De snake and de blacksmith

Something definitely missing from de PM In-deep-and-dense speech dis year. Was he crouching on de podium supporting de injured leg, or was he just tyred? Whatever, it was not de fire-he Come-red. Not ah sound on de Airport. How could he not remind us or de folks from de Die-us-poorer, dat Vin-c Ju-c is back, two months before de targeted ‘end-ah-year’ complete-shun date of de Airport, on time foh operate-shun by June next year. Sister Girl-in had promised dem dey will be able to take back de Vin-c Red and Yellow Ju-c when de Argyle Airport was finished.{{more}}

Ah whole page was missing from de speech. Nuff was said about building free houses foh disabled folks, but not ah word about de number ah December flood victims still in shelters? No men-shun at all bout uncle Tie-one, SVG’s Mother Theresa, who been giving and giving till it hurts. But while uncle Tie-one continues to give cash allowances to school children thru-out, our Go-venom-men’t, thru de Nah-shun-all Lotto has been doing its bit in financing school children, close to three hundred school children, most from Sharpes get regular monthly allowances, money, man dey doing well. Lie-Za reminds me “yuh got to be in it (de party) to get it.”

But Central Kingstown seat is becoming ah ULP nightmare. Bad roads is sin-on-yuh-most wid village communities in SVG, and Sharpes roads was on de TV news last week. De road had become inaccessible so Van drivers who commute in that area, sent strike notice effective from Chose-dey gone, Everybody think was joke, dey ‘laugh out loud’ (LOL) when Comedian, Can-de-man and Madzart made big joke at de Carnival Show say, ah Van wid 18 passengers disappeared in ah pot-hole along de road in Green Hill, same Central Kingstown.

De PM smell de Rat, he was in Par-liar-mint last week Friday beseeching de Van Drivers not to strike, dat he will have workmen in Sharpes by Sat-dey to fix de road. Leave it to Pappa! So said so done. By Chose-dey morning de bad roads in Sharpes were fixed and ready foh de Vans. ULP hopefull, honest Berrice add-myths pon de TV news, dat Van drivers been waiting foh over ah year to have de road fixed. Ah whole year, ah simple reason.

Once dey “come to Papa” and not Le cock, it will be fixed. Just like de Cooks and Janitors at de schools, Papa spoke to dem and dey told him de wuk is OK but de money small, so in his In-dip-and-dance ah-dress, he promise to give dem ah raise. NIS tek warning!

So what will happen when Papa visits de Nurses, and de Police, and de Custom Officers and dey all tell him de pay small. And I think dey should all go, separately, “come to Papa” wid dey problems and get salary increases, who cares bout de Unions, just act quickly before Elect-shuns.

Maybe de PM should read Aesop Fable wid de snake dat wanted to destroy de black-smith, so he went at his file or rasp, very important piece ah tool. Mek it dull and de Black-smith done fah. He started to grind his tongue and fang on de file to mek it dull. When he saw blood gushing from his mouth, he realized dat flesh can’t dull iron.

LIE-ZA WANTS AMBASSADOR TOO

Ah was telling Lie-Za dat ah want to congratulate all de candidates dat were showered as Cultural and Sporting Ambassadors. Ah remember very early in de life ah de ULP administration, dey made ah few persons sporting ambassadors: Pamenos, Skiddy Francis and Mrs B. But after ah brief twelve-year gap, and one year before elect-shun, out comes ah fifteen member list of Ambassadors. Ah don’t want to sound like Mr N-V or Jel-Us, but what exactly is dis Ambassador Award. Quite ah number ah nationals who have been toiling in de Cultural and sporting Vineyard foh years, need to be recognized, but ah not convinced dat Ambassador is de right title. De young performers maybe who need an introduct-shun outside SVG yes. On dat list ah will support “Blazer” Williams; Ken Isles. Veteran masmen “Blondie Bird” and “Pilling” Pollard who took Vincy Mas all over de Caribbean; Pes Llewellyn and “Sardo” Sutherland made tremendous contribution to de development of Pan in SVG. Randy D wid over forty-five years in Radio and TV promoting SVG as “de finest piece of real estate around.” Darkie Williams and Patches foh dey contribution to de Art form. How could anyone omit de name Michael Peters (“It’s Nine Mornings!”) In sports de name Fred Trimmingham as player and coach and de gentleman of all games Mike Findlay must be dey, why not Keith Joseph, dey need just another look, dey would see. Those are de seasoned persons, but de names of three young women Dr. Halimah Deshong, Sancho Lyttle and Sabrina Mitchell are automatic awardees. De entertainers or Kaisonians will benefit from de Ambassador Past-port. Lie-Za feels dat wid elect-shun round de corner, ah number ah dem will be required to go on stage and sing foh dey Supper ooops, foh de Ambassador title. She say de list is diluted, but nah worry wid she eh, she asking me to men-shun her name as an ambassador foh current ah-fear better known as come-mess!

And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

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