The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune

I have been watching Englerston MP Glenys Hanna Martin’s performance in the House of Assembly for a little while. I have been very disappointed by her.

She is clearly an intelligent woman. But the way she performs in the House is often rude. Many times she comes across as haughty and seems to thinks she’s smarter than other people.

In an exchange in the House last week when the prime minister criticised the PLP for spending money on the Carnival instead of fixing the Children’s Ward at Princess Margaret Hospital she jumped up and unfairly accused him of misleading the House, which is a very serious matter.

She accused the prime minister of being wrong with the facts. In fact it was Mrs Hanna Martin who was wrong. She also stated that the FNM stopped construction on the Ward.

Health Minister Duane Sands accused her of misleading the House and said her accusation was wrong. He has been backed up by a letter from an official at the Ministry of Health, as was reported in The Tribune.

For a former minister, supposedly seasoned politician and longtime attorney, she spectacularly fumbled, bumbled and tumbled on live television for the whole country to see. She did not do proper research or due diligence. Lawyers are supposed to deal with facts. Her performance was sloppy because she is clearly thin-skinned and easily rattled. She goes on tirades in the House and often seems wild-eyed during debates.

When the prime minister spoke of the crack epidemic and drug era of the 1970s and 1980s when the PLP were in office, she could be heard saying and I paraphrase, oh we’re back to that again.

The country has not forgotten that era. We are still experiencing the long term effects, which many in the PLP try to dismiss. Indeed, then Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy PLP Leader Arthur Hanna, resigned from Sir Lynden Pindling’s cabinet because of the allegations made against Sir Lynden and others.

That’s how seriously he took what was wrong. But Hanna Martin and PLP leaders seem to dismiss what was wrong instead of having the compassion, decency and humility to accept and acknowledge the impact of that period on the country and the role it played in harming the country and our communities.

Many family members had loved ones who died during that era. There was a generation of crack addicts, some of whose children went astray and went down the path of crime and violence.

The country became extremely corrupt with narco dollars poisoning the nation and corruption swirling around the PLP. Instead of taking this seriously, Hanna Martin seemed to simply dismiss that sad and destructive period for the country.

I used to expect more of Hanna Martin. But she is a bitter disappointment in terms of her performance in the House and her inability to acknowledge a terrible time in our national life that continues to haunt us.

STS

Nassau

June 22, 2019