18.DEC.09

Editor: Popular Calypsonian Zion I (Alvin Dennie) is complaining that his dismissal at the Port is victimization and the News newspaper plastered this view on its front page.{{more}}

Is this front page news, and is this complaint the truth? I doubt it.

Zion I himself admits that in 2006 Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves got him his job at the Port. He was a supporter of the ULP and Ralph at the time. Zion I has no special skill for port work, so he got a job at his skills level. In my opinion, he gradually became dissatisfied, because he felt that he should be given a bigger job at the Port. but to do what?

In July 2009 he sang a calypso critical of the government in some respects, but still Zion I declared that “Ralph is me and me is Ralph”. By this he meant that he is still a Ralph man. So what happened between July and now?

Zion I did well with his song. He got lots of interviews and airplay on radio and so on, and people were talking about him at carnival time. In my opinion all this went to his head and he was now too big for his job at the port. If you talk to workers at the port, one would get an accurate feel for the facts of this matter. Simply put, Zion I thought that he was untouchable.

Clearly, the Port Authority actually put up with the foolishness of Zion I for too long, and this cannot be a case of victimization, since Zion I deserved to be fired.

Ben David John