Adam in de garden hiding

From de time dis Giant of ah man, R.C. Bishop, Jason Gordon took up office here in SVG, and ah heard him live Pon Nice Radio, doing ah series ah meetings, ah think it was de Holy Week Lenten Services, ah told my daughter who is Cat-Lick, dat ah got to meet her Bishop, ah does refer to him as Bishop J. De first thing ah liked about him was his preaching style, like he was moving all over de floor, piconging his Parish-an-us wid ah deep Trinny axe-scent. Ah believe dat de Cat-Licks all like Bishop “J” foh his down-to-earth Grass-Root style. Fr Mark Da Silva speaks like dat too. De series of messages were full ah serious stuff.{{more}} In real Pentecostal “Fire and Brimstone” style, Bishop “J” rebuked de members and challenged dem to revisit dey Christianity!

Ah never actually met de Bishop, ah remember saying ah brief hello to him in his jeep in de presence of Monsignor Mike Stewart. But ah scents dis “no ordinary” Servant of God is ah busy man, actually he is ah Missionary who shuttles back and forth between de Bo-bathe-us and Sin-Vin-sin Circuits dat fall under his care. Bishop “J” is Blunt and Brave, he is not afraid ah de Media; whenever he is here in SVG, he is on Nice Radio on one ah de morning shows wid Dug-he. On dat program he deals wid ah lot ah controversial topics, he and Dug-he eh! And Bishop bravely opens de lines and tek questions. When dem phone-lines open, is trouble from dem non Cat-licks, like dey does be waiting to tie him up. But de Man’s Christianity is solid, firmly grounded in de Scriptures, he overs de Bible, and handles himself well in stiff situations.

All along ah know Bishop “J” was only waiting foh “de right time, right moment” before he bun fire under de “Cat-lick community in de Kingstown Diocese.” De Fire was strong as it Bun silenced Pastors and de Go-Venom-mint.

Actually, de high-rocky in de Cat-Licks had ah Retreat, (not de Re-cheat some churches does have). And dey came up wid ah strongly worded Statement signed by de Bishop himself. De Church fed up wid way going on. Dey expressed deep concern on certain matters affecting de Church and Society e.g. de growing disrespect foh de human person; disregard foh de environment, victim-I-say-shun of de three teachers who ran foh elect-shun and can’t get back dey wuk, injustice to Bigger Bigs: de increase in lawlessness: crime and violence. Special reference was made of de deafening silence of Pastors who have failed to speak with a prophetic voice. Lie-Za say ah must write tell Bishop “J” dat some ah dem Pastors not only silent, dey sell out dey soul, dey like de Pry-Minister’s echo.

So Kodos foh de Cat-Licks. What ah contrast to “de Servant of God” in Georgetown, apologizing foh de Funeral Boo-in which neither he nor his congregation is responsible. Shouldn’t de other side be apologizing? De Cat-licks have spoken thru Bishop “J”, he is fearless, covered under de Blood and knows who holds de Power and de Glory. Let de Christian Council remain like Adam in de garden, hiding!

AH STORY WORTH READING

Ah was telling Lie-Za dat de Pry-Minister said at his Media Conferences dat “revenues earned by dis country through overseas-based Medical Universities operating here, and ah soon-to-be established English Language Institute to teach English Language to teachers from Ecuador, will be larger dan de Banana industry ever earned in its best of times.”(Banana best times was $100 million 20 years ago) She asked if de PM knew dat all along why did he mek de St Georges Medical School leave. And why doesn’t he build an English Language Institute foh Vin-sin-shuns whose English Exams results are terrible. Den she say De PM needs ah reminder of all de half baked wretch-tricks he been giving us wid Argyle Airport. She recommended dat he reads an Article entitled: “A story worth telling: A review of the Argyle International Airport Project” written by one Herbert Haz Samuel.

It’s ah well researched and written article, lengthy but interesting. Ah will piggy-back and steal just ah couple lines. De PM is quoted as saying: “The creative financing plan ( of Argyle Airport) had two components: money would be raised from the sale of state-owned lands (having an estimated value “in excess of US$100 million”) and we would get money and in-kind support from a group of friendly governments, which were termed the coalition of the willing, comprised of Cuba, Venezuela, Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, and Trinidad & Tobago.” Where is de Collision today?

According to Haz, de Argyle Airport was expected to consume 375 acres of land and… the capital cost (that is, the cost to build the project) would be US$178 million (EC$480.6 million).” De Airport was to be finished in three years is now into its seventh year with an official cost estimate that had ballooned to EC $ 700 million….and no credible end in sight!

He ends by saying dat: “The shoddy planning and incompetent organisation surrounding the implementation of the largest infrastructure undertaking in the history of the country is not a case of being emancipated from traditional, text-book modes of thinking — it is a case of wilful negligence. If this enterprise eventually fails, all of us in this country will carry the burden, but we will know who carries the blame.” Nice Article Haz. And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

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