Address De Forest

Ah do get emotional when ah hear terrible things, repeatedly happening to our original Ancestors, now casually referred to as “de people above de Dry River” or “de people in de Red Zones.”

Disaster after disaster doh past dem, when is not river come down! is road or bridges wash-way! My first meaningful contact wid my ancestral step-siblings was about fifty years ago, dat’s before either Culture Ministers John Horne and Rene Baptiste ran things. Ah had de distinct honour to team up wid dem twice, trying to salvage talent for CARIFESTA, from de remnants of our Unique Indigenous Culture. Interestingly de Sandy Bay Folks who had survived de 1902 Volcanic eruption, had kept de Quadrille Dance alive. Dey had one ah de sweetest sounding String Band led by Satan Ince and his brothers
De Windward Red Zone has come ah long way since de 1970’s. Looking back dey was “ no electricity or telephone, no paved highway or pipe borne water in de Carib Community back den. De main sources of Legal income was and still is Fishing, Gardening and unsupervised tree cutting to burn coals. Today basic utilities are now in full effect thanks to ah 17 year NDP administration from de 1980’s. But ah serious lapse in maintaining de forests and clearing de rivers free of fallen trees in de Red Zones, both Windward and Leeward, is now back-firing wid excessive flooding of de rivers and low lying lands suitable for development.

However over de last year de effects and after effects of de Volcanic eruption and COVID -19 Pandemic, would have done more catastrophic damage to the Red Zone areas dan any other part of SVG. Flooding is like our Waterloo. Dis situation needs not be Dooms Day. Not when Environmentalists suggest foh poor countries wid flooding challenges as in our case, de good ole adage holds: “Prevention is better dan Cure!” First we identify areas way flooding is likely to occur and create Buffer Dams. Simply using some ah de very fallen trees, mek dam to slow down or even divert de flow of de flood waters.

Unfortunately, foh years now. de Forestry Department has been crying out loud foh ah Land Development Plan dat will provide guidelines foh de proper administration, supervision and management of de hillside forests, and placements of settlements. In other word nobody should be allowed to just tek prime Agricultural lands way de lickle farmers mek an honest living as in Richmond, and give Developers to tun into Quarry and Crushing Plant.

And lastly, Lie-Za heard de PM say he getting 150 houses from Venezuela. She knows dis is ah look-nice administration, and vote catching too, but she begging him please doh build no more houses in de Red Zone way flooding and threats of Volcanic eruption could disrupt lives again. Give de young descendants of our original Ancestors an invitation to come settle in de Green Zone way de Grass is not necessarily Greener. And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

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