mr. Colin Dore, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance; Mr. Kennedy DeSilva, Acting Comptroller of Customs; family members of the late Mr. David and senior staff at the Customs Department in St. Kitts and in Nevis