We know not dat we know not

Doc Fraser does always say “ dey’s never ah dull moment in SVG.” Lie-Za went down de Arnos Vale Playing Field and whatever unfinished Wuk she saw or story she over-heard, she came breathless to come-plain to me dat dey planning to break-down de Sir Phillip Veira (P.H.) Pavilion, replace it wid ah new double decker stand and rename it De Winston Davis Pavilion. It would be ah low blow if it ever happens, but people won’t be surprised. Less we forget, P.H. Veira was ole Labour during Cato ‘rain’, put lots ah money into de party to win Go-venom-mint, ah deceased P.H. is more loyal to Labour dan even de current leader.

But dis bad blood started when ULP, in de 2010 elect-shun calm-pain, promised sin-silly dat when dey win, de “biggest three “supermarket businesses: Greaves, Bonadie and Veira (GBV) who did not support de corrupt regime, will have to close down!. Well ULP won de elect-shuns, but, capital Be-Yuh-Tea, as hard as dey tried to get at these businesses, dey failed miserably, clearly ah case of “Who God Bless no man Cuss!”

Believe it or not dis group of businessmen led by dey founders Kenrick Greaves , Vivian Bonadie and Phillip Veira (GBV) have left Rich, Valuable Hysterical Foot-prints in SVG sand. Luke Browne did ah great tribute to dem ah few years ago. But Lie-Za say ah must still write. Yes de GBV group share ah great deal in common. Firstly dey were about de same age, all children of Poor, Humble, Working-class Vincent-shuns, born and bread in three adjacent communities: Bucchan, Upper Richmond Hill, and Dorsetshire Hill all within de Richmond Hill Cadastral Block. Interestingly de family names of dey spouses: Murphy, Gabriel, Bailey and Medford all have Richmond Hill roots. All except one was born in de area. Dey knew each other well as youths, and could ah/should ah played bat’n’bawl, pitch marbles, spin top and fly kite together.

Dey parents couldn’t afford to send dem Secondary School either, too much siblings to feed, so Primary School eddy-care-shun is what dey use to achieve dey Golds. In our post-colonial civil-lies-say-shun, at one time these local born Vin-see entrepreneurs- C.K. Greaves, Bonadie’s and P.H. Veira two-get-her, would have been de power house in commercial operations. Operations include Supermarkets, Bakeries, Factories, even Pavilion what-ever. Nay-shun builders dey were.

So how did de name P.H. Veira get on de Pavilion at Arnos Vale Playing Field? Back in 1970 SVG was hoping to host its first Big Game against New Zealand in 1972. Work on de field was slow -way behind den, as it is right now as we prepare foh ICC World Cup 2024. De long and short ah de story was money was not forth-coming, de response from de business houses, de Banks etc. was not encouraging. SVG’s biggest Game was coming up in less dan ah year and dey would be only one main Pavilion, now Mike Findlay Pavilion, de Players Pavilion, de Broadcasting booth, two temporary (wooden) stands on either side. De committee would have appealed to de Financial Institutions and other businesses foh help, to no avail. But alas! de only response came from P.H. Veira and Co. to build ah permanent pavilion. De rest is his-story. Things have gotten so good over de last 50 years dat we putting down swimming pool and we building over de Sir Phillip Veira Pavilion and christen or baptize it over give it wid ah new name Winston Davis Pavilion. Forgive us Winston we know not dat we know not. And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy