Our Grenadines, de place to be

“Our little sister islands… those gems, the lovely Grenadines,” continue to justify honorable mention in the National Anthem of SVG. During the period 2009 to 2012, the St. Vincent ‘Grenadines’ has placed three times in the top five positions on Travel & Leisure’s “Top ten islands of the Caribbean”: Third in 2009, fell from the charts in 2010, fifth in 2011 and fourth in 2012.{{more}}

Travel & Leisure Magazine is one of the biggest and most influential Travel Magazines in the world. Ah closer look at the rankings foh de last five years would suggest, dat dey been rotating de placements so dat all de islands in de region would have made dis prestigious Chart.

Even if de purpose is to enhance de Caribbean Islands as ah tourism destination, de rankings foh dat period show dat our Grenadines wid scores in the mid eighties, is among de few dat has maintained ah spot three times, not just among de Top 10 but de Top 5. Our Anthem says it all: “Upon their seas and golden sands, the sunshine ever beams.”

Dey’s no doubt on my mind dat our Tobago Cays holds de Keys to our high scores. Ah believe dey’s room foh de Grenadines at de top and we can enhance our image if we make whale watching in de Grenadines ah part ah we tourism product.

De days ah Moby Dick are over. Yes, Uncle Othniel, de greatest whaler man is a legend and dis should be documented. But de few fellars who still catching de whales in sailing boats wid harpoon and die-nah-mite, could earn dem-selves big bucks, if dey switch from whale catching to whale watching, using de same sailing boats.

Louise Mitchell-Joseph’s message “wailing foh de whales” is mellowing wid age, even though it was not dis country’s message during her dad’s tenure as Prime Minister, but ah fraid dat if we, SVG don’t stop murdering baby whales, sooner rather dan later, we might see ah serious diversion, ah tourist boy-cut from de Cays.

SAVE VILLA BEACH

But, mainland St Vincent never made de list and will never do so if attitudes to and practices in Tour-is-him ain’t mek ah change foh de better. And what is shameful is dat while everything seems to be falling apart, Tour-is-him, de last piece ah bread ’n’ butter pon de table is not resonating on de minds ah de people, children and adults alike, forget bout Guv-ah-mint. Our kids are into ah Lapped-up Culture, watching all sorts ah non-productive materials under de street lights.

We litter in de streets, gutters, streams and in our very homes. Just tek one look at Villa Beach de (supposedly) No 1 beach, way most ah de hotels and beach apartments on mainland St Vincent are located.

Imagine de most popular beach especially around now dat schools are on vacation; dey’s not ah single toilet facility from Indian Bay point to Calliaqua point; approximately ah mile ah beach; people too-too and pee in de sea when dey can’t hold it no more. Dey’s no facility either foh changing, so evry-buddy wraps ah towel around dey waist and drop dey pants or panty and change.

Ah was shocked early last Sunday morning, to see de mess, all de fish guts and scales dat was left on de wharf by night fishermen at Aquatic Club ah tour-is-him business place. Like dey even had ah cook on de Cat-walk all de un-burnt material was left foh de cleaners. We not foh real!

Ah serious problem thru-out SVG is de amount of polluted water from gutters, properties, hotels dat run non-stop into de sea way people bathe, it Dread! Ah medical doctor wid Pull-it-to-kill clout at de time, told me ah few years ago, not to bathe at Villa/Indian Bay, it is highly polluted, he had seen lots ah patients wid ears and throat infection from bathing at those beaches. One ah my greatest fear is dat in ah few years time, Villa will no longer be ah beach, all de white sand gone, thru erosion and chemical destruction.

We will den have we own barrier reef minus marine life at Villa/Indian Bay. Ah did mek ah come-plain to Glen Beach when he was minister. He fulfilled his promise and got us ah Cat-walk from Mariners Hotel to Aquatic Club; so visitors no longer fall into de sea in front de Aquatic Club.

However de sea floor remains an unsightly garbage dump, Glen did promise to bring in some white sand, but he got washed-out ah polly-ticks faster dan de sand, luckily foh him! Ah refuse to appeal to Minister Cess Mc Kie foh help, he will-in but he weak! Ah see him playing “Jew-Vay Ole Mas” say he picong-in athletic sprinters, Bolt and Blake; why didn’t he play “Ah-Cess Villa Beach de big Mess on de West.”

OH MY PAH-LAMENT

Wow! Kaiso is powerful. Ah watched Kaisonioan, Zion-I singing at de Kaiso Monarch Finals, saying how if he was Leacock, he would ah give de Talker/Speaker two slaps in his mouth.

Lie-za wanted to bet me dat Leacock had an input in de lyrics. Whether or not he did, he certainly appeared like he wanted to follow Zion-I’s add-vice at Choose-dey’s sitting ah de House. And he like he had recruited Cummings to share de slaps wid him. Speaker ah de House, Hen-drake Alexander should do de honourable ting and step-down, get Doctor Gone-soft to give him ah medical certificate, indicating dat he Pull-Lick-it-till-he unfit to continue as Speaker. Ah ask Lie-Za’s what Pah, her dad had to say when he saw dem fellars terror-I-sing de Speaker in de House. She said:” Oh My Pah-Lament!”

And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.