The Tribune

Constituents in South Beach and Pinewood talk to The Tribune on the eve of the poll:

Who are you going to vote for in this election?

“This election, honestly I still ain’t sure who I want to vote for.”

“It’s too late now to say sorry - PLP.”

“Well, it’s the people’s time. That says it all.”

How do you feel the election is going to go this year?

“I feel at the end of the day the PLP will be the returning government. I don’t have no doubt with that. South Beach has almost 5,000 people - I think at the end of the day we’ll get 3,000.”

“I feel going on the grounds and hitting the streets the response has been positive. For Cleola Hamilton it has been awesome. You have one or two persons who didn’t understand certain things and once she got to them and she sat with them and she was able to explain and give them a better explanation of what was going on ... it turned a new leaf. It made them more aware of where the country was been and where it was being taken. I feel she is the perfect candidate. I think she is the wonderful person who will win South Beach hands down, I would say probably by 90 per cent.”

“It’s like this country stays in a repetitive state where the leaders who are in charge ain’t doing what they are supposed to do. They satisfy five per cent of the people, but leave the other 95 per cent wondering what they doing with the money, why the country in debt ... It leaves you with a lot of questions - every election.”

What do you think about crime in The Bahamas?

“It got worse. I mean Perry, they promised the drop in crime and blamed the FNM when Hubert was in charge. They never really said anything’s in line to even help to slow crime down because they know you can’t stop crime but you could at least slow crime down and set more boundaries and more restrictions to put in these criminals’ minds to at least think three or four times before they commmit a crime.”

“The crime in The Bahamas is out of order and it didn’t come out of order during the government’s time. The crime in The Bahamas is a home problem.”

“The problem with crime is not a political situation. I don’t feel that any government that comes in power ... could deal with the crime unless we have the assistance of the community. This problem starts with home, I would say from the parents. You know what us parents do: we turn a blind eye. We need to step up and take responsibility for our actions and stop putting the blame on government. We can’t rely on the government to deal with our issues.”

“The crime rate is awful. I think it has escalated since the PLP took over and said they had the solution to crime.”

How do you feel about campaigning for the DNA in Pinewood?

“It has been a great, great adventure. Through campaigning and walking through the streets of Pinewood with Lincoln Bain .. we came to the realisation they really wanted change. It wasn’t easy going door-to-door and keeping a straight face listening to the concerns ... and you really had to let people talk. I went with DNA because it was the same old thing, back and forth, and I’d rather right now change. As like Mr Bain also say, you can’t put new wine in old bottles.”