On one side of the St James North battle for the title of Barbados Labour Party (BLP) candidate in the next general election is Edmund Hinkson – a nominee endorsed by the incumbent and securing the support of the president of the constituency branch.
On the other is Douglas Skeete, a man who has been endorsed by senior members of the party, with one of them serving as his campaign manager.
The two will face off today in a race that sitting MP Rawle Eastmond has indicated he will not contest, as an incumbent, on what he says is a flawed voters’ list.
On the las’ lap of their campaigns, Skeete and Hinkson spoke to Associate Editor Dawne Parris about what they’re offering to the people of St James North and their feelings about what is expected to be the most controversial nomination within the Opposition party ahead of the next general election.
Candidate:
Douglas Skeete
Age: 59
Profession: chartered accountant
Why did you decide to throw your hat into the ring for this nomination?
Skeete: There are a number of individuals who had asked me if I would be interested. First, there were a number of parliamentarians in the Barbados Labour Party, and then once I canvassed a select number of individuals in the constituency of St James North, particularly because I lived next to the constituency and I was born and grew up next to the constituency, a number of those individuals indicated to me that I should offer myself.
What do you think your chances are of winning?
Skeete: I rate my chances as very, very good. I’ve done quite a bit of work and I think that on the basis of the work I have done canvassing the constituents that I have a good chance of being nominated as the candidate to represent the Barbados Labour Party in the next general election.
What would be your constituency priorities if you win the nomination?
Skeete: There are a number of issues, including roads. There are about four roads in Upper Weston and Upper Mount Standfast that need to be fixed, they’re in terrible condition.
There is also the road in Rock Dundo, as you go to Gibbes, that needs to be fixed. Other things include the community centre in Sion Hill that is almost in a dilapidated state and work needs to be done. We need to use it not only as a community centre for sports but as a skills training centre because there are a number of individuals who are unemployed and can be trained, thereby equipping them with skills that they can find employment.
There is a high level of unemployment and although that would be a priority, it’s not going to be easy finding jobs, so that’s where the skills training centre comes in. If we can equip some of these individuals with the appropriate skills then there’s a good chance they could find work.
And if you were to go on and win the seat, what would be your priorities at the national level?
Skeete: I believe that St James North is not a lot different from some of the other constituencies and I am pretty sure that unemployment is going to rate highly in the other constituencies. So trying to ensure that we reduce the level of employment in Barbados is very high on the list. I think some effort needs to be made to bring down the level of unemployment.
Other national issues include economic matters and our high debt profile. There are also industries that are not making any progress and we need to get some of those industries working again: our tourism and construction sectors need attention and our international business and financial services sector also needs attention.
What is your take on the controversy surrounding Rawle Eastmond’s resistance to being part of a nomination process and his allegations about the voters’ list?
Skeete: I don’t want to get too involved because on the eve of this nomination, I want to focus on trying to achieve my goal. I think that the party leader is going to be addressing that issue [today], but at this stage, I would rather concentrate on trying to ensure that I do the best I can in this nomination.
Going into the nomination, are you comfortable with the branch voters’ list that will be used?
Skeete: The general secretary of the party has addressed this matter and in addressing it he made reference to the membership committee. I have total confidence in the machinery of the party and therefore I will have no questions. Whatever the outcome, I believe they would have done all in their power to ensure that this is a free and fair nomination.
