The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

MEMBERS of the advocacy group Operation Sovereign Bahamas along with some out of work Atlantis employees were stopped yesterday morning from marching to Parliament.

Despite the pouring rain, the group met at the old City Market building on Market Street for their planned protest.

Police were at the scene and advised the protesters to refrain from marching.

But the group went into their cars instead of leaving the area. They made a move when police left the parking lot of the old building, thus individuals started walking from the meeting spot.

But according to protester Wellington Roberts, police prevented the group from going anywhere near Parliament even though the marchers were trying to lawfully assemble and have a peaceful protest.

“We attempted to access Parliament Street,” he said. “They didn’t even allow us to access Parliament (Square) or even get near Parliament House. We made an attempt to access Parliament Street from Shirley Street and some of us came from Bay Street and it was just a huge number of police.

“They forcefully pushed us back. Not physically but forcefully giving commands to just go back and persons like they rushed over the hill.”

He said it was a “complete misuse of police resources” to have 20 to 30 officers just to usher 30-50 people from downtown. He claimed letters were forwarded to the relevant authorities, including Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle.

Earlier this month, Mr Roberts was arrested at the group’s last protest near Parliament Square calling for Atlantis workers to receive their severance pay from the resort.

Unlike the previous event, bull horns were not used so there wouldn’t be accusations of inciting any form of a riot, organisers said.

This time Mr Roberts was not arrested or taken into police custody while The Tribune was present.

Operation Sovereign Bahamas managing director Adrian Francis said the goal was to send a message to members of Parliament.

“Today we’re standing, whether it’s in the rain or it’s in the snow, we’re going to stand in their faces. We’re going to hand out letters to each parliamentarian. The watchwords in these letters is, if we can’t hear your voice we don’t want to see your faces in our houses.

“Independents speak on the behalf of the Bahamian people because they are hungry and we’re going to march and protest until the government gets the message.”

The advocacy group has decided to march and protest every Wednesday against the government, the hotel union, and Brookfield for Atlantis staff.

He pointed to large sums of money the government has borrowed in less than four years, but Bahamian people still need assistance.

“We need to know where that money has gone,” Mr Francis said.

The group is calling for “an immediate shut down of the education system until January,” an immediate mortgage and rental assistance programme, full disclosure regarding Bahamas Power & Light and the “complete eradication of the shanty town environment”.

Atlantis worker Latasha Lewis, 41, said she has been at the hotel for 18 years.

She is not happy with the way workers have been treated during the pandemic.

“I fought so hard to bring up that hotel, to bring up the Ministry of Tourism,” she said. “This is what the government and hotel are gonna do to me? They ain’t send me no information. They ain’t give me no money. They ain’t did nothing. To get treated that way, I felt that was a slap in my face.”