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| Too Much Sufferin’ in de Lan’ |
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There is suffering in the land. The suffering is intense and so is the pain. The level of pain and discomfort of our people has reached such a distressing depth that our citizens cannot even groan audibly. Our groaning cannot be uttered, so we transmit our silent agony to the heavens, in silent but diligent prayer and supplication, for deliverance from the evils which plague our land.
Unable to find a solution, we have no other recourse but to look upwards for our salvation.
A cursory look at this society reveals a mass of people moving about mechanically, like robots trying hard to concentrate on some matter at hand; trying their best to cope with a diversity of problems as they emerge from every angle.
With the exception of a few well placed minions of the Douglas Cadre, almost everybody is suffering from some kind of social or personal malady and inconvenience while most of the rest of us, including the Douglas Cadre, suffer the pain of troubled consciences.
When it is not one thing it is another. The most recent shooting rampage at the Village has shocked our senses with the realization that the multiple gunmen might miss their targets and strike down innocent people within the range of their deadly fire. The high incidence of crime and the occasional discovery of deadly weapons, cripple both old and young with fear and apprehension.
Only the stout-hearted and the mentally ill are not afraid of the terror that visits our once peaceful island. We cannot even complain to the government which grabs our money every month because, the head of the government has vigorously disclaimed any responsibility for the horrible mess over which he reigns supreme.
When its not the gunslingers pointing their weapons at us with virtual impugnity, it is the darkness which Dr Douglas has tried over the last 10 years to get us accustomed to. This electricity problem has been with us for so long it has become a part of our existence. One calypsonian has even won acclaim for his parody: LIGHTS GONE AGAIN.
People are unhappy every day with the electricity service for which they pay high prices.
In our modern age, electricity is an absolute necessity. That is why we pay so much money for it. It does not seem that Dr Douglas understands that electricity is not a luxury and that we have no other option but to use it in every facet of our lives. The regularity with which our community is deprived of this amenity gives the inescapable impression that Dr Douglas does not really care as much about this problem as his high office and big salary demands.
Very few of us remember the lamps our parents used to light up their homes more than 50 years ago. Most of the people of this generation have grown up depending on an electric bulb to light up the darkness of the house and the electric street lamp to enable them to walk the streets and alleys in comfort.
Dependence on electricity is now reflected in our widespread use of modern appliances, electric cookers and kettles, microwave ovens, electric shavers, washing and drying machines, computers, name anything that people use or want to use in this modern society and it is run by electricity.
Motor vehicles depend on electricity for their fuel, cellular phones must be charged electrically. Radios and televisions need electricity to function. A steady and reliable supply of electricity is a major requirement to keep our country running from day to day. An unreliable electric supply interrupts the flow of business, transportation, communication, security, everything.
It is almost trite to recount all the areas of our national and personal lives, which depend on electricity, given that these services and amenities ought not to be taken for granted. Yet for the past six or seven years, our island has been plagued by an unreliable electric supply in the homes, business places and on our streets at night.
The failure of the Government to produce this product, for which it is being paid, causes great unhappiness among our people, especially our poor people.
Predictably, the government will use the present state of the weather as an excuse for the power outages, which upset and inconvenience our population. However the recent heavy rains and the flooding of College and Westborne Streets could not have had any effect on the provision of power if the system was reliable
The truth is that for the past years since 2004, our electric system has been in the natural disaster mode.
We, the people know what is wrong. We know that the Government is incompetent and corrupt and that the combination of these two vices is at the root of our electricity trauma. We believe that, on the grounds of the Government’s performance in electricity alone, the Government should have been changed in the last election.
It cannot be that we, the people of St. Kitts are stupid why the government has not changed. It cannot be that we are comfortable with mediocrity and downright ineptitude. It cannot be that the people of St. Kitts don’t want peace and safety, and don’t want to enjoy modern comforts like the people of other nations. It cannot be that we are satisfied paying for the atrocious service and living our days in fear.
Could it be that we, the people of St. Kitts love Denzil Douglas more than we love our families and ourselves?
We know that we were tricked deceived and intimidated into enabling Dr. Douglas to add one more term of office to the three inglorious terms. We were seduced into giving him the go-ahead to add to his string of failures, another string of failures.
The pain and suffering in the land under an incompetent and corrupt government, makes our citizens angry, sick and sad.
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