BEST WEEK EVER:

Blue Marlins Swim Club

Meanwhile, in addition to Flow, other major corporations are putting their money behind Vincy swimming, with the East Caribbean Group of Companies (ECGC) sponsoring North Leeward’s Swim Stars swimming club. With in-pool and open water swimming competitions being held regularly across the country, we feel like SVG is poised for an exciting take-off in this major sport.

The popular view is that last year’s Carnival was a success in spite of – not because of – the efforts of the Carnival Development Corporation (CDC). Between the lacklustre official shows, the hostility to private promoters and the general failure to grow the event beyond its current status, revellers and cultural aficionados have been clamouring for new blood at the CDC. This week, the Government ushered in a new era at the CDC by announcing the appointment of Ricardo “Ricky” Adams as the chair of the Corporation. Adams is a well-known masman and J’Ouvert enthusiast, with special ties to the Blondie Bird mas camp. With other changes already announced in the beauty pageants component of Carnival, we may have a whole slate of fresh faces in charge of our national celebration by the time next June rolls around. Good luck to Ricky. Let’s keep the fresh faces and new ideas coming.

WORST WEEK EVER:

This was supposed to be a banner week for SVG and football. Over a year ago, we were promised a very special “Labour Day” weekend in 2016, with diaspora Vincies touching down at the Argyle International Airport to bolster our Vincy Heat football team in its historic first ever home match against the United States. This influx of international fans, plus home field advantage, was supposed to build on Olex Anderson’s exciting goal against the Americans in our first match-up, which took place in Missouri last November. Alas, the Prime Minister’s guarantee of an open Argyle airport came to naught, and Vincy Heat fizzled miserably on the field, mustering no credible chances during a football massacre that the US team politely limited to a final score of 6-nil. Added to our footballing embarrassment was the sharp attacks of visiting American journalists on hassles at the ET Joshua Airport, our hotels and facilities. In more depressing ways than one, we were simply not ready for prime time.

Runner-up:

Somebody’s been watching too many old Western movies. Brandishing a gun and wearing only a hat and a flimsy bandanna tied around his face, a would-be robber tried a one-man heist at the Canouan branch of the Kingstown Cooperative Credit Union (KCCU). Unfortunately, the bandit’s quest for a “Fistful of Dollars” didn’t take into account modern surveillance video and feisty store employees who ripped away the bandanna disguise. Fleeing with a relatively paltry $1,140, the outlaw soon ran into the Canouan sherriff and his posse, who reportedly shot him in the leg as he cowered in the bushes, a couple hours after “High Noon.” With the police expressing confidence that they’ve got their man, hopefully no one else starts fancying themselves as modern day Clint Eastwoods or Lee Van Cleefs.

…I’d ask the Prime Minister what changes are coming to the enforcement or disbursement of student loans to Vincentian students. A poor country simply can’t afford a 30 per cent delinquency rate on student loans and hundreds of freeloading university graduates refusing to honour their obligations. Add to that the fact that many of the delinquent borrowers never return to SVG after gaining their qualifications, it’s time that the Government takes a fresh look at this worthy programme to ensure that SVG is getting a proper return on its investment in the future.

Media Watch

After 16 years of lacklustre opposition, the media seem keen for a sign – any sign – of life from the NDP. What else would explain the sensationalist overreaction to Arnhim Eustace’s announcement of the NDP’s shift of allegiance from Taiwan to China? Last time we checked, Opposition parties do not conduct foreign policy. Is it worth reporting? Certainly. Is it deserving of weeks of coverage and thousands of words of analysis? Only if the real headline is “NDP finally does something other than boycott Parliament and allege election fraud.”