WIPM candidates share goals at second meeting

The Daily Herald writes that a second meeting was held for the Windward Island People’s Movement (WIPM) at the Eugenius Johnson Centre in Windwardside on Thursday evening at 7:00pm until late. Food and drinks were provided and around a 150 attendants showed up to cheer for their party candidates.

The order of the nine candidates who held their speeches was in the same order as at their previous meeting in Hell’s Gate. Master of Ceremony was once again Ray Hassell, who gave the introductory speeches for all the candidates. Hassell gave his own opinions as well.

First to give his speech to the crowd was number one candidate Rolando Wilson. He stated that the WIPM party was founded on democratic values and that his party always had a primary goal of strengthening the Saba government.

Bruce Zagers, the second speaker, mentioned a new water project where every household would receive their own filtration system, making the purchase of bottled water a thing of the past. This water project is scheduled for realization this year.

After Zagers, Eviton Heyliger mentioned his personal goals for Saba, being the realisation of a children’s school bus-stop in every town and more public restrooms for locals and tourists at strategic locations. He also mentioned increasing the tourism budget to increase the number of tourists coming to the island.

Number seven candidate Paula Childs was next and spoke mainly about youth on Saba. She pointed to their struggles on Saba. “There are three major factors for a successful upbringing of our youths, namely: the parents, teachers and the government. The government is there to provide, amongst other things, proper health care, good schools and a stable job market. “I take great pride being a WIPM candidate and we will be victorious” Childs concluded.

Amelia Nicholson, the next speaker, said: “I ask you to put your trust in us. I don’t promise you the world but we’ll continue to improve on quality of life here on Saba.”

WIPM ‘s number eight candidate Sundiata Lake emphasized that good planning is key for the further development of Saba. He also mentioned that he feels young Sabians need more help starting their own businesses so that they can prosper.

Vito Charles started his speech by thanking the people for much positive feedback after his last speech in Hell’s Gate. “This election is all about knowledge, know-how and about getting the job done. I definitely believe in the young people of Saba but we can’t expect them to pull themselves up by their bootstraps if they don’t have any boots” the number six candidate explained.

Carl Buncamper was the second to last speaker of the evening again and emphasized once more being a strong supporter of human rights. He also said that WIPM believes in a free economy which is embedded in human rights. “The Saba Labour Party (SLP) wants to create a marina, a golf course and introduce zip lining on the island. When this happens we’ll no longer be the unspoiled queen” Buncamper said. He went on by saying that such a project would mostly benefit the few investors and not the local community.

“The bull from the level” Christopher Johnson was last to speak to the orange-clad crowd. “SLP resorts to being negative and they don’t have any plans or a platform for the future. This evaluation year is very important to Saba and SLP doesn’t even mention it once in their party programme” Johnson said.

A last WIPM meeting will be held at Topo Gigo’s in the Bottom on Sunday, March 15.