WHITNEY BASTIAN SET TO RUN AS INDEPENDENT
By PAUL G TURNQUEST
Tribune Staff Reporter
pturnquest@tribunemedia.net
FORMER MP for South Andros, Whitney Bastian, confirmed with The Tribune last night that he intends to run as an Independent in the next general election and regain his seat in the House of Assembly.
Lambasting the area's current MP Picewell Forbes, Mr Bastian claimed that Mr Forbes is "not representing" the people in the area.
Mr Bastian says Mr Forbes is losing significant support in the Mangrove Cay area, and if the South Andros seat is cut the way he thinks it will be, he will win the seat "hands down."
"When you look at it, everytime a PLP MP gets up to speak, Picewell is sitting behind them. He is the only floating MP in the House," said Mr Bastian.
Claiming to have more support in the area now than he even had when he was elected to Parliament in 2002, Mr Bastian added that Mr Forbes cannot continue to cry "poor mouth" when it comes to being able to at least visit his people.
"I would have thought that since he doesn't have a headquarters that if the government is paying him $18,000 a year (to manage it), he should have some money somewhere because he never created an office. So if you look at his MP's salary of $28,000 and then he gets a travel allowance to visit his constituency - they even give him a per diem. So he can't find no excuse."
And when it comes to campaigning for the next general election, Mr Bastian said he will in no way be spending the amounts of money that he has spent in the past on the last two general elections.
"I don't have intentions of spending the money I spent before. If the people want me they will vote for me. If they vote for me, I will serve to the best of my ability. In terms of spending what I spent in the last two elections you don't have to worry about that ever again.
"We have to break that habit in South Andros. Because people who do things like that feel like they don't owe the people anything. But people on the Family Islands only need assistance. They only want you to point them in the right direction to get things done. They don't need you to put ya hand in your pocket. But the only way to understand the needs of the people is to sit down an' talk with them."
October 29, 2010
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