Samuel Jackson shares his vision in Red Bay

By Christopher Tobutt

Samuel “Sammy,” Jackson made his first appearance as candidate for Red Bay in the elections. He was joined onstage by MC for the evening, Theresa Pitcairn who told the audience of more than 100 that Mr. Jackson would “Share his vision,” with them, and “Give them an opportunity to vote for him in April.” Ms Pitcairn went on to describe Mr. Jackson: “Sammy is an exemplar of courage, who looks fear in the eye and calls it out,” she said. Mr. Jackson was also joined by Johann Moxam and Chris Saunders, MP for Bodden Town West. Mr. Saunders said he had known “Sammy,” for a long time, describing him as, “A great advocate and defender of the Caymanian people…I am going to ask you to listen to him and give him a chance.”

Mr. Moxam described a “core group of independents working together,” as he proceeded to demolish the idea that you can only make any impact if you belong to an established political party: “Nobody will have a majority,” he said, “We understand the next government will be a coalition.”

Mr. Jackson is a Lawyer by profession, with more than ten years working in the civil service, before working for a law firm. “I specialize in land real estate development and planning law …my experience in this area has provided me with a particular expertise which I believe would be very useful if I became a parliamentarian,” he said. “I have also over the past two and a half decades assisted in many legislative drafting initiatives, and I am eager to put those skills I have developed to work for the people of Red Bay and the wider Cayman community,” he said.

“I Intend to be able to better represent you the constituents of Red Bay if you choose to let me,” It is the first time Mr. Jackson has run for election, and he will be running against Premier Alden McLaughlin in Red Bay, although he comes from outside the constituency: “You might ask, ‘How can someone who does not know this constituency well be helpful or useful to that community?’ Well I have represented folks from all over this country over many years of (legal) practice so I know how that works. I simply have to spend the time, and go house to house and meet and greet as many people as I can,” he explained.

“I believe the constituency of Red Bay deserves a Member of Parliament who engages with the community beyond the election season; somebody who cares about the future of the district and the island as a whole. That is certainly what I intend to do. My approach will be to simply maintain an open line of communication with all of my constituents. I want to know what your views are; I need to know what your concerns are so I can inform my role as a parliamentarian on your behalf.”

“It is my view that the people of Red Bay and the people of this country deserve better: To not be dismissed, not be sidelined or disenfranchised, and not be treated with disrespect, to not have your intelligence insulted and to not be treated like beggars,” he said. You deserve to hold a parliamentary representative accountable for his or her actions, and inactions,” he said. “You deserve to not be forgotten about while your representative bends over backwards to accommodate special interest groups, and foreign investors who are readily provided with concessions and other special political favors, whilst you and your neighbors concerns are ignored and the future of people are compromised”.

“We need to address the failures in our education system. “Our schools are failing our children and this is a recipe for disaster. We have children graduating from high school who do not have the education they need, like basic literacy skills, in order to make a living in the real world. We need to urgently find out why. We also need to create a legislative framework for recognition and support of technical and vocational trade schools. We need to ensure that when our kids graduate from such schools that they have the proper certification, and that they can compete in the marketplace, and that they are able to compete in a fair marketplace, and not with predatory pricing because of unqualified persons making themselves out to be qualified.”