The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Staff Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

NO more jobs. No gas station. No relief from giant potholes in the road.

As the first by-election in 11 years nears, some Eight Mile Rock and West End Grand Bahama residents are looking for a reason to get off the sidelines.

“I have enough of it,” said Deweese Burrows on Wednesday, explaining why he won’t vote to replace Obie Wilchcombe, who died unexpectedly last week Monday.

“I live in West End for some 50 years, and no one is doing anything.”

Residents like Mr Burrows say they remember when West End was a more promising place to live.

The Jack Tar Village Resort, which included a marina and an airport, employed 700 people and was, to some, the backbone of the settlement before closing in 1990.

Since then, the community has stagnated like much of Grand Bahama, the island that experienced the highest decrease in total population between the last two censuses.

“For the past 25 years, we have been struggling in West End,” said Marvin McQueen, 58. “We need more jobs in the community, and the candidate must find a way to get more jobs here. That’s the main thing.”

The lack of a nearby gas station is crippling, West End residents said. The nearest station is at the end of Eight Mile Rock, a 25-minute drive away.

Then there is the issue of potholes. The gaps are so large and plentiful in parts of Eight Mile Rock that some residents ride far from the cars before them to avoid falling into one.

“The roads them are not in the best condition,” said Pedro Deleveaux, an undecided voter. “There are no stop signs. There’s poor lighting.”

The Progressive Liberal Party has won West End Grand Bahama and Bimini all but once this century with Mr Wilchcombe as its standard bearer.

Although numerous names are circulating about who may succeed Mr Wilchcombe on the PLP’s ticket –– such names as Kingsley Smith, Paco Deal and Randy Rolle are frequently mentioned –– insiders say there is no clear frontrunner.

The FNM, on the other hand, is rallying around Bishop Ricardo Grant, a pastor who has been working to build support in the constituency for months.

 “I believe that the persons should be from West End or Bimini because they understand our community,” said Keith Cooper, a Bayshore Road resident. “The constituency has always been held by a West End person.”

 Despite residents’ frustrations over their community’s stagnation, West End has long been the linchpin of the PLP’s success in the constituency. In 2017, when the FNM’s Pakesia Parker-Edgecombe narrowly won over Mr Wilchcombe, the PLP carried the West End polling divisions, losing steam in Holmes Rock and falling badly in Bimini.

Nonetheless, Free National Movement leaders, hoping to keep the margins small in West End, are grappling with the impact that Mr Wilchcombe’s untimely death will have on the political race.

After Mr Wilchcombe died, motorcades passed through the West End community in tribute to him.

 “During the hurricane, he made sure people’s houses were fixed and that the people got what they needed, and he was going to finish the houses in West End,” said Sanford Stuart, resident of Bayshore Road, West End. “I would hope they put somebody in place that will do something for us like Obie did.”