Publication: Weekend Nation
Paper Section And Page: 12
Paper Date: Fri, Jan 26, 2001
Byline: by Adonijah
AS WE used to say: "Come out, t'ings!"
Let me say first, though, that I have nothing against Sir Charles Williams,
known to most Bajans as "COW' Williams.
In fact, I have never met the man. The closest I have come is when his
daughter-in-law was my "queen" for the Super King calypso
competition in
1988. Perhaps I should explain: All the contestants had a "queen",
who
escorted them on the official functions connected with the competition. She
was mine.
She was a really sweet girl and we hit it off very well. She played a mean
guitar, too, if I remember right.
But Sir Charles has a way of making certain statements that I find hard to
ignore. This time he has said something that is as revealing as it is
interesting.
On last Friday's Getting Down To Brass Tacks programme, Sir Charles
let it
be known that "constant criticism" of rich tourists would be
detrimental to
the local economy.
He went on to say that an approach could have been made to Sir Anthony
Bamford, owner of the yacht Virginian, telling him of the damage his vessel
had caused.
"I think he appreciates that (the fact that the coral reef is precious to us) and I would bet anything in my life that if there are any repairs to be done to the reef that his boat has damaged, he would do it," Sir Charles said on radio.
So let me make sure I get this right. We shouldn't criticise when the rich
tourists break the law, because they may get vex and leave. That's the
argument, right?
Why stop there, Sir Charles?
In order to make things much more simple, why not officially have one law
for tourists and one for locals? That would make things a lot easier to
control, wouldn't it?
As a matter of fact, why not just take it further and officially have one
law for white people and one for Blacks? That would avoid some confusion,
because then you wouldn't have to work out whether the person was a tourist
or a Bajan.
As for the idea that someone could have approached Sir Anthony, rather than bringing the public's attention to the fact that a national resource, our coral reefs, was being illegally damaged, consider this. If someone else, not a rich tourist, had committed a crime, would we not have called in the law? If someone were to be discovered stealing vegetables from one of Sir Charles' plantations, would he "approach" him or go for the law? You make the call.
I believe the chances of Sir Charles' choosing not to follow the course of the law in such a case are as great as the chances of Wil E. Coyote catching the Road Runner and having him for dinner zilch, nada!
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