The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

SELF-proclaimed PLP stalwart councillor Dr Kendal Capron yesterday criticised Mt Moriah MP Arnold Forbes for abandoning the constituency, asking if a resident has to “get killed” for Mr Forbes to “do better” and “take care of business” in the area.

In a series of videos that have gone viral on social media, Dr Capron, owner/operator of the Good Samaritan Home for the Aged, criticised Mr Forbes for failing to be a good representative for the Mt Moriah constituency, charging that things have got “worse” since he was elected as MP. So poor has Mr Forbes’ representation been, Dr Capron claimed, that he does not see “how in the world (Mr Forbes) could have a heart to come back to these people to ask for a vote.”

Dr Capron further criticised Mr Forbes for failing to clean up a certain property and cut down a certain tree in the area, claiming that a man was once robbed by people who used the tree’s dense foliage to provide cover to commit the criminal act. He called for Mr Forbes to clean up the area and remove the tree before someone else is accosted.

Dr Capron also said Mr Forbes’ performance as MP will cause the PLP not to win the constituency in the next general election, adding that Mr Forbes will “cause my party to lose.” To that end, Dr Capron also warned Prime Minister Perry Christie to not “mess up” the party that he “helped stand for”.

Dr Capron’s string of videos showed him standing on or nearby Melvern Road in Yellow Elder Gardens, the same street where a man was shot and killed while in his convenience store on Wednesday night. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

In the second of three videos uploaded to social media yesterday, Dr Capron stood in front of what he called a “dangerous tree” from under which suspects allegedly robbed a man at gunpoint a few months ago. Dr Capron claimed he had repeatedly asked Mr Forbes to “cut down and clean” the tree and the nearby property, which was littered with garbage.

“This is a disgrace,” Dr Capron said. “Listen, down the road Mr Forbes, the man was killed (Wednesday) night. First time in 40 years we was here, somebody was killed or harmed down on this street. Never on Melvern Road, no one was killed or harmed on Melvern Road in 40 years. Mr Forbes you got to do better, you got to do better.”

Pointing to the poor appearance of the property in question, which was littered with garbage and overgrown bush, Dr Capron added: “Look at this area. You promised to clean it; it never was cleaned.

“You want wait until somebody get killed from under this tree here before you come? The neighbours can’t walk, people underneath the tree firing shots at them. Mr Forbes you think you could come back to these people? You got to be out of your head.”

In the first video, Dr Capron could be seen standing in front of an ambulance that he said came to respond to an emergency, but was unable to properly access the house that made the distress call because of the overgrown state of a property. Dr Capron claimed that the EMS responders had blamed him for the trouble they experienced, something he suggested should not have happened, as he is not the MP for the area.

As he spoke, EMS personnel were seen in the background, loading a patient on a gurney into the waiting ambulance after manoeuvring through the bushy area.

He added: “You need to do better Mr Forbes. You need to do better, sir. These people vote for you. They vote for you, talking things are going to be better. It’s gotten worse. And you think you’re doing good? You got worse. I don’t see how you could come back to the people. That’s my party. The PLP. I’m a stalwart councillor in the PLP and everybody knows that. But you have to do better, sir.”

He added: “Mr Forbes, we need to go see the prime minister, so the prime minister could send us who we want. It’s time for the constituency to pick who they want in these areas. Because y’all come every five years, every five years you come and after that you come once or twice and that’s it. Forbes you can’t do that.

“I thought the FNM was terrible, but I don’t know which one of y’all two is the worst.”

Attempts to reach Mr Forbes for comment were unsuccessful yesterday.