The Bible gives a very interesting account of ah battle between Israel (de Jews) and de Philistines (de Arabs). One ah de greatest battles ever fought between these two nations, unfortunately, up to today, dey still battling away. De battle had filtered down to two individuals, ah Jewish shepherd boy name David, de grandson of Ruth; and Go-lie-at, ah Philistine Giant, ah son of Orpah. Orpah and Ruth were sisters as well as sisters-in-law, married to two brothers, Chilion and Mahlon de sons of Naomi. Both brothers/ husbands died, Ruth however stuck wid Naomi, her mother-in-law and dey went to Jerusalem; but Orpah went her own way and it is said, she lived ah dissolute (ah Bee-Zee) life.{{more}} De genetics suggests dat David and Go-lie-at were cousins. David knew of de blood relations foh sure.

David’s profile is dat he was ah shepherd boy who slew ah Giant and later became king. Young David would have perfected de Art of de Sling-shot and used it as ah deadly weapon to combat predators, wild beasts like lions, bears and de NME dat came to kill and destroy his father’s sheep. Today de NME in SVG is alive and lives among us, Unemployment, High Food Prices, Money shortage, Drugs but we are yet to find de Sling-shot to combat dem all. As King, David throughout his reign was conflicted between Ruth-less ambition and lust and his desire to serve God, maybe de King was also de Prime Minister in dem days.

Go-lie-at on de other hand got ah lot ah myth surrounding his profile, he was over nine feet tall and strong like ah elephant, he was polyspermus, conceived and made from ah lot ah sperm, he had about ah hundred fathers; no disrespect meant, but de way some ah we ladies behaving, one would think dey trying foh mek ah Giant. Lie-Za say none ah dat, come off de ladies, is ah set ah men trying to mek Giant too. What can I say?

But back to de battle field way both armies been facing each other foh forty days; nobody would attack or mek ah move, was like “big fraid vs lickle fraid”. Every morning and evening when de Jews were in Prayer, de bully, Go-lie-at would deliberately come out and taunt and challenge dem. He wanted ah “man to man” fight wid anybody who feel dey bad.

David just happened to be around on Go-lie-at’s fatal day when he was pomp-ah-set-in. David took one look at de guy and realized dat dey could not beat Go-lie-at on his terms or match his heavy armour. He (David) was prepared and willing to try some-ting new on Go-lie-at, ah weapon dat never failed him, dat was never seen or used in warfare before. He decided to tek on Goliath and selected seven stones, bullets foh his Sling-shot, den he wrote de names ah all his forefathers on each, his name and de Lord’s name on one each as well. When dey squared-off, wid his eyes pointed unto de heavens from whence came his help, David welcomed Go-lie-at to “come and see what de Lord will do foh me”; up to dis day Go-lie-at ain’t know which stone hit him, ah believe is de won wid de Lord’s name pon it. The myth continues that just before David cut off his head, he reminded Go-lie-at dat dey were children from de family tree of Ruth and Orpah, sisters; den he ordered Goliath to open his eyes and see who it was dat really slew him, de story says dat Goliath opened his eyes and saw an Angel’s face on David’s body, den he told David “it was not you who killed me, but an Angel”! Wow!

Ah remember dat story when ah hear de PM say dat an NME is here in SVG. Seems like we got ah Go-lie-at in our midst. Dey’s ah war in de hills of SVG, illegal farmers destroying de landscape, planting Marry-Warner and regional soldiers up dey burning and destroying de crops. De soldiers also looking foh sophisticated weapons, Guns, Killers/Far-reigners wanted foh murder, hiding here in SVG, and dey freeing our youngsters held hostages in de mountains. Sounds good eh, but ah afraid all ah dat shooting and killing out de NME (Vin-sin-shun) will not solve de problem. It will take ah David wid his Sling-shot to turn tings around.

My question is however, have we been playing Cat-n-Mouse wid de Marry-Warner farmers? Ah couple weeks ago ah read in de newspapers of de formation of ah Marry-Warner Farmers Association wid Junior “Spirit” Cottle appointed as Co-ordinator. And ah recalled ah few years ago de same “Spirit” being employed as Communications/Liaison Officer for de Integrated Forest Management and Development Unit. Ah was told (wrong or right) dat de Unit had received de blessings ah de Forestry Division and comprised of a number of stake-holders: CWSA, Vinlec et al. De Unit was supposed to bring some semblance ah order into de lawless cultivation in de mountains, destroying our forests, also to keep all farmers, including those in Marry-Warner, away from our water sheds and valuable forests. While dat move had its positive directions, it could also have sent de wrong signals to de Marry-Warner Farmers, possibly making dem to believe dat dey were getting an unofficial pass to plant dey weed. Sad to say dey did just dat.

Looking at de TV coverage of de vast areas in de interior, stripped of its forest and planted in Marry-Warner is frightening, completely out ah hand and can only lead to serious water problems and land slides later, as will happen wid de Cross Country Road. Clearly all ah dis shooting up and killing off young people in de Hills is one way of trying to correct our mistakes. We cannot win de Battle wid soldiers and Guns, de problem is deep, wid serious bread ‘n butter, life’n’death e-can-nah-mix. We really need ah David wid his Slingshot. And wid dat, is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy.

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