By KHRISNA VIRGIL
Deputy Chief Reporter
kvirgil@tribunemedia.net
FORMER Cabinet minister George Smith has expressed disappointment in the new proposed boundary changes ahead of this year’s general election, saying the Constituencies Commission was “not faithful” to the principles of its responsibility as outlined in the Constitution.
Speaking to The Tribune, Mr Smith said the commission should look into sparsely populated areas and factor in the convenience of members of Parliament to travel and stay in touch with constituents among other things before making boundary changes.
He told The Tribune that while he commends the commission for renaming the Montagu seat to Freetown and introducing the new constituency of St Barnabas, it has not done what the Constitution mandates.
Mr Smith insisted that rather than the government only add one seat, there ought to have been up to five additional seats.
“I think that the commission was not very faithful to the charge given to it by Article 70 (2) (of the Constitution), which the prime minister referred to in his communication that gives the guidelines that prescribes the responsibility of the commission to look into sparsely populated areas, people with natural interest, the convenience of a member of Parliament to travel and to stay in touch with people,” Mr Smith said in an interview on Sunday.
“I firmly believe that in the Family Islands, I think the commission was not very faithful to that convention of the Constitution because if they had they would have appreciated that since you’re going to look at increasing the number of seats from 38 to 39, why don’t look at increasing the numbers to be faithful to the Constitution?
“You should have looked at the Family Islands and if they did that very closely they ought to have reconstituted a seat called Bimini and the Berry Islands. They certainly ought to look at a second seat for North Exuma. They certainly ought to have given serious consideration into splitting MICAL into two.”
He said although the numbers would be small in these constituencies, this, along with the geography of the islands and the level of difficulty for some members of Parliament to maintain contact with some Family Islands should have been factored into the commission’s conclusion.
“I also believe that the requirements of voters in the areas over the hill are far more demanding on an MP than the requirements of a person who represents Killarney or St Anne’s so the numbers in the over the hill constituencies should be less because the demands on the MP are greatest.”
He also said: “When you look at the number of constituencies you have to balance that with the number of ministries and Cabinet ministers. You should have at least whatever your Cabinet is multiplied by three and that should reasonably be the members of the House so that the Cabinet is answerable to the House of Assembly.”
Prime Minister Perry Christie last Wednesday tabled the House of Assembly Revision of Boundaries and Re-distribution of Seats Order 2017 during the evening session.
It revealed a new constituency named St Barnabas and the renaming of the Montagu seat to Freetown.
The order, once made by Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling, will give effect to the recommendations outlined by the Constituencies Commission in its boundary report.
The new seat, St Barnabas, consists of two polling stations from Centreville, two from Bain and Grants Town, three from Englerston, one from Fort Charlotte, and three from Mt Moriah. It is bordered by Farrington Road, inclusive of Lightbourne Ave, Maxwell Ave, and Haven Ave, Wulff Road, East Street and Thompson Blvd.
Mr Christie explained that the Montagu seat name was changed to reflect the ancestral history of a major part of the constituency, pointing out that the Freetown seat was included in the 1968 and 1972 elections.
The number of seats in the House of Assembly, as previously reported, has increased from 38 to 39, and are divided as such: 24 constituencies in New Providence; five constituencies in Grand Bahama and Bimini; and ten constituencies in the Family Islands.
Comments
Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years, 9 months ago
Here's what one well-known Bahamian journalist had to say about George Smith's role in the history of the Bahamas as far back as 1982: ".....the Bahamas was in the throes of a criminal takeover by South American drug cartels. The Colombian flag was raised over Norman's Cay in George Smith's Exuma constituency by the notorious gangster Carlos Lehder, who drove ordinary visitors away at gunpoint and orchestrated hourly cocaine flights to the US. The 1984 Commission of Inquiry found that Smith had accepted gifts and hospitality from Lehder, who is now serving a long sentence in an American jail. In fact, one parliamentarian said at the time that 'Pindling and his crew make the Bay Street Boys look like schoolchildren.'" Corrupt George Smith is related to none other than Sir Snake's son-in-law Frank Smith, the incompetent idiot who Crooked Christie appointed as Chairman of our Public Hospital Authority (PHA). No doubt it is the greedy corrupt Sir Snake who is pushing Crooked Christie to let this corrupt scoundrel, George Smith, re-enter active politics. Many criminals are sitting in Fox Hill Prison today for having committed crimes that pale in comparison to the much more serious crimes that George Smith committed. And lying George would try con Crooked Christie and the good people of Exuma into believing he has since welcomed the Good Lord into his life and sought, found and received forgiveness and redemption for all of his earlier transgressions.....BUT ANYONE WHO KNOWS THIS LYING CROOKED SCOUNDREL KNOWS JUST HOW BAD A SCUMBAG HE TRULY IS!
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