The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Shanendon Cartwright is the Free National Movement (FNM) candidate for the St Barnabas constituency. He is also chairman of the Bahamas Public Parks and Public Beaches Authority. It is assumed by opposition forces that the FNM will be wiped out in New Providence, winning fewer than three seats. Pundits are predicting that the governing party should be able to hold on to St Anne’s, Killarney and Free Town. I believe that notwithstanding Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ apparent unpopularity, St Barnabas should re-elect the Mr Cartwright.

Cartwright was by far the hardest working, productive MP in Parliament. I would even go as far as stating that he has been arguably the greatest MP in our Parliamentary history. Anyone who examines methodically the history of our Parliamentary system and everyone of the MPs elected to the House of Assembly, would be hard pressed to find anyone who has worked as hard as Cartwright in the four year span he has represented St Barnabas. Under the auspices of his St Barnabas We Care Team, Cartwright has launched his After School Tutoring programme; the St Barnabas School Breakfast Programme, Youth Outreach and Culture to the Park; the St Barnabas Cleaning Initiative; the Back to School Bash; the St Barnabas Garage Sale; the Derelict Vehicle Programme; the Roof Repair Programme; the Family Night At the Movies; Team Up and Clean Up initiative; and the Edmund Moxey Cultural Week.

In addition to the foregoing, Cartwright has also spearheaded an annual Christmas ecumenical service and has held regular constituency meetings. In conjunction with the Ministry of Works, Cartwright has made it a point to insure that roads throughout his constituency have been paved. Cartwright is an accessible MP, who has served his community of FNMs, Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) supporters, Democratic National Alliance supporters and Coalition of Independents in a bipartisan manner. I saw Facebook photos of Cartwright riding a bicycle through his constituency, while dialoguing with ordinary Bahamians. He has been so stellar in his performance as MP that his political rivals have resorted to crafting a bogus lie of financial malfeasance at the Bahamas Public Parks and Beaches Authority in a hapless effort to ruin his re-election campaign.

They cannot target Cartwright’s impressive resumé as MP, so they have to lie in order to get their man in the House of Assembly. What I find disturbing about the attempted character assassination of Mr Cartwright is that the man has remained above the fray, not engaging in any nasty political attacks against his rivals. He goes to the House of Assembly to represent his constituents in a dignified, professional manner. He is a role model and a family man, at a time male Bahamian politicians have the unfortunate stigma of being chronic womanizers.

If you are a PLP or disgruntled FNM living in St Barnabas, you would be stupid to remove Cartwright as MP for the simple fact that no one, and I mean absolutely no one, will out perform his stellar representation. Cartwright is an A-plus MP. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, St Barnabas. I endorse Cartwright as the next MP for the great constituency of St Barnabas. If Cartwright loses, then it would send the message to objective Bahamians that the voters in that community do not care about good representation. It would also send a clear message to Cartwright’s successor that he can be a lousy, unproductive MP and still win in St Barnabas. After all, they voted out arguably the greatest MP in Bahamian history, so being productive means nothing in that community. If Cartwright is unworthy of being re-elected to Parliament, then pray tell me who is?

KEVIN EVANS

Freeport, Grand Bahama,

September 5, 2021.