Skip to main content

'Dominica'








I cannot get Dominica out of my mind. The island is officially known as the Commonwealth of Dominica. She has a President and a Prime Minister. I guess similar to Trinidad and Tobago. She is therefore on her own, on her own to fend for herself. Many of the other islands that have been devastated have a big brother like France or the Netherlands or the USA and Britain. Dominica is a very lonely island. Apparently the Prime Minister visited the United Nations today appealing for help. From what I am hearing T&T has been doing its fair share. I agree with many that to cry down the PMOTT's call for assisting the people of Dominica is really being very uncharitable. Whatever help we can give, I understand that the private sector has organized vessels to leave by the end of the week with supplies. This gesture with no publicity whatsoever, just doing what a good neighbor would do.

The island is roughly fifteen (15) miles wide by forty (40) miles long. Previous hurricanes went across the breadth of the island therefore only parts of the island were damaged. 'Maria' went across the spine, straight up, from bottom to top which has devastated the entire island. The distance between POS and Arima is about sixteen (16) miles and I guess the distance between POS and say Pt Fortin is roughly forty (40) miles.  Reports are that the entire island has been denuded, all the tree cover has been blown away, such is the destruction. I see that Living Waters is asking for volunteers to work in Dominica on a rotation basis. We are a good people, we do know how to help our neighbours and to support those in dire straits.

Today, September 23rd, is the 62nd anniversary of Hurricane Janet that passed directly through Grenada and Carriacou in 1955. 'Janet' had winds of 175 mph. A hurricane hunter aircraft flew into the storm and was lost with all eleven crew members. I met a lady today who had not only lived through the hurricane but gave birth two days after. She said that the shops in her village were able to supply the residents with supplies even though they did not have money. That was then, not sure this would happen today.

This weekend we celebrate Republic Day, tomorrow. This has always played second fiddle to Independence. I am not sure which day should really hold the real significance for us as a nation finally becoming totally independent. I guess if the Republican constitution had really created that true break from being a Colony then we might have been in a better position today. No blame to be laid on the framers, that was what was accepted. Today things are very different and the citizens of this country understand, for the most part, what real governance is. We have seen what a bad contract with the people can do. Our nation is educated, people understand how the system works, we can no longer be talked down to and we expect elected persons to perform. The contract with the people has to be changed. It has to reflect who we are and how we expect to be governed. I would love to hear our President make these statements tomorrow during the speechifying.

My Republic Day 'jouvert' partner is missing in action this year so I guess I won't be at the Oval in the morning. Enjoy the celebrations, more fireworks tomorrow night, medals, officialdom! No parade, no 'dancing backhoes', hope all heavy equipment has been sent to assist Dominica.

Good night and good luck!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

R&R

We had two of the four grands spend the weekend with us whilst the parents went off to the North Coast for some rest and relaxation. From all reports, the sojourn was well spent with both singing the praises of our North Coast, no beach, just R&R. We are ten minutes from the coast and I hate to admit it but it is rare that we venture north. One of the selling points of coming to live in the wilds of Maraval in 1983 was the fact that Maracas Bay was a mere 30 mins away. Maracas could have been next door it did not matter, we just do not do it. Having grandchildren I think puts you in a very different place. When our kids were growing up we were struggling with building a business from scratch, living off of a teachers salary, impossible then as it is now, and generally ketching. But as it is with all things in life we survived. Looking back at those years it was difficult, kids, dogs, mortgage and other loans, but you knew why you were putting yourself through all this hard...
Post a Comment
Read more

the Grand Pooba! The Constitution 101 [6[

The distance the Tobago ferries have to travel between the islands is approximately 80 miles. For safety reasons the First Bocas cannot be used so the ferries sail through the Second Bocas which adds time on to the sailing schedule. The water or wave pattern is different on the sailing to Tobago as the wave comes at an angle to the sailing direction of the ferry that does not provide the passengers with the most comfortable ride. At certain times of the year, November to March in particular, the seas can get extremely rough. There have been cancellations of the service because of adverse sea conditions. The current design of the passenger ferries being used, the Incat hull, have proven to be the best to date. They are fast, in excess of 35 knots, which should give a sailing time of just over two [2] hrs. Being a catamaran type design, with a wave piercing capability, it is probably one of the best vessels for the service. There are newer designs of the same basic hull that can take...
Post a Comment
Read more

'Teacher Lucy'

May Day is significant both as a spring festival in the northern climes and of course as the International Labor Day. The latter was started in the 19th century by the communists and socialists and strangely enough in commemoration of an event in Chicago. May 1st on the Rock is just that May 1st. Within recent times a couple trade unions have recognized the day but our big labor celebration is on another day. On the Rock, you get to celebrate Labor Day twice and get paid for it. The dreaded SEA examine is happening this week and if you somehow forgot one is reminded by the number of photo-ops taken by persons of import. These persons visit schools hand out 'SEA packs' (consisting of pens, pencils and other trinkets), call for all God's best wishes on the poor children and to me scare the hell out of these kids who are about to sit an exam that will mark them forever. The SEA is as bad as it gets and to further stress the kids is simply not something that should ...
Post a Comment
Read more