Here is NEWS that was mailed to my readers on December 20, 1998:-
December 20, 1998 BAJAN NEWS ---------- BEACH BLOCKAGE -------------- A "foreign" concern has acquired 26 acres for a Morgan Lewis Ocean Front Development and following the controversy surrounding a "NO TRESPASSING" sign which the owners allege was for the purpose of stopping illegal dumping on the property... but locals allege was erected to keep them from the beach.. which action prompted Carl Ince, the Ombudsman, to walk around the island's coast looking for attempts to "privatise" beaches. The background to all this is that beaches in Barbados are public property by LAW... and a very sensible law it is too... considering the size of our island and the limited coast available ! However, the temptation to "keep we out" is overpowering to the coastal landowners... and they will devise all kinds of schemes to do so.. without actually "breaking" the law... as Carl Ince discovered on his trek around the island.... this latest episode surrounds HUGE boulders blocking the access to Morgan Lewis beach. The owners have no idea how they got there.... but they deny it had anything to do with intentionally blocking beach access. >From time to time various persons have warned Barbadians that unless they VALUE their heritage.... and unless rules are put in place to LIMIT land ownership by non-nationals... "these fields and hills beyond recall" will eventually CEASE to be "our very own". I applaud that family in St. James who REFUSED to sell their small holding even though they were offered as much as several MILLION dollars for it ! The rest of Barbados is calling them fools.... but it is high time we appreciate our environment... and stop measuring everything in terms of money.... there is a lot to be learned about life from the Rastafarian bretheren in our midst... and I hope that more youngsters will eschew the current societal value system... in favor of a simpler, more natural existence.... in harmony with nature. PAULA BRIDGES RECOVERY ---------------------- First we heard that Bajan negligence in getting Paula Bridges into hospital had resulted in her "brain damage"... now we are being told that "quick action" by a Bajan surgeon saved her life... and the change of the tune has come about because she is making a rapid recovery. The staff at the British hospital are in a state of profound amazement. She is up and about and does not appear to have the "brain damage" they were accusing our medical people of inflicting on her. Apparently, Bajan surgeon Lowell Lewis cut open her chest with a simple wire saw on the night of the tragedy and massaged her heart manually !!! He did this radical move while others were trying to assemble the power saw normally used for such an operation.... in the absence of other "evidence" upon which to base her miraculous recovery... they are concluding that the seconds saved by Mr. Lewis's rather shocking methods are what made the difference (since she had zero blood pressure) and PREVENTED the brain damage.... and who are we to argue ?.... hooray for Mr. Lewis and all other top-notch Bajan doctors ! BARBADOS GONE TO TRASH ---------------------- The NATION Newspaper has visited the Belle Gully, the catchment area for the island's largest water pumping station which supplies one-third of Barbados' potable water... and they have photographed the garbage illegally dumped right in the very shadow of the pumping station itself ! My question... WHAT IS GOING TO BE DONE ABOUT IT ????? Most amazing is the fact that the "authorities" are "unable" to catch the culprits even though there is 24-hour security just a stone's throw away. Car parts, household waste, etc... all being dumped in an area that supplies nine million gallons of drinking water daily.... is it not a miracle that an epidemic has not occurred ??.... might not a high incidence of certain cancers have something to do with this ??? If it has not been cleaned up by New Year, I will visit the area and put photos of it right on the Barbados Photo Gallery... do my part to embarrass the persons concerned and the "authorities" into doing something about it... and if you believe that that they care.. I'll tell you another one. BARBADOS A REPUBLIC ? --------------------- Cabinet will soon be discussing a recommendation by the Constitutional Review Commission to change Barbados from a monarchy to a republic, replacing the Queen of England with a Barbadian president. I say it's about time, but there are lots of people in our midst who still worship the Queen... indeed, the whole Royal Family saga... sort of like an ongoing soap opera... it reminds me of Santa Barbara, the Bold and Beautiful (or Young and Restless) etc. etc. MARINE POLLUTION CONTROL BILL ----------------------------- This legislation was passed in Parliament on Wednesday and is aimed at protecting our environment. The details are not available at this time, but Opposition Senator John Boyce has suggested that Government place the information on the Internet. CARIBBEAN BOYS IN CRISIS ------------------------ Once again the alarm has been raised as boys continue to drop out of the education system. The prevailing culture sees studying as an occupation of "Nerds" and "sissies"... and it is not regarded as a "manly" activity. Bajan boys are quite content to "take" financially from women.. and the culture does not recognize this as demeaning to males, perhaps because of the emphasis on the advancement of women... and the official unpopularity of "male chauvinism". I have said before in this Newsletter that co-education in the Caribbean context was a SERIOUS BLUNDER and the problems are now coming home to roost.... although many other excuses are being offered for the current state of affairs. DEADLIER DENGUE --------------- The Serotype 3 has arrived in the island and there is now a greater risk of death from being bitten by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito. Dengue haemorrhagic fever, a complication of the dengue, is more likely when all 4 serotypes are present. The Health ministry has stepped up it's eradication efforts and campaign to educate the public. BANK ROBBERIES & CAR ACCIDENTS ------------------------------ Two sophisticated bank robberies within the space of 5 days has the public in a state of fright... and the Attorney-General has asked us not to "panic" and just "stay calm" and let the police do their job... however, I think the criminals have the upper hand in our society right now. Here's what they did... they disabled telephone lines in the mall and surrounding district disrupting telephone service for about 400 customers.. they then broke the lock on the back door of the Oistins Laundermat from whence they drilled a 15 inch diameter hole in the solid 6 inch concrete wall into the ATM vault of Barclays Bank... and escaped with $200,000 for their trouble. Armed bandits brandishing guns entered Town and Country Fashions boutique in Pandora's Mall and escaped with an undisclosed sum of money and jewellery after robbing the manager and a few unlucky customers that happened to be on the premises. Three robbers stormed into the Fontabelle branch of the CIBC bank brandishing gun, cutlass and knife respectively... and quickly relieved 4 tellers of thousands of dollars in full view of all onlookers... they then proceeded to rob one of the bank's customers of her jewellery... the security guard, Andrew Durant, of Sentinel Security was kicked in the face during the incident.. Rev. Neilson Waithe of Network Services, was called in to counsel the traumatised staff after it was all over. This robbery took place not far from the Barbados Tourism Authority 40th Aniversary parade, attended by numerous locals and tourists and several police officers. Looting and pillaging.... it's all going on like never before right here in Barbados.... as the lawless element tries, in vain, to catch the spirit of the season. Meanwhile, car accidents all over the place, I get to the end of my gap and lo and behold a smash-up.... drive a little further down the road and would you believe another one ??... less than 100 yards from the first ! Different day, same thing, TWO accidents on Culloden Road less than 60 yards from each other and totally unrelated.... then there was the 3 (or was it 4) car smash-up right near the Purity Bakeries. Then there are the serious head-on collisions and deaths, Mary Patricia L'Herminier, DEAD, her car hit head-on into a bus.... Jeffrey Browne, DEAD, his car collided with a minibus.... Neville Wilson, DEAD, he was riding his bicycle along the Ronald Mapp Highway when he became involved in a collision with a truck.... and all in less than a week. NO HOPE OF JUSTICE ------------------ Patrick Morris, left Barbados at age 15 to pursue higher education in U.S.A. after graduating from Cornell University with a B.A. in Landscaping Architecture, he went on to do a Masters in Urban Planning at Columbia University. He worked for the City Parks Department (New York) and did consultancy work, he lived in the Bronx. Around 11p.m. on July 11 this year, he was gunned down in his home district while driving alone in his car. His relatives here in Barbados are getting the run-around from U.S. investigators who are not providing them with any information about the investigation. I suspect that U.S. authorities are treating this case as low-priority, if they are giving it any attention at all, which is doubtful, "just another nigger dead in the Bronx", a foreigner and with few leads to go on... it will be left to God to punish his killers... this is the reality of life in the U.S.A. for black West Indians... no matter what their achievements. AN APOLOGY ---------- In my last Newsletter I made reference to the article below and I distorted the meaning intended by the writer... who has since contacted me... I now publicly apologize to David Gittens... and publish the EXACT article as it appeared in the NATION of October 31. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Is unity a dream ? ------------------ A few days ago a goodly lady wrote in your columns, pleading for an end to bitterness between Blacks and Whites. An honourable appeal, it was. But what is the likelihood ? Is there harmony among "any" of the world's races ? The North American Indians in Canada and the United States do not get along very well with the modern immigrants. The Jews and the Arabs are not the best of friends. Neither are the Croatians and the other ethnic groups in the area. The Kurds and the Iraqis are embittered. The native inhabitants of Australia and New Zealand, and the modern inhabitants don't see eye to eye. In the South Pacific, the natives despise the Asians who have moved in. In Guyana the Negroes and Asians oppose each other. Over in mother Africa, not only is there acridity between the Blacks and the Whites, but verily among the African tribes themselves, where genocide and bloodshed are a regular occurence. And so, back to the issue here at home. Are we likely to see peace, love and harmony embrace the local population, the Blacks, the Whites and Asians, any time soon ? If one studies the activities and modus operandi, i.e. the "Lifestyle" of Blacks and Whites and Asians in Barbados, is there a noticeable difference ? Is there a different way of doing things; in the goals, the hopes and aspirations, the likes and dislikes, in the religion, culture and expression of Blacks, Whites and Asians? If there is, is it reasonable to expect or to believe that there can be an acceptance, an agreement, a unification, a harmony, an embracing, of these groups...for one another? Do black people want to shield their children from thinking like Whites ? Do the Whites want to shield their children from acting like blacks? And the Asians too ? Wouldn't it be a better solution to the "problem" if each group recognised and respected each other's innate uniqueness... and if each would allow the others to get on with their own agenda, free from criticism ? And in the meanwhile, the avant-garde of the universe... those persons of each race whose consciousness has risen to the next level, who can accept each other in genuine friendship... could they be allowed to love one another without any rancour or snide remarks from those who are not yet ready ? - DAVID GITTENS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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