The Forgotten Communities – Still Not on the Rep's Radar

Rufus, Lorne and Bradley

Locally, it appears that our parliamentarian is struggling to meet the ever growing expectations of the residents of the Forgotten Communities. Recent discussions suggest that residents hold the parliamentarian to account principally for the services that he is able to deliver outside parliament, not for his law-making role or his cabinet duties.

Parliamentary Rep after parliamentary Rep, administration after administration, it’s the same old khaki pants when it comes to proper representation for the residents of the Forgotten Communities – La Maze, Roblot, Debrieul, Sauzay and Riviere Doree. This blog has consistently informed its readers about the poor level of representation and unkept promises (see links below) meted out by our Parliamentary Representatives (past and present) to the Forgotten Communities. This will continue to be so until honest dialogue becomes part of a strategy to improve people’s lives.

Sunset Bay - Choiseul's Elusive Dream

Poor Representation and broken promises:

My disgust at poor representation

Another of Lorne’s stories

Lorne’s mamaguy

Bradley can’t seem to deliver

Choiseul’s wrecking team

Scores of people drive through the Forgotten Communites daily to get an idea of how the people live. They want to feel the vibes of the people in the Craft Mecca of the constituency, the farmers, the single mothers, the unemployed and of course the youth. Hoping to see a semblance of improved lives, they gradually become disenchanted by what they see as they drive through and engage the residents.

It appears that many of these politicians believe that by just getting a few unplanned drainage projects, or cutlassing done in the Forgotten communities can improve people's lives and is all  that matters for their re-election….far from it!

The Parliamentary Reps must realize that constituency service is important both to citizens and themselves – indeed; it is an accepted and expected part of the job. Numerous opinion polls in different constituencies suggest that the public believes that some form or the other of constituency service is the most important part of a Rep’s role, while Reps themselves no doubt see the benefit of meeting voters' needs for various reasons, not least to improve their chances of re-election.

If one were to ask any of these Reps what they think residents see as their most important role, you no doubt would hear them say that, in the eyes of the resident, solving residents' problems is the parliamentarian's most important role – does one see that happening in the forgotten communities.

Roblot Multipurpose Centre

It's about face time. Residents of The Forgotten Communities are not difficult people. If you promise it, do it! (Multipurpose Center for example) Residents like when a Parliamentary Rep comes to their constituency to see their faces. A Parliamentary Rep should always be with constituents, live in the constituency and be part and parcel of them. Whatever a Rep does matters in elections. They can bring development but if the residents don't see them, then electors will not remember.

In closing, ponder over this thought. A good parliamentary representative is not likely to be approved by, or even appreciated by, every one of his constituents. Thus my claim is not that a parliamentary representative will be valued by every constituent (or even a majority of constituents); rather, my claim is that a good parliamentary representative will be the unbridled advocate of his own constituents.