On Thursday October 3, I picked up the DAILY NATION apprehensive of more stories of gloom and doom in my country that seems to be entering a stage of grievous if not terminal vulnerability. As expected there was gloom enough to go around. The front page headline read Bus Blues: Board Hit By Breakdowns, stranded commuters fed up.
The back page shouted Bank Cuts: Heavy Expenses Forcing FirstCaribbean To Lay Off Staff. Page 3 noted a 6.3 per cent drop in tourist arrivals and on page 5 Beef Eater diner on Swan Street had closed and Lucky Horseshoe was cutting staff and shortening hours.
But the story that was most alarming was a headline which proclaimed: Drowning Man: Guards Ignored My Cries. It stated that Mr Bill Reece, a British visitor claimed that lifeguards on the Accra Beach had ignored his cries for help as he feared drowning. Reece claimed the guards stood on the steps of the guard station, but made no effort to rescue him. Luckily a Swedish visitor came to his assistance.
The Accra guards admitted hearing his calls for help but did not think the situation was serious because “he was not going under, panicking or flapping around”. What’s more, the visitor claims that one lifesaver stated that he had just changed his clothes and did not want to get them wet. The Swedish rescuer noted an attitude by the guards that reflected “a complete lack of professionalism and commitment”.
Does this incident reflect our greater concerns about the state of this country and the conduct of persons in positions of responsibility? So much of it seems familiar. The lifeguards did not feel the situation was very serious. They contended that the visitor did not appear to be in deep trouble. This reminds one of when we were told that the economic situation was “stable” and that we should not panic. Then we woke up with a $400 million deficit and a fall of some $300 million in foreign reserves. Only then did we bestir ourselves and come with a Budget that was supposed to put things right. But so much in the Budget now seems poorly thought out and conflicting and whether the government likes it or not, this has aggravated the declining sense of confidence at home and abroad. I have never been so pessimistic about the long-term future of Barbados. Global economic conditions remain problematic. BBC news of October 19 noted that although the British economy was showing sign of recovery, it was still 3 per cent smaller than it was in 2007-2008. Also three times more people in Britain were dependent on charity food banks than a year ago.
The economic problem is being compounded by a political issue. Do Barbadians support a government that may not be performing to our expectations for another four years? Do we go with an opposition that still has not said how it would solve our problems but seems prepared to create a stampede that could drive the frightened herd over an approaching precipice?
It seems like not so long ago, convinced of our Barbadian exceptionalism, we were supposed to be punching above our weight, approaching “first world status”, about to achieve all the millennium development goals. Are we still on course to become the entrepreneurial hub of the world by 2020? Mr Gregory Fisher, managing director of Oppenheimer and Company is suggesting that Barbados is now a less attractive prospect for investors in a country once considered among the most desirable bond issuers.
Maybe like the guards we have a diminished sense of urgency or an induced sense of complacency? The conduct of the lifeguards, if it has a wider significance, gives the lie to the lexicon that has now entered the tiresome discourse in workshop after workshop. A discourse larded with words such as proactive, innovative, capacity building, strategic planning, entrepreneurial and “it can’t be business as usual”. Words that are fast becoming emptied of serious meaning, converted to obfuscatory slogans and pressed into political service to impress the party faithful and the gullible. Instead what we really see all around is inaction, apathy, inertia and indecisiveness.
We are big on strategic planning, but pretty awful on implementation. Calls are made to this authority and that authority, but nothing is done about the problems. Sometimes it seems as if we are becoming reconciled to Barbados’ eventual collapse, each one trying to make sure that if it happens, at least he or she is not trapped under the rubble.
How widespread are the attitudes of the Accra lifeguards across the civil establishment in Barbados. Like the Accra Beach lifeguards we appear complacent and non-reactive rather than proactive and innovative. But we are told, things are not that bad, just focus on the positive. Why all the negativity? We are in safe hands if only the guards would enter the water, get their Savile Row suits wet and make a serious attempt to save the drowning country.
• Ralph Jemmott is a retired educator and social commentator.
