…in sugar
The “visiting relationship” is a time honoured one in Guyana; a foundation stone in our Creole Culture. Fella gives the girl “belly” – as they say – girl gets “pickney”, which is left with the grandma to “raise”. Fella – who’s now referred to as the “child father” – returns occasionally to look up the girl – and not so incidentally, to also knock her up – and may or may not give a small piece for the child.
As soon as your Eyewitness got wind of the announced visit of AFC big-wigs Nagamootoo and Ramjattan to the sugar belt – Nagamootoo to Berbice and Ramjattan to East Coast – he was reminded of the “visiting relationship” tradition.
Nagamootoo and Ramjattan, after all, had assiduously courted sugar workers (“tackling” them, in their idiom!) during the last elections campaign. As was the custom, they promised the workers the sun and the moon and, as an aside, the longevity of the sugar industry!
Quite a bunch of these sugar workers gave their votes (their virtue?) to Nagamootoo and Ramjattan’s AFC which put the two of them into the elevated positions they now occupy in government: PRIME MINISTER AND PUBLIC SECURITY MINISTER!!! And what did the sugar workers get? Well, 5700 of them were fired from their jobs without even a wink of warning! What they got wasn’t “baby” – it was what they called, “goadie”! Like having a child that ties you down also!!
Without jobs to give them a wage to live, those sugar workers are now doomed to shuffling around like zombies. That’s what “goadie” does to you also! So here it is, Nagamootoo and Ramjattan are visiting the sugar workers and your Eyewitness wonders what crumbs they’ll throw at the goadies they gave these poor folks who were seduced by them.
They will arrive in their sleek, black posh, SUVs, heralded by sirens and outriders, and all dressed to impress!
Will they give out house and land? The workers with goadie would be just happy if they get their severance in full. In other circumstances, this would be known as a one-time “alimony” payout, but this wasn’t given as yet. Could it be that Nagamootoo and Ramjattan didn’t want to break the visiting relationship officially?
Nagamoootoo had already boasted about the job training the Business Minister had provided – IT and sewing and cake making and such like. Maybe some of the sugar workers with goadie will bake a cake for him when he comes around to sweet talk them.
2020 isn’t so far away, and maybe Nagamootoo and Ramjattan are hoping they can keep the visiting relationship going to give the workers another goadie then!!
…in India
Minister Carl Greenidge and Minister Raphael Trotman are jetting off to India, on the invitation of the Indian Government – to be wined and dined and signing all sorts of aid and cooperation packages. Your Eyewitness is very upset only these two Ministers were selected. And not because no one from across the aisles were on the junket.
Naaah…they’re not MINISTERS and your Eyewitness isn’t going to make a fuss!
But the Director of Public Information (DPI) SHOULD make a fuss. One that rivals the one he made when the Government of India ordered MPs and didn’t invite his boss, Prime Minister Nagamootoo. Now why wasn’t Nagamootoo invited instead of Trotman.
Your Eyewitness can understand Greenidge’s invitation, being Foreign Minister and all that. But Trotman?
There’s a pattern here, dear reader, that you should note. Remember when Trotman was picked ahead of Nagamootoo by the PNC/APNU as Speaker? Remember when he was placed in charge of “Governance” instead of Nagamootoo as provided for in the Cummingsburg Accord? Conspiracy!!
C’mon water boy! This free trip was snatched from your Boss…Act up!
…to private schools
Instead of hassling private schools and working folks about taxes, shouldn’t the tax boss call for a review of the giveaways in the oil contract negotiated by Trotman?
Or whether there’s foreign accounts of Trotman that need to be taxed?
