The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

This upcoming election will be the third time that I, as a young Bahamian male, will vote in a general election.

My parents were staunch PLP supporters who at the time strongly influenced me to give Glennis Hanna Martin my first vote. I was in no way unhappy with Ms Martin’s representation, but I was terribly disappointed in the weak and scandal riddled PLP under the leadership of Perry Christie.

Like many fed-up Bahamians I gave my vote in the last election to the FNM and Dr Hubert Minnis because in him and my new representative Mr Marvin Dames I saw hope for taking our country in a new progressive direction. Four years later, I am almost as disappointed with Dr Minnis and the FNM as i was with the last PLP administration.

Yes, we understand that the combination of hurricane Dorian and COVID-19 were devastating to our economy.

What we don’t understand is why your promise for a freedom of information act has yet to be delivered; why have term limits for the Prime Minister not been put in place as promised; why are environmental concerns seemingly pushed aside in the name of foreign investment?

I am a young professional who is baffled at how my application Crown Land to farm in Abaco was rejected with a response that there is no available Crown Land in Abaco. No Crown Land available in Abaco? Seriously? I and other young Bahamian’s struggle to understand why your Government boasts about pardoning previous offenders who may have been caught with small amounts of marijuana in the past, but still today your police and courts arrest and prosecute people to this very day for a joint.

We see millions being poured in CCTV cameras, drones, etc., but little goes to the social and support programmes that would reduce the very need for people to commit crime in the first place.

We ask how is it that reformed, deserving inmates were promised clemency since December, yet we are now in May and their families are still disappointed and waiting.

My aunt is one of these disappointed and depressed voters waiting for her loved one to be released.

We ask why can’t the Prime Minister put aside any ego or political posturing and simply engage in an open respectful and progressive dialogue with the Speaker of the House Moultrie? Is this your example to our children on how to resolve conflict and disagreement?

We ask why were restaurants in Lyford Cay allowed to operate during the COVID lockdowns while eateries over the Hill were shut down one shot?

We ask if you really want us to believe that you did not know that bars and clubs owned by police were allowed to operate during the lockdown?

Do you truly not recognise that the populace of The Bahamas has changed? Young voters like myself are going to be the ones who determine which candidate/party sinks or swims.

We are observing how other countries treat their citizens; how elected officials work with their people and the local business community. No, we are not willing to vote you back in on a new set of promises when you have yet to deliver on the first. I/we want honesty, transparency, integrity, equality, respect and an open intelligent dialogue. And as much as we may not want Brave Davis as PM, we are still quite willing to roll the dice to give the PLP a chance if your remaining months are more of the same.

MR FERGUSON

Voter in Mt Moriah,

Nassau,

May 2, 2021.