Ting dey foh talk but nuff time nah dey

Ah was telling my girl Lie-Za dat long ago, when yuh hear Ole People say “Ting foh talk but time nah dey,” de meant dat “dey’s much of what is happening to talk about but time does not permit it.” Immediately she picked me up and said: “ Like last week when yuh wrote about ‘de displaced LIAT Workers’, how after three years, three major shareholders Go-venom-mints in B’dos, St. Lucia and Ant-eager have announced dey will pay severance. But shareholder, Saint Vin-sin de Labour Go-venom-mint maintains ah pain-full silence.”

She said how unfortunate, in SVG one’s entitlement is like pulling teeth if one is ah friend of de perceived NME. So dat three years of peace-full waiting foh dem 43 displaced LIAT wukers, wid over 120 household mouths to feed is not ah priority, no way as important right now, as leasing some Twin Otter planes (nutting disparaging or derogatory bout de planes eh) to fill de hole left by LIAT sorry, No LIAT flights to SVG.

She say boy: “Ting really dey foh talk but Time nah dey!”

Ah told her since last week ah wanted to write again how de Go-venom-mint in its Wis-dumb to get de Nay-shun to tek de Covid 19 Vax-scene-nay-shun, met resistance from approximately 600 Public Servants, mainly Teachers, Police, Nurses wid approximately 2000 household members to feed. So Go-venom-mint passed ah Labour Law of Love in Par-liar-mint, basically saying who aint tek de Vax-scene, would be deemed to have abandoned dey jobs, dey fire de wuk! No Severance (again) or Pen-shun.

Cut de story short, on de add-vice of dey union, de wukers turnrd up foh duty, and were given (unconstitutional) letters of dismiss-all; add insult to injury, un-vaxed workers were to be removed from de compound, failing to so do, could result in arrest and charge (unconstitutional again)! Nex was de use of ‘Strike-Breakers’ tiktok- sorry tactics, replace bone fide wukers wid new wukers. “Dat was de straw dat brek de camel’s back!”

De union led by Barrister-at-Law Jomo Thomas and his con-fee-dent team Zita Barnwell and Cara Shillingford-Marsh of Dominica, took de wukers case to de High Courts to hear what de Sacred Constitution dat survived de 2009 Riff-around-dumd highest Law in de Land, had to say. Lie-Za insists dat ah should big-up Jomo who has ah “4 in ah Row” unbeaten record representing Public Servants vs Go-venom-mint in High Court matters related to unfair dismissal. Utter Sam; Headteachers Elvis Daniel, Bash Thomas and Johnson; and de Customs Officer White from Union Island.

But Lie-Za feels dat is False Pride got Ralph refusing to accept de 13 to 1 point flogging team Jomo unleashed pon de Go-venom-mint in dis first round of de current Vax-scene mad-date High Court Case. So straight away he asking fo ah stay of execution of de Judgement dat states de Wukers must be reinstated immediately.

Right now Go-venom-NUFF dancing on one foot round de Mullberry tree inviting de Public Servants to reapply and come back foh dey wuk. But why must dey reapply foh dey Wuk when de Judgement states dey were illegally dismissed. And now, dey saying two thing: one, dey doh have de money to pay two sets ah wukers doing de same job; and two, if dey lose de Appeal dey going as far as Privy Council. Yes dey have money not foh de wukers, but foh Privy Council. Isn’t dat wickedness in high Places? Ah tell yuh “Ting Dey Foh Talk But nuf Time Nah Dey!” And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

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