Friday, March 29, 2024

‘Little irritations’ count

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Mr PM, we have all heard of your intentions to “explain” the leader of the Barbados Labour Party.

I scratch my head in perplexion at the thought of a ten-year-old Government having nothing more to speak about at this juncture than the promise of salacious gossip.

The time has come for the electorate to appraise your performance in Government and assess the proposals of the other parties who wish to form the Government of this country, and make a decision thus. 

Should you not then reflect on your own performances thus far? Is this then not the time for you to reflect on the work that you have done and the work that you have left undone?

However, the way that you conduct your campaign is entirely your prerogative. But before you look to “define” Mia Mottley, could you kindly address a few other issues?

• Will you explain how our parents are going to pay for our tertiary education, when they are having great difficulty in meeting their daily commitments?

• Will you explain for those who cannot afford tertiary education at the University of the West Indies (UWI), their next step, in light of limited places at the other tertiary institutions?

• Will you explain the likelihood of acquiring a job after leaving university, to those who are fortunate enough to afford tertiary education?

• Will you explain how my peers can get to and from school in a timely fashion without having to miss the first lesson or get back home so late that they are unable to attend to their studies effectively?

• Will you explain, practically, how the teachers, students and ancillary staff at educational institutions (emphasis on educational) are to cope with the ever-increasing incidence of violence in schools?

• Will you explain how my 78-year-old grandmother is to navigate her way through sewage water to get to Massy Worthing in order to collect her groceries, pick up her prescriptions, and pay her bills? What should I say when she tells me that she feels “depressed and trapped” over the putrid stench right on her doorstep?

• Will you explain why my father has had more damaged tyres, as a result of potholes, in the last 24 months than he has had in his entire driving life, bearing in mind that the incidents always occur when he is working across the countryside, thereby disrupting his working day and causing him to spend money before he is able to make it?

• Will you explain why our freezer is more full of meat scraps and leftovers than it is with edible food because my mother does not know when the garbage truck will be calling at our house?

• Will you explain why my mother has to shop in five different supermarkets to buy our weekly groceries in the hope of saving a few cents here and a dollar there? Her shopping list is so inflexible that I cannot even get an extra chocolate bar if I fancy it.

• Will you explain then, Sir, if these issues, among others, are simply “little irritations” that we are crowding our minds with, why has your Government been unable to mitigate these issues? And what confidence then can we have in your ability to address the “larger issues”?

– KHALEEL KOTHDIWALA

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