Editor: When I was aroused at 1:20 a.m. by the squealing of a pig, which was soon afterwards silenced by two blows to the head, it came home to me that things have changed. Things and behaviour, which 30 years ago would have been improper and unacceptable to and from reasonable and mature people, across the whole spectrum of our society, those things must now be accepted as the norm. The citizens will have to make that mental adjustment.{{more}}

For example, the noise and smoke generated by business houses in the area of Arnos Vale, and which have been drawn to the attention of the authorities several months ago, will have to continue, despite the fact that a gentle lady has been appealing to them for redress, clearly explaining to them the “hell” she has to endure almost every day of the week, almost from dusk to daybreak.

A few days before the last election of December 9th, 2015, I myself was shocked out of my bed by the loudest boom of amplified music I had ever experienced. It was coming from the Arnos Vale Playing Field, where the ULP were “setting up” for their gathering. I was in disbelief when I heard a voice say “one, two, three, testing, testing”. This was the behaviour of agents of the Government of SVG! So, from that time, I have almost resigned myself to the fate that we might indeed be under Leviathan Palm.

If we must tolerate that type of behaviour from the officers of the Government and their cronies, we can also tolerate the smaller indiscretions of the less fortunate on whom the agonies of mismanagement have been taking their toll, seemingly strongly supported by our own reticence and indifference.

If the results of the last elections indicate that the people, the citizens are happy with the quality of governance over the past 15 years, then we should have no real issue with the widespread increase in taxes, even on the basic foods, including sugar and salt.

We probably have to be grateful to Dr Ralph Gonsalves for the kind and thoughtful consideration of excluding our valuable and important “strong rum” from the clutches of the VAT. There are some who give the venerable Sir Vincent Beache some credit for this benevolent consideration, which may well prove to be a significant contribution to the HEALTH of the nation.

So, when we are confronted by what seems to be a cloud of impregnable economic stagnancy, we can all afford a few shots of tax-free strong rum to induce the drunken stupor, which mercifully would allow us to forget our agonies for a while.

The suggestion seems to be implied by our officials that we should keep a bottle of “STRONG RUM,” so that when the journey is rough, we can take “ONE FOR THE ROAD”.

Le Roy Providence