DE RIGHT TO WHAT KIND AH LIFE

Ah don’t know if dey’s ah parallel here but interestingly in de USA, President Obama is having de time ah his life selling his Health Care Reform Bill to Congress; ah bill dat will guarantee rich and poor an affordable healthy life and by extension ah better life. And in SVG, Prime Minister Gonsalves is pushing foh ah “Yes” vote to his new Constitution Bill foh dis country. And my question is, will there be anything in dis New Constitution dat one can say will guarantee rich and poor ah healthy life and by extension a better life?{{more}}

Ah asking dis because right now ah going thru de proposed Bill and ah stick in gear on Chapter 111 “Protection of Fun-dah-men-tell Rights and Freedom”. Item 25 talks about “Every person in SVG is entitled to the fun-dah-men-tell rights and freedom…. namely ‘the right to life’. Dis clause or section is not new, it been in de ole Constitution, and big and bowl in black and white, it right dey in de new one. Tell me, when it says “de right to life” ah want to know “de right to what kind ah life”? Ah list ah names was submitted for selection to wuk at de Hospital, and as certain names are called de cheer-lady asks “is she one ah we, what colour is she”? Meaning of course is she ULP or NDP. Maybe de New Constitution should read “de right colour to life”! Dey’s no maybe about de lack of proper health facilities at de Milton Cato Hospital, and we have among us some very good doctors and nurses. Can citizens say our health system guarantees us ‘de right to life’? Ah young lady while here on vacation, took sick, and almost died on our hands, nobody could say what’s wrong, she had to be rushed to T’n’T hopefully she will pull thru. If yuh can’t afford to fly out to Bo-bid-us or T’n’T foh ah proper medical, yuh will overs when right means wrong, “de wrong to life”.

Is no different at de other ministries. Dey are senior teachers qualified foh head-teacher posts, but get buy-pass by juniors, of course “ de right to life foh being one of us”.

Yes foh de next two months we will be bombarded wid Yes’ and No’s, it will not be ah Yes or No for de Right to ah more full-filling or full-some life yuh know, it will be Yes or No to whether future Compay Trimmingham should heng foh heinous crimes; is like de only crime dat needs revisiting is murder, Lie-Za sware dat at times dey’s no bigger crime in de Law Books dan dat “Nolly-Tull-Us”.

We looking forward hearing from de Guv-ah-mint vote “Yes” calm-pain team comprised ah ministers, senior public servants and civil society. Ah wonder how de Prime Minister will react if ah group ah senior public servants were to join de Awe-position vote “No” calm-pain team. Ah wonder what de New Constitution got to say about dat.

DE RIGHT TO SH…. 2-2

St Mary’s R.C. School got de best Washroom facilities in SVG. Thanks to Bentley Browne, Mr SIF, and de persistent Principal Sis Ivy. Ah partnership venture dat will cost each partner fifty thousand dollars. Ah must commend Gibson’s Building Contractors foh doing ah fantastic job… On Time!

Ah proper washroom was long overdue at St Mary’s. My kids who are St Marians, uses to hold back de Too Too till dey got home. As ah parent of ah Primary School student, yuh will overs de “washroom Woes” dat de children going thru, and like dat is de cry all over. Yes de children are destructive but ah sure dey are ways of getting dem to be ah part of an “I love my school” team. When ah was at Richmond Hill Primary now Tommy Saunders Secondary, de students cleaned de classrooms; de boys shifted de benches while de girls did de sweeping. If de school tries dat today, dey will get Sue foh child abuse, no wonder discipline in schools gone ole mas.

Ah know dat Sis Ivy de disciplinarian she is, will demand nothing but spick and spank washrooms from de kids, after all, dey are very lucky to have such ah lovely facility. No doubt when de teacher ask dem to list some ah de Rights to life dat dey now enjoy at school, dey can all say: “ We have de Right to ah comfortable sh…. Too Too”!

NO TO TRI TRI…YES

Dis is September de official beginning ah de Tri Tri season. De Moon changes on Sat-dey ah looking out foh Tri Tri on Choose-dey. We cant come-plain foh any shortage ah fish de’s days, de vendors all on de streets in front de Fish Market begging yuh to buy. Dis afternoon ah got four pounds ah big Jacks foh $5. 00. Yes we like it so, when fish scarce and de price goes up to $6. 00 ah pound foh Jacks, we blame de Guv-ah-mint. So why not. And wid dat, is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

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