The Tribune

DESPITE evident neglect and infrastructural needs throughout their community, voters in Acklins appear apprehensive about a potential future without incumbent MP V Alfred Gray.

During a visit to the island this week, The Tribune canvassed several voters throughout the island, which many consider the most crucial in the constituency of Mayaguana, Inagua, Crooked Island, Acklins and Long Cay (MICAL).

While some have suggested that improvements to healthcare stood as the most pressing of issues, others said that economic stability is a major concern.

All agreed that Acklins, and to a greater extent, MICAL would be won or lost in Salina Point.

Sitting on some 21 miles of sparsely paved roadway to the southeast of its nearest neighbouring settlement, the community of some 200 persons is a microcosm of all the problems facing the constituency.

In Salina Point, a polling division won convincingly by a margin of 82 votes in 2012 by Mr Gray, simple choices like doctor visits, medications and even secondary level education have become luxuries often considered out of reach.

“Don’t waste your time asking how bad it is here. If you drove here, parked here and walked 20 feet in any directions, I bet you could find 200 reasons to vote out Mr Gray,” was how a 53-year-old fisherman responded to questions about the quality of life in Salina Point.

Asking to be identified as a “son of the Acklins soil,” he added: “But for every reason you find, I bet you will hear ten cries by these people about all (Mr Gray) has done for us.”

Unregistered for the upcoming election, the resident said he has given up the hope of seeing political change come to Acklins and MICAL.

Further down the street, seated on a bench near the community’s primary school, an unemployed mother of two speculated that any of the candidates vying for office in MICAL could win if they canvass the area relentlessly over the next two weeks.

Asking not to be identified by name because, as she claimed, her resume has been in the hands of Mr Gray for the last six months, the longtime Salina Point resident said she has long concluded that to survive in a community so remote, one must be in good standing with those either in office or vying for it.

“If it comes down to us down here like it normally does; boy any one of these people could win this seat because we have seen so much bad. Anything that sounds sweet could get us on board,” the mother said.

“Yeah, we gon’ talk bad about Gray. But we have no other choice because things have gotten so bad that the little one or two people he help can’t measure up to all those that are struggling,” she said.

“We stood with Gray because we was all thinking the next lot would be us or someone we know, (but) all we got was promises. Now only people coming over that hill to us is people a part of this struggle or them set coming to see if what they hear is real.”

Acklins, like most of the southern Islands, sustained a direct hit from Hurricane Joaquin in 2015. The storm damaged the island’s Island Luck web shop.

According to residents, the establishment offered the closest thing residents had to a bank for well over four years.

Moreover, the island is still without an ambulance and a properly staffed and outfitted clinic. Acklins shares a doctor with Crooked Island and Long Cay.

Both mail boat and airline services work on schedules, often mirroring increases in tourism activities on the island.

With respect to tourism, residents are calling for upgrades to both the island’s airport and several of its ports. Plans have been drafted for repairs to the Salina Point port, but those plans have gone unused to date.

The surreal nature of life in Salina Point could best be summarised by the first encounter between media personnel and political organisers on the ground for a Free National Movement (FNM) rally on Tuesday.

After making the painstaking journey to Salina Point the group was informed that its arrival was not expected for another several hours and that the community wasn’t ready to service them.

“You should have called ahead and told us you were coming now. We would have called in some fish and other things to cook,” said 49-year-old Roselyn Rolle, a part-time storekeeper who greeted the group.

“We have cold drinks, some stuff to snack on but we would have to call around on this end to see if we could pull something together for y’all.”

When asked about life, work and leisure in Salina Point, Mrs Rolle admitted that she wasn’t thoroughly happy in her community, but said she remains grateful that her struggle could be considered minute when juxtaposed against that of her neighbours.

Asked to expound, Mrs Rolle said with a short sigh followed by long smile, “Gray has been good to me.”

She said the controversial MP has played a major role in her life during his time in office. In addition to assisting her with finding employment, Mrs Rolle said Mr Gray went as far as to visit her during a recent illness.

“He helped me on many occasions so I have to remain grateful for him. This isn’t about votes and thing. This is about life and the best way to say thank you for all he has done for me is to vote for him when I can. There has been a lot of good with the bad, it’s just that the bad is the most recent,” Mrs Rolle said.

“But through it all he has done for us all he can. When I was sick he was there. Whenever I called he answered. There ain’t no easy way to walk away from that, that level of support is important when you are way down here trying to survive.”

Mr Gray has represented MICAL since 2002.

The FNM has selected Miriam Emmanuel as its standard-bearer in the constituency.

Mrs Emmanuel, pastor and director of church operations for Good Samaritan Kingdom Ministries in Salina Point since 1989, replaced Walt Saunders, who withdrew because of health reasons.

Comments and responses to rwells@tribunemedia.net