During the community consultations in Central Leeward, the removal of Unity Labour Party (ULP) loyalists from influential positions was a significant and contentious point of discussion among residents who voted for change.
Resident Lance Caesar explicitly stated his support for the “removal of all ULP supporters, specifically those in leadership roles. He said that supporters of the current administration had “suffered under the hands of the [ULP] regime” for 25 years and that it was time to “put our people in charge”.
Another resident, Brenford Finley, expressed disappointment that some elected representatives were praising the performance of existing staff who may be ULP-aligned.
He said that if individuals received their positions due to political affiliation, they should be replaced by those who supported the new administration, stating, “you have to put your people in place”.
Some residents felt that they were still being “provoked” by ULP supporters in high positions. Sister Dia noted the difficulty of promoting “togetherness” when supporters had been “scorned” and “mocked” while “in the trenches” for over two decades.
There was also a specific call to change the leadership of road gangs, with one speaker claiming that for 24 years, these groups never provided work to supporters of the opposition.
Minister Conroy Huggins addressed these concerns by emphasizing a different approach to governance.
He reiterated that his mandate as an elected representative is to “represent all of the people,” regardless of their political background and moved the focus away from political retaliation, stating that the consultation was a “community event,” not a “party activity,” and that the goal was to build the constituency collectively.
Huggins cautioned that the government and public sector cannot employ everyone. Instead, he highlighted the plan to build out the private sector and establish a national development bank to create new opportunities for all residents, rather than just reshuffling existing government jobs.
While residents viewed “change” as the immediate removal of political opponents, the Minister argued that “the change is already here” through the fact that citizens now have the freedom to express their concerns directly to their representative in an open forum.