Gov’t warned not to punish a district because its rep is in Opposition

Third District Representative Julian Fraser has warned the Andrew Fahie-led government that punishing an electoral district because the representative is in Opposition will be detrimental to his long-term future as leader of the territory. 

Speaking at a press conference held by members of the parliamentary Opposition earlier this week, Fraser said the same thing was done by the National Democratic Party (NDP) when they were in power and that led to their ultimate collapse and loss of power. 

“I don’t see it this way, but this is the way it is coming across. If you continue to punish a district because a representative is in the Opposition, you are going to punish yourself. I told the last administration that and they did not believe me. They punished themselves. Do you know what happened? Every At-Large member in the House of Assembly is with the ruling party because they got rid of those from the other party (the NDP),” the senior legislator said. 

The Opposition legislator also warned the government that it must not enter the Third District and try things that are not in the best interest of the people or else they will pay for it. 

“So, get that incinerator working, get that sewerage treatment plant fixed. Get those derelict vessels out of Sea Cow’s Bay Harbour and also get that community centre up and running and we will deal with the rest,” the Third District Representative said. 

“The infrastructure, the road problems that is territory-wide and I believe once we start getting one area of the territory fixed, we will get all areas fixed. Luckily you don’t have to catch a ride to catch the ferry in West End anymore. Because as soon as you start going west, you will want to know which country in the world I am in after you start running on that major roadway,” Fraser continued. 

Water Issues 

Fraser said the water situation in his district remains the same. However, he noted that a few nights ago, around midnight, the Third District had water running. He joked he would not raise any flags regarding this because it might be gone in a few nights. 

“I just want to say, we have before us a bill to take the Water and Sewerage [Department] to a statutory body. I just want to say if it is the intention of the government to get rid of a nuisance, that is not a good reason to get rid of it. If it is the intention of the government to improve the situation we have before us, then it is a good reason. When the time comes to debate, I will be saying a whole lot. I support the move to take Water and Sewerage to a statutory body,” Fraser noted. 

Other issues 

Fraser further noted that the handling of the issues in the Third District by the government has been untenable and unsatisfactory. 

“Not just to me and not even just to the people in my district. You have an incinerator that is not functional for so many months and I don’t care what the government says regarding it. What I care about is the government fixing it. It is untenable for a sewerage treatment plant which is at Bird Point and has been out of commission since Hurricane Irma in 2017 to be out of commission today continuously and raw sewerage is being dumped in the ocean off Slaney,” Fraser said.  

“My colleagues here were chiding and taunting me on Monday regarding lobster. I won’t expand on that but I know I won’t be eating any lobsters. So, we have a problem. The problem in this territory is being able to take decisions and until we reach that position where we can take decisions, all of these things are going to happen,” he added.