Consecray-shun before celebray-shun

As soon as ah walked into de supermarket on Monday afternoon, ah was greeted by one ah my fair-foh-it member of staff. “Yuh hear de News, One Love?” she asked. “Tell me” I said. Looking surprised she asked: “yuh ain’t hear de Airport people in Antigua (East Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority ECCAA) give de Green Light foh planes to land at Argyle?” Den another member of staff chimed in:”How come ah commess man like yuh ain’t hear dat?” Something struck me right away, not only did dey sound happy, but foh once dey had one hymn book, sharing.

Now I’m not ah stranger to dat staff, and based on dey reactions to some ah de things ah does right, ah think ah even know dey party affiliation too, some Red to de bone some Yellow and dare not bellow. But on Monday de Green Light of approval from de ECCAA foh Argyle Airport, was like Christmas to dem-Santa Claws coming to town on Valentine’s Love Day. Ah chuckled inwardly as ah remember some hard exchanges over de Argyle Airport between two wukers in dat same store: “Argyle will never done” one ah dem said to de other who quickly hit right back wid: “All yo lef Gonsalves alone, he go finish it!”

Yes it was thought provoking listening to de ordinary man oops, women in dis case, not only singing from de same song sheet but harmon-I-sing at dat. To think dat some ah dem never fly in ah plane, dey may have heard but have never had ah problem getting ruffed-up at Bo-bathe-us, trying to mek ah connect-shun, to avoid having to overnight. Some ah dem might never take off at Argyle, but suddenly dey, sorry, we all have hope. It cost us close to ah billion dollars to show dat so many Vin-scent-shun want Unity regardless of de polly-ticks. If only we could unite.

Ah will bet dat we will lose yet another great opportunity to rest down de hate and spite, put aside partisan polly-ticks and start rebuilding de nation. Argyle is about to be declared open and like Hate-he; dey will be ah double ceremony at de same time, de Love crowd singing soprano and de Hate crowd pulling bass, no harmony!

Lie-Za is not as bright as she thinks but common sense is her middle name. She is telling me dat never has there been ah Go-venom-mint more littered wid Pastors and holy ones dan de present regime. How whenever dey’s ah challenging situation like ah frightening spate of murders facing de country, dey are de first to call foh “Day of Fasting wid Prayer” or ah call foh “ Healing of de Land. Lie-Za is asking if dey’s not ah time foh giving Thanks and Praise. Why dey don’t call foh ah day of prayers on or before February 14 foh Argyle Airport, dat foh de last nine years, has weathered de pull-it-to-kill and Fine-and-shell storms, has now finally come thru. Yes de ULP Go-venom-mint could claim ah victory. And yes dey’s ah time to celebrate but before celebray-shun dey should be Consecray-shun.

Remember Hanah, de wife of Elkanah who was barren, couldn’t mek baby. She prayed to God to give her ah son. She eventually gave birth to Samuel. De story in de Bible never said Hanah celebrated, it said she dedicated, consecrated and gave de Child back to God.

It’s all well and good to celebrate on February 14th. Ah hope in de heat ah de celebray-shuns, someone will remind us dat resting quietly beneath de floor of dat lovely Airport is an even lovelier billion dollars death to repay. Dat to keep dis new facility wuking, de expenditure i.e. cleaning, upkeep, maintenance and salaries is likely to be three times as much as ET Joshua and de income or revenue is even more likely to be de same as, or even less dan dat of ET Joshua. It will cost an arm and ah leg to cover Argyle’s death not to men-shun de upkeep of our new International Airport. But we must nevertheless embrace it, we have no choice. Worthwhile or not, dis is ah national death, not an NDP or ULP Bill to be repaid. Always be reminded dat dis death will be like ah mill-stone strapped around de test-tickle (male and female) of unborn generations.

And finally, it is imperative dat as ah Christian Community, we do things de right way. Let February 14 th 2017 be punctuated wid Prayers and Thanksgiving, let us Consecrate Argyle Airport.

And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

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