Black people, respect August 1st

Ah uses to think dat is only women like Lie-Za, who does blush and smile when yuh give dem ah 20 percent discount on dey age, like saying she is “65” years ole, when she herself knows dat she is “85”; but last week when de phone rang and it was Mr Leroy “Pokes” Mulraine, my former Latin Teacher who called to say thanks foh de 65th Birthday wishes in my column, and for de 20 years discount ah gave him; ah realize dat we-men love we lickle flattery too. Even Mickey Gun Munro whose next zero puts him in overtime, found my mistake amusing, as he would ah bin five years older dan “Pokes” who was his Latin Teacher in junior form as well, Ah know bout getting ah “6” foh ah “9”, but never “6” foh ah “8”. Dat’s one ah my senior moments.

AH SIGNIFICANT FIRST

Lie-Za and her fellar, Lie-Oh beg to join me in congratulating Lady Suzan Dougan on being appointed as our first female Governor General, she deserves de GG post! Now ah wish dey could be a more sensible and informative conversation within de Nah-shun-all dis-curse-shun about these formalities. Like saying Susan Dougan is Queen ah SVG, even Lady Susan will not find such sarcasm as ah compliment.

Having said dat, let us be reminded dat August First is Real, is sacred to de descendants of Slavery, not ah day foh side shows. August First celebrations should not be interrupted to give precedence to de installation of de Representative of de Queen or King of de Colonial Masters, no offence meant Lady D.. What happened at Go-venom-mint House on August First dis year is ah slap in de face of de Reparations Committee. But Lie-Za reminds me dat was de same ULP, full ah hate-red and aggression, dat did block de Gover-nah General outside Par-liar-mint. Luckily de police was dey to stop dem from overturning de car wid Sir Charles inside.

Maybe dis is ah good time to remind Bro P.R Campbell dat he has been doing ah One-dah-full job wid he “Law and You Program on Radio and TV: “Informative, Enlightening Educational,” all de E’s. But he owes listeners an honest answer to de Question: “Bearing in mind de Historical, now turn his-terical, significance of Emancipation Day to Black People, was it fitting and appropriate to install de Queen’s Representative in SVG on August First?”

Ah hope when dey mek me Governor General, dey doh have so much ah come-playing, and fault finding wid de Date, because mine will be on “All Fools Dey!” Ah want it to co-incide wid de Inauguration Date of de ULP in 2001.

GEOTERMINAL NRG AGAIN

From day one ah have me reserve-hey-shun about de Geo-Terminal Project under de La Suffer-ray Volcano. Ah can’t figure out how we overlooking de strong possibility of producing clean renewable NRG from de Sun and de Wind in SVG. De Sun comes up every day and is here bright and early next day. And dey’s de North-East Trade winds, and even if deys no breeze blowing, people in SVG shooting de Breeze all day and night. But ah suppose de Volcano is also always dey and Geo-Terminal was giving de nod. Ah would like to welcome Geo-Terminal but Lie-Za has ah friend wuking up dey, who told her not to expect any reduction in her NRG Bill, not in her life-time. Ah sure ah heard an announcement dat de first drilling was not successful , so dey gone digging another hole. Lie-Za suggesting dey start digging square holes to mek it uncomfortable foh de round pegs we got line up.

Ah feeling hopeless when it comes to NRG in SVG. Years ago we were giving de hope of ah reduction to zero in de Fuel Surcharge less component of our NRG bill. Dat’s when de Fuel Surcgarhe was dan ten dollars. Ah looked at my Bill dis month: Energy Charge = $158. 50. Vat 16 percent = $ 13. 36 and hold yuh breath, de Fuel Surcharge = $ 129. 75. From ah few dollars to ah hundred and twenty-nine dollars. And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

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