By LEDEDRA MARCHE

Senior FN Reporter

lededra@nasguard.com

Dion Foulkes, Free National Movement candidate for the MICA, on Sunday called for the reinstatement of three Bahamian workers that he claimed were recently fired in Mayaguana.

Claiming victimization, Foulkes said is is "particularly infuriating that at a time when it is being said that there are not enough Bahamians qualified and willing to work that these young men are forced to stand idle while foreigners are steadily employed on their own island in their own country."

The men were reportedly employed at the Mayaguana project, one of several tourism developments the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) has in pipelines in the Family Islands.

The MICAL candidate served notice on the PLP government and the I Group – the company in partnership with the government, for the development of 10,000 acres of land in Mayaguana – that he would be taking every legal means available to secure his clients' rights.

"I call on the I Group and the Government of The Bahamas to cause the three Bahamians who were fired from their jobs in Mayaguana to be immediately reinstated and paid compensation for lost salary and unfair and wrongful dismissal," he said.

Foulkes revealed that he will be filing an industrial dispute with the Labour Board on behalf of Edison Brooks, Trevor Collie and Tecoyo Brooks, who, he claims, were dismissed without justification.

"All three are open supporters of the opposition Free National Movement and it is clear that they are being victimized in their own country by a foreign company in collaboration with their own government," Foulkes said. "I am outraged that this kind of blatant discrimination can be carried out against Bahamians for exercising their God-given and constitutionally-guaranteed right to freely associate with the political party of their choice."

In fact, Foulkes claims there are other unemployed skilled Bahamians living in Mayaguana who have been refused employment by the I Group for apparently the same political motives.

These Bahamians are entitled to make a living in their country as well as to enjoy all the rights and privileges of citizenship, including the right to free association, Foulkes further declared.

Foulkes said he is investigating the hiring practices of the company with the intent to maximize the employment of Bahamians.

Pointing out that the lives of not only the three Bahamians but their familes have also been disrupted, Foulkes vows to write to Prime Minister Perry Christie as well as the chairman of the I Group in the United States in protest against this injustice, calling on them to be even-handed with all Bahamians regardless of their political affiliation.

"Unless appropriate action is taken in a reasonable time, I intend, along with Mayaguanans and other Bahamians, to mount a series of public demonstrations demanding that the government do the right thing," he assured.