One by one, two by two

De murder scene here in SVG like it tek ah turn foh de worse. De figures moved from one ah week to two now, right now dat popular Spiritual Baptist Chorus : “One by one, two by two, Jesus count dem by dey numbers” ringing in me head. Last week we were driven into shock and horror wid de news of de lickle girl shot by her father and den he shot himself. Now dis week even more horrific is de two women found in ah house at Largo Heights wid dey faces chopped. De first question dat rolling over in me head is “Are we losing de Battle, is Satan winning?” We have to fight dis wave of crime on all fronts. {{more}}While de Police doing dey part, we have to go back to roots, back to de days ah Cadets, Rangers, Guides, Scouts, Brownies and Cub, Red Cross and Y; 4H, Pathfinders. Revisit de traditional family values, we must turn off de TV pon ah Sunday morning and find we-selves wid de family in Church to praise and worship de Lord, aim foh ah higher level ah reverence and we got to carry de children Sunday School. Move de Prayer Groups out ah de Churches into de work-place, house to house among yuh near-bars, talking bout bars, young men find someway more fulfilling to go other dan warming up de Bars every evening. Ah nation dat is built around Righteousness shall be lifted up and protected from any harm or danger.

Ah said it once, ah said it twice, thrice dat de country need ah island wide spiritual Calm-Pain, yuh see how dey does blast down de place wid big speakers and loud music when de having pull-it-tek-all Calm Pain, well we need to blast dem sounds with Gospel Music and praise throughout every town and village in de country, and not just ah one night stan, let it be nights and nights of Calm Pain-ing, declare total war-fear pon Satan. Anything less dan dat will not wuk, and we will be singing “One by one, two by two, and who knows three by three could be de next number”!

DE SLUMBER OF COMMERCE

Is so much ah subject to debate dis week, de PS memory sticks, Prime Minister’s plan to exit plane failed; ah think ah will deal wid De March next Fry-dey. Ah said already dat Peaceful Protest, Demonstration, Rallies etc is ah sign of healthy de-mock- we-see., as long as it is not disruptive or interrupt production, like de one wid Frank Da Silva, Patches and Granny by de Electoral Office. Ah don’t support de call by Arm-in foh businesses to close. If business houses or anybody feel dey have ah reason to protest or march, by all means let dem mek dey own decision. De Chamber of Commerce asleep foh so long, dey ain’t even know dat de name of de Organisation has been changed to Slumber of Commerce.

But ah support de march, ah not marching foh me-self, ah marching foh de Bequia people who paying de dollar fine, ah marching foh Bananas Fry-dey, ah cant mek de march in G’town dis Sunday, ah have ah Church function. Ah marching foh Jomo Thomas, he not foh it, but wid or widout his con-cent ah will do it foh him. When he hustled off from de job to UWI foh six months to complete his Law program, dey deemed his post abandoned, and fired him, even though it was ah pardonable sin, ah couldn’t justify ah fight foh him. But when ah notice dat dey failed to fill de post and waited until after he came back to appoint someone else, ah friend ah mine, ah felt dat Jomo, ah man of and foh de party, got ah bad deal. Since de department functioned during his absence, den he could ah been given permission to go get de requirements to practice Law in SVG. And ah feel if Dr. Richard Cox, Jomo’s buddy been here, he would ah join me and march foh Jomo!,

DEY WILL GET CATTLE BOIL

It was Sir Vin Sin who was den ah minister at de Agriculture Dept who encouraged me to buy some shares in Die-man Die-ah-rear. Ah mustered up $240. 00, small amount but dat was all ah could afford, de widower’s might. De plant had problems initially, everybody like dey was expecting fresh pasteurized cow’s milk even though de animals were just calves, and people who were lactose intolerant blame de packaged (powder) milk foh giving dem Die-ah-rear. We were angry dey making fruit juices from (imported) artificial flavours while ripe mangoes still rotten-ing on de ground. De factory really needed ah good PRO to market de products and save de industry.

By de time NDP took office in 1984, de factory was heavily into overdraft and dey refused to energize de business; so in 1997 after nearly 20 years of operation, Dia-man Die-ah-rear went into liquidation. Ah was lucky ah got back me $ 240. 00, not ah Red Scent interest on me money. After Guv-ah-mint closed de factory dey kept de wukers employed in limbo, doing nothing foh four years before dey paid dem off. Around 2001, like ah hurry hurry bird, de ULP Guv-ah-mint, eager to free up itself of any NDP baggage, dey didn’t see ah possible loss ah revenue later on, so dey went foh de dollars and not de scents, dey followed ah Court Order, allowed de Die-man Die-ah-rear to go in de hands ah Goddard’s local group Coreas/Hazells! Ah felt ah would ah see de factory running again and ah would ah get ah glass ah cow milk or mango juice to drink. But Lie-Za did warn me dat ah will dead from thirst if ah wait foh dat drink. People felt dat de purchase was to protect ah factory in Bo-bathe-us from competition, and secondly, wid dat huge death, de buyer will get ah sizeable Tax Concession. De company did infact benefit from Tax relief, dey did well while Guv-ah-mint catching hell, so de Guv-ah-mint ball fowl, dat more like turkey. Dey made noise dey want more money, but yuh can’t change course in mid-stream. Lie-Za done get it dat Guv-ah-mint done dig into de company’s Bank Account twice and tek out millions. And after Goddards done gone ahead wid plans foh ah 20 million dollar project to employ 250 wukers Guv-ah-mint threatening to acquire dey property, dey taking it back. Ah wonder if dey know dat when yuh give people ting and tek it back yuh does get Cattle Boil.

And way is de Slumber of Commerce in all ah dis? Dey have not said anything, de are not saying anything and dey will not say anything till de wheel come round to grind dey tail, dats when dey will want to say something, when it will be too late! And wid all ah dat, ah gone again.

One Love Bassy