Long Island Office Opening - FNM Leader Hubert Ingraham

Tue, Mar 6th 2012, 05:32 PM

Remarks Long Island Constituency Headquarters Opening Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham Party Leader 5 March 2012

Long Island; FNMs:

Colour Red is in the great constituency of Long Island. We are in FNM country. You have been with us for a long time. Like the saying goes, “Love is a many splendored thing!” We love you. Pappa love you. We know you love us back.

I have come with one of your own – Loretta Butler Turner. The FNM and Loretta have your interest at heart

Long Island – “Who ‘ya voting for?!”

Let me again salute Larry Cartwright. Larry loves Long Island and loves his country. He is a patriot, an educator, a farmer, an environmentalist.

Larry: You have been one of the best ministers of agriculture in an independent Bahamas. From the Backyard Gardening programme to supporting farmers, you have helped to start a revolution in agriculture and food production.

I thank you for your service. You are a gentleman of the highest order. You are a man of great loyalty. The Bahamas looks forward to your continued service.

Long Island:

To follow in the footsteps of a good son of Long Island, Papa has brought you a daughter of this island. Loretta is the granddaughter of another daughter of Long Island, Lady Caroline Butler nee Watson who hailed from Morrisville here on Long Island and of her maternal Grandparents Edward and Rheasa Taylor who lived in Clarence Town.

Loretta grew up in Long Island for a number of years. In her adult and professional life, she has nurtured her love of Long Island and stayed close to her Long Island roots.

Loretta is the granddaughter of Sir Milo Boughton Butler, one of the Fathers of the Nation and our first Bahamian Governor General in an independent Bahamas.

I am so proud that the granddaughter of Sir Milo and the granddaughter of Long Island is involved in frontline politics. I am especially pleased that she is an FNM. Before I say more about Loretta, I want to talk about honouring our national heroes.

It is our duty to pass on to our young people and children, the stories of their ancestors and the stories of those on whose shoulders we all stand. Long Island must be proud: Of our eight Bahamian Governors General since independence -- two hail from this island Sir Henry Taylor and Dame Ivy Dumont.

It is a matter of national identity, national pride and the Bahamian Story to celebrate and memorialize our national heroes. We do so to remind every generation of whence we came.

We are transforming the Lynden Pindling International Airport into a world class facility befitting of the legacy of the nation’s first Prime Minister. We, the FNM, put Sir Lynden on the dollar bill, our most frequently used paper currency.

The thousands of young Bahamians who watched in person or live on TV the grand opening of the new National Stadium now have a greater appreciation of Tommy Robinson. The new QE II Sports Centre will also have an area that will serve as a hall of fame for outstanding Bahamian athletes.

We recently dedicated the new Office of the Prime Minister in the name of Sir Cecil Wallace-Whitfield, another Bahamian giant. Lady Naomi Wallace Whitfield, another daughter of Long Island was on hand for the occasion. Over the last few months we have renamed schools in honour of outstanding educators such as Mrs. Anatol Rodgers.

And you know my wife is a Long Island Lady, born in Seymour’s North Long End!

In our next term we intend to name the several of the new roundabouts created in the New Providence Road Improvement and Airport Gateway Projects in New Providence in honour of Bahamian cultural icons.

As the gateway into our capital city from LPIA, Bahamians and visitors will be reminded of the names of some of our cultural giants as they travel along our roads.

Anybody walking around Downtown Nassau, whether a Bahamian child or tourist, can’t help but notice something: in Parliament Square there’s a marble statue of Queen Victoria. At Government House there’s a statue of Christopher Columbus. At the Hilton Hotel there’s a statue of Woodes Rodgers. These statues speak to a part of our early colonial history.

And, in Rawson Square there is a bust of Sir Milo. Sir Milo deserves more. The Bahamian people deserve more.

Because of the global economic meltdown we were unable to develop a National Heroes Park during this term in office. We will develop such a Park in our next term. And among those represented there will be Bahamians such as Loretta’s grandfather who married into a Long Island Family.

And there will be many others with connections to this island of talented people who have played such important roles in our development from colonial times through to today.

Sir Henry Taylor first came to prominence as a founder of the Progressive Liberal Party in the 1950s. His colleagues in that venture also came from Long Island: William Cartwright and Cyril Stevenson. I am always conscious of the role Long Island played in my first Government when Ivy Dumont, Frank Watson, C.A. Smith, and Jimmy Knowles, all products of this Island, formed an important centre in my Government and my Cabinet. Larry Cartwright joined that important group following the 2002 elections.

You have always had a voice and influence in the FNM. With Loretta that voice and influence will continue

Long Island,

I know that you have a keen sense of the importance of protecting our natural environment. From 1992 to 2002, the FNM doubled the size of the National Park System. This term we added tens of hundreds of acres. The National Park System in Andros alone has over one million acres of protected land and marine area.

You know how many acres Perry Christie and the PLP added to the National Park System from 2002 to 2007? None!

Now I know that you continue to have serious concerns about our fisheries industry, a backbone of the Long Island economy.

I know that you continue to hold serious concerns about our ability to police our resources and to keep you and your industry safe from poachers.

I am pleased to be able to tell you that we are expanding the presence of the Defence Force in this area with a new base at Ragged Island. In fact we are expanding our surveillance of all our borders through expanded Defence Force presence in Grand Bahama, Abaco, Inagua and Ragged Island.

In support of that effort we increased the Defence Force fleet by 10 craft and added two new aircraft to the air wing of the Defence Force

But we need your help and cooperation in beating back this problem. All of us must commit to protecting our resources, to not shielding or giving comfort to poachers and of not engaging foreign fishermen under the guise of marine engineers. The Government has taken the necessary action to reserve commercial fishing for Bahamians and of expending resources to patrol our waters so as to protect our marine resources. You must commit to being our eyes on the high seas and of reporting incidences of abuse even when the abuse may be taking place under cover of other of our compatriots.

But there is another area that we need cooperation from you on and that is the extent to which Bahamians are entering into marriages of convenience. When a Dominican fisherman marries a Bahamian to gets status and then becomes engaged in fishing as a spouse of a Bahamian citizen there is little that the Government can do to stop a man working to support his Bahamian wife.

I want to advise that next week the 52 week National Jobs Readiness and Skills Training Programme will be starting in Long Island very shortly. More than 40 persons applied to participate in the programme.

To the extent that we can identify suitable places where can learn and develop skills we will place them. The Ministry of Finance is finalizing with the Administrator where such persons may be placed. Once that is agreed the successful applicants will be advised where to report.

Also, I advise that five of the 12 applications received from Long Island for Jump Start Programme have been approved and another three are under active consideration now.

Long Island; FNMs:

Loretta has a progressive vision for The Bahamas. She is passionate in her commitment to advancing equality for all of God’s children. Loretta is in public life, not because of what she can get, but because of what she can give back to her country.

Y’all already know that the Butlers are renowned for their success in business. So too is Loretta. She now has cabinet experience and has worked in the area of social development for the past five years.

Loretta is the one for you. She has long and deep Long Island roots. She has vision. She has business sense and common sense. She has experience in government. She will deliver for you because of all of these reasons. Loretta will deliver for you because she is a part of a team that delivers for the Bahamian people.

Long Island knows about team work. You continue to network and organize yourselves in groups like the Long Island Chamber of Commerce and the Long Islander’s Association, and I want you to work with Loretta. She is my woman here in Long Island.

I understand that there is some work going on to plan for Long Island’s long-term future. The FNM has the same long-range vision for Long Island. That is why over the past five years we have invested in many infrastructural projects in Long Island including docks, roads and sea walls. Long Island, you have a wonderful legacy in education producing some of the best exam results anywhere in the Government-operated school system. Indeed, you rival many in the private school system. I want to assure you that Long Island figures prominently in our plans as we continue to upgrade and improve the quality of schools around the Family Islands. That is why we upgraded a number of your schools during this term in office - constructing a new pre-school block at Simms Primary; constructing a new Technical and Vocational block at NGM Major High; a new 2-classroom block and preschool block at Mangrove Bush Primary and a new 2-classroom block and new track & field facility at Deadman's Cay Primary. We care, that is why we deliver for you and your children.

And we have also attended to your infrastructural needs. We re-built the seawall and road at O’Neil’s, completed the Simms Dock; rebuilt the Salt Pond Dock and dredged the basins at both docks to accommodate easy access. New side roads have been paved at Benji Hill, Scrub Hill, Turnbull, Poseidon Point, White House and McKanns. We have completed works at the Stella Maris Airport and hope to resolve the access road leading to the Monument which has stalled. And we completed the promised Defence Force Base at Duncan Town Ragged Island with complete underground infrastructure.

I am happy to tell you tonight that we expect that by the end of this month or between now and Easter, the 6 off air television channels will become available in the remaining areas of north and south Long Island now without cable TV service as follows: North Long Island:

Simms

Stella Maris

Millerton

Burnt Ground, and Seymour’s.

South Long Island:

Clarence Town

Dunmore

Hard Bargain

Mortimer’s, and Gordon’s Settlement

Long Island: The FNM has a vision for all the Islands of The Bahamas.

More remains to be done. That is why I have come to seek your support. We want to continue delivering for you in our next term in office. Still outstanding is the airport in Deadman’s Cay. I advise you now – in our next term we will build a new airport in Deadman’s Cay because your it is not possible for your airport to be re-constructed in the condition it is in now – a new terminal and a new 7,000 ft. long runway. We have completed the acquisition of the land required for the expansion of the runway some 4 years ago. I understand that the owners of the land – the Wrights, a number of Turnquests, and Wells - have not yet been compensated. I need for you to tell me the reasons they are giving you for not being able to pay your compensation. I am putting some fire under people in my office responsible for this area but I need for you to ensure that I am in possession of your documents which can establish that you are the rightful owner of the property and hence entitled to be compensated by the Government.

With the new airport will come improved air connections between Long Island and other islands of The Bahamas from the capital Island of New Providence. We are moving ahead with plans to provide all of Long Island with potable water through the construction of R/O plants. The pre-bid meeting for companies placing bids for the Salt Pond Water project will take place within the next 7 to 10 days. Those works will include the installation of 11 miles of new water mains, 5 miles of new distribution water lines and 6 transmission stations between Grays and Salt Pond. A new storage tank and a booster tank will be installed and the R.O plant at Deadman’s Cay will be expanded. The project is projected to cost some $3.6 million, which the Government will make available to the Water & Sewerage Corporation. Going forward, we expect to carryout similar improvements at Clarence Town; we hope to receive some funding from the European Union to assist with that portion of the water project. And, as we are now doing in Abaco and Exuma, we will in our next term construct a small community hospital in Long Island, as is befitting your station and development. Long Island:

We have placed and continue to place emphasis on development in our Family Islands because we are committed to facilitating and encouraging the largest migration of Bahamians in our history back to the Family Islands.

Our long-term national vision is to ensure that every major island has the critical infrastructure needed for development. Investments in infrastructure will help to attract domestic and foreign investment.

This government, more than any other, from Abaco to Inagua from Cat Island to Ragged Island, has been diligently building the infrastructure for communications, electrical and water utilities on the other major islands of The Bahamas for years. We began during our first terms in office bringing electricity and telephone services to some of your settlements for the first time. We paved and reconstructed roads and improved conditions in your clinics. We have continued our efforts from 2007 to 2012. We have more to do.

What we want is sustainable development and sustainable communities to bring a better quality of life in the Family Islands. That means social and economic development. That means improving infrastructure and utility services and it means protecting our environment.

And we want to make sure that Long Island maintains its unique character and traditions with modern amenities that will complement the natural beauty of Long Island.

Long Island;

We’ve been travelling all over The Bahamas to ensure that next time it’s going to be FNM time again, so when I ask you to cut me some slack, I ask you to cut me some slack because I want to go and win MICAL, I want to win the two seats in Eleuthera, I want to win Exuma, we want to take Cat Island and San Salvador off little Brave’s hands, and we are going to win North Andros because North Andros has already gone FNM.

And I saw the former archbishop of The Bahamas, Bishop Gomez, who was down there in his Bishop's collar. I do call upon Perry Christie to apologise for that. He knows better.

Many of you Anglicans who celebrate Lent time do not do such things. In fact, I saw Father Sebastian Campbell in the newspaper complaining about us holding meetings during Lent. Well what you think about a Bishop on the political podium during Lent?

Anyway, there is only one Gomez who is going to the House of Assembly. Her name is Monique Gomez - she is running for the FNM in South Beach! Bishop Gomez’ son Damien in South and Central Eleuthera - he is gonna get beat! He ain’t gonna see the House of Assembly.

And of course, Perry Gomez in North Andros will not see the House except for the outside looking in.

FNMs:

We’ve got a wonderful opportunity to win nearly every seat in the Family Islands. We’re gonna win all five in Grand Bahama. The wind is at our back in Nassau - we’re gonna win Nassau. I don’t have to tell you about Abaco.

I know we’re gonna win Long Island. And so Long Island I want you to stick with us because I’ve got to go to make sure that we win the government.

I know you’d like to see me, but please cut me some slack. I’ve got a number of good men and women, some of whom who spoke here tonight, who you will see again and again.

I’m coming back here on Friday. I also know that you expect a lot from us, and you are entitled to expect alot from the FNM because you’ve been good to us, you’ve been loyal to the FNM. Never, ever switch. South Long Island has never switched!

Now I also know that some of you are disappointed that we did not do more for you than we did. But if you reflect on it, you’d have to agree that we also did alot for you - maybe not enough - but we did alot for you.

But you are entitled to demand and you are entitled to expect more from the FNM, because you were badly neglected for a very long time (under the PLP). So we have a lot of things to do to bring you up to where you are ought to be.

I want you to know, and I acknowledge, that the FNM owes Long Island. We are in your debt. I also want you to know that we’re going to pay that debt. We aren’t going to pay it all at one time because we don’t have it to pay all at one time, but as long as we are here we are going to make regular steady installments on our debt until you become all you ought to be. You have my word on that.

We in the FNM deliver.

I will be coming back on Friday with the Ministry of Public Works. They will be officially commissioning the new classroom block and pre-school at Mangrove Bush and the new technical block at NGM Major High School. They will also be signing a contract for work at the Clarence Town dock and the construction of a new bathroom block there.

While I am here I am going to take the opportunity to invite fisherman down to come and meet with me, the Commodore of the Defence Force and the Director of Immigration so I can hear from your first-hand what you say your problems are and how we can work together to address these problems.

Because, there is no good reason why there ought to be foreign fisherman fishing on these boats that are in The Bahamas.

And so Long Island, I’ve come to ask you to vote for the FNM again. I’ve come to ask you to vote for Loretta Turner as our candidate.

Long Islanders are among the most loyal FNM supporters everywhere in The Bahamas. In fact, wherever you go in The Bahamas, Long Islanders are in there working for the FNM. I want you to know we are grateful.

I am grateful for the support you give us everyday. We need your support again so we can continue to pay the debt we owe you.

Don’t mind the noise in the market. We are winning and the PLP knows it. When the election is over they are going to be exactly where they except that they are going to have fewer seats than they’ve got today.

Colour Red is coming. Not long from now we are going to ring the bell. Register to vote.

After we would have painted The Bahamas red, and the PLP gets scared - watch out!

We have the better record, we have the better team, we have the better vision. We are the FNM. We are the Party of choice for The Bahamas.

We are the Party that governs you best. We are the Party that has hands that are clean hands. We are the Party that causes you to be able to hold your head up wherever you go in the world.

We have no skeletons and we have nobody we are ashamed of, just like how the PLP are hiding some of their people. We know who they are, we know what they are up to.

Those grimy, greasy fingers are ready to get their hands in that cookie jar! You job is to keep them out! We will keep the PLP out because they don’t deserve to be the government of The Bahamas. They had a shot - once was too much for them!

You stick with us - the FNM is the best Party for you. With us, Long Island is safe, with us Long Island will develop. With us, Long Island will be better off. Thank you, good night.

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