Long Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner is requesting that Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell be fired after admitting that Long Islanders were victimized by the Progressive Liberal Party.
During his visit to Long Island this past weekend, Mitchell told the residents that the crude and unfortunate behaviour of their representative Butler-Turner often gets in the way of the island’s progress.
“She does not know the lesson that it’s better to attract good things with a dab of honey than with a bag of bile,” Mitchell said.
“I have been an opposition MP and I think that notwithstanding party differences, there is goodwill on all sides to be sure that the best is done for our people. That is certainly the case for Long Island, but her (Butler-Turner) representation has not produced what it can for this island. She needs to do better. She needs to pay more attention to Long Island.”
Following Mitchell’s statement, Butler-Turner wasted no time and fired back at the minister, accusing him and the PLP of victimization.
According to Butler-Turner, Mitchell’s statement is a clear indication of the vindictiveness of the PLP toward constituencies represented by the Free National Movement.
“Mitchell suggests that the people of Long Island are being denied certain benefits and that Long Island isn’t progressing because I have stood up against the incompetence, poor governance and abuse of power by the PLP,” Butler-Turner said.
“I have worked tirelessly to get the current PLP government to improve the quality of life of Long Islanders, including for basic services and major capital projects like a new international airport. These requests have fallen on deaf ears because of victimization by the PLP, to which Mitchell has now admitted.”
The Long Island MP expressed that Mitchell’s comments recalls the dark period in the country when many FNM supporters and people suspected of being sympathetic to the opposition were brutally victimized by the PLP during the Pindling administration.
She expressed that during that time Mitchell used “strong language” to criticize the PLP and now that others are using the same “strong language,” he becomes upset and throws a “temper tantrum.”
“He is a hypocrite of the highest order,” Butler-Turner said.
“The FNM will not be intimidated by victimizers. The FNM has fought against PLP victimization for decades and will continue to do so. The FNM, the people of Long Island and this MP will not be intimidated by the brutish, nasty and vile rhetoric of Mitchell, who has proven himself undemocratic, vicious and petty.”
She also accused the government of not supporting Baha Mar’s developer.
But Mitchell said Butler-Turner “can bellow and bark all she wants” because she, along with members of the FNM, must answer the question as to whether they stand up for Bahamians with regards to Baha Mar.
“Or are they (FNM) always on the side of those who want to destroy our country?” Mitchell asked.
However, Butler-Turner said the suggestion that she supported the developer against the government is false.
“Mitchell has not only lied on me, but finally come clean and admitted that the PLP is opposed to the developer of Baha Mar, which the government has sought to deny,” she added.
