Loretta Butler-Turner in the House of Assembly.
By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
LONG Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner became emotional yesterday after being denied the chance to speak on behalf of her constituents during a heated House of Assembly session in the wake of Hurricane Joaquin.
She became teary while speaking to reporters outside Parliament as she recalled the challenges her constituents have faced during and since the storm. She also blasted the government for being undemocratic in not giving her the chance to make a contribution yesterday.
House Speaker Dr Kendal Major defended his decision not to let her speak, however, telling The Tribune afterwards that he
simply upheld the House of Assembly’s rules.
After she was denied a chance to speak, Mrs Butler-Turner argued with several government MPs, explaining to them that she was the only member of the opposition to have a constituency impacted by the storm.
Mrs Butler-Turner, recalling her exchanges with Dr Major yesterday morning, said: “The Speaker said to me (that my contribution) is going to be contentious and that he is not hearing any more from me. When I approached him this morning, I went to him very, very humbly, requesting that I had the opportunity to speak to the Bahamian people about what we saw up close and what we experienced.
“And he outright denied me because he said this would be contentious even though I had my contribution which he could’ve reviewed. He didn’t even hear me. He literally asked me to leave his office. I am the only opposition person in this Parliament that represents a constituency that was so devastated.”
While holding back tears, she added: “Additionally, Long Island represents three fifths of the people that have been affected. These are my people. They voted for me to represent them. If you feel and see the devastation that they have gone through, if you relive what they have gone through, you would feel the way that I feel. It is a sad, sad day when I cannot speak for the people that I came here to represent. It’s a sad day.”
Dr Major, however, said Facebook comments Mrs Butler-Turner made about the matter on Tuesday influenced his decision not to let her speak. On Tuesday, Mrs Butler-Turner wrote on Facebook: “Parliament meets tomorrow to hear three reports on the hurricane by three ministers . . . then adjourn for two weeks. So what about my report?? Jokers!”
Dr Major also said that Mrs Butler-Turner wanted to speak at a time reserved by House rules only for ministers, although he acknowledged that he could have used his discretion to let her speak.
He decided not to, in part, he said, because he was not able to read her contributions beforehand to determine whether they would meet his standard of not being controversial.
“Immediately after the hurricane, it was important from my vantage point to allow members who were directly associated with the hurricane to give a report and the leader of the opposition gave a report on behalf of the opposition and the government members also did likewise,” he said. “According to the rules, that period of time is only designed as statement time for the governing members. The chair, at times, through his discretion, would allow a non-controversial statement to be made by a non-minister. That’s according to the rules. The chair made the decision that in the interest of the nation, the leader of the opposition would have that opportunity, hence he gave that report after the prime minister. Since that time has elapsed, we are now two weeks later and I was given advice from the governing side that they wanted to give further reports on the hurricane. Again we are faced with the same situation and because the leader of the opposition had already spoken to the issue, in particular it became important that we follow the rules as they are described because it is important that one, controversial statements are not made that can cause some degree of debate and I certainly wanted to avoid that and two, that as the chair, I get an opportunity to see the contents of any communication by a non-minister to ensure that it wasn’t controversial.”
Dr Major said he “never saw” the MP’s written statement when told Mrs Butler-Turner wanted to give him the chance to see her contribution yesterday morning.
He said: “Yes, I asked for it.”
He continued: “Firstly, Neko Grant asked on her behalf at first. For something as important as that, it would be respectful if she had directly come to me the night before so that I could make a judgment based on what I read. The only time I was able to see the member was as I came out of the restroom and onto the way into the chamber I met her in my office. And in that moment the request was made but beyond that it was more accusatory. She had already made postings on Facebook that I had denied her the opportunity to speak. In my view it was not a credible attempt to speak but to do something else. This is not supposed to be about politics. “This is supposed to be about national unity and the persons coming together and hearing from the right source what is going on in this country. The member would’ve had the right opportunity to speak to this but at this point the member, based on what has happened, I did what was in the best interest of the Bahamian people and the best interest of the Parliament.”
Mrs Butler-Turner said she had not intended to make controversial statements. However, after being denied the chance to speak, she said she will discuss the government’s shortcomings when responding to the category four storm.
“What we’re missing in all of this is the human suffering taking place is being compounded by the government,” she said.
“I’d like to give you a case in point. I listened to the prime minister during his communication. I heard him talk about all the work the utilities companies are doing and Grand Bahama Utility Company is a huge partner in the Long Island restoration for electricity and they have men on the ground and it came to my attention last night that they could not get the co-operation of the government, NEMA or BEC in particular, to help them get their bucket trucks in Long Island to plant in excess of 500 utility poles so they could get electricity. After I mobilized the funds from private donors to pay less than $13,000 to get those trucks from Grand Bahama to Long Island, then came an urgent call from BEC yesterday morning to tell Grand Bahama they have gotten the money to deploy this. This just exacerbates and complicates what I’ve been saying. The government has truly not done its part. I didn’t want to make it political but the fact that they have now denied me this opportunity I think that I am going to reveal all of the missteps that have gone down in not just being proactive in preventing or mitigating what we went through, but I am going to have to show that they have let the Bahamian people down totally.”
Comments
birdiestrachan 9 years, 1 month ago
"very humbly" Butler Turner is a very rude woman. She had already made comments on Face book the day before the house met. The Leader of the opposition had already spoken about the hurricane. Now that she was not allowed to speak she will revel secrets, If they were important why did she not reveal them before??. I am expecting Butler Turner to drop to the floor of the house and kick up her feet and have a temper tantrum.. If one did not know any better, one would think that Long Island was the only Island affected by the Hurricane.
asiseeit 9 years, 1 month ago
Very humbly, you are a troll and a twit and EXACTLY what is WRONG with the Bahamas. The woman is an elected official and has every right to speak in the HOA. You are to dumb to understand the injustice your PLP has bestowed upon the people of Long Island who by the way are Bahamians no matter if they voted PLP or not. A day of reckoning is coming and it will not be pretty for the evil PLP.
Publius 9 years, 1 month ago
Very humbly, you are a very ignorant man/woman.
DonAnthony 9 years, 1 month ago
I live in Long Island and endured the hell of hurricane Joaquin. I must say, and I am no fan of either BTC or BEC, that the local crews did a magnificent job. We are very grateful. BTC rescued me and my family in their bucket truck when other vehicles could not and BEC crews worked around the clock to restore power weeks before I expected them to. At midnight crews were working on poles it was wonderful.
The response from management in Nassau while adequate could have been better. BEC had no drill truck on the island and it took days to arrive, would have expected it here earlier, and BTC had what seemed to be a temporary portable cell tower complete with generator just sitting next to a damaged cell tower for over a week. We should have these portable cell towers on standby to be transported and operating on damaged islands within 24 hours. The defense force took too long to get here, again with us spending 250 million on new ships, a ship loaded with supplies and marines should be here in 24 hours. We need better coordination at the top, with a definite plan of being on the ground within 24 hours in the case of a catastrophe.
Sickened 9 years, 1 month ago
Thanks DonAnthony, it makes me proud to hear of the good efforts that our fellow Bahamians put in during a crises. The BEC crew certainly deserves their praises for working around the clock in extreme conditions.
sealice 9 years, 1 month ago
Loretta getting crapped on in the house is just a small epitome of the way central gov't treats aany constituency that doesn't vote for the PLP ESPECIALLY Long Island and ESPECIALLY Abaco. In fact even with PLP in North Abaco they still aren't getting anything but a mini Bahmar/ disaster Port project...
TruePeople 9 years, 1 month ago
this story just shows how gov't officials are more concerned about covering their asess (avoiding controversy) than actually representing or assisting citizens. Somehow, if you didn't vote for the ruling party you're a second class citizen
sealice 9 years ago
we're 2nd class citizens period
birdiestrachan 9 years, 1 month ago
Great to hear from you Don Anthony, I knew you lived in Long Island and I was praying that you were all right. Hurricanes are really awful I trust and pray that I will never have to endure any of them again. At least you have something good to say about the efforts being made and so did Mr: Dupuch. Hurricanes helps one to separate the small things from things that really matter.
DonAnthony 9 years, 1 month ago
Thank you Birdie, well what separates us is far less than what unites us. It will take a lot more than this to keep long islanders down! The govt was adequate but the private sector and individuals were phenomenal. I saw so many extraordinary acts of kindness that my belief in the innate goodness of humanity has been renewed.
SP 9 years, 1 month ago
....... "When I approached him this morning, I went to him very, very humbly"? .......
BLT doesn't have, never had, and will never possess, a humble once on her!
asiseeit 9 years, 1 month ago
Mrs Butler-Turner should have beat the speaker up side his head with the mace and then thrown it out the window as democracy is dead in The Bahamas!
DillyTree 9 years, 1 month ago
Mrs. Butler Turner had every right to expect to be able to make a contribution to the HOA on behalf of her constituents -- especially seeing as nearly 2000 of the 3000 or so persons affected by Joaquin are in her own constituency.This is yet another example of the PLP's petty vindictiveness. It also bodes badly for the state of democracy in the Bahamas. Whose voice will be silenced next? Yours?
Mrs. Butler-Turner is one of the very few politicians who actually put their feet on the ground and was able to help and assist the many people affected by Joaquin. She did not only help in Long Island, but was able to rally support and supplies for the other islands so badly affected until they were able to get other teams and support in place. Now she continues to work steadfastly for those in Long island, having gone back and forth regularly. What other politician can say the same?
I do hope she reveals what she knows -- perhaps eventually we will be able to impeach the PLP government and send them to the hell they seem to want Bahamians to live in. We deserve better. When are we going to wake up and see this?
MonkeeDoo 9 years, 1 month ago
PLEASE BELIEVE IN BAHAMIANS ! -
Wideawake 9 years, 1 month ago
Mrs. Butler Turner represents the majority of persons impacted by Joaquin. She was a tower of strength during the days immediately after the storm and is playing a leading role in the continuing effort to re-build Long Island. Who better to present her experiences to the HOA, but who is surprised that she was denied an opportunity of making her presentation?
sansoucireader 9 years, 1 month ago
Sexism. If MP Butler-Turner was male Speaker of the House Major would have had no problem letting her speak. So much pettiness. And isn't Major a Long Island surname?
juju 9 years, 1 month ago
Loretta, You are mentally and physically exhausted working for your constituents. DONT BACK DOWN! DONT FEEL THREATENED! Keep up the good work. You are AWESOME.
jusscool 9 years ago
For the speaker of the house . Their are some exceptions that has to be made in order for the country to run. This is one. You are in charge ,so lets make the charge count.
TalRussell 9 years ago
I think the Comrade Speaker should have come right out to tell Loretta that it was not his job to aid the member for Long Island in her well-known ambition to lead her red party.. That until he was so informed by the Governor-General she would remain but the member for Long Island. That her own internal rejection by a majority of her own party voting members is none of the speakers business. That he cannot allow the member for Long island to use the Honourable House of Assembly as a means to circumvent the wishes of her own red members both in and outside of the Honourable House - comprising a majority of red shirts opposed her quest to lead them.
John 9 years ago
FIFTY THOUSAND PEOPLE being evacuated in Southwestern Mexico, Thirty Foot storm surge expected, 220 mph winds, but where is the storm headed after it crosses Mexico?
Patricia is currently comparable to #Haiyan in intensity. This is a very dangerous hurricane https://twitter.com/NHC_Pacific/status/… …
4:30 AM - 23 Oct 2015
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