Visit de website “Eccourt.org”

DE TOP STORY foh de past week is about ah Sweet Victory foh five members (Public Servants) of de Public Service Union (PSU). Firstly, ah want to add-wise every Public Servant who intends to make de Public Service a career, to visit de website:

“eccourt.org” and study de High Court Judgement in de particular Case: “de Public Service Union (PSU) vs de Public Service Commission (PSC).” It has to be ah Landmark Case and ah Landslide Victory dat has Historical/Hysterical and Legal significance for present and aspiring Public Servants.

In her Ruling, Justice Esco Henry, revisits de PSC Regulations in relations to de “Principles of Selection for Promotion in de Public Service. Ah will quote bits and pieces as follows: “De Commission (PSC) in selecting a candidate for appointment or promotion shall take into account his/her Seniority, Experience, Education, Qualification, Merit and Ability. Selection will be given to seniority if there is more dan one candidate wid equal efficiency.” (Therefore it would be a disservice to a Public Servant in line for an appointment, when de PSC appoints a new person coming from nowhere, wid no qualification, training or experience into dat said post.

“De commission shall take into account candidates Fitness, Special Qualification or Special Training.” Now hear dis one, “de PSC should evaluate ah candidate’s overall performance as reflected in his/her Annual Confidential Report by de Permanent Secretary or head of department. This should also include de PS recommendations.”

Now according to de Judgement, dey is ah serious procedure, ah mal-practice whether deliberate, ignorance or incompetence, now taking place in de Public Service, way Annual Confidential Reports of Public Servants are not on dey personal files, in de case of de five Public Servants in question, these Records do not exist. This means dat PSC has been interviewing and appointing people widout seeing any records or history of dey past performance. So Lie-Za is correct when she says dat “Kisses go by Favour,” dey’s Gravy on de Gravy Train. So deserving Public Servants who get overlooked and victim-iced, have ah right to cry-out foh Fowl-Play and seek Justice in de High Court.

After reading thru de Judgement, ah have to conclude dat de De Public Service is in ah mess, it stinks from head to tail, wid some incompetent Permanent Secretaries blundering big time, and wid ah rubber stamp endorsements from clueless members of de Public Service Commission. Is like ah Gang-Star thing.

Lie-Za says ah must “Big Up” Justice Esco Henry to de Max, foh ah Profound Judgment dat has exposed some unfair and unjust practices involving ah Public Service Commission dat either lacks de Knowledge or understanding of de Public Service, or is downright playing politics wid people’s livelihood. Nuff ah dat!

THANKYUH MICHAEL

Congratulations to Michael Peters foh single- handedly running Nine Mornings in Kingstown foh 22 years. Ah doh know how he arrived at dis 30 years involvement dat he is claiming. If dis is so he would be borrowing eight years dat included a period of no activities, followed by mild activities dat belonged to Cultural Officer Tony Theobalds, Patches Knights, Sailor Bailey, school teacher Palmer. Michael was not around and should simply claim what is Truthfully, Faithfully and deservingly his.

De Nine Mornings Festival has spread thru-out SVG under his watch as cap-tin,chief-cook and bottle washer, and he gets ah 9 out ah 10. Thank yuh Michael!

Nine Mornings has developed beautifully over de last 30 years. Mind yuh, Nine Mornings has been around as far back as de Days of Slavery. It was originally and is still ah Catholic Novena Church Festival, with Services, street walking, sea bathing, street jump up, dance hall Fetes, den it went to sleep and was resurrected in 1991 wid Side Walk concerts hosted by El Grupo Amistad.

My humble suggestion is to set up ah Committee of tested and proven hard-working persons, not mouth champs; quite frankly one dat is independent of, but not widout de blessings of de Ministry of Culture. Let de membership be comprised of New Blood as well as past and present persons who share ah common vision foh de Festival. Activities in and around Kingstown should be extended to include venues at Kingstown Vegetable Market and Sion Hill that has been ah disappointment wid only lights and no Nine Mornings. De Ride around Kingstown on ah truck wid steel band music, is ah recipe foh disaster like an accident, and ah Carnival Style street jump, ah desecration of de true spirit of de season. Outside of Kingstown, more Steel Bands in schools and communities should host concerts. And finally foh now, all morning activities should be limited to two hours 4:00 a.m to 6:00 a.m. Hey’s looking forward to de early formation of ah Nah-shun-all Nine Mornings Committee. And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

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