Sir Wild Coot (it has a lyrical ring) may not have made it for the Independence celebrations, but is certain for the New Year celebrations, an apology, as I am certainly not junk.
People do not fully understand the meaning of the word “junk”, pronounced jungk, a noun, from the Latin “junkus” – old or discarded, anything that is regarded as worthless; slang, as verb, transitive, to cast aside, to discard as no longer of use. Junkie, one who is addicted to drugs. The outside world certainly cannot regard Bajans, especially the honourable gentleman mentioned above, as junk or junkies.
One logical explanation is that we may regard recent comments as an unfortunate attempt at humour.
I would like to exhort people in Barbados to defer worrying about the economy for a while and enjoy the celebrations of Christmas. Remember in the old-time days the king put out an order to slay every newborn babe. To say that we have not deviated from the practice would be to speak an untruth. Economic slaying will take place in 2014. You know that Wild Coot is not one to mince words but we may need to sacrifice as in olden days, by an apotropaic offering, to appease the powers that be. This should be in the form of a truce for the Christmas season so that all can enjoy a little peace.
One good word comes from the Minister of Agriculture. He says that we are 65 per cent self-sufficient in food; that we are producing the essentials for life – pork, vegetables and ground provisions. Thus, even if we believe that we will have no foreign exchange, we will still be able to live.
With Sir Charles Williams getting ready to produce and Sir Kyffin Simpson on track in Guyana to send needed produce to Barbados, we should be 90 per cent self-sufficient in the near future.
Christmas is a season to share goodwill and the New Year for making promises. To start with, no longer will we be boastful to our neighbours; we will not refer to them as low islands since their mountaintops soar above Hillaby. We will not refer to Guyana’s Sea Wall and say that the country and the people are waterlogged. We will be charitable to Trinidad and give it the benefit of the doubt as to whether or not it is exploiting Barbados, but we will concede that the music, the language and the women are sweet.
We shall desist from saying, “We don’t do it so in Buhbadus”; rather, we promise to be prepared to listen to other Caribbean people’s point of view (and also the International Monetary Fund’s) and resist feeling that the world revolves around Barbados.
Hence when people tell us that our bonds are junk and therefore that our people are junkies, let us be humble and do research to see whether we are jejune enough for other interpretations to be attached in rhetoric to this studied observation.
Our minister is making a worthwhile suggestion that we encourage small businesses. In fact, I believe that small businesses are contributing significantly to Barbados’ gross domestic product. It is the underground economy that cannot be classified as middle, upper or lower class. However, for it to go forward, a million dollars is chicken feed. What you need is the help of banks and credit unions. A million dollars will only serve 20 or 30 customers.
Many times I have suggested the security bond – which would have been implemented by Sir Richard Haynes had the National Democratic Party had any say. Wild Coot is prepared to resurrect the idea if the powers that be wish to exploit his feeble knowledge.
Taxing the assets of banks further is a bad idea.
Their expense will only be passed on to the overtaxed people. What you want is an atmosphere where banks can lend feeling secure. When this environment is in place and banks still do not lend, it will be reasonable for the Central Bank to question its relevance to the country.
However, right now, the banks feel they are in a crab hole without an air hole and that the Government is filling it with water and, to be polite, cow dung.
(Wild Coot had boy days). Merry Christmas, everybody!
Harry Russell is a banker.
