With a by-election less than a month away, political candidates for St James North, Chad Blackman and Felicia Dujon, wasted no time hitting the campaign trail.
Both Dujon, representing the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), and Blackman, of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), said they had been on the road before last week’s resignation of former Member of Parliament Edmund Hinkson and both reported positive responses from the community.
“The energy from the team is electric. I started a year ago under Edmund, so this is a continuation. The response has been incredible and I don’t take that for granted,” Blackman said.
He was canvassing yesterday in Upper Carlton, St James, along with a team comprising Hinkson, Deputy Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw, Minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams and Minister of Training and Tertiary Education Sandra Husbands.
Blackman said he was not going into the by-election with the mentality he “had it in the bag” and would put the people of St James North first. He said his focus was fostering the sporting talents of the community with sporting programmes as well as creating farming co-operatives and farmers’ markets.
“I see myself as a person who exudes humility constantly. I will never, ever in public life exercise a level of arrogance. That’s one of the things about this campaign that I love. All the members of our team are cognisant of the fact that when you go to people, particularly in the context of an election, you do so with a level of humility,” he said.
Bradshaw said both she and Blackman came from a legacy of political families and he was able to engage people and continue Hinkson’s good work. She said he resonated with the people and was at the forefront of Barbados’ transformation.
Hinkson said: “You don’t just get up from off the street and say that you want to run in a seat that, quite honestly, you have no connection with,” referring to Dujon. He said Blackman was already familiar with the constituency and they were looking forward to an interesting fight.
Dujon, who was canvassing yesterday in The Whim, St Peter, which is a part of St James North, with Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne, party president Senator Andre Worrell
and candidates Pedro Shepherd, Melissa Howard, Amoy Gilding-Bourne and others, said her focus was on the people of St James North.
“I see myself as a citizen who is concerned with the rights of citizens. They need equal treatment – treatment that requires dignity and some sense of humanity. We need to treat persons differently; we can’t tell people, well, you get what you deserve because you’ve already voted for me.
“I think a vote is not only a democratic right, but it’s also the responsibility of the person representing the constituents to do better and do right by them.
“Because of my character as a humanitarian, I think that’s where my interest comes in . . . it’s about what I’m willing to do for the constituents and put in the hard work. This is what we need people to work on. On behalf of the people, this is what is required,” she said.
Dujon said a constituency represented for so long by the BLP should not have so many people suffering. She said this was what she was seeing and she intended to ensure people were treated fairly and humanely. She said her focus would be on road infrastructure, transportation and easing the burden on people’s lives.
Dujon said it was also time the constituency benefited from a woman’s touch.
“I will be the first female candidate here. I think a woman’s voice will make a difference and I think women sometimes care a little extra. So I think that’s the touch that is needed. We need to love and touch people’s hearts,” she said. (CA)
