The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

STRAW vendors and taxi drivers in Grand Bahama have mixed views on calls from Free National Movement leader Michael Pintard for Minister for Grand Bahama Ginger Moxey to be removed.

Philippa Pratt Burrows disagrees with Mr Pintard’s assessment of Ms Moxey’s performance.

“She is doing an excellent job dealing with Grand Bahama,” Ms Burrows said. “Grand Bahama is a large place and she from east to west doing an excellent job for a woman. I don’t feel the Prime Minister should shuffle her; leave her right where she is.”

Antoinette Smith feels that Ms Moxey should be removed, however.

“I agree with Mr Pintard because Ms Ginger Moxey is not doing anything for Grand Bahama,” she said.

The Port Lucaya vendor said things have been tough for those in the area. She said Ms Moxey has yet to live up to her promise concerning a grant for the vendors.

“Ms Moxey had us fill out an application online for a grant from last year June and July, and we have yet to hear anything. We keep asking and nothing has come out of it,” she said.

Ms Smith said they were told that the grant was guaranteed.

“We could use a little boost because our shops were closed for two years, but we have not heard anything further about the grant,” she said.

“When you call her office, there is always a block, and you are unable to see her. She is the minister for Grand Bahama, but you are unable to see her,” she claimed.

She admits that while the Davis administration had given vendors $500 and had held a meeting with them, it came off as a campaign opportunity.

“We thought she would talk with us one on one to find out what was going on, but she did not do that. She had the meeting simply to boost her campaign for herself. She did not talk to one vendor,” the woman claimed.

Mr Pintard called on Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis to consider shuffling his Cabinet because there are several ministers he thinks are unsuitable for their portfolios and should be reassigned to roles better suited to their skills or replaced entirely.

Among those he listed were Works and Utilities Minister Alfred Sears, Housing and Transport Minister Jobeth Coleby- Davis, and Ms Moxey. He believes that “while she has some promise, Grand Bahama is a very complex island, and it requires a stature of leadership that presently is not there.”

Daphne Nixon does not agree.

“I don’t concur with Mr Pintard,” she said. “I believe that Ms Moxey is doing an excellent job here in Grand Bahama.”

“If you recall, Grand Bahama has been in a slump for a very long time. We have been through a lot of challenges with the hurricane and so forth, and I believe that coming new into politics, Ms Moxey with the help of God, is doing an excellent job and should not be moved, not at this point in time. God bless her as she continues.”

Another straw vendor, who identified herself as a PLP supporter, believes Ms Moxey would be better in another ministry.

“I don’t feel she is suitable for that position she in,” she said. “I agree with him (Mr Pintard) 100 percent to shuffle them, and I is a die-hard PLP.

“I feel he (the Prime Minister) should put her in an area that she could handle. I don’t feel she could handle that area. They need to put somebody else that is more experienced in that area. It is what it is and I is a die-hard PLP.”

However, another straw vendor who identified herself as an FNM, said Ms Moxey should be given more time.

“We need to give her a little bit more time. It (the economic situation) has been going on for some years. The FNM had their time, so we want to give her a little bit more time,” the vendor said.

A taxi driver said: “She (Ms Moxey) likes the camera. They pick these people and put them in the position, so we just got to live with it.”

However, a cab driver who gave his name as Mr Grant, said he does agree with Mr Pintard. “She is doing a wonderful job and I do not think she should not be moved.”

When asked why he said: “I like how she is dealing with her constituents. I like how she is trying to assist people who can’t prepare for themselves. And I like the way she is involved in trying to get the economy back in shape so everyone will be able to survive. I think she is doing a good job.”