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Last Updated: Feb 14, 2010 - 10:25:06 AM |
Statement by: Dr. Andre Rollins
NDP Candidate for Elizabeth
January 29, 2010
Dear Constituents of Elizabeth,
Prime Minister, Hubert Ingraham, declared at the FNM’s rally on Thursday, January 28 that there are some “daydreamers” contesting this Elizabeth by-election and that that’s all they’ll ever amount to being. Mr. Ingraham was suggesting that any political party not named the PLP or FNM was dreaming by believing that they stood a chance in this Elizabeth by-election contest.
How arrogant it is for a Prime Minister to look down on the small men who are brave enough to stand up against the awesome Goliath? Our major national problem is that we are led by leaders who do not have big dreams for this nation and its people; empty leaders who lack the creative imagination that will empower us all. Instead of dreaming about what Elizabeth and The Bahamas could be, we have taken on the persona of our leaders, by settling for what Elizabeth and The Bahamas is now.
We are settling for a poorly performing education system; settling for a one-dimensional, stagnant economy; settling for the escalating cost of living, while wages remain stagnant; settling for escalating violent crime and lawlessness, while the judicial system remains dysfunctional; settling for the great difficulty that the average Bahamian has in obtaining a piece of land in his own country; and settling for unchecked and uncontrolled immigration, where our government refuses to let us even know how many legal and illegal immigrants are living and working in our country.
And so, yes, it hurts me to see so much going wrong in our country and to feel frustrated knowing that no one in power seems bold enough to fix these problems. People in Elizabeth have had to endure flooding for quite some time and here it is you have to see the same two political parties sending candidates promising to solve the same problems that the candidates before them promised to fix. Constituents in Elizabeth are still complaining about the lack of street signs and speed bumps, but such things are a basic and fundamental duty of any government. How then can we in 2010 have candidates campaigning about bringing street signs to what are supposed to be “developed” areas? Constituents shouldn’t have to vote for a candidate of the governing party to have these problems corrected. Why can’t the party in power fix these problems now?
We must raise our expectations of what government should be doing to make this nation fulfill its maximum potential. I see our political leaders trying to lower our expectations and I ask myself do they have the passion to lead? How can you lead if you expect so little of your people? With all that is wrong in our nation and Bahamians everywhere complaining day after day and year after year via the radio, television and internet, I wonder: Are our leaders listening? When I hear the same concerns and criticisms being raised over and over and over again, I ask myself: If they’re listening, do they care?
When the leader of my country states publically that no matter how poorly the PLP and FNM have performed in solving these major problems, the Bahamian people will always come back for more punishment, I wonder: Are we listening? When the leader of my country states publically that any persons who wish to free themselves and the country of the PLP and FNM by building a new party are “daydreamers”, I wonder: Is our Prime Minister telling us not to dream? I say that such comments are truly indicative of the ignorance of arrogance and Elizabeth doesn’t deserve to be insulted by the prime minister of their nation.
If it is possible for a barefoot boy from Coopers Town to rise from poverty to the highest office in this land, then I ask myself: Why can’t a dentist from a new political party rise to victory in this Elizabeth by-election?
Mr. Ingraham was once ridiculed by Sir Lynden Pindling, who called him a “delivery boy”, and so as a candidate who has big dreams for a better and brighter future for the people of Elizabeth and Bahamians everywhere, I accept the label of “daydreamer”, and I am hopeful that the people of Elizabeth use their votes to show the prime minister that dreams can come true. Let's make history together, Elizabeth. It is Possible!
Passionately yours,
S. Andre Rollins, D.M.D
NDP Candidate for Elizabeth
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