Colonial-I-Say -Shun all over again

Ah had ah look at the News this morning way de International Red Cross Society is begging de world to do something about de inner-saint people of Iraq. De suffering dat Iraqi men, women and children are enduring today is unbearable and unacceptable. Dey need help even to collect de bodies dat line de streets in front ah dey homes every morning. Can yuh imaging lickle children going to school every day and having to step over dead and decaying bodies. Dey not even sure dey will get back home alive foh de bombings. Yet Mr Bush and Chain-he insisting dat “de US is slowly winning de War dat dey started in He-wreck!” Amazing eh, how like sheep in ah flock it tek only one man to mislead ah nation. But what goes around comes around.{{more}}

Talking bout sheep misleading flocks and fooling dem? Visit de scene with de way our Caribbean leaders dealt with de Cricket, Ah virtual sell-out! Colonial-is-him at its best all over again. ‘Member how de U-rope-we-in exploited we wid we Sugar and Rum, we Cotton, we Coconut and Arrowroot; wid we Bananas, now de very last thing we got lef to show we dignity, was we Cricket and dey trick we wid dat too. Is only Joseph Chatoyer dey couldn’t trick; dat is why ah say no more National Hero until we find ah Patriot, ah real hero like Chatoyer!

DEY SOLD WE SOUL

Our leaders sell we out cheap? Cricket is unique to de West Indian spectator and dat Sunshine Agreement wid de ICC stole de heart and Soul out ah West Indian Cricket, de very culture. Is we who introduce de Festive Mood into Cricket, de Conch Shell blowing and Ringing Bell at Cricket! de Party Music in de Stands wid de Guinness Posse! Is we who mek Cricket ah pick-nick wid packed Ice-boxes and Lunch basket wid all colour Pill-how and Spicy food to feed de whole pavilion. And ICC tek way all ah dat and in exchange dey introduce dey own Immigration Regulations, put Security Guards at de Gates to search we like terrorist, search down to de lickle School Children, ransack dey lunch kit. In Bo-bathe-us dey searched de local Police there.

Imagine our leaders let de IWC, ICC or who ever organizing de Cricket come out here and dictate to us What dey want, Way dey want, How dey want, When dey want, all at our expense. And Caribbean leaders in abject servitude, agreed to spend over ah billion dollars ah we money, not ICC money at all, to mek de facilities acceptable foh ICC to mek nearly ah billion dollars profit foh dem-selves. Once de wuk got started, dey visited ever so often like de ole days ah Slavery to check up on dey owe-bedient slaves, to push dem harder to finish de Grounds in time. Oh Emancipation where art thou? Now we left with eight or ten white elephants including one at Arnos Vale to maintain.

Yuh know something? Is no accident dat dis Cricket turns out to be ah disaster. De E-con-ah-me ah dem small Caribbean islands cannot sustain World Cup Cricket, we hang we hat too high. We keep fooling we-self meking MT boasts bout strong E-con-ah-me in de region, ah myth, ah pull-it-tek-all deception, Figures seasoned and cook in de books, while in reality, people don’t have money to spend on food and clothes much more Cricket, and it had to back fire sooner or later unfortunately our Cricket paid de penalty. Those gate prices were fixed foh spectators from de developed countries, not foh de poor people in de Caribbean. We hearing now dat our own local representatives are de ones who suggested de pricing ah tickets, whoever is de culprit, we were forced into isolation in our homeland.

De cricket is over foh our lads. We spent millions building monstros-cities foh de games but we neglected we players. All de other teams had ah bowling coach, fielding coach and ah fitness coach, we had none! Ah did not have ah firm Manager so de fellars frequented de Clubs at nights. We can’t deny de fact dat our Cricketers underperformed. We have to tek some ah de blame, we spent de Big Bucks and to hell wid de Sense and Pennies.

PLEASE DO SOMETHING RIGHT AWAY

And while we played fiddle with de World Cup Cricket, providing excess security foh cricket fans who never came, our local safety seems falling apart in de Villa – Ratho Mill area. The latest is de spate of attacks on de Medical Students who literally going thru Hell. Is violence in all forms up there, breaking, Robbing and some cases ah Rape. De students have had it up to dey throat, and why not, some sixty ah dem moving back to Grenada where dey feel safe. Dey love SVG, de people here are friendly even more so dan Grenadians, but de Raping, Breaking and Robbing is unbearable. Yuh know what dis mean to de reputation ah de country as ah tourist destination? What bout de E-con-ah-me, thousands ah dollars lost. The House and Car Rental business, de Mini-vans, de Supermarkets, house cleaners etc will all suffer as ah result of our negligence. There are house owners who depend on de Students rent to pay dey mortgage. What is de cents promoting de country as ah Tourist destination, and cannot offer security foh de few long term visitors we already have. I hope it is not too late but ah would suggest regular visits to de area by de Black Squad Police and not only provide de much needed protection foh Students but restore dey confidence in our people. Remember these young people are training to become Doctors, and who knows, might very well tend to some ah de same people dat causing dem so much agony and discomfort.

And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy