CATEGORY:COMMENTARY
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By Lloyd Noel (Attorney-at-law)

" There is much too much wailing and gnashing of teeth out there among the various congregations; and their flocks are crying out for earthly salvation - their cries deserve to be answered...."





Despite the many other areas that are not nearly up to mark in our Spice Isles for some time now, the two biggest projects in our foreign policy
portfolio seem to be on stream and progressing according to plan. The latest reports on the cheaper oil deal from Hugo Chavez Venezuela, and the re-designed and re-built National Stadium - courtesy Communist china - are both stated to be on course to meet expected deadlines. In fact, according to Mr. Don Lockerbie of the ICC and WICB inspection team - Grenada’s Stadium is far more advanced in its work schedule, than any other among the match venues of the region.

That high level of recognition and praise is clearly due to the work ethics of the more than (500) Five Hundred Chinese Nationals, reported to be on site rebuilding the Stadium for Grenada. The dreaded Hurricane Season, that was predicted to be one of the worst ever, has not materialized thus far - and while we are not yet out of the woods, as it were, the past three months of relatively good weather have definitely helped the work progress. And now that the roof of the Stadium is almost totally covered, as I see it coming down Cemetery Hill on my daily trips, it means that the inside work can proceed whatever the weather.

What we are not getting any information on is the progress of work on the wickets in the middle, and the outfield as a whole. Clearly, work on the
outfield nearer the boundary lines, have to await the completion of work on the building towards the ground level. But the wickets have to be completed
and fully tested with some match play to ensure, as far as is possible, acceptable standards. For that part of the project we have to wait and see how it unfolds - because it is not part of the bargain with the Chinese.

And talking about bargain in this context - I heard the Prime Minister in glowing terms of praises for the Chinese performance thus far, again repeating what a very wise decision he and his Government had made, in booting out Taiwan to embrace Mainland China after “Ivan”.

I am certain that our Farmers in particular, and Grenadians as a whole - who remember the generosity of the same Taiwanese in the fields of Housing and Education et al - would not agree with him, and instead are moaning the demise of the Grenada/Taiwan relationship. And what is more, the Taiwanese were ready to start work on the damaged Stadium soon after “Ivan,” and also ready to put back Agriculture on its feet - among other areas of rehabilitation. Now, all the above are lost to Grenadians, and China cannot fill the gap - because as a people, they have more chronic social and economic problems than we could ever begin to imagine.

So whatever the deal, or bargain, or above the table understanding that was propagated at the time - mainland china’s only reason for being here re-building the Stadium was, and still is, to cut away the ground from underneath the Taiwanese genuine social and Economic concerns, that they had so generously financed over the years.

We have already began to see, the sad effects of the fallacy of that un-wise and selfish political decision by our Government - as we continue to count the cost of our young folks hopeless decline, into more anti-social behavior and virtual ‘gangsterism’, as there is nothing, besides the Stadium, to help their cause.

So we may very well get a nicely-designed, and speedily and well constructed Stadium from that “deal” - but after CWC 2007, it will stand there as a monument to remind us always, of the ill-advised decision to forsake trusted and generous long-standing benefactors, because of selfish political mileage.

As for Petro Caribe, the latest bulletin from the powers-that-be, is that a site has been agreed upon for placing the Main Storage Tanks to hold the gas and oil from Venezuela and the forecast is that we should be getting our initial delivery by year-end.

Nothing, or not much, is being said about storage Tanks in delivery points away from the Main Tanks, nor about delivery trucks to those points. And still less about the financial benefits that will come down to consumers from that deal, if any at all.

But it seems that many of those Heads of Government, who signed up for the “Petrocaribe windfall” over a year ago, are having serious second thoughts and have done nothing to implement the deal so far. Many are no doubt beginning to see through the scheme by Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan President, in his burning ambitions to frustrate the U.S. relationship in the Caribbean and South America. And, perhaps belatedly, are realizing that all that will be coming in those Tankers from Caracas - are not pure Oil and gas.

As Chavez continue to spread his wings, away from his immediate surrounding and further afield in the Arab region, and Russia and China - many are getting the message, as the heat gets hotter.

In our own backyard here in Grenada, I am hearing rumblings about the U.S. (Embassy) Office in St. George - as to whether or not it will remain open. So often, in our short history as so-called Independent States, our Leaders get carried away with their propaganda rhetoric and ill-advised hasty actions. They do not seem to stop a while, and put on their thinking caps and consider the whole picture - in the interest and welfare of those whom they were duly elected to serve, and to provide with good Governance.

And like worn-out recurring decimals, when their gross stupidity explodes to disgrace and embarrass them - they fall back on the equally worn out clichés and whimpering about raw deals from super powers; or those who prepare themselves, with oil and wicks in their lamps.

These disturbing trends are happening and recurring so very often in recent times, that we are left to wonder and speculate - whether or not those daytime dreamers, are deliberately gambling away the people’s welfare and goodwill, and rights and freedoms, simply to be seen to be getting onto the political bandwagon of modern-day revolutionaries, so as to be counted or classified in the same bracket as Fidel Castro, or Maurice Bishop, or
Alliende of Chile, and such like.

Surely, they must know that the times, and the then circumstances, and the balance of power on the World stage, and even people’s mentality to dedicate and commit themselves to serious struggle - these are all embedded in the distant past, and very, very unlikely to be resurrected in the foreseeable future.

The time has surely come along, when it is much better to be safe and secure up front, than to be exposed and sorry after; to prevent or avoid hardships and undue suffering of the people, by diplomatic and common sense actions and behavior than to incur the wrath and un-necessary punishment by the bigger and stronger pappies, because of one’s empty noises and bravado posturing.

We have seen and experienced more than enough of the obvious pitfalls and shortcomings, to fully understand and appreciate the right way ahead, as against going the wrong way. We have simply to implement the one, and reject the other as the struggle gets more involved, and digs deeper and deeper into the very annals and foundation of our very lives and daily existence.

I noticed that the Spiritual side of the great divide in Trinidad and Tobago, is getting ready to get involved in the secular side of its members or congregation lives. The leader of the Maha Sabha Hindu Group in T&T, has announced that his religious organization is going to be actively involved in Politics in that troubled Republic in the future.

His members have come to the conclusion, that leaving the material side of their lives to the secular Leaders and their partisan political parties - have not been serving and satisfying their interests and welfare; and the time has come, and maybe even too late in some areas, for the Religious sect to take an active interest in their members total lives - in their homeland here on Planet Earth.

Some, no doubt, would be saying that a Religious group should stay out of Politics, not only in T&T but in the region as a whole - and leave that side of their lives to the Politicians per se, and simply put their faith in their God for salvation. I cannot agree with that viewpoint. In rendering unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s - cannot, and must not, be taken or interpreted to mean, that, as the 2K6 Calypsonian has put it in song, “We must take our deaths as a sheep”. To do that, and keep on turning the other cheek, in our to-day’s global village especially - is tantamount to seeing evil at its worst and most degrading level; witnessing fellow human beings suffering and crying out for help and assistance, from tyrants and overt dictators, and simply walking away - on the premise, that all of it is not our business.

We are all entitled to share in the good times, and the bad times as they come upon us. God gave us free wills and individual consciences, and those gifts allow us all to choose our choices - and that must include choosing between good and evil, in every aspect of our lives. To take a back seat in a silent church building, and allow those involved in Politics to continually mess up our daily lives, as well as those of our children and those yet un-born, on the altar of not wanting to interfere with Politics, is, in my view, burying the talents He gave us to utilize for the benefits of all mankind.

And that must be even more pronounced in our home lands, where, as another Calypsonian emphasized, “We navel string bury here”. So I hope that our Silent Church Leaders, the majority of them, and the Conference of Churches in our land - would take a leaf out of the T&T Hindu Religious book, and begin to call a Spade a spade, and open their eyes and say it as they would see it - when blindness is no more.

There is much too much wailing and gnashing of teeth out there among the various congregations; and their flocks are crying out for earthly salvation - their cries deserve to be answered.

The human man and woman and child cannot live on bread alone, neither can he/she exist on prayers alone. So to be realistic and make common sense, there must be a mixture of both requirements to ensure reasonable survival. Our faith and belief in the Almighty and Omnipotent Creator cannot mean that we are to be content with waiting for a better and more comfortable life in Heaven, while we continue to ketch hell here on earth and die of starvation.

It therefore behooves each and every all of us - to wake up from our slumber, recognize and listen to the cries of our suffering brothers and sisters, and play our part - so that we can all give glory to the most high.