Albert is a tossup as Goldson retires
The Albert division in Belize City has been the perennial home of veteran political leader Philip Goldson. But with Goldson’s retirement the race has been thrown wide open. The P.U.P.’s Mark Espat has been working hard in the area for several years, while the N.A.B.R.’s Gilda Lewis, hoping to inherit her leader’s following, is also making her mark. On the U.D.P. side the political defection of former standard bearer Philip Bracket has left Thomas Morrison as a relatively late entry, while the P.D.P.’s Ruth Smith rounds out the field. Tonight in our continuing series on “Elections ’98,” Patrick Jones speaks to two of the candidates in Albert.
Gilda Lewis, N.A.B.R., Albert
“In the Albert division, I am campaigning on two fronts. From the perspective of the Albert division I am asking the residents of the Albert division to identify for me what their concerns are, because I am not going to presume to come into the Albert division and tell people what is supposed to happen to them. They are going to tell me what they think should happen to them. Together we are going to work at what needs to be done, so we can get it done.”
Mark Espat, P.U.P., Albert
“The issues in the Albert division are very clear. After thirty-three years of having a representative of the other party, the people are crying out for a change. Look around Albert you will see that the joblessness, the hopelessness, the lack of sporting facilities, the lack of health facilities, it’s overwhelming. And the people are saying that after thirty-three years, they want a change. We have a solid record of accomplishments since I became candidate two years ago. And we’re excited about what our plans are for the future for this division.”
Gilda Lewis
“The Albert is not a difficult constituency in terms of serious, really serious problems. We don’t have any really run down streets; the streets are not getting flooded to any extent. But there is a housing, and they have identified housing and education as things that they would want to get moving with after the elections. Housing certainly, you can do a lot with your existing stock. You don’t have to go to any grandiose housing scheme in order to make housing available for people who need. You have homes in the area that with a little bit of improvement, adding on a storey at the bottom or putting something on at the top that would increase the amount of housing stock that is available. And of course where you find you can build from scratch, you do that as well.”
Q: “Albert has traditionally been a U.D.P. stomping ground. What makes Mark Espat so confident that he will unseat the U.D.P. candidate here?”
Mark Espat
“Well the N.A.B.R. candidate currently holds the division first of all. I was asked the same question about going into the lion’s den some time ago and I said that in Albert, the lion has died. This is a new time. There are young voters; they are prepared for a change and this year we are going to make history by changing the N.A.B.R. candidate and electing a P.U.P. representative.”
Q: “You’re trying to follow in the footsteps of Mr. Goldson. Isn’t that a big shoe to fill?”
Gilda Lewis
“That is a very big shoe to fill but you have to remember that I have been with Mr. Goldson from before N.A.B.R. became a political party. I was with Mr. Goldson from the time when he formed the Patriotic Alliance. So he has taught us well and if we cannot carry on his work, it doesn’t say much for us and it doesn’t say much for him in the way he taught us. So his work will continue. I am never going to be immodest enough to say that I can fill Mr. Goldson’s shoes, because I don’t know that anybody in Belize can do that.”
Mark Espat
“We offer steady leadership. We offer honest leadership. We offer leadership that is in touch with the grassroots level people of this community and of the country. Our team twenty-nine is exciting. We have thirteen new candidates. Here in Albert we have a solid record of achievements and the people in the Albert are excited about the change. Patrick, this election is not about party, it’s about results. We have produced the results. We will continue the hard work after we are successful on August twenty-seventh.”
Q: “Mrs. Lewis, what is the one thing you think that will put you one step ahead of your opponents here in the Albert division?”
Gilda Lewis
“Well, I think that really and truly I am going to give the voters of the Albert division a choice which they have never had before. Well they did have it last time round, with Mr. Goldson as a N.A.B.R. candidate, but before they have never had that kind of choice. It’s been either red or blue and if you’re not satisfied with blue you go back to red and when you’re dissatisfied with red you go back to the blue. People start telling you that you’re choosing the lesser of two evils. In my book the lesser of two evil translates into the best of the worst. So I am giving the voters of the Albert division a chance to choose better than the best of the worst.”
Q: “What will put you one step ahead of your opponents?”
Mark Espat
“Well there are three things at play Patrick. The first one as I said is the thirty-three years which stares the U.D.P. candidate in the face. The neglect, the lack of any attention to this division for thirty-three years, ten of which this party has been in government, in Belmopan for ten of the last seventeen years.
Secondly, over the last two years, we have worked hard. We have opened the first ever day care center in Albert. We have opened libraries at two of the schools. We have feeding programs at three of the schools. We have sponsored sporting activities in the division. We have had Mother’s Day events and children’s parties for Christmas. We have a record to got to the people with.”
Gilda Lewis
“If I get elected, I will definitely be coming back to those people. They won’t see me disappear for five years and five years down the road I come back and ask them for their support, ask them for their involvement. They need to know that if they elect Gilda Lewis, they are sentencing themselves to five years of involvement in the Albert division. But I think that people want to be involved. And so I don’t think I’ll have any problem if I get elected in involving people in what is happening in their constituency.”
Mark Espat
“I have lived in this division all my life, Patrick. I was born in Albert. I have worked this area. We have been busy over the last two years producing a better quality of life for the people in Albert. The record of achievements, the vision for the division and the neglect of the U.D.P. will be the three main factors that will ensure victory on August twenty-seventh.”
Gilda Lewis
“I am putting my trust in the voters of the Albert division who are telling me that they want a change. If they see that I am the person who can help to bring about that change they will elect me. I am not going to presume to say yes I am going to be elected, because it’s all in the hands of the voters. And I am not going to first guess them, or second guess them. And if someone has promised me that they are going to vote for me, I am not going to publish their names in the media neither. So we have to wait until election day, but I can tell you this, that this election provides one of the best opportunities for Belizeans to get their politics right.”
Patrick Jones made several appointments to interview Thomas Morrison, only to have them cancelled at the last minute by the U.D.P. candidate.
