By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party Long Island candidate Glendon Rolle yesterday denied recent claims by Official Opposition Leader Loretta Butler-Turner that he and the PLP have “hand picked” nearly 30 people out of the constituency for new employment opportunities in an attempt to attract support on the island.

Mr Rolle, in an interview with reporters outside the Office of the Prime Minister, said the claims by his incumbent rival are not true.

He suggested that the area’s poor representation has made local residents realise that in him, “there is somebody who is not there to give them a fish but to teach them how to fish.”

Mrs Butler-Turner is running as an Independent candidate for Long Island.

Earlier this month, Mrs Butler-Turner blasted the Christie administration over the reported launch of a jobs programme in her constituency, claiming 28 people were handpicked for new employment as the election approaches.

In a Facebook post, Mrs Butler-Turner raised concerns over the reported pre-election hires, adding that no guidelines or advertising had been done for the jobs. She also questioned where the government was finding the money to pay the new employees.

In a later interview with The Tribune, Mrs Butler-Turner said she found it “unfathomable” that there were people in Long Island that have not been paid for contracts since last year, but yet the PLP was giving away jobs.

Describing this as “ridiculous” and “reprehensible,” Mrs Butler-Turner further accused Mr Rolle of making promises to get support as he campaigned on the island.

“That is not true at all,” Mr Rolle said when questioned on the matter. “My thing is, like I said to you we’re dealing with the lives of people. I don’t have to buy anyone anything and I don’t have to do anything for them. What it is, is that the people realise (how) they have been treated under the FNM’s members of Parliament, the way they’ve been treated over the years. And now they realise that there is somebody who is not there to give them a fish but to teach them how to fish.”

When asked if he feels he faces an uphill battle contesting a seat some observers feel has not been historically supportive of the PLP, Mr Rolle said: “…I believe that that will change this time, and the reason why is because people have realised that they have been voting one way because of the colour of their shirt, which is the FNM, and not really looking at the candidate.

“And so therefore I believe historically it has been FNM, but . . . I believe that the people have woken up and they’ve realised that they’re tired of the talks and they’re tired of suffering and as a result of that hope has come to the island.”

Recently, PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts said he had no knowledge of a newly launched jobs programme in Long Island.

Nonetheless, the concerns raised by Mrs Butler-Turner comes as government officials have still not answered questions regarding the reasoning for a quadrupled budget for the Office of the Prime Minister. Details of the government’s mid-year fiscal performance revealed the $62.532m increase, showing that the budget for the Office of the Prime Minister, approved as $17.069m last year, has expanded to $79.947m.

The increase came under the heading “grants, fixed charges and special transactions.” In an interview with The Tribune earlier this month, Free National Movement Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest said this increase was “absolutely crazy”.

Days after the PLP defeated the FNM in a landslide victory in the 2012 general election, Prime Minister Perry Christie said his government would seek to prevent future government’s from awarding contracts ahead of and after the dissolution of Parliament.

He described these as “bribes,” adding that he was concerned about contracts awarded under the former government just prior to the election. However, the government did not implement any law or policy prohibiting this.