October 23, 2015

Bad move Mr Commissioner

De writers of our much beaten-upon Constitution, in dey sound knowledge and wisdom, saw de need foh ah few public servants to operate under extreme in-deep-and-dont conditions.

Top of dat short list are de DPP, de Chief Justice and de Commissioner of Police. No Prime Minister or Opposition Leader is allowed to touch dem in de execution ah dey duties. And so these noble citizens are expected to operate and function cautiously and discretely with whom dey ah-so-she-hate or so-shall-lies in public life.{{more}} Lately, retired Justice Brew-sly might have opened himself foh pull-it-to-kill licks, but my recollect-shun of de gentleman is dat he served well. Some ah his decisions were over-ruled at Privy Council and ah lot were upheld. But he was not ah social butterfly.

Way Chiefs-of-Police or Commissioners are concerned, de list is long but we have had ah cadre of decent and respected men. Ah will not test my memory but ah remember two Colonial heads, chief Jenkins whose car overturned late one night while taking home ah deputy from my near-by-hood, and dey was one named Chief Randolph. Den it was Colonel Anderson from Jah-mek-her who set de pace; de rest were all Sin-vin-sin shuns from whom we have had excellent Police-in. Yes ah lickle woman-eyes-in hey, ah lickle drinking dey and Casino visiting down dey, but by and large, respectability and confidence in de Police were at ah much higher level dan what obtains today.

Cents-able people does tell me all de time dat ah buy-us bad wid de polly-ticks. De good/bad thing is dat ah get licks from both ULP as well as NDP supporters. Ah can live wid dat, but ah can’t live wid dat widely circulated photograph of our Police Commissioner, See-Sell Charles at ah ULP anniversary sell-he-bray-shun. He is seen decked from hell-met to heel like Red Ride-in-Hood, den he complicated matters wid ah show of de ULP’s “4-in-ah-Row” fingers. It is unprecedented, unacceptable and foh some it is frightening.

Ah wrote already dat ah like My-call Charles’ humility, but back of dat humble look, he appears to be irrational! De country is highly pull-it-to-kill-he charged on both sides, and foh him or his police officers or public servants, to attend Pull-it-to-kill funk-shuns, whether ULP or NDP decked in supporting party colours, is unacceptable, and suggests dat de Bro Charles in dis case is wreck-less, and needs to be reminded of his expected neutral position (real or percept-shun) as Police Commissioner. So Lie-Za is asking de Governor General, to whom de Commissioner is responsible, to summons Charles to his office and remind him of his Role and Responsibility, and instruct him to desist any further. Tax payers will welcome an apology from de Commissioner Things can deteriorate so let us not see Danger ahead and bury our heads.

THINGS AH WANTED TO TOUCH DIS WEEK

Ah had so many other things to write bout. De launching of OT Mayers’ Book “Relay Race,” An autobiography dat I would ah named: “From Trash House to Palace,” it’s ah master-piece dat ah will write bout subsequently. Den de first year Community College students having problems wid de Sciences; basically de O-Level standard is short changed, ah problem dat originated from de inadequate Common Entrance at Primary School, so at A-levels de students finding demselves in ah bottle neck. Dat too ah will deal wid subsequently.

Den ah wanted to comment on Dr Jules Ferdinand’s Calm-Pain strategy. Where de ULP flushing out dey supporters wid Free galvanize, cement and lumber, Jules is delivering at all voters doorstep, free planting materials e.g. limes, cherries, vegetable seedlings like tomatoes and lettuce. De ole proverbial: “Give ah man ah fish and yuh feed him foh ah day, but show him how to fish and he will feed himself foh ah life-time! Dat is de choice voters will have to make. Keep yuh poor, lickle or no employment, young healthy people surviving on Poor Relief, dey contribute nothing to NIS, when dey retire from unemployment, dey receive ah Non-contributor’s Pen-shun from NIS. Solid ULP supporters ready to retire but dey running scared dat soon dey will be no money at NIS to pay Pen-shun. What ain’t give out as charity, de Go-venom-mint borrowing out. Ah say it once ah will say it twice dat “Five more years ah ULP rule, and we will have to call in Ever-ready, New Haven and Wyllie’s Funeral Homes to bury de country.

Did I overhear de PM talking about building ah state ah de Art Hospital wid is twelve operation theatres. Dis man has no respect foh us! He started ah Die-nah-stick/ Die-all-assist Centre (Mini Hospital) at Georgetown seven years ago and up to now it is not complete! De Milton Cato Hospital is lacking de basics in so many areas, ah had to go hustling foh simple med-ah-care-shun foh ah friend in Hospital. While visiting, ah lady come-plain dat her son was shot wid bullets in his back and stomach, can’t operate, de one Theatre is not functioning, yet de Pry-minister is going to build ah new Hospital wid twelve theatres. He can’t finish de Cross Country Road! can’t start de Stay-dum! Yet to complete de Airport, please Mr PM, no more MT promises, Spare us! And wid dat is gone ah gone again

One Love Bassy

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