Here is NEWS that was mailed to my readers on July 24, 1998:-
July 24, 1998 Bajan News ---------- HOT POT SPLASH -------------- A year ago to the day (Tuesday) FIVE people lost their lives (and another is permanently hospitalised with brain damage) at the Hot Pot at Brighton, St Michael. Although a large sign has been placed there advising that bathing is NOT ALLOWED... Bajans, who are accustomed to doing as they like anyway, simply don't pay it any mind. When the Nation reporter visited the area, about 15 people were there, mostly teenagers and children. 12 year old, Keenan Mbiwan said he was not afraid, nor was he about to leave the sea anytime soon. A similar situation exists at Bay Street, where there is a condemned jetty, and the authorities have actually put up a concrete wall (in addition to the sign) to try to prevent people from using the jetty... boys just climb around it... and any day of the week you will find people on the jetty and having fun at the "dangerous end". Hot Pot pictures are at http://barbadosphotogallery.com/beaches3b.htm I climbed onto the jetty myself and got some pictures... I will put them up eventually. Crop Over "evils" ----------------- In Readers' Concerns (daily Nation), Father Clement Paul, Vicar General of the Roman Catholic Church defends his view that the Church should be a part of Crop Over (one Ms. Collymore had previously stated that Crop Over was evil and the Church should have nothing to do with it). Interesting debate ? Lets examine the facts, authorities are always complaining about the lewd or unruly behaviour of the people at the Street Jam... Defense Force personnel are on hand to "protect" the innocent from injury or molestation at the events. SEXUAL ACTIVITY is at an all-time high... the pharmacies record HIGHER THAN AVERAGE sale of condoms (and now, probably Viagra as well !). ALCOHOL AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE are at an all-time high.... we can check the Banks Beer, Cockspur and Malibu sales even in we cannot check the ganja use.. we will probably smell it on the highway. Fundamentalist Christians roundly condemn the festival, citing St. Paul's passages dealing with REVELLING, REVELRY etc.... such behaviour EXCLUDING such from the Kingdom of God !! The Catholic Church in Barbados has some ministers who support the festival they talk about "we cultural expression" and "our African heritage"... yet the history of the Catholic Church shows that they SUPPORTED AND ENCOURAGED SLAVERY... indeed they PRACTISED it and MADE MONEY out of it .... they participated in the RAPE of AFRICA... what hypocrites. One is left to wonder if they do not hand-pick these local minister puppets in an attempt to scrub their image in the Caribbean.... Barbados is not a Catholic country and never will be... but I will shut up... some of you reading this may be Catholics... my friends, I am telling you the TRUTH.... HISTORICAL FACTS... do not believe that the real big-ups in this Church regard black people as equals to whites... they have just adjusted their mode of operation to suit the times. nuff said ! Magistrates in trouble ---------------------- Carlisle Greaves, a magistrate well known for his "no nonsense" approach to crime is moving to Bermuda to take up a similar post there and Acting Chief Magistrate Clyde Nicholls is on vacation... while Marva Clarke has moved over to the National Insurance Scheme as legal advisor... the shortage of magistrates is causing a pile-up of cases pending which is causing the remaining magistrates some distress. Hang Hall and be done with it ----------------------------- Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Olton Springer is trying to get a date with the hangman for Winston Hall, "Hall was convicted of murder and sentenced to hang and I think we should continue from where we left off" He also said that the media and some calypsonians had glorified the deeds of Hall (who escaped from the law on two occasions and has been on the run for years - he was convicted of murder in 1985, and escaped from Death Row in 1991). "The Press has given the impression he is an innocent kid and the public, for the most part, has accepted that. The media have given a false sense of security to the bad boys that they can do the worst kind of things and get away with them. Hall is NOT a hero, he is a killer. He has cheated the gallows. He has been smart and lucky enough to make two escapes. The Press is selling Barbados short when they even attempt to use the word hero in describing Hall", he said. Acting Superintendant of Prisons, George Clarke, has assured us that there will be no Houdini tricks from Hall this time. "I have no intention of letting him escape. The chances of him getting out are very slim", he said. Somebody even ventured to write in Readers' Concerns, that had he murdered a poor, defenceless, old black woman the public would be screaming for revenge... and the only reason that this "hero" idea has a following... is because he murdered Cyril Sisnett, a rich, white man and owner of Francia Plantation.... in other words, the hated "plantocracy". Dodds and Summerville --------------------- Parliament is now debating the future of these institutions, described as "Reformatory and Industrial Schools".. the public really perceives these "schools" as in effect "juniour prisons".. the children, therefore, perceive themselves as "little criminals"... and no REFORM ever takes place. Have you got a solution ? ... because nobody else seems to. Just what does it take ? ------------------------ So asks Elombe Mottley of Sir John Stanley Goddard, What does it take for a black man to become the Chairman of B.S.& T. or of the Mutual ? Everybody SEEMS to agree to "broadening the base and accelerating the pace of economic empowerment for all Barbadians" Black people are being encouraged to invest their money in Public Companies. Why is it that neither of the two long-serving black men at Roberts has been appointed managing director ? What made them inelegible ? Was it colour when Teddy Griffith did not get the nod as president of the Mutual ? What will determine who will become chairman and CEO of Barbados Shipping & Trading ? Is Ralph Taylor's record at Almond Resorts and his monumental contribution to the profitability of B.S.& T. not enough ? If colour is not an issue, then what does a black man have to do to reach the top of any of these public companies ? Elombe, come on now.... you don't really expect those whites to give up control, do you ? they are terrified... how do you think they would fare playing second fiddle ???? Even if you would treat them fairly... with no reverse discrimination.... can they TRUST you to do this ??? I have said before, it is hard for white people to believe that black people bear them no malice for the past.. they are not going to willingly provide the opportunity for this to be tested. There IS a race struggle going on... although everybody denies it... otherwise it SHOULD NOT MATTER what colour the chairman was as long as he was doing a superlative job, correct ? Colour IS an issue... in fact, it is THE issue... but "they" are not going to admit it... because it is a stupid excuse... a VERY stupid excuse without logical argument, grounded in fear and apprehension because they are vastly outnumbered. These whites will tell you they are not responsible for the past, this is true, they were not around.... however, why should they give up the control and power they now enjoy ? There are whites in this island who don't give a damn whether the next chairman of B. S. & T. is white or black. There are blacks who don't give a damn either. Stereotyping a race is a very stupid thing to do... but it goes on all the time... the next time you hear somebody say, "you know how white people are.. " or "you know how black people behave...".... STOP THEM, right on the spot.. straighten them out... you may not be popular, but this kind of foolish thinking needs to be corrected, and it is a big part of the problem. BLACKOUT -------- Pic-O-De-Crop Finals will NOT be on TV... and songs disappeared from radio... The collecting agencies: Barbados Agency for Musical Culture Incorporated wants $45,000 Barbados Association of Composers and Publishers wants $30,000 Performing Rights Society wants $20,000 The Festival and the public of Barbados are being held to ransom, these demands were made about 2 weeks ago... there was insufficient time to do a feasibility study as to the profitability of a Pay per View event, and it appears that NCF and CBC would have been saddled with production and advertising costs, while these agencies would have walked away with 42% of the gross receipts for pay-per-view. "outrageous" is how one official described it... and I agree... as one who has given of my time and talents to promote Barbados on the Internet.. I am amazed at the greed of my fellow countrymen... while it is known that entertainers all over the world reap incomes out of all proportion to the rest of the working population... surely these people are going to get a boost for their own careers out of this event... it is in their interest to receive the publicity. In response to these demands, on a tit-for-tat basis, CBC and VOB stopped broadcasting the Calypsonians songs last night (Thursday).... any songs you hear on the Radio now will have been paid-for by the calypsonians themselves or by a sponsor... we have effectively terminated the concessions and free interviews for all members of these agencies, the report stated. In a retaliatory article, Sach Moore, calling the Government of Barbados "two-faced" said, "If Government can provide a $120,000 car for an official at CBC, I don't see why they can't find $95,000 for performers in Pic-O-De-Crop"... he also said there was nothing in law nor the NCF contract stating that broadcasts could be made of performances by persons who give public performance of work. Minister of Culture, Mia Mottley, is calling a meeting to see if a solution can be reached, but she has already stated that she is tired of this rancorous behaviour at Crop Over every year with people holding others up to ransom in respect of demands being made. While Sach Moore is convinced that millions of dollars flow into the local economy every year from Crop Over... directly because of the people he represents who "are moderately compensated for their investments of time, talent and money" or worse "expected to be grateful for being allowed to perform for free"
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