The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

LONG Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner yesterday said she was blocked from receiving hurricane relief supplies for her constituency that were donated by staff and students of Claridge Primary School.

She said she was scheduled to accept the supplies during an assembly at the school yesterday morning. However, when she arrived at the school, she said she was told she could not get out of her car or receive the items because of a last minute decision from the Ministry of Education.

Mrs Butler-Turner, who was visibly upset when she spoke with The Tribune, said the decision to block the presentation was just the latest in a long line of moves by political adversaries to undercut and hinder her response efforts in the wake of Hurricane Joaquin.

Tuesday’s event was initially billed as a presentation from the school’s Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) in conjunction with the Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) to students and teachers in Long Island who were left displaced by the category four storm.

While circumstances surrounding the presentation’s cancellation were not made immediately clear, sources near the matter said that once it was determined that Mrs Butler-Turner would accept the donations on behalf of Long Island, education officials reportedly demanded that the presentation be cancelled, despite giving the go ahead weeks earlier.

According to Mrs Butler-Turner, she received notice shortly after Hurricane Joaquin that school officials wanted to make a donation to relief efforts in Long island.

She claimed that she and the representatives agreed to have a formal presentation during an assembly at the school’s Marathon campus on November 3.

The Long Island MP said the date had to be delayed to November 10 to accommodate a trip she made to Long Island.

She said the date was also confirmed on Monday.

“I was headed there this morning (Tuesday) when I got a call and the principal asked if she could speak with me. She apologised that she would not be able to make the presentation and (said) she got instructions from the director of education that the supplies and goods were not to be presented to me,” Mrs Butler-Turner said.

Mrs Butler-Turner believes this directive came from the top tier of the Ministry of Education.

“I can only assume that it was politically motivated,” insisted the Long Island representative. “It is a very sad day because I think the children and the teachers very innocently, without any political agenda were only using me as the vehicle, as the MP for Long Island to see that the goods got to their fellow teachers and students.”

The school held an assembly yesterday, placed the supplies on to the school’s stage and awaited Mrs Butler-Turner’s arrival, however she said she was told not to leave her vehicle once she got there.

Speaking to The Tribune through her car’s window, Mrs Butler-Turner said she was not allowed to receive the supplies or speak to reporters while on the school’s campus.

She later told The Tribune: “I think it is a very sad day when we allow politics to overshadow the good of our human nature. I believe that at the end of the day, this is an awful lesson that we are going to have to give to our children that they cannot do good and be seen for the good that they are doing without politics being thrown into the mix.

“The reality is that they don’t have a difficulty with the supplies going, they just wanted me not to receive them. It is totally a political move. My understanding is that the supplies, the association that help to garner them – the PTA and the union – they are able to put them on the boat and send them.”

She added: “All that I have done thus far for Long Island has been without a political aspiration. This just plays into that bigger narrative of trying to censor media, trying to move away, in my opinion, the whole issue of us trying to help our people.

“Essentially, my constituents whether they supported me or not, cannot say that Loretta Butler-Turner has tried to prejudice anything that has been given, any of the goodwill that has been given to the island.”

Hours after the all clear was given for the southern islands most affected by the storm, Mrs Butler-Turner led the initial relief efforts into Long Island.

In the weeks since the storm, she has raised concern over the pace of the government’s response, often insisting that if it were not for private sector donations, residents affected by the storm would be overlooked.

Attempts to contact Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald and Education Director Lionel Sands were unsuccessful up to press time.