STUPSE – IMF WHAT!

De IMF stole de headlines d’s last two week. IMF has been around foh some time, and dey’s ah school of thought dat says IMF is not ah bank or ah funding agency; it is ah pull-it-tek-all institution on ah USA mission. Wid its policies IMF has been able to frustrate ah lot ah pull-it-tek-all leaders, and caused Guv-ah-mints, some wid good intentions to fall, remember Jah-mek-ah and Trin-dad?{{more}} Clearly is time dat we in de Caribbean get to learn to listen to our own voices and blank plenty ah dem far-reign vices.

When SVG goes to de IMF foh assessment is like ah man looking to buy ah insurance policy and needs ah clean bill of health from de doctor. Everybody, including de man, knows dat he suffering from pressure, sugar, co-less-sterile and cat-ah-rack, so he could never pass his medicals, just like SVG, we can’t pass no IMF test. On de medical certificate de doctor gave de man ah good grade foh his heart, and yuh know what? Dat is de only part ah his medicals dat he shared wid everybody. Is de same way de Guv-ah-mint here, like if dey want to fool de public wid half de truth, dey publish one part ah de IMF report. Now dat de full report is available, is ah different story.

I will not even look at de IMF report foh SVG, because institutions like de IMF deal wid figures and not people’s welfare and dey cultural traditions. SVG is not ah industrial-lies country, is only one lickle industrial estate we have at Camden Park, and ah don’t think we have more dan ah 1000 people wuking down dey. So one ah de burden of consecutive Guv-ah-mints is dat of finding wuk foh de majority, whether it is sweeping streets, cleaning drains or hand picking pull-it-tek-all add-vice-Sir. When dem young people get dey CXC and GCE subjects is by de public service dey leaving off dey first application foh wuk, ah teacher, ah student nurse, ah police or whatever dey. And is hell-o-hell foh de Guv-ah-mint if dey say no wuk dey. What de IMF ain’t overs is dat when one member in ah family wuking s/he will tek care of de whole house hold. And dat can’t change overnight, so asking Guv-ah-mint to reduce the public service bill will only add more weight pon massah king sugar. If de IMF want to tell de Guv-ah-mint dat it employing too many party supporters, retirees, paying dem big salaries foh doing nothing, dey must come out plain and say so.

Was IMF who recommended VAT dat is causing unbelievable and unforeseen hardship hey in SVG. Concerned persons are asking dat more basic food items be zero rated, yet IMF saying dat Guv-ah-mint must not go dat way. IMF recommendation might improve our GDP as dey say, but it will have serious repercussions foh crime and employment.

Why didn’t de IMF add-vice de Guv-ah-mint to insist dat we change our eating habits to one of more greens, vegetables and fish; foods dat we can grow in our back-yard, dat abound in our environment. Or even tell Guv-ah-mint to immediately put ah ban an all imported canned and frozen items, meats fruits and vegetables from de USA? We need to read Clive “Ras Bish-I” Bishop’s piece on Agriculture dat was published in de news-paper ah few weeks ago, dat was like de Gospel. Or maybe we need another Agricultural Revolution like what Mitchell did in 1972, “ban all imported foods”! Dat ought to get people to plant ah root ah Banana, ah few holes ah peas and corn, scatter some cuccumber and pumpkim seeds in de yard. We should not be buying things like pepper, lime, chive, ochro, thyme, mint etc, d’s things will grow in ah poe-zee if yuh don’t have yard space. Man every morning when ah step out ah de house and stand on de ground ah does hear ah still voice saying: “ boy, tread softly, don’t crush de soil, dat is yuh life-line, yuh birth-right, yuh land, don’t kill it, till it!”

But IMF is not de problem, we are our worst NME, We are ah lazy people wid ah spending mentality and false taste and false pride, and dat is why de IMF will always have to come and tell we ah whole set ah sh-sh-sh-sh…It!

VICTORIA JAIL

Dat Razor wire fence dat de National Lottery putting up at Victoria Park is in poor taste, who ever suggested dat needs to have his/her head checked, it smacks of ah Concentration Camp mentality. Victoria Park was given to de people of SVG by de Hazell family over ah century ago. It was given as ah Recreation Park wid de street and royal palm trees bordering de perimeter, Not ah Prison Camp wid towering walls and Razor wire fence dat yuh does use to contain Al-kill-dah terrorists and war criminals. Ah was only ah youth when every activity including Military Parades, Carnival, Athletics, Windward Island Football, Cork Cup Cricket was played at Victoria Park, no fence, open house, just ah bamboo pole at de entrances at Hospital gate, de gap at Texaco Gas station and Peebles Bridge. First dey put up ah wood picket fence to keep out crashers, persons who don’t pay entrance fees, but dat was not strong enough, so dey replace de wood wid galvanize, like dat didn’t wuk so dey put up ah concrete block wall dat wuk foh ah while, now dey top it off wid Razor wire fence. Does it occur to de Lottery dat people jumping walls and fences to gain entrance could be ah reflection ah de economy. Dat fence should be down, it is ah bad symbol to have in de heart ah town, we might as well rename de place Victoria Jail!

NAH MISS TANNY SHOW

Dis weekend Penola “Tanny” Ross, ah recent graduate of de Jamaica School of Music will be on stage at de Peace Mo. Tanny is ah woman of multitudinous talent, school athlete, national netballer and basket-baller; Convent School and Catholic Church choir girl, guitarist, lead singer and drummer in El Grupo Amistad, and she bad like yaws in de kitchen. Since returning from Jah-mek-her, she has been thrilling her audiences at de Attic, she was exceptional at de G.G’s Concert at Government House. Saturday and Sunday night performances will feature her doing ah wide repertoire of Jazz, Blues, Ballards, Folk, Kaiso etc, She will be accompanied by some of this country’s most talented and oldest musicians too, Georgie Veira on guitar, BT Marksman on drums, Bert Walker percussions, Geoff Venner on bass, and de youngsters Andrea Gaymes, Sean Sutherland and Courtney Harry, ah 16-year-ole national athlete and pianist dat is bussing wid talent himself. Proceeds will go towards Tanny’s part tuition at Berkley’s school ah Music in de USA. Dat lady is going places, trust me she will mek SVG proud. Real proud! And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy.