Corruption was the buzz word for Centreville Member of Parliament, Reece Chipman, who used his parliamentary privilege to defend his family’s legacy in Parliament.
The Chipmans are at the center of a dispute over enormous tracts of land amassed by their patriarch, Howard Nelson Chipman.
Standoffs are regularly posted on social media – the last involving Tourism Minister, Dionsio D’Aguilar’s wife over land in the Orange Hill area.
The video showed the minister’s wife uprooting a fence the Chipman’s had installed around the said property.
Standing her ground, Mrs. D’Aguilar invited the Chipmans to call the authorities.
Addressing the issue in the House of Assembly on Wednesday, the FNM MP insisted that Chipmans are law makers not lawbreakers, land givers not land grabbers.
He admonished Bahamians to not allow something just because it’s politically expedient, to save generations of Bahamians while unraveling the knot of corruption, greed and in some cases misunderstanding, and to follow the law.
“You see Bahamians, they want to hold us to a certain standard, one which they do not hold for themselves.
“My great-grandfather’s legacy was one of land ownership and wealth, his legacy was one of helping the poor.
“His legacy will not be erased from the Registrar’s Office, or Land and Surveys or the Attorney General’s office. It will be restored, as the God we serve will have it no other way.
“So yes, we know who the rightful owners are,” said the MP.
Mr. Chipman ended with the promise that his family’s legacy will not be rewritten or retold by corruption, political skullduggery and cronyism.