Doh Sink Day So-Car Boat

Last Sunday was ah bad day foh Tour-is-him in SVG in general, dats when the Aurora Cruise Ship, on its maiden voyage, carrying over 2,500 passengers, unfortunately had to be turned away from Port Kingstown. De Cruise Ship was unable to dock at de Kingstown Cruise Terminal (KCT) dat was built specifically for ah maximum two Cruise Ships, and not foh cargo like Used Car Carriers And Cement as is de case right now. Yes, de Aurora Cruise Ship was unable to berth because one ah dem Jah-pon-knees car boat, while trying to go along-side de same KCT, got damaged and stuck, ultimately blocking any further berthing.

Before times when we didn’t have docking facilities foh large cruise ships, de boats uses to drop anchor and use de ship’s life-boats and shuttle passengers back and forth. But we overs dat ah large number of de passengers were senior citizens and de captain didn’t want to subject his passengers to any inconvenience. So de boat was diverted to Saint Lucia and what ah disappointment foh those ole folks, some ah dem might ah saved all dey life foh ah retirement trip, others mostly to tour de Carry-Beyond, Sin-Vin-Sin included of course.

To many of us, is no big thing if ah Tourist Boat comes and conditions made it impossible foh landing passengers, and de boat goes to another country/ But wah bout de implications?

De Cruise Ships bring in $US. Go-venom-mint gets ah head-tax foh every passenger . Dey’s de lickle business-people who depend on de Tourist dollar: de taxi and van drivers, local craftsmen who would have spent months putting dey craft together, de hoteliers and folks who prepared stuff, snacks etc. Man we talking bout US dollars. Lie-Za say she ain’t hear nobody talking bout Come-pen-say-shun, and why not?
Is interesting how one thing runs into de other. Lie-Za asking me what was Port facilities like in mainland SVG during de NDP sixteen years tenure 1984 to 2000. Ah told her its all recorded on Google. The Kingstown Cruise Terminal in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was built in the 1990s during NDP, as part of an expansion by the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Port Authority (SVGPA). When it was being built dey was ah heavy surge, ground seas in Kingstown that threatened to lick-up de project. ULP Radio Talk Show Host spent ah field day broadcasting word foh word last “Dust to Dust, Ashes to Ashes wishes foh de Cruise Terminaal. But de Terminal wit-stood de battering. Today de Kingstown Cruise Terminal is de saving grace foh all boats coming to port Kingstown.

Next she wanted to hear bout Camden Park Container Port (CPCCP) in St. Vincent and the Grenadines- was built again by NDP in March 1993. Go-venom-mint invited nah-shun-alls to purchase Shares in de Camden Park Port, but only ah few people subscribed. But today de CPCCP is yet another profit earning project operated by de Go-venom-mint.

And dey’s Ottley Hall Shipyard and Marina, ah project dat Lie-Za describes as causing spinal damage to de NDP’s back. This project yet again was built in 1993 when Mitchell’s New Democratic Party was in office, it was subsequently valued at between EC$3.5 million and EC$7 million but left the Nay-shun with a debt of EC$200 million. Lie-Za swears up to dis day dat de ULP was bent on leaving no stone unturned in removing de NDP from office, and Ottley Hall in spite of all de glorious promises contained ah deadly Virus dat led to de pull-it-tel-all demise of de NDP and its leadership. And so after three years in office, ULP launched ah full scale Inquiry into the facts and circumstances of the project.

However after much legal manoeuvring de Privy Council made ah final ruling dat de Case was rift with Bias. As de Late ET Joshua uses to say “ Oh what ah tangled Web we weave when first we practice to deceive” And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

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