TNN 62
Hello folks….. is yuh boy again… bringin it live and direct from TnT.. news, views and interviews…. (Deep voice)…This is TNN!….. Trinidad is nice…Trinidad is ah paradise….. (background music)
Jumpstation: Unhealthy situation; Ye olde England; On de road again; Labourin' on, Last act.
Alyuh know is almost 3 months now dis t’ing wit’ de
nurses going’ on in de health system, so how come de cobra eh comment on it
yet? Well, wonder no
more… ah was jus’ waitin’ tuh see if dey woulda reach to ah stage when
people start deading before dey do
somet’ing…. well, we nearly dey, because right now somebody go kill de PM if
he eh careful…!
Look, is not now we have ah problem in health, yuh know… people use tuh say, if dey get sick, DOH take dem to de General hospital…dey rather dead home! An’ dat eh no joke, yuh know. We get ah l’il relief in de 80’s, den de slide start again…yuh know de whole IMF, structural adjustment ole talk…apparently dey decide one way to keep health care costs down was to let people dead….so once yuh reach in de hospital, de funeral home an’ dem start tuh plan wey dey goin’ for vacation!
Plus tuh dat, we keep de same ole buildings from when Queen Elizabeth was ah girl (an’ brudder, dat is ah damn long time! King Hammer was ah hatchet den…kiff! Kiff! Kiff! J ), so surprise, surprise, when de population increase, we find dat we eh have de services tuh supply de people.
Ah
mean, yuh ever go to dem health clinic….? If yuh see poor ole people sid dong
waitin’ on ah doctor because dey cyah afford to go elsewhere.…. once ah had
ah ear infection an’ ah went to ah health clinic… dey tell meh dat dis eh de day
for dealin’ wit’ dat, but meh poor ear didn’t know dat….. eventually ah
had was tuh find meh way to ah private doctor, an’ is only so ah could hear de
nonsense dem politicians talkin’ today! But
ah strayin’….
An’ yuh believe one of de fellas in de middle of de crisis get ah National award las’ year for he contribution to health in de country, an’ is now ah top administrator in dis mess….?! Den yuh hearin’ how yuh cyah cure all de ills in 4 years an’ de government tryin’…… yeah, tryin’ we patience!
In medical terms, if somebody come tuh yuh bleeding, de firs’ t’ing to do is stop de bleedin’, but not we…. we want to know how yuh get chop, what de fella look like, what alyuh was arguin’ about… an’ de fella bleedin’ tuh death.
De firs’ t’ing is to give de people ah proper wage an’ get de medications, beds, etc.. in de hospital an’ we go take it from dey. But NO! Dey want nurses to join Regional Health Authorities to get ah wage increase, to go back out to work (but dey was workin’ before dey went on strike, an’ alyuh eh do nothin’, so why yuh expect dem to go back out?).. an’ how “better days are comin’, which is why almost half of de nurses gone England and Saudi Arabia, ent?!
People outside could always appreciate what we have, but not we…..! People will stay not if dey get more money, but if workin’ conditions doh frustrate yuh…… nobody go jus’ pack up an’ leave wit’ de chilren if dey could see dey way…. money is not everyt’ing…. an’ how about ah little respect for ah change.
It eh easy dealin’ wit’ sick people every day, day in, day out…. So now is ah political football, wit’ people life hangin’ in balance. Nurses tryin’ tuh break de government, an’ government tryin’ to manhandle (or woman-handle) de nurses. Ah t’ought de firs’ priority would be to make sure de basics in place or while yuh getting’ dat in place talk to de nurses, work out ah agenda for getting’ t’ings in place, discuss how yuh could bring some quick relief, show yuh care….. an’ what about dis health surcharge dat gov’t used to deduct from meh salary.. wey dat went?
De only way to solve dis is to ensure all dem politicians have to go to de hospitals when dey get sick... ah bet yuh de problem solve. An’ one ah dem so bold face tuh say dat we Health Care is secon’ to none in de Third World….. ah couldn’t agree more! Nobody could surpass dis system!
Oh gormmmm! Haaaa! Haaa! Haaaa! Alyuh doh make meh hurt mehself here! Alyuh see dat slaughter England get from West Indies?! Ah hear dey cyah sid dong…. dey bamcee sore!
Hear nah, ah t’ought for ah while it was bowling an’ not cricket. If yuh see stumps fallin’ over…. was like de batsmen was invisible. Dey forget we grow up peltin mango… we doh miss yuh know!
Boy, ah hear de tradition of de British is “We would quicker lose a war than a Test Match, ol’ chap!” Well dey better start lookin’ for people tuh fight, because dey sure eh go win dis one! All dem bookmakers dat had dem as favourites must be make real money…..
Everybody in West Indies, even de bowlers hit dem all around de grounds. Dem fellas was like statues in de field, because it didn’t make sense runnin’ after de ball…. one bounce an’ into de boundary! Doh sen’ boys to do ah man job…. if is one lesson dey learn is dat…
Now is ole mas, ah hear.. WI win in 3 days, so dey have two whole days to sightsee… what was suppose to be ah tournament turn out to be “A stroll in the park, wouldn’t you say, my good man?” (He! He! He! ). West Indies feel like dey one vacation.
Now England eh know if tuh change de side, leave de side or beat de side! Some say change, because dey cyah do worse… odders say why expose odder people to dat kind of brutality…? An’ wasn’t dat de bes’ side? An’ is “ole man Walsh”, at 37 years, who take ah turn in dey tail yuh know.. up to know dey cyah figure him out…! Maybe youth is indeed wasted on de young in dis case….
Anyway, dem British boys keepin’ ah stiff upper lip, an’ comin’ again in about ah week’s time…dat is courage… I woulda fake ah sickness an’ bus’ it home! Apparently de Empire cyah save dem, but maybe de Empire will strike back?! But ah believe dey only hope is not in havin’ ah British Empire… but ah British Umpire! Howzdat?!
Well, fresh from pavin’ a section of de Queen’s Park Savannah, Mr’ Carlos “the Don” John is now ah junior Minister in not one, but TWO ministries (dat fella good, boy!), an’ now he have ah project sent from de PM heself: to pave at least five roads in 36 constituencies before election.
Ah doh know wey dey fin’ de money (remember dey eh want to pay nurses, eh) , but contractors happy… we goin’ to have good roads to speed on… insurance agents mus’ be eh too happy ah sure, though….! So, de “Don” set off on he travels…..
Now after 5 years, you NOW realise dat roads bad, an’ why not take yuh time an’ do ah proper job…? Why give ah mandate “before election”? Yuh pavin’ de road for people or for election? Typical….. ah leopard cyah change he spots, only dye dem over! AN’ dis is de kind of mentality dat killlin’ we…
If yuh fix de road instead of pavin’ it, yuh might have ah chance of getting’ some value for yuh money…… but some people does go by what dey see, rather dan understand what happening. If de foundation of de road bad, yuh need to dig up de road, put in new foundation an’ den pave it… but we does jus’ t’row pitch an’ hope for de bes’. Two big truck pass, de pitch sink in, it crack ah l’il bit, start tuh flake away, rain come an’ wash out de fillin’ an’ pothole so deep dat if yuh go dong in one, (as de Calypsonian Viper (ah t’ink) say). …all dey go see is yuh radio pole!
Check it out… same t’ing in education… we buildin’ new schools, we replacing de Common Entrance Exam, but still we eh decide how we go stop chilren comin’ out of school illiterate or how tyin’ in education with de future job market, or teacher assessment/training, no public transport for schools in remote areas, etc… No…dat go require too much thinkin’…ent?
Same t’ing in tourism.. we have ‘bout 10 plans, but whether dey tie in to de economy, Planning Ministry, worker training, cultural norms, is anybody guess….. but yuh know we…ay girl, dat lookin’ nice, eh? Costume jewellry an’ de real t’ing does look de same, but after ah time one does turn green on yuh eh….! Doh say ah didn’t warn yuh!
Yes, ah was ah little delayed because ah wanted tuh ketch
de labour Day celebrations dong in Fyzabad dey…de usual, big crowd, big
talk….. ah booooyyy. Some people
say labour should form ah political party (Hell no!) but dat doom from de start,
because once dey get inside, everybody go start lookin’ for de people an’ is
back to stage one… remain outside politics, I say, so yuh could be impartial.
An’ ah not too sure ah go be happy wit’ some ah dem leaders decidin’
on de economy an’ all dat.
Dey say de PM betray dem, because before when he was in Labour he used to avoid an’ bad talk de same people who armpit he stick up under now. Whatever……. But is about time labour get serious.. every 3 years is ah protest for salary increase for some group of workers, regardless of dey performance.. an’ every Union Leader always have ah frown, dey never happy!
All ah we is labour, whether you is manager or janitor. We need to t’ink about de future of de country an’ how labour fittin’ into de scheme of t’ings. Dis Karl Marx ole talk about de rulin’ class an’ de oppressed workers kinda losin’ currency, if yuh know what ah mean (articulate policies, plans, innovative programs…. read, man, read…!)
Strikin’ must always be ah las’
resort…. when people strike, is de whole country sufferin’ yuh know.
Workers mus’ know dey come to somet’ing serious every Labour Day… not to hear about
when de nex’ strike is an’ de bad government who
tryin’ tuh enslave people…! Check out ah typical Labour Day posse…
Leavin’ from North to go South…