Has the Bridegroom arrived?

Pardon me if ah sound like ah trivializing ah very serious message dat Jesus gave about being prepared for His second coming. There was ah wedding, not de one way He turned water into wine. In dis wedding He men-shun dat dey was ah (big) bridal party wid ten bridesmaid (virgins) who were supposed to go out and meet de Bridegroom. Each one was supposed to have ah flashlight with fully charged batteries, just in case it got dark. But like so many of us, we posing flashlight but we battery dead; so it was wid five ah de Bridesmaid, no Salvation, oops… sorry, no battery! Dey were described as foolish! Everybody was present except de Bridegroom. He was long in coming; seemed like his BMW broke-down, some even thought he might have changed His mind, maybe not coming again. Finally, de Bridegroom did arrive, midnight on de dot, and every man Jack was fast asleep. Ah not so sleepy-head someone shouted: “The Bridegroom reach ooye, come out an’ meet Him!”

Pandemonium broke loose! Big scrambling foh Flash-lights! All of ah sudden de five foolish Bridesmaids discovered dey was no light beaming from dey flashlight. No Battery! Someone suggested to dem dat Gaymes Drug Store does be opened after midnight, so dey went and sure as hell, Gaymes had batteries. Alas! when de Foolish Bridesmaids got back, it was too late. De Bridegroom along wid those Bridesmaids wid batteries, who were Prepared and Ready to meet Him, had already gone inside de Wedding Banquet. “But de Door was already Shut!”

Lie-Za asking me if ah think de Covid-19 is ah Bridegroom, and if we have enuff Flashlights wid batteries in SVG. If we do, how do we explain de big scramble in getting school started. Is de Hell’t Ministry not capable of delivering all releases on Hell’t, Covid-19, ah Pan-dem-ache? API maybe, but NEMO? Hell’t No!

LEAVE KEYS PEOPLE ALONE

Grenadines People from Bequia to Carriacou have ah few things in common: Fishing, Inter island Trade, Sea Water and Sun; and dey share de same suffering: Neglect, Abandonment and Discriminay-shin hence de derogatory nick-name:

“Bequia Kitty” and “Keys Crab”. Before speed boats, dey uses to move back and forth in de smallest of sailing boats.

And long before Covid-19, Keys People from Carriacou and Petit Martinique would bring dey fish, contra-bond lickah, Sugar Cane Brandy and Jack Iron, to Union, Mayreau and Can-One, and vice versa. Dey’s ah commonality of rich African Cultural Traditions e.g. Weddings, Cake Dance, Wakes, Feasts, Rain Dance, Big Drum, Boat Launching et al dat exist among de Keys People of Union Island and Carriacou.

So Lock Down or no Lock Down, if Keys People from Carriacou and Petit Martinique have no food, water or Gas, dey will not go to Grenada, dey coming to dey blood family, Keys People in Union Island to buy, money or no money, dey line ah credit is strong. Is ah Trade-we-shun. Dey’s absolutely no need foh Dr. Me-shell and Dr Gone-Soft, “Two Pees in ah Pod” to tek dat and create “Bad Blood” among two close and loving near-bars; spreading wuss dan Covid-19 thru-out de Region-all and Inter-nah-shun-all ear-waves? Is too much tongue cattle got why it can’t talk! Ah simple phone call between dem two Pry-ministers could ah fix dat in seconds. But dey too want to pry in everything. Lie-Za say Batteries is both ah dem problem. De Bridegroom dey pon dey tail!

QUESTIONS FOH DE SHADOW MINISTER

Ah have ah few Questions foh de Shadow Minister of Energy in de NDP. What is de present status of de Geothermal Project? Is it true dat de drilling has stopped and de equipment moved out of SVG? Is dat de end of de exploration?

Was it ah success? If not what is de next step? On de other hand, if de project is completed, Will we be getting a reduction in our Electricity bill in 2021 as promised in a statement made in Par-liar-mint by de Go-venom-mint? How much did de drilling expedition cost SVG? Was ah loan of US$ 25 million obtained foh de project? Dey was talk about grant money available, de name Bill Clinton Fund was men-shun, did SVG get any grant funding?

Was Geothermal Energy discussed back in 1996 when former Minister Jerry Scott was responsible foh energy? Was Richmond de sight selected den? Finally, is de new name of de project “GO Terminal!” Keep alyo distance, de door is about to shut! And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

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