$umting fee-she on de bay

Just when de Buccama Bay Hotel project beginning to tek shape, looking good like it ready to start operations, it suddenly get ah bout ah hiccups, de wuk shut down! We won’t necessarily get de full story as to why de project is held up, but listening to de Big Man foh de company as he stumbled thru his explanation, one gets de feelings dat all was or is not well. Ah hope dey get sorted out soon.{{more}} I got de impression from day number one, dat in addition to ah Five Star Hotel, dat some two hundred cottages were to be built and these were earmarked for investors, far-reigners of course. I am sure ah heard too, dat most if not all de cottages were already sold out like hot bread, just de same ah could ah hear wrong. Den sometime in February, ah overs dat de Investors met wid some locals, suppliers of foods and services, and announced dat dey were going to put down seven Restaurants and seven Bars and dey will soon be ready to go.

Man every time ah coming from Leeward and ah break de Buccament corner, as ah look onto de Buccama Bay, de Project beams like ah light on me, it has ah colourful setting, de lush green slopes in de background, sheltering close to two hundred lickle cottages wid red roofs, looks like ah sea of Red, and bordered along de sea shore is de artificial white sand beach notwithstanding its twin sister, de adjacent black sand section, left over foh locals. Ah lot ah money, done spend at Buccama, ah would not repeat de close to two hundred millions dat we hearing done spend; ah still mindful of Ottley Hall dat we were told cost 135 million dollars, but when de independent valuers submitted dey report, was closer to twenty something million dollars instead. Way dey say dey spend is dey business!

Lie-Za seems to have her own view of how modern day investors operate now-ah-days, She say usually de first set come and secure de land wid all de duty free concessions and pie-an-air start-us, dey will sell dat to another set making ah profit of course. De next set will come in and put down some if not all ah de construction, before yuh know what’s happening, dey sell out to de real people who will operate de facility. After dat yuh will hear and see new management coming and going every Monday morning and poor foolish we, we will never know way going on. Usually wid all ah dem changes ah lot ah cutting does tek place, cut-out, cut cross, cut up, cut down and cut back! One ting she insisting on is dat when ever yuh hear ah big project shut down overnight, is $um ting Fee-she on de Bay, either money gone down Buccama River, gone in de Sea or gone in de Sky, it tek wing and fly away. Whatever, we hope dat de closure will be foh no more dan de two weeks as was stated. We cant afford to lose dis one.

AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITION WID AH DIFFERENCE

Ah looking forward to de National Agricultural Exhibition in October but ah have ah few reservations. Don’t forget dat we have had some very successful National Exhibitions in de past; ah remember people like Mannie Francis and Dr. St Clair Barker at different times headed de Exhibition Committees and did ah good job, dat was way back in de 1970’s when Agriculture was on ah higher footing dan today. What ah remember back den was dat ample time was given to de farmers to get ready. De planning was at least ah year in advance and dat gave Agricultural Officers and Farmers nuff time to get dey act together.

Ah don’t know if ah miss something but ah saw Agric Chief, Rueben Robinson on TV, addressing ah forum, announcing an Exhibition in October, and he is expecting ah lot ah big tings: biggest bull, biggest cow and goat and so on. All dis sounds good to de uncritical ear, but we are talking about and event five months away, ah bad dry season, ah near drought is on, doesn’t sound like ah lot ah time to me, and ah wonder if Mr. Robinson is not being over ambitious.

On de more supportive side ah glad dat an Exhibition on Agriculture (food) will be on at ah time when dey’s nuff talk and not much act-shun about food security and food cry-sis. Ah would hope dat dis is one ah de occasion dat de Guv-ah-mint, thru de Ministry of Agriculture will demonstrate de way forward in dis pending cry-sis. Still fresh on our minds is de last Exhibition dat was ah big let down dat turned out to be ah second Carnival, wid Queen show, Kaiso competition and Block-O. Dat is why foh dis event, we will need to see ah lot more dan Biggest Bull and so on, we got to raise de bar ah bit. Ah have not heard de theme for de Exhibition, but at de end ah de day, de nation must be better prepared to produce, prepare and preserve what ever foods we grow in dis country. Anything short ah dat Mr Robinson, you might not only get de biggest Bull but we might have to recommend also de biggest Bull-wood! And while I am on Mr Robinson, I think it is very humiliating dat he has not been confirmed to de post of Chief Agriculture, maybe Robby needs to present ah Red Party Card!

AMBASSADOR BRIDGETTE BLUCHER

Ah didn’t get to hear too many Kaisos over de last week, ah was listening to Gospel, Bridgette. But ah heard “Jamesy P” wid ah very positive song “We will Survive” ah can’t believe is de same Jamesy P dat did sing he want some No-Key Tonight, very good turn around James, congrats. And ah hear Abijah ringing up me and me grand-daughter name in his Kaiso, let him go on, he must be got money to pay my Queen’s Counsel, Andrew Cummings. Yes ah listened to Bridgette Blucher in Concert at de Bob-hid-us Gospel Fest. She is so good ministering in Gospel music, it is unbelievable. Bridgette is fantastic on stage and how well she carrying de Vincentian flag out dey. When de ULP took office dey started so much ah ting, was frightening. Immediately dey recognized five persons foh dey contribution to sports and culture: Miss B, Skiddy, Becket, Pamenos and somebody else and gave dem all Diplomatic Passport, ah very good gesture. But dat was in 2001, since den nothing more has been said, heard or done foh any body else. Ah recommending ah Diplomatic Passport foh Ambassador Bridgette Blucher, SVG and de Caribbean’s first woman of Gospel! And wid dat ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

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