Let us save our Tour-is-him industry

Dis week ah feel like ah dey round ah dining table, all kind ah nice food spread out in front ah me, but ah just don’t have de appetite. Dem fellars kill me appetite dead wid de murder of de German Tourist and shooting another man on de yacht at Wallilabou, ah legal port of entry,. Ah have ah feeling dat getting priorities right is ah problem wid dis ULP Go-venom-mint. We appear to be losing de battle against crime.{{more}} Whether is robbing! or teefing! or raping! or murdering innocent people, sexploiting young women and young men and so on, offenders seem to be winning de War against Crime.

Lie-Za did some studies in So-shall-behave-yah. And she sums it all up wid: “Desperate-shun!” Young and ole people remain unemployed, even though dey want to wuk, but way de wuk dey? And den she ask me if de budget had anything to say bout jobs create-shun foh young people. She reminds me dat criminal activities on Yachts is nothing new, we had ah gruesome murder and de burning of ah Yacht at Cumberland, another port of entry some years ago. Seems like de Authorities keep brushing ah lot ah things under de carpet. She saying how it would be as easy as an ass-to-fan to brush under de carpet, legal fees of eighty-six thousand US foh ah Far-Rainer; and thirty-eight thousand US foh ah local, to represent de Go-venom-mint in de Elect-shun Pee-to-shun Case. Ah had to ask her to stick to de topic of Tour-is-him. We continue to pay lip service to Tour-is-him. Ah could pre-empt de Min of Tour-is-him ah-dress foh 2017 budget. He will talk about de increases in arrivals from de Yachties, our premier festivals, Carnival and Nine Mornings. He never forgets to men-shun dat wid de coming on stream of de Argyle Enter-nah-shun-all Airport, these numbers are expected to increase. Dat was Cess’ summary since he has been Min of Tour-is-him.

“Sooner or later more people are going to get killed,” says Lie-Za. Foh months ah businessman name Shadow kept calling de Radio Stay-shuns, he been getting no ends ah horrors from robbers at his lickle tourist business in de same Wallilabou area. Shadow predicted trouble long time. Is dey ah Mobile Police Unit anyway near Wallilabou or Cumberland, legal Port of Entries way Yachts are anchored?

She is reminding me of de many times Dr Friday and Terrance Olliverre have appealed in Par-liar-mint foh help wid de looting and robbing dat is taking place on Yachts in de Grenadines. Looters and Robbers operate wid tools, dangerous weapons, dis is about survival, ah life or death exercise foh dem.

But we keep talking about ah lot ah unrelated things, talk is still cheap. We hearing bout massive increase in Tourist arrivals when de Argyle Airport is opened sorry, ah forget it done open, just dat it ain’t finish as yet. We keep inviting infestors and visitors to our country, but de question is, who is educating us about all ah dis. Do we see de Visitor as ah customer who is spending hard earned money to come hey to eat, sleep and relax in our country, s/he is not here to carry away ah spoonful ah we beach or sun. Who is edgy-catering us about de Far-Rain Infestors. S/he is here to invest his/her money and is desperate to see profits. But who is edgy-catering de same Infestors about us and our country. Dat s/he might buy property, but s/he can’t buy citizens Rights. Born and bread bona fide Nationals are de highest citizenship in dis country, our Rights are above any other visitor or infestor’s property or money. Of course visitors and infestors have Rights too. But dey are certain things dat money just cant buy.

And what is happening in Can-One right now, was supposed to have been settled fifteen years ago and should not be stopped. No wonder Chief spokesman Terry Boy-no and others in Can-One are disappointed wid dey man at de Head, de Prime Minister, who as we look back, was in de thick and thin of things wid dem during dey struggle wid de den NDP Go-venom-mint and de Developers. But de Infestors want to restart de game by flipping ah coin: “Heads Infestors win and Tales de Residents Lose!” De Can-One foklks believing Ralph is dey Head, so de call Heads. We will watch and wait.

Access to ALL beaches should not be ah problem. Nobody owns ah beach in SVG. So Go-venom-mint needs to purchase from beach property owners, by Compusory Acquisition, ah four feet track or walk-way to all beaches in dis country. Let de developers, local or Far-rainers know, dis is de Law! In SVG dey’s no beach dat say Tourists Only, and none dat say Locals Only!

Seems we need ah Gospel on Tour-is-him and de message is about Eddy-care-shun. We need ah compulsory comprehensive Program on Tour-is-him beginning in our schools, from pre-schools up, talk Tour-is-him on de Radio and TV stations, in de Newspapers, in de churches. Ah was pleased to have ah Nurse in Church on de pulpit delivering ah message to de audience from de Hell’t Ministry about de Zeka Disease. Maybe de I-dare would be blessed if Tour-is-him is discussed within de Churches. Tour-is-him is too precious ah commodity foh us to destroy. And wid dat is gone ah gone again!

One Love Bassy

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