De back page of the SUNDAY SUN newspaper fuh September 22 had a headline Not For Sale. Airport and CBC. According to de Prime Minister, they are not going to be privatized! Well, at least dis PM and the one before de last Mr Arthur agree pun something ’cause in three terms he didn’t want to sell CBC neither. De Bees and de Dees reach agreement pun one thing!
I didn’t realize dat somebody was trying to buy de airport and I not too sure who would want CBC unless it selling debt-free, but as a vendor I know and smell herring whenever I near it and de redder de herring, de easier it is to smell!
I guess I could add to dat list some other Government properties. Hear de news, folks: de Bridgetown Port not fuh sale neither!
Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre not for sale. Transport Board? Well dat might, could or should be fuh sale!
Plenty Government-own properties dat decaying also not fuh sale. But in dis UNESCO World Heritage Site, including the Garrison and its environs, we got some heritage properties dat falling into decay daily and in some cases inhabited by paros; well, at least dem putting dem to some use.
But even though it fuh sale, should we be buying Almond Resort hotel, to de tune of $52 million, refurbishing it and then handing it over to Butch fuh Beaches to come here? Why not let Paul Doyle at de Crane get it? After all, de Crane like it recession-proof and we de taxpayers wouldn’t be putting up nuh money.
But back to CBC. Apparently, de PM like he expecting some kind of fireworks and disturbance, maybe even an attempted takeover, and he not leaving anything to chance. The PM as reported wanted to ensure dat de Government of Bubbadus “can always be in a position to help influence the standards, the cultural pursuits, the outlook of the nation by having it HANDS on the state-owned television station and radio station”. He also went on to say dat as a student of history, whenever there is revolution the first entity that is targeted is the radio and television stations.
So I pondered pun de PM statement and reminded myself dat we now got over a dozen radio radio stations and dat de majority of listeners do not listen to de state-owned media. Dem does listen to de Starcom stations who got over 50 per cent of de audience, so I don’t feel my PM got cause for worry. There is a good chance dat de majority of de people would not hear de news ’bout a takeover, unless de takeover forces go fuh de folks at River Road and de ones in Haggatt Hall! So if dat is de only impediment to a sale, go for it, skipper!
But it is de part ’bout the hands on CBC dat got me thinking. Successive Governments always got duh hands pun CBC, especially de news and current affairs output; dat is de problem right there.
It might have missed de folks at Bay Street, but Government can also use up to ten per cent of all resources of all stations in any day according to de very licences dat Government issue, which means dem got over 30 hours of access daily under de terms of de licence, so no need to spend precious millions proppin’ up state-owned media! Surely Government don’t need more than 30 hours a day to hammer away at we. Just a thought!
• I, Market Vendor, gone fuh now. You have a blessed and a wonderful day, yuh hear?
