REMARKS BY FRED MITCHELL MP
FOX HILL
On Presenting Alex Storr PLP Candidate for Long Island and Ragged Island
1st April 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



Good evening brothers and sisters. 

It is my honour and privilege to be here this evening and to present to you the candidate and next Member of Parliament of the Long Island and Ragged Island constituency Alex Storr.

I know that this is a proud moment for one man tonight above all others and that is Captain Alphonso Moree. This is a crowning achievement for him. I want to pay tribute to him this evening and to thank him for all his work over the years.

I want to thank all the other PLPs who as a minority in this island, and who after the Party’s last representative left office, kept the faith. There are so many names to mention but each of you is important to the survival of this party.

Tonight, I mention the people who have always been my generous hosts, namely Lockhart and Olivia Turnquest.

I am here by a twist of fate. In 1977, following the general election, I became the NGC Member for the constituency of then Clarence Town or South Long Island. It encompassed all of that area south of Thompson Bay. I was appointed to the job by the late Sir Lynden Pindling.

Following that appointment, I came here with Obie Wilchombe. We both worked then at ZNS at the time. We conducted branch elections in the settlements of the constituency.

Since that time, I have been a regular visitor here and in contact with the people here and our leaders here. I have developed an appreciation of the facts on the ground here and I hope I have built up some modicum of respect and trust amongst the people here.

I have made it an annual mission within the last ten years to visit Long Island at least once per year just after my annual visit to Exuma for Independence Day. Each year at that time, Captain Moree and I would travel in the car together and visit with our supporters. The constant cry was: when are we going to get a candidate, a serious candidate?

If I were younger, I certainly would have taken it on myself but that was not my role. My role I thought was to move the party in the direction of taking its national role seriously. I have believed for a long time that a national party should not concede any seat. You must run whether you win or lose. You must run whether the majority is large or small. You must keep your supporters to yourself and make sure that they stay connected to you.

I share a story I have often told and lately in Abaco using the example of the fast food companies. The fast food companies often appear in clusters. They do that so that their customers will always have a choice in particular neighbourhoods. They don’t want you to pass Wendy’s every day on your way to Burger King without there being a Burger King from which to choose. You see one day if Burger King is not in the neighbourhood, the customer will eventually try Wendy’s. And pretty soon people will stop eating Burger King and switch permanently to Wendy’s.

It is the same with the PLP and the FNM. If you do not provide a PLP alternative then people will give up and move toward the FNM. 

There is also another reason why you have to continue to have a presence even in areas where you do not traditionally win. The people of The Bahamas do not always live in one area, they migrate. So you want to be sure that the PLP has a presence here in Long Island so when they move to Nassau, they will be PLPs in Nassau, grounded as they are in PLPism. Similarly, if someone moves from Nassau to Long Island, they should find a functioning PLP branch and home. They will then continue to support the PLP in Long Island. It just makes sense.

In addition, the PLP has to demonstrate to the people here in Long Island and their relatives and friends in Nassau, that they care about the whole Bahamas and not just the people in Nassau.

So I am pleased that the leaders of the Party have decided that there will be a candidate in each of the 41 seats in the next general election. The Leader repeated this last Sunday when he announced that there will also be a candidate in Bamboo Town. I agree with that. There must be a PLP running in every seat.

And now to Alex Storr.  He comes with the blessings of his home constituency Yamacraw and that of the national party where he is the Deputy Chairman.  He is a fine example of Bahamian male leadership: steady, loyal, trustworthy and dedicated.  I know you have a good candidate in him. Alex, it is now over to you. People are hungry for PLP leadership in Long Island. At his side is his beautiful and charming wife. You are both going to be trailblazers in this island. On your coattails will ride the future of this great party in this island. Not to put too fine a point on it, you cannot fail. And it is not just about winning. More importantly, it is about establishing our presence, our influence and our leadership in this island. The party is depending on you. I know you will succeed.

Win, lose or draw the leader has told him that he has a place at the table. I am happy for him.

The PLP is changing before our eyes. The third generation of leadership is emerging now and it will be fascinating to see where we go from here.
Last evening, we nominated another son of Long Island Andre Rollins to be our standard bearer in Ft. Charlotte.

Long Islanders have much to gain from a new PLP government. The sins of the past are to be forgiven and the plans afresh are to be launched.

You know of our views about the infrastructure that is needed here to improve the quality of life: from the water, to the tourism product, to the international airports, to customs services, to jobs and more jobs and greater investment in this island.

I am in favour of local democracy. I think that ultimately our country has to move to a federal system of governance. Right now we have a nascent local government, but I think that there ought to be legislation in place to provide real devolution to local authorities. Long Island and other islands should have their own local assemblies. I will be urging the PLP to allow for local assemblies with powers of governance over local matters. One project for each island could be for the central government to build a local assembly building before the end of the next term.
sFinally, I wish to recommend to all you an idea which I think will be important for our country. In two years time, we will celebrate the 40thanniversary of our independence. It is time for us to review what I call Project Bahamas.

Project Bahamas is the plan of where we are to be forty years from the date of the 40thanniversary. We should convene at the expense of the national government the First National Congress, with powers given to it by our House of Assembly to chart a course for the country into the next generation. It will have delegates from across the country brought into Nassau for one week in a National Congress, and there will be discussions from across the country about where The Bahamas will be in forty years.

Every ten years, that National Congress should meet.  Delegates will be elected from amongst the people from each political party and those who classify themselves as unaffiliated.

At the end of the day, we will have an idea of where we want to go and where we are going.

The PLP should provide the leadership for this, and the time to start planning is now.

It is once again my honour to be here in Long Island. I commend Alex Storr to you, and I will do all that I can to ensure that he is elected to be your next representative.

Thank you very much indeed.

End