The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

FREEPORT - PLP candidates on Grand Bahama have outlined some of the initiatives they intend to introduce if elected - including a new hospital and the first junior high school in the east.

Pineridge candidate Dr Michael Darville said the Rand Memorial Hospital is aging and falling apart.

Dr Darville, who has been practising medicine for 16 years on Grand Bahama, said the PLP will "truly" follow the recommendations in the Dorsett Report and build a new hospital.

He also promised that the PLP will implement its National Health Insurance Scheme to cover all Bahamians and upgrade all existing public medical facilities on Grand Bahama.

The Pineridge candidate said the party wants to rehabilitate and house drug addicts, establish an arts and crafts training centre in Pineridge, and create a functional feeding programme for the poor.

Pointing out that many in Pineridge are facing serious economic challenges, Dr Darville promised to create a fund just to assist the needy in his constituency.

"As MP, I will establish a Pineridge Foundation Fund to be used for financial support for residents with genuine and immediate needs," he said.

He said the PLP has been working on a practical plan to set the island on the road to recovery through meaningful investments and programmes that create permanent jobs in the tourism, industrial and agriculture sectors.

"What we need on Grand Bahama is secure jobs, not handouts. We want to move back to productivity and self-worth, and through self-worth we can develop social order," he said.

Dr Darville stressed that for the past five years, the high cost of electricity has been a major problem on the island.

Acknowledging that expanding the industrial sector will require increased energy supply, he said the PLP will - on its first day in office - establish a Ministry of Energy and Industry to be headquartered on Grand Bahama.

Dr Darville said the ministry's primary function will be to reduce the cost of electricity per kilowatt hour and improve BEC's inefficient electrical infrastructure.

The PLP, he said, will also work with the Grand Bahama Power Company's owners to reduce the fuel surcharge through incorporating alternative energy sources.

In collaboration with the Grand Bahama Port Authority, Dr Darville said, the party will seek to establish an industrial park to attract investors in light manufacturing, arts and crafts and food production to Grand Bahama.

He said the PLP will launch an aggressive marketing campaign to attract offshore financial institutions to the jurisdiction of the Hawksbill Creak Agreement and construct an arbitration centre in Freeport.

Tanisha Tynes, the candidate for East Grand Bahama, said if elected she will seek to ensure that a junior high school and recreation centre are constructed in East Grand Bahama.

She said that students of East End should not have to ride the bus many miles into Freeport to attend high school.

Ms Tynes said a proper fire station, more fire hydrants, and seawalls are also needed in the east.

Current West End and Bimini MP Obie Wilchcombe, the candidate for the new West Grand Bahama constituency, said his plans for the area include a project to dredge the harbour and the reopening of the West End airport to international flights.

He said the extension of duty free concessions to West and East Grand Bahama is also among their plans.

Mr Wilchcombe said residents in the west can look forward to public clinics remaining open beyond 4pm and new recreational and sporting facilities, including a basketball gym and a football field.

He claims that utilities such as water and electricity are lacking in some areas of Holmes Rock.

In Bimini, Mr Wilchcombe said, the party will seek to expand the airport, construct a ferry dock and terminal, construct a high school in Bailey Town, and build homes on South Bimini.