The Tribune

BY DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net FREEPORT - Democratic National Alliance leader Branville McCartney warned Grand Bahamians that the next general election must be held within the next eight weeks. He said: "I ask for your support and for you to support our candidates. There is eight weeks before this next election and I have no doubt that the Prime Minister will call the election on or before May 2. "I would like for everyone to register to vote and pick up their registration card, and go out on election day and vote DNA - look for the lighthouse!" Mr McCartney and DNA deputy leader Chris Mortimer were in Grand Bahama on Saturday along with the party's five candidates for the island. They met with supporters and undecided voters at Les Fountain. Mr McCartney is asking Bahamians to give the DNA an opportunity to be the next government of the Bahamas. He said the country is in a bad state. "We are in a state in this country that we have never been in before; our crime rate is out of control, never has it been this bad. When I left Nassau, it was 23 murders. "Our immigration problem has also never been this bad; things are bad and out of control. "The economy is not working the way it is - we need to diversify our economy," he said. Mr McCartney said Grand Bahama should be the centre of manufacturing and information technology for the entire region. He also believes the education system needs to be brought up to 21st century standards. According to Mr McCartney, the biggest problem in Grand Bahama is employment. Recent labour surveys indicate the rate of unemployment has climbed to 21.2 per cent on the island. Last week, the DNA launched an unemployment/ food drive in Freeport in an effort to assist people struggling to find work and feed their families. The party has already started delivering care packages to residents, according to Pineridge candidate Osman Johnson. Mr Mortimer said it is sad that so many people are hurting, without jobs and with their homes under foreclosure on Grand Bahama. The DNA, he said, will put Bahamians first. "We have to save this country for our children and for the future generation of unborn Bahamians," he said. Mr McCartney said the DNA will invest in people, and empower Bahamians so they can be owners in their own country. "Our greatest resource is people. If you invest in people and in their minds, you build the country," he said. "Roads can get pot holes and buildings could fall down, but if you build the people, the people will build the country, and that is what the DNA is all about. "We will invest in Bahamians."