The Tribune

By SANCHESKA DORSETT

Tribune Staff Reporter

sdorsett@tribunemedia.net

MEMBER of Parliament for Golden Gates Shane Gibson said yesterday he believes that his constituency office was vandalised by Free National Movement supporters who were upset that he stopped them from “illegally dumping” on a park in the area.

In an interview with The Tribune, Mr Gibson said two men and a woman went to his constituency office around 4.30pm on Sunday.

A vandal was caught on camera smashing out the windows of the office and throwing large stones through the window frames as others watched.

Mr Gibson said a red truck that was caught on camera at his office was the same truck that was being driven by a person waving FNM flags, who his workers stopped from dumping trash on Ross Davis Park a few days after Hurricane Matthew passed in October.

Mr Gibson, minister of labour and national insurance, said he thinks the attack was politically motivated. He also questioned why police officers did not arrest the persons involved, even after seeing their faces “clear as day” on surveillance video.

“Some people were dumping on Golden Gates Park in a red truck, they were waving the FNM flag at the time,” Mr Gibson said. “This is the same truck that persons used to come to my office and vandalise it. All my windows were smashed in. Not only did they vandalise it but two police officers came right after they were finished, walked around the building, looked at the two guys and didn’t arrest anyone.

“I am not sure why they did it but I have everything on tape, everything was caught on infrared camera. The persons who smashed in the windows, their faces are clear. The question is why these two young men and young lady were not arrested. This is a strange occurrence but hopefully once we are able to get their faces out to the public, people will come forward quickly and let us know who these persons are and we can get some answers. I do not know if this happened because we are at the height of the political season, but when you have individuals doing this kind of thing, it is very troubling.”

In the video obtained by The Tribune, a man in a gray shirt and dark short pants is seen hopping over a gate in front of the office. He then begins to throw what appears to be a flat concrete slab into the front windows of the office. A few minutes later he is joined by another man in short white pants and a light blue/grey shirt who watches for a while before going out of the camera’s view. A red truck is also seen parked outside of the gate, with what appears to be a female standing near the driver’s door.

Yesterday Mr Gibson said he thought about not “running again” but incidents like these have inspired him to keep going.

Meanwhile, FNM Bamboo Town MP Renward Wells, speaking in the House of Assembly yesterday after Mr Gibson raised the issue in the lower chamber, said his constituency office was also vandalised the day he became leader of opposition business in the House of Assembly. He called on members from both the PLP and the FNM to condemn “these kind of cowardly actions.”

Mr Wells quit the PLP last year to join the FNM.

“We, on this side, categorically condemn any sort of act towards political office in any form for fashion but you know, Mr Speaker, I have had a similar incident take place at my constituency officer at the community centre,” Mr Wells said.

“My community centre was busted up, the windows and the doors - I made a note to the police but I did not report it at the time to the House, but it is on record with the police. This happened the night I was made opposition leader of business in the House of Assembly. I think we ought to take a closer look at what is happening because political season has begun in earnest and I think that both sides, the government and the opposition, ought to speak very strongly and condemn this behaviour outright and it will not be tolerated in this country. The way we express ourselves is when we go to the polls and we exercise that right at the ballot box.”