MP for Barbuda Trevor Walker says people are talking about Barbudans and for Barbudans but on January 18, 2023, Barbudans will have their say
CODRINGTON, Barbuda (December 20, 2022)—The incumbent Member of Parliament for Barbuda, Trevor Walker, is confident of two things where the upcoming elections are concerned—that commitment to tradition will trump the current economic progress and that he will win.
Walker, a three-time parliamentarian, was speaking the morning after Prime Minister Gaston Browne announced January 18, 2023 as Election Day for Antigua and Barbuda.
The Barbudan milieu differs from Antigua’s, and the electorate on the sister island has a reputation for doggedness bordering obstinateness. Factor in dependence on central government for crucial subsistence met by perennial delinquency in remittances that earn government Barbudan ire, and elections are often dicey. Things are markedly different this time around.
A construction boom on Barbuda is creating a boon in many quarters and employment for everyone so interested, so much so that in a reversal of roles, people from Antigua are finding employment in Barbuda. Add to that the fact Walker’s Barbuda’s People’s Movement (BPM) has been shut down by the courts in their challenges concerning the land and projects in Barbuda, including a seminal loss at the Privy Council in June that dispelled the long-held view that the land in Barbuda is held in common.
The Antigua Barbuda Labour Party candidate Knacyntar Nedd aims to spin that into victory at the polls.
But Walker told Dadli Media Pop Up that such perceptions, while seemingly logical, are largely imported.
“People think in terms of the type of change in economic activities and that people are better off so they would gravitate to the institution that causes the situation to exist,” Walker acknowledged. But he also had a caveat.
“Notwithstanding that people are working, they don’t feel secure and part of a unitary state with a government that understands them and respects their position,” Walker said.
He chided the sitting administration for what he said has been a lack of consultation with the people, and when there is discussion, a lack of understanding and respect.
“People feel under threat and are scared that another term for the Labour Party will lead to further disenfranchisement. The character of Barbudans is different from what people think. The people are not motivated by what they can get but by their ways and traditions,” Walker said.
Further, where some feel that the court losses kicked a leg from under Walker and the BPM, the MP sees things markedly differently.
“I am on the ground here and when we go door to door, contrary to what is being said, people appreciate that we have tried everything, even going to the apex court where the land is concerned. They commend our efforts, notwithstanding the fact we lost. And when you lose, you don’t give up. The people are telling us to press on,” Walker said.
It is now the court of public opinion that matters, he noted.
The BPM has pinned its hopes on a change in administration, leading to “proper legislation” that preserves land in Barbuda for Barbudans and gives them a meaningful say concerning development.
“The land is the single largest concern factor and the nucleus of voting,” Walker declared. “We hold that close to our hearts and that is the driving factor.”
Walker first won his seat in 2004 and kept it in the 2009 elections. During the 10 years of the United Progressive Party administration, he caucused with them and served as the Minister of Public Works. Walker lost to the ABLP’s Arthur Nibbs in 2014, in an election in which the rebranded ABLP swept the UPP from office. Walker rebounded to defeat Nibbs in the 2018 elections to return to Parliament.
Nedd, the challenger, is a first-time candidate who was appointed to the Senate in 2018 and as a Parliamentary Secretary attached to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Barbuda Affairs in 2020,
The incumbent Barbuda MP said he is further buoyed going into elections next month by the BPM’s recent successes at the pools amidst the ramped-up economic activities.
Walker won his seat in March 2018, leaving a vacancy on the Barbuda Council. The BPM won the by-election a month later, and, in the 2019 and 2021 local elections, secured all the seats up for grabs—five in the first instance and four thereafter.
“I expect the trend to continue,” Walker said, noting that not only has the BPM been on a winning streak, but that the margins of victory have widened.
