Way yuh bin so long So-butt-her?

One ah de hot-test Kaiso (tent song) in de Mespo Can-ah-val dis year was about “So butt-her Seize- her” sung by Barbra Bacchus.

Ah party song wid not much lyrics but ah catchy chorus line: “So-butt-her way yuh bin so long, So-butt-her.” She praises de young minister foh his bold efforts trying to save our Banana. {{more}}

Unfortunately de Banana is still in de Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at de Banana Hospital in SVG.

Lie-Za say when Barbara launched her song, So-butt-her appeared on stage wid her and it was ah mash-down at de tent.

Yes, So-butt-her is definitely turning tings around at de Ministry of Agriculture, minus de teefing ah de OAS money dat will soon come out. He’s young, energetic, bright (ah former island scholar) and best quality of all “since-here!”

In Lie-Za’s book, she writes dat if yuh put someone wid de over-standing and Fin-ah-chill Manage-mint skill of an Arm-in Use-tusk in charge, ah So-butt-her Seize-her’s N-ah-G and appetite foh de development ah Agriculture; SVG could be salvaged!

Imagine is nearly 20 years de Flour Mill (ECGC) promised ah Supa-Dupa chicken farm dat was to do everyting in de poultry business: hatch, scratch, match, catch and dispatch, we still waiting. It took So-butt-her only months to set up ah Paltry Project oops, ah Poultry Project in his South Central Windward constituency. Not ah big high-foh-looting project, but it is ah start wid good in-tension and de potential ah becoming ah fast dollar earner; and if 60 ah de 100 selected (ULP and NDP I hope) farmers are as N-ah-Jet-take and committed as de young minister, it will wuk.

But foh So-butt-her poultry project to wuk ah lot ah ‘fact-has’ got to be put in place. Chicken is ah high-risk/low profit exercise so, de project must be subsy-dies heavily wid feed, medicine, equipment and N-ah-G, dat Vinlec light bill will frustrate de farmers; and somebody got to start looking for market foh de farmers produce.

Best ah luck to So-butt-her, ah potential and few-Cha Prime Minister ah SVG.

DAT BLACK SICK-AH-TOOK-HER DECEASE AGAIN?

We welcome de Cuban Professor and Expert in de Black Sick-ah-took-her who is hey to help us solve de problem wid de decease. One ah de first thing Professor will discover is dat we have competent and trained professionals in dis particular Banana Decease.

We have ah Plant Protection Unit headed by ah competent and able Sigh-an-test, Marcus Richards who was trained in Cuba in dis particular field. And deys always de expertise ah our own Dr Sylvester Lynch whose experience and competence in dis area cannot, and will not be questioned, Dr Lynch is ah true patriot who will help, if invited.

We have experts to spare, ah met ah youngster wuking at his dad’s Gas station who told me he just graduated wid ah Bachelor’s Degree in Bio-technology, he studied Tissue Culture, shouldn’t he be wid de Banana Unit?

And our Cuban brother will add-myth dat even widout ah Racket Sigh-an-test, de Farmers hey know dat in export plantations, Black Sick-ah-took-her is controlled with frequent applications of fungicides (spraying) and cultural practices, such as removal of affected leaves, adequate spacing of plants and efficient drainage within plantation.

These are very expensive practices, costing approximately 25 percent ah de retail price ah de fruit; but if neglected den dey’s ah consequence, and dat’s way happening to we right now.

Over de last decade, we have slowly and skillfully abandoned our life line, de Bananas, we literally laid down our weapons of mass destruction in de fight against de Sick-ah-took-her decease.

Monies dat should ah bin going towards Agriculture and Health is die-vetted to de Argyle Airport. De present ULP bad-mini-stray-shun can be charged foh Far-ting around, foh failing to finance de Farmers and de Industry adequately and now “all fall down”, dey putting de blame on de ain-no-saint public servants.

Ole people say “One day! One Day! Conquer Day!”

BOBBY ACCOMPANIES FUZZY

Dey’s no doubt in my mind dat St Peter is forming some kind ah “Over 70 SVG Citizen’s Group” up dey. So many ah my peers got recruited dis year it ain’t funny: Rodway Fraser and Carl Glasgow just went up; now Raymond “Fuzzy” Knights and Rodway’s brother, Godfrey “Bobby” Fraser.

Fuzzy, ah member ah de “BGS, Class of 1955” was ah low profile individual who, wid his flare for Maths, operated his Customs Brokerage office wid efficiency.

Ah talented sportsman who played good cricket and soccer at school.

Bobby on de other hand took part in everyting dat didn’t necessarily earn him any financial gains, lots ah free wuk: Culture wid de Carnival, Kaiso, Play-write; Anglican Church council, Christian Council, Salvation Army Advisory Board, Media man et-set-ah-raw!

He was amazing, ah fighter who ah would say battled wid and technically won his battle wid “Sweet Sugar”, he simply retired injured. May-dey both enjoy dat long awaited peaceful Rest.

And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

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