Dear Mr. Swine Flu. I do not think I need to ask how you are doing, because, from all reports, you are wreaking havoc across the globe. Women, men, black, white, Jack Sprat and his wife; who is not so lean, have all fallen victims to you. You are clearly no respecter of persons. You could not have appeared at a worse time for developing countries, as most are reeling under the effects of major economic declines, triggered by actions not of their doing.
Countries have been forced to reorder priorities and secure a strain of vaccine that to date you have not been able to conquer. It is costing hundreds of millions of dollars to stock medication and prepare facilities and an environment for your possible invasion. Some vital social services are suffering as a result of your threatened intensification and the consequent need to divert slender financial and other resources to prepare for and stave off your attack.
One good thing about your threat is that it has forced a return to cleanliness. My brethren are once again practicing the basics of washing hands, cleaning surroundings, using handkerchiefs while sneezing and coughing and the like. I am really happy for this as it had gotten out of hand, and some of the basic manners we learnt way back when had both literally and figuratively, been thrown through the window.
To date, Mr. Swine Flu, you can be blamed for hundreds of deaths and quite a few thousand cases of sickness and discomfort. You can also be blamed for causing millions of scarce dollars to be diverted to preparing for and resisting your onslaught. Truth be told, you have really been a nuisance. An unwelcomed visitor! Indeed, a menace to society! I wish that you would simply disappear and never return.
This notwithstanding, I like to be fair. You and the threat you represent can be blamed for financial ruin and tremendous hardship and discomfort, but I honestly do not believe you are responsible for the cancellation of those games in my neighboring state.
Mr. Swine Flu, as my fellow Barbadians would say, ‘you are no damn use’, but I do not believe it is fair to heap all blame on you for the cancellation of the Caribbean Games. I believe in that instance you happen to be the right place at the wrong time. I believe that that country has stretched itself financially and has not had positive return on some very dubious investments and undertakings. Two that come to mind are the hosting of the Miss Universe Show and the hosting of President Obama and other leaders in the Organization of American States.
The sums of monies that I heard were spent and which are still being counted, would raise the hair on Kojak’s head. Frankly, I think they got a little carried away, with wanting to impress the world. It is one thing to provide adequate security and a suitable ambience but it is another to go overboard in wanting to out-Americanize America or out-develop the developed world.
A Caribbean experience is a Caribbean experience. It is what people come to this region in search of. We do not have to replicate the offerings and experiences of others. We need as a general rule to be ourselves. That sister state outdid itself for the Miss Universe and for the hosting of the OAS summit, just as some other countries in the region did for the hosting of Cricket World Cup.
Today, we have a zillion arenas across the region, which are effectively dysfunctional and or underutilized. One on which hundreds of millions of dollars were spent has already been formally condemned and put out to pasture indefinitely, while others have not had a replica event since and are proving a major burden on the governing bodies and tax-paying public of those states.
From the appeal and success of the recent T20 cricket championship, it would appear that even the traditional 50-over a side, all day game is under threat, as we are living in an era of instant results. Persons do not have an entire day, far less a week to spend watching a game of cricket and several of these arenas were designed in such a manner as to accommodate little else.
Here in Barbados, the mathematics are still being conducted on the true cost of our hosting the Final of that World Championship. I guess the CWC account will go where the Carifesta account of the 1970s went, where 30 years later we are yet to receive audited financial statements. Extravagances and indiscrimate spending are luxuries that countries like Barbados and its neighbors can il-afford, particularly in these times. Social services are under threat today, in the midst of the global economic crisis, because of runaway spending not so long ago on projects such as the prison at Dodds, the ABC Highway; for which bills are still rolling in and the said Kensington Oval. Of course, missing UDC and RDC houses as well as bills for the purchase of vehicles and equipment that were not properly tendered, make for a royal mess at this critical period when money is tight and you have to maintain services to the most vulnerable.
It is in times like these that you need frank, honest leadership. We need leaders who will come to their countries and tell it like it is. Swine Flu is not being blamed for the imminent increase in water rates. Future development and adherence to basic standards is! Swine Flu is not the cause of Barbados tagging fluctuations in the cost of petroleum products to the price we pay at the pump. The quest for fiscal prudence and efficiency is! Swine Flu is not the reason for ‘cleaning up and streamlining immigration and migration policies in Barbados’. Practical and pragmatic decision making is!
In other words, Mr. Swine Flu, others who may wish to beat around the bush and disguise the reality of their fiscal and economic condition can blame you for the tough decisions they have had and will have to make. I am not downplaying the seriousness of the threat you pose and the need for extra precautionary measures to be taken. But cancelling a whole tournament solely for fear of your spread, is not quite adding up, in my estimation. I personally believe it was a case of dollars and sense, whereby the host simply could not afford it at this time. If that is the case, then that is what should have been said.
The powers that be in Barbados have made clear that some necessary but unpopular decisions will have to be made, in order to correct past mistakes and right longstanding wrongs. The Big Man is prepared to trust the intelligence, fair-mindedness and patriotism of Barbadians in accepting that in tough times, tough decisions are needed.
Mr. Swine Flu we are going to do everything in our power to remove and eradicate you from this country. But we are not going to blame you for what others overlooked and sidestepped and what now has to be done in the national interest. There is more to politics than politricks!
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.