“De Democratic Labour Party can’t do nutten wrong fuh you, nuh?” a man shouted at me in Bridgetown recently.
Testing him, I asked, “Why not?” and he pointed out what was and was not good journalism. I’d been told worse in my time in the Fourth Estate!
I don’t praise everything the Government does, but with the good of Barbados always in mind, I remain an optimist. I prefer to see the glass half full and will not join the complaining element being carried along on a wave of discontent by Opposition sympathisers who, incidentally, are offering no concrete alternatives to the supposedly shoddy work on the economy by the DLP administration.
In the interim, I have criticized the present administration on some issues, including baffling economic predictions, the reshuffle and the inexcusable hikes in the costs of utilities, particularly electricity.
I also caused one minister to lambaste me in a full-page advertisement.
But I have to live in Barbados and as I grow older I realize it makes no sense tearing down for the sake of it or to earn the approval of any clique with their own agendas. My agenda is the success of my country.
That is why I will now praise this Government for the coup it has delivered by having Rihanna perform here at this time.
The event has simultaneously answered the call of her fans for a concert in her birthplace and has turned serious attention toward a still-untapped resource – the music industry – and the way it can assist in Barbados’ economic recovery.
The potential benefits of the LOUD concert are clear. Small hotels are booked solid, visitors who came for Crop Over extended their stay and thousands flocked to the Oval, paying between $75 and $1 000 to see a Barbadian who is the most sought-after artiste across the globe.
Of her own volition, Rihanna played mas’ in Baje International, instantly bringing the kind of worldwide publicity to Grand Kadooment and Crop Over which the Barbados Tourism Authority could not have paid for. Such exposure will reverberate in the local tourism industry for years to come.
What’s more, Government’s contract with Rihanna is a three-year one and who knows what other beneficial spinoffs will occur?
Economic benefit to countries by their artistes is not new. Abba sold more than 350 million records and its effect on the Swedish economy was unprecedented, triggering a wave of other internationally successful bands such as Ace Of Base and Roxette.
Today I’m living in one of the best countries in the world and I’m convinced it is on the road to outstanding global success, led by a Government which, amid some dithering, has the good of Barbados at heart.
And I will not join those who feign discontent – but just enjoyed Crop Over to the fullest and savoured luxury boxes at Kensington Oval last Friday – to tear down institutions that have helped to shape the prosperity of this country.
In fact, for Richard Hoad to blame a current administration for murderers not being hanged and for elderly people being killed in their homes is folly. Such has been happening for years; and when the late Prime Minister – then in Opposition – was lamenting “crime and violence” in the 1990s, many Barbadians, including Lowdown, thought it was funny.
What is there to show in the last three years, Hoad? For one, the biggest artiste in our history, whom your administration patently ignored.
As for recent attempts to justify Gabby’s inappropriate re-enactment of Tassa’s funeral at the national calypso finals, Ridley Greene needs to practise one of the basic tenets of the profession: check the facts. Last week, Greene, true to his hasty and dismissive form, rushed to Gabby’s defence over the re-enactment of Tassa’s funeral.
Yesterday, Gabby issued an apology to the young lady’s family.
Couldn’t relatives’ permission have been sought instead of the nine-time king having to issue yet another apology? Some day he may write a song called Sorry, since he has had to apologise to Kid Site, Admiral, Tassa, Bag . . . . Who is next?
