The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) executive chairman Adrian Gibson is running in the very safe Free National Movement (FNM) stronghold of Long Island. The only time that the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) was ever successful in winning a seat on Long Island was in 1977 with P P Smith in the northern district of that Family Island, I think. Back then, the White establishment had split Long Island, with its small Out Island population, into two constituencies. This was gerrymandering.

James Knowles first won in Clarence Town as the FNM’s standard bearer in 1977. Like his predecessors Peter Graham and Donald D’Albenas, Knowles was a member of the Bay Street oligarchy.

I believe it was Larry Cartwright, as an Independent candidate, who was successful in out-gaining Knowles at the polls in the 2002 electoral contest.

However, prior to the 2007 general election, Cartwright would join the FNM under Hubert Ingraham.

Long Island, prior to the advent of the FNM in 1970, was a stronghold of the defunct United Bahamian Party. Its transition to the FNM was seamless. This can explain Loretta Butler-Turner’s decision to relocate to that Family Island ahead of the 2012 general election, from her Montagu constituency in Nassau; a seat she won in 2007.

For Butler-Turner, the decision to move was both strategic and safe. For what it’s worth, Gibson will most certainly emerge victorious on September 16, notwithstanding the flurry of allegations of nepotism at the WSC involving a company called Elite Maintenance. The press’s unrelenting pursuit of this issue has failed to gain traction, however. With over 3,400 active COVID-19 cases in the month of August and into the first week of September, coupled with nearly 450 casualties caused by the virus, Bahamians have more important matters to worry about. My family just lost a young member to COVID-19 over the weekend.

What I find ironic about the Gibson situation is that he is probably more safe than Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis in Killarney.

While Minnis wasted no time in punishing Travis Robinson, Vaughn Miller, Reece Chipman and Frederick McAlpine, he has chosen to reaffirm his strong support for Gibson.

Maybe Minnis’ approach in dealing with Gibson has more to do with timing than his perceived loyalty to the WSC executive chairman.

Had this issue arose in 2018, Minnis, in all likelihood, would’ve sacked Gibson.

For the FNM hierarchy, the nepotism allegations couldn’t have arisen at a more inopportune time.

Yet the allegations have the potential of causing collateral damage to the governing party in Nassau, in areas such as Bamboo Town, Pinewood Gardens, Garden Hills, Mount Moriah, Southern Shores, Sea breeze, Nassau Village, Golden Gates, Marathon, Golden Isles, Fox Hill, Fort Charlotte, Centreville, Elizabeth, Tall Pines, Yamacraw and South Beach – 17 seats.

The FNM, based on what I can tell, was already in trouble in those areas.

The Adrian Gibson matter makes matters worse, for a party whose capital has already been spent in Nassau. The FNM standard bearers, in the foregoing Nassau areas, all have an uphill battle – a battle made much more difficult by the WSC allegations.

KEVIN EVANS

Freeport, Grand Bahama,

September 7, 2021.