The recent fire in Point, and the comedy of errors surrounding attempts to contain it, should disabuse all Antiguans and Barbudans of any residual notion that this absolutely pathetic administration cares about the good people of this fair State.
It was but last Thursday evening when a dastardly fire consumed at least five properties off St George’s Street, leaving dozens of people destitute and homeless. As is his wont, he of a high place showed up on the scene, spouting words of sympathy and pretending to care about the plight of his beleaguered constituents. He did not believe one iota of that which he proclaimed. Neither did the people who cared to listen. It was a cynical performance worthy of Brer Crocodile – the tears, and Brer Anancy – the disingenuous utterances.
Of course, the discerning people of Point were hardly amused, and their mumblings and grumblings at the manifest signs of neglect of their safety and well-being, spoke volumes. The fact that those in high places had to call in the riot squad to, as it were, protect he of a high place from his own constituents, is telling, as per schoolchildren who were there. Schoolchildren always know the inside story. Anyway, there is no love lost between he of a high place and the good people that he is supposed to represent. After all, he has ignored them, treated them with the utmost disdain, feathered his nest, while deigning, now and then, to hand out a few crumbs from his sumptuous table. They will not soon forget his self-absorption and condescension.
This is not the first time that he of a high place – the self-annointed, “last Bad Man,” has feared for his safety among the people that he supposedly loves – the people that are supposedly in love with him, and his ‘excellent’ representation of their concerns. If you recall, a few years ago, when he made a move to uproot a good citizen from Booby Alley, it was only after a small army of policemen arrived to surround him, that he began to strut his stuff and mouth-off. Ooooooh! The people of Point were so scared! There’s a laugh!
As you can imagine, after his braggadocio failed to impress and placate his constituents, much like a little chile, he asked, rather meekly, words to the effect, “Allyou don’t love me no more?” Of course, the answer was in the negative, and that’s when he mustered some courage to declare, “Meh nuh fraid aryou!” Quite unseemly – a representative of the people, he of the highest place, engaging in hostile back-and-forth with his disgusted constituents. And yes, he was forced to beat a hasty retreat, on the heels of much derision and scorn.
We have heard many promises from he of a high place about what he is going to do for the constituents who have been displaced. We are hardly moved. Neither are the people of the Point. The damage has already been done. Many of the items that these folks have lost can never be replaced. The psychological trauma will take years to heal, if ever. They will forever have nightmares of a fire breaking out, and the fire tender showing up with little or no water. They will forever scream in a panic when the vision is replayed in their subconscious – that of a fireman going to open a hydrant, and when the hydrant opens, no water emerges. Such will be our national nightmare until we remove this dreadful good-for-nothing administration from office. They are not worthy. They are NOT worth it.
And yes, the good denizens of the Point, as well as all those of this fair State, will forever be haunted by the mocking visages of the awful minister responsible for water (or lack thereof); the pretentious minister responsible for law and order, who was clueless enough to call in the riot squad for the people of Point while they were at their lowest; and he of a high place – our very own Emperor Nero, who fiddled while his constituency burned. They are the three stooges – Larry, Curly and Moe. Help us, Lord!
Meanwhile, we have heard that the administration has belatedly ordered the purchase of a fire tender. Cue a Te Deum! Sigh! To that cheap, transparent, political stunt, we say boo hoo! Talk about a reactionary government! They sat around playing with themselves (no pun intended), while the citizenry remained vulnerable to fires. What occurred in Point last Thursday was an accident waiting to happen, and the way that this administration (They pretend to be men and women of vision) did nothing about our vulnerability is a sad dereliction of duty. Buying a fire tender after the preventable destruction to the homes of so many families is an indictment of this administration, especially he of the highest place. The people of Point ought NEVER to forget this.
Interestingly, a further indictment of our Emperor, has to be the heartless, cruel way (Much like his aforementioned mentor) in which he of a high place raised the price of gasoline on the hard-pressed, longsuffering people of this fair State. He is living up to his cynical thinking that a government ought not to let a good crisis go to waste. With much haste, he is putting his foot on the necks of the people. It will be hard! WE CAN’T BREATHE!!! Not that this administration cares. They will be attempting to squeeze every drop of blood from the people of this fair State a la Shylock of THE MERCHANT OF VENICE. Again, we invoke the Lord’s help.
Things were already tough, and one would have thought that this administration would have found a way to ease the squeeze, forestalling a gasoline increase for as long as possible. Remember, this administration did not provide a stimulus for the people during the Covid shutdown. They abandoned us when we were down on our faces. And now they are applying the boot. Sigh! Nero would be proud.
Folks, may we be guided by these two momentous events of the past six days. They have further exposed this administration as being of the uncaring sort. Much as the Roman senate ran out of patience with Nero and declared him a public enemy in 68 AD, may we summon the will and courage to do the very same in the upcoming election.
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