By: Sidney S. Collie
Bradley Roberts the long time Member of Parliament for Grants Town currently Member of Parliament for Bain Town and Grants Town and Minister for Public Works can best be described as a POLITICAL ENIGMA. It has taken Mr. Roberts more than Twenty (20) years in Politics and or public life to rise from scant obscurity to a point of supreme political prominence. He is not only an enigma but in many ways a mystery.
Bradley Roberts served for Two (2) terms as a backbencher in the Pindling Administration as the Member of Parliament for Grants Town almost in secret. This writer cannot recall any occasion of significance during that era when Bradley Roberts ever made any note worthy contribution to the political life of his constituency or the proceedings in the House of Assembly. Perhaps Mr. Roberts used those formative years in his political career as a period of understudy, maturation and preparation. Or perhaps Mr. Roberts can best be described as a late bloomer.
As an opposition Member of Parliament for the Grants Town Constituency between the years 1992 – 2002 his voice graduated from a whisper to that of a thundering crescendo. It is without a doubt the single voice of Bradley Roberts during those years which attacked, challenged, argued, lambasted and waged a holy political public relations war against the Ingraham Administration. Bradley Roberts was never shy, timid or intimidated in launching his broadside attacks against Hubert Ingraham, Frank Watson and all and sundry, apparently with impunity or without fear of successful defence or counter attack.
Perhaps it can be easily asserted that it was the single voice of Bradley Roberts more than any other of the then opposition voices in the PLP that was in part responsible for the overwhelming defeat of the Referendum and the FNM in the General Elections at the Polls.
The FNMs present leadership, and more importantly after the next convention, can take a page out of Bradley Roberts book. Because of the appalling lack of sustained defence against Bradley Robert’s attacks, the new leadership team must, move expeditiously to reinvigorate the party’s public relations team to rise to the new challenge of making sure the FNMs message dominates the Bahamas political landscape for the next Five (5) years. Concomitantly, the leader, chairman and executive committee must commit to a new culture of opposition politics. This time the FNM must fight its own battle and not wait for or expect a saviour of any kind. The party must establish an image of relevance and readiness.
Following the May 2nd General Elections, Bradley Roberts was appointed Minister of Public Works with responsibilities for Public Corporations. He took up his job with the steam and energy from the campaign trail and election victory, and while he continued to remain in a perpetual campaign mode for a couple of weeks thereafter, he eventually seemed to settle down.
It appears that for the last few weeks he has been consumed with the problems of the New Road Improvement Project, The Bahamas Telephone Company privatization programme, and the vexing problems with BEC. Perhaps these are some of the reasons why the public has not been continuously inundated with Bradley Roberts. In the meantime, Bradley Roberts should harbour no illusions about what the Bahamian public expects from him.
As the Minister of the Government responsible for a key Ministry, the public is watching to see whether Bradley Roberts is all TALK and no ACTION or whether he can put his money where his mouth is. The Bahamian people want and expect results. Loud talk, threats, or intimidation will not do. A point in case was this past Summer where persistent cries from all communities in New Providence concerning the unacceptable and unannounced power cuts by BEC almost on a daily basis. Bradley Roberts in his own famous characteristic manner mounted his public relations horse one more time and threatened the BEC brass to get out of their Air-Conditioned Offices, roll-up their shirt sleeves, get into the power plants and do their jobs.
He also promised the Bahamian Public that this nonsense of indiscriminate power cuts will stop. Sad to say, the indiscriminate power cuts have not abated; in fact on Tuesday October 29th in the early morning, the entire Island of New Providence was hit with an Island wide power failure; and to make matters worse, even though the need for electricity has fallen since the hot days of Summer, power cuts are still occurring.
On another score, this writer as a member of the Baptist Board of Education approached Bradley Roberts Two (2) weeks ago in the smokers room with a request for the Ministryof Works to erect school zone signs, zebra crossings and speed bumps at the Jordan Prince William and Charles W. Saunders Baptist High Schools. I was more than surprised and taken aback by the Minister’s reply. He told me that the Minister for Public Works is a busy man and does not have time to deal with such matters, that I should put my request in writing and he will have one of his Officers look into it. I was surprised and taken aback because I, like thousands of Bahamians took Bradley Roberts at his word, when he promised to be a Minister for the people and a man of action. His reply to me tells me he is just another politician with Ministerial Portfolio.
I have reduced my request to writing and will wait to see if my request on behalf of the Schools will be dealt with. In the meantime, Bradley Roberts and the Christie Administration ought to remind themselves that the average Bahamian voter is more educated about the functions and responsibilities of Government, more savvy about the legitimacy of Political rhetoric and more critical in their evaluations and analysis of Governmental performance. The Bahamian electorate of today no longer follows blindly based on loyalty and refuses to sanction the notion of whitewash sepulchre. The Bahamian voter of the 21st Century is vigilant, and constantly keeps a look out for intellectually dishonest career politicians.
As always, in Politics, Five (5) years is not an awfully long time and the clock continues to tick.
