The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Rporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

GOLDEN Gates MP Pia Glover-Rolle has rejected claims that her public demand for answers over prolonged electricity outages exposed a feud or tension between her and Energy Minister JoBeth Coleby-Davis.

Mrs Glover-Rolle had publicly pressed Bahamas Power and Light for answers after Golden Gates residents endured three days of unreliable electricity, including after they had been told service would be restored by 10pm on the second day.

Speaking at a recent Progressive Liberal Party Golden Gates branch meeting, she said she contacted Mrs Coleby-Davis around 1.36am while constituents were still without reliable power and after receiving distress calls from residents.

She said one woman told her that her 86-year-old mother feared she would die that night because of the conditions, while another resident was concerned that a child with sickle cell disease could suffer a crisis if electricity was not restored.

“When we talk about collective responsibility, as a member of parliament, my responsibility is to you,” Mrs Glover-Rolle told constituents. “This wasn’t anything to do with a cabinet matter.”

She said she communicated with Mrs Coleby-Davis and that the minister later forwarded her letter to BPL’s board and executives.

“The minister said that she would take that letter and she would send it to the board, which she did,” Mrs Glover-Rolle said.

She said the correspondence was addressed to BPL executives rather than the minister because operational decisions and repairs rested with the utility’s technical personnel.

“This letter was not addressed to the minister because the minister is not the technical officer,” she said.

Mrs Glover-Rolle said ministers are not responsible for repairing power lines or carrying out technical and administrative work within public agencies.

She said BPL executives contacted her the following morning after receiving the letter.

“There was no attack,” she said. “There was conversation, and that minister supported her colleague by sending that letter that was addressed to the executives of BPL.”

Mrs Glover-Rolle also said Prime Minister Philip Davis had assured her privately and publicly that she acted appropriately.

“I am grateful to my boss, our Prime Minister, who has assured me privately and publicly that I did the right thing,” she said.

She criticised opposition figures and PLP members who interpreted the episode as a political attack, saying they had been drawn into unnecessary drama despite the communication between her and Mrs Coleby-Davis.

Mrs Glover-Rolle said that while criticism of her public intervention mounted, her constituency team focused on helping affected residents, including those whose appliances were damaged during the outages.

She said the team bought groceries for some residents and worked with a BPL employee attached to the constituency who was also assisting those affected.

“While everybody was talking, we was ensuring that our people got back to some normalcy,” she said.