CATEGORY:COMMENTARY ------------------------ INSIDE GRENADA Friday March 02,2007 by Lloyd Noel (Attorney-at-law) By the time you are reading this, we may or may not have had the “Stadium Rally” - that was promoted as the Blessing of the National Stadium on Sunday 25th February. Whatever may have happened last Sunday, and however we may see or accept it as individuals, will always be according to our opinions and from which side of the fence we are standing. I, for one, do not buy the theory, that every thing that is done by those in authority and in control, and which is propagated as in the National interest and therefore must be accepted and supported by all and sundry - that I have to jump and follow suit. I honestly think and believe, that such levels of blind support and obedience - have been the un-doing of all the worthy and worthwhile moral standards and ethical behaviour we once knew. I appreciate, that not knowing any better, or being so dependant on hand-outs from on top, or not wanting to rock the boat for fear of reprisals or revengeful actions - that any of those can so influence many persons and keep them almost trapped in slavish obedience. In other words while not fully acceptable and tolerable, such behaviour patterns are understandable. But I also recall reading from the Book of Maccabees in the Bible – Chapter 7: 16-17, while I was a Detainee of the PRG in 1981-83, a passage that I recorded on a card sent to me by a well-wisher. The card was headed .... “may your shut-in days be especially Blest, in realizing that GOD KNOWS BEST.” The passage said .... “Because you have authority among men, mortal though you are, you do what you please. But do not think that God has forsaken our people. Keep on, and see how His mighty power will torture you and your descendants.” The card was dated “June 9th 1982.” I still have it, and needless for me to say how prophetic were those words. Often times, as I see and listen to what is happening in our dear land, and how those in authority are explaining away the happenings as though they are no big deals - I go back to my records from those dark days and just read them for consolation. For as another inscription, written on that same card in 1982, said - “so you starve the light and feed the shadow, and then foolishly wonder why - that with the perishing light, the shadow is absorbed in darkness.” And we are seeing the evidence all around us, almost every passing day, or with every embarrassing incident or pronouncement from the powers-that-be. And we point them out, not because we want to gloat and sound as though we winning a race or sweepstake. But hopefully, because we realise that our people and country are suffering, and our standards and image and good name are diminishing - but no efforts seem to be made to halt the downward trend, and that should be happening. Those in authority, real or imagined, could suspend and pretend to discipline Inspt. Brian Hurst, and all the Policemen/women in the Police Band, over the Chinese/Taiwanese Anthem fiasco at the Ceremony for handing over the keys to the Stadium - but none of the above will solve the problems or halt the inevitable. When you treat others so disgracefully - especially when theirs were the hands that were feeding you for years and years, and providing you with all the ammunition that enabled you to defeat your opponents, and present a stable and solid economic front, that gave the sound impression all was well in the House - you can rest assured that in the fullness of time, the sobering hands of retribution will catch up with you. Sometimes it takes years, as in the case of the PRG and the atrocities their rulers perpetrated, in the four and a half years they ruled the waves. And at other times it takes months, as in the case of the shameful and ungrateful ways the NNP and its rulers treated our benefactors from Taipei in early 2005. And while the powers-that-be are trying to find scape-goats, to shoulder the shame and the blame that those power-Barons should be bearing - others, in the same group of authoritarians, are committing far more despicable and criminally motivated felonies, with the peoples’ monies entrusted to their care and protection; and all we are getting in response to the cries of the people, are more and more law suits, and lately even using the very people’s paid servants to silence the same people. And because those in authority, are foolishly assuming that all the people are of the same slavish mentality I referred to earlier, because of their obedience of necessity - they openly and boldly say things and make statements, about the peoples’ business and welfare, that they must know are mis-leading and grossly deceiving. Take for example, the second phase of the General Hospital - that we were told was so essential, for the biggest Economic booster that will ever hit the Caribbean, according to them. The Minister of Health assured the Nation, after the groundwork started about September last year, that all was in place to build up to the first floor, and that the ICC-CWC authorities would be satisfied with the achievement, to meet the required Health facilities standard for the World Cup. Hardly anything of consequence was done at the site except the steel works in the foundation - for reasons best known to those in authority. But now that the Stadium has been handed over to the very ICC-CWC authorities, as should be all the other supporting facilities, I heard the same Minister saying on T/V, that work on phase two of the same Hospital has been halted, because her Ministry does not wish to have construction taking place during the World Cup. No word about the “First Floor” that was so necessary to meet the World Cup health requirements. Hence my question at the top - “As we draw closer - are we any better off? I have some serious doubts. And it isn’t because those in control are not trying, or that they do not mean well - but because their very own priorities and their moulds of operation are upside down. They behave as though no one else has any sense of understanding , so what they say must be accepted as gospel - and even when their own statements are shown up to be mamaguysm and without any foundation, they turn around and accuse others of spreading negatives and being un-patriotic. And now that the countdown are merely days away in single digits - away from the opening ceremony for CWC 2007 in Jamaica, the stark reality of where we are and where we heading, and how we really planning on getting there; those, and other un-certainties beneath the surface, are gradually becoming real life situations that cannot be avoided, and should have been shared all along. Medical supplies for needy patients at the Hospital, and at Clinics Island wide, are in short supply and in many cases un-available. To the extent that patients are without drugs and dressing for days, and Nurses are unable to say when those needs will be met. What is happening there - because of over-spending elsewhere, are the authorities hoarding supplies for the big occasion coming up? Or is the general spending spree for CWC, catching up with our many sick and needy patients? The playing fields surrounding our fiscal and economic needs and necessities, have got to be levelled out to face the harsh realities of post Cricket World Cup. Because whether or not we are going to benefit from the occasion - the benefits will not be coming the next week, nor in months, and may take years to materealise. But life has to go on for those of us who survive CWC 2007. Another topic that held the headline for the past few weeks, has been the behaviour of the NDC M.P., Kenrick Fullerton, and which has resulted in his resignation from the Executive of the Party, and publicly pleaded guilty as it were, and apologised for his wrong doing. The question many persons have been asking me is - how will his situation affect the Party? Whether the actual effect is good, bad or indifferent, the reality is - that his response is like a breath of fresh air to our politics, in that he did not come out brambling and making empty excuses. So very unlike the many instances of other politicians, with just as grave indictments against them,and in many cases much worse than his - and all we ever hear from them are threats of lawsuits and other empty noises, and they stay put while business and their reckless operations go on un-abated. So in answer to the question, I would say - that if Grenadians’ memories improve with time, in the months after CWC 2007, then Fullerton’s response could be a big plus for his party - whether he is selected to contest the seat again, or not. But to go back to the Stadium Blessing last Sunday - as am finishing this article Monday a.m. The Blessings did take place and the crowds did turn out in their thousands, in every section of the fantastic building except the Bleachers - which I presume was off limits for the occasion. The Blessings were partly Ecumenical with two denominations from the Conference of Churches playing an active role, and the President of the Seventh Day Adventist, as well as a representative from the Rastafarian Movement offerings their Blessings. A representative from the Muslim Community, as well as one from the Hindu Community were carded to also offer their Blessings - but for whatever reasons they did not show up. The entire structure and the playing area are indeed a wonderful site to behold. Except for a patch of the field, beyond the boundary and stretching all the way in front the Main Stand - that looks rough and rugged, all else appear well done and ready to go. The surroundings are not yet at that level, and much attention is needed to bring those areas up to the standard on the inside. If that kind of crowd attended the Six days carded for Matches in Grenada, come April 10th to the 21st 2007 - that would be satisfaction indeed, for the organisers who are doing a very good job, from all the appearances I observed last Sunday. I could not help noticing - from the remarks of the Charge d’ Affaires of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, who spoke fluently in English - the mention that “Taiwan is an integral part of Mainland China.” Being the optimist I am, that all problems are capable of solution and forgiveness has no limitations - I kind of sense that the “Anthem” mishap had been forgotten for the mistake it was. I therefore hope, that the powers-that-be will see Inspt. Hurst’s situation in the same light. Just as we have to open some doors for transparency, so too, we have to bury some hatchets as we get closer - to be any better.