While the government may indicate that the North Abaco by-election will cost $25,000, its true cost is likely much higher. The government is so fixated on this by-election that it is compromising its ability to conduct daily business.
Without a doubt all North Abaconians deserve the opportunity to vote. By-elections do cost money, particularly in the Family Islands where Parliamentary Commissioner Errol Bethel pointed to the added coordination required for the transportation of ballot boxes among other items.
But this by-election has morphed into a national campaign pitting the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) against the Free National Movement (FNM) in a race that is about everything but the North Abaconian. Whichever party wins the election, it will be a win for pride. The PLP desperately wants to gain the seat held by our previous Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham in an effort to further solidify its general election win.
The North Abaco seat is hotly contested simply because of its previous occupant. But this does not grant the current administration liberty to consume vast amounts of time to secure a seat that will hardly sway the vote of Parliament.
The Cabinet should support its party’s candidate, Renardo Curry, but the entire Cabinet does not need to be actively campaigning for him. Bahamians work hard to earn a living and expect their elected officials, particularly members of the Cabinet, to be working diligently to address our ongoing issues.
Outside of North Abaco, the rest of The Bahamas is waiting for business to get done. It’s been well over 100 days since the general election and the country is once again stagnated by an election. Business in The Bahamas cannot come to a grinding halt for a by-election.
The real cost of the election will be far more than $25,000. No one is accounting for business lost or significantly delayed because of the preoccupation by government officials with the election.
We are well over 100 days since the general election and crime is still high, electricity bills continue to climb, and the rising debt-to-GDP ratio has stirred international concern.
The North Abaco constituents know their candidates. Now the rest of The Bahamas needs to know that their government is there to support them.
Out of control trucks
It is a familiar situation. A resident of New Providence is driving along the East-West Highway, West Bay Street, or JFK Drive and looks in his rearview mirror to find a tractor-trailer, dump-truck, or other large truck closing in rapidly. Though many large commercial truck operators adhere to the rules of the road, others are extremely careless and pose considerable safety hazards to other drivers.
Commercial truck operators should be held to the same, if not stricter, road traffic laws as regular motor vehicle operators. With such great mass, reckless driving cannot and should not be tolerated. But similar to bus operators, dump truck operators are often paid by the load, encouraging fast driving to ensure more load deliveries.
In a nation where road traffic laws are seldom enforced, the already perilous driving conditions become magnified when large trucks speed and weave through traffic like race car drivers. Add to this, limestone and gravel projectiles when a dump truck driver fails to use a tarpaulin or does not properly secure a load and safe driving conditions rapidly deteriorate.
Fortunately, New Providence has experienced a wet summer that has kept dust levels, for the most part, low. With the dry season forthcoming, we can only hope road contractors are prepared and willing to employ dust mitigation techniques. New Providence drivers do not need additional hazards to their already harrowing commutes.
Road safety in general would improve vastly on New Providence if both trucks and cars were held more accountable for road traffic violations.
We would endorse more random police checks with tickets given for speeding, broken headlights, broken taillights, missing bumpers, and an exhaustively long list of items that a vehicle of any classification should have properly functioning in order to safely navigate the roads of New Providence.
Source: Editorial from The Nassau Guardian
October 4, 2012