Maho:--- Despite having a prepared rebuttal that did not address any of the points of the final LIDC debate the Federation of St. Kitts was awarded the winner over host island St. Maarten. The rebuttal was glared with disparaging remarks but the the three panel judge that judged debate felt St. Kitts presented more arguments in the opening remarks. St. Kitts defended their title during this year's debate.
St. Maarten faced off against St. Kitts on the moot "The Greatest Threat to sustainable development in the Caribbean is the existing political culture." The judges who were clearly split in the decision also punished St. Maarten for not including the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles and the current political trend in the debate. They also sanctioned St. Maarten for comparing the corruption to HIV and AIDS that is has no respect for persons. They were also criticized for using sound bites of political campaigns to discredit St. Kitts Prime Minster Denzel Douglas.
The St. Maarten team provided statistics to show that politicians are responsible for Guyana's delayed development as well as Jamaica and Trinidad. The two fifth formers of the St. Maarten Academy did their best to show that politicians are the ones that are responsible for the development of any country however, due to greed and selfishness the Caribbean politicians would do anything to remain in office at the expense of its people.
The proposition team represented by Kevin James and Ciambi Paul top scored in their rebuttal which was to the point and dealt with the issues addressed by the opposing team. St. Maarten scored 691 while the winner St. Kitts 725. Best speaker of the night also went to St. Kitts main presenter Akeem Bacchus.
Bacchus clearly did lots of research and showed that the Caribbean's geographical location, size combined with crime and inflation is reason for its delayed sustainable development. Bacchus also displayed calmness and he commanded his listeners as he made both his presentation and rebuttal. He also claimed that the present economic downturn and the cost of fuel last year is what hindered the Caribbean combined with isolation from its customers. While he admitted that the political culture do affect the development in the region he felt it is not "the greatest threat". Bacchus said one must consider the islands are prone to hurricanes, its size and location is to its detriment.
When the announcement was made that St. Kitts came out winner of the final night of the debate the St. Maarten team went completely silent while the St, Kitts supporters began screaming out as they waived their country's flag in the excitement and joy in the Maho Convention Center.
Shortly after the final night debate a cocktail party was held where all the participating islands were presented with their trophies.