The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

Administrator Juleta Smith-Ingraham has reportedly been relieved of her duties effective immediately in South Andros following allegations of non-compliance with provisions of the Local Government Act, which led to the disenfranchisement of two elected Council representatives.

According to reports, the administrator for Mangrove Cay, Lashanta Fowler-Greenslade, will now oversee the South Andros district.

This comes after two elected local government representatives in South Andros were allegedly removed from their council seats illegally, even though their positions were secured by law following local government elections held on January 23.

Thalia Duncombe-Hunt, who is the elected representative of Driggs Hill, and Bertram Taylor, the elected representative of Mars Bay, wrote letters of protest to administrator Ingraham concerning the reported “flawed” process that led to their removal.

Officials from the Parliamentary Department flew to Andros on Thursday and held a meeting at 4pm with the 16 elected practitioners in South Andros District to address concerns regarding the process.

According to Ms Duncombe-Hunt, officials voided Wednesday’s council proceedings after determining that it was not conducted according to the Act.

The seats of Polling Division Six, which is Driggs Hill, and Polling Division One, which is Mars Bay, were restored to council, bringing the total seats to four in council. The representatives voted on the remaining five seats to complete the nine-member council.

“We are happy about the outcome and celebrating,” Ms Duncombe-Hunt said.

Ms Duncombe-Hunt said the initial process undertaken by administrator Ingraham was “flawed and unlawful”.

“We have two townships, and during the local government election on January 23, polling division six, which is Driggs Hill, and polling division one, which is Mars Bay, the representatives automatically went straight to council according to the Local Government Act 2024,” she said.

However, Ms Duncombe-Hunt claims that when the newly elected members attended their first council meeting, they were unaware of this provision.

“We were not made aware of this by administrator Juleta Smith-Ingraham. We just did what she told us to do, which was vote for all seats, not knowing that we already had our seats in council—Driggs Hill and Mars Bay specifically.

“So, we were disenfranchised by the administrator, knowing that in the Act the law says that our seats are secured from the election of January 23.”

Before the selection process for Chief Councillor and Deputy Chief Councillor began, Ms Duncombe-Hunt and Mr Taylor presented written protest letters regarding their seats to the Administrator and the directors.

In a video posted on social media on Wednesday, the council meeting in South Andros was interrupted by Ms Duncombe-Hunt, who was sitting in the gallery and expressed concerns about the process.

“You are going through a faulty process,” she told the administrator. The administrator replied, “So what, let it be faulty, let them come… let’s go, let’s go… let my minister come and fix it.”

Ms Duncombe-Hunt said the administrator refused to comply with the Local Government Act.

“We were voted out of council—out of our seats that were guaranteed to us by election and the Local Government Act.

“The process that the administration conducted was flawed, unlawful, and illegal. She played on our ignorance of the new Act. As the administrator, she has this information and is supposed to advise us on the functions of this Act. She did not do that. She had a political agenda, and when she was presented with the facts and evidence of the Act, she didn’t care—that the minister will have to come and deal with it.”

Ms Duncombe-Hunt said she is happy that the situation has been resolved and their seats have been restored to council.