WELL, BOY, I doan know what else duh gine sell out from ’bout here. Evah time ya look around, another business get sell off or, as duh say, get taken ovah by some foreigner body or a big outside company.
The truth is, it doan make ya feel real good when evah time ya think dat we got something tuh hold on tuh or something dat belongs tuh we Bajans, all of a sudden ya get a big jolt ’cause ya find out dat it really ain’t ours at all, but really and truly belongs tuh companies outside o’ Barbados.
Look at Massy. Who would’ve believed that Massy did own suh much businesses ’bout here? The only time regular Bajans did know anything so was when Massy decided tuh put duh name pon the things dat duh own and dat is when people start tuh bawl. Massy in evah single thing ’bout here, including supermarkets, insurance, malls, travel – you name it, Massy in it.
Most people like tuh think dat duh got something they could call their own and Bajans ain’t nuh different, especially the older ones. A good few o’ dem have invested in buying shares in different companies which have offered shares tuh the public ovah the years. I mean they felt proud saying dat the company was a local one: like the Nation Publishing Company, the Barbados Light & Power, Banks Breweries and Pine Hill Diary, tuh name a few. But little by little they have been seeing their investments in these local companies coming tuh naught.
Who ain’t merging, selling out completely but ya doan really mind the merging as it is supposed tuh help one business tuh help the other grow and develop and reach a bigger market; dat is business and some o’ the shareholders, even though duh might feel a way, does still hold on tuh the thought dat it is still part-local and all ain’t lost.
On the other hand, a complete takeovah or sellout tuh foreign companies does feel like if ya lost part o’ ya’self; it is like a divorce or death, a cut-off, a total disconnection; nothing ain’t belong tuh you nuh more – it done. That is not a good feeling at all.
Duh call it business, but I think the people who does feel it or who it does affect most is the li’l shareholders. It nevah happen tuh me but I had a few shares in a local company and it merged wid another and my few shares increased and I was getting a good few dollars more in dividends when the year come ’round. But I doan know what happens tuh the small shareholders in these local businesses when duh sell out tuh the outside companies.
I suppose dat like the big boys at the top, they would get paid out but dem ain’t want tuh be paid out. They invested in the company so dat as the company grow, their investment would grow too and a li’l something would be coming in all the time. Even if dem was tuh get a lump sum in duh hand, wha’ ya gine invest it in now? This body fold up, dat body close down, the next body sell out, this bank shut down or that one gone outta business and a whole lot o’ stuff.
Oh what a time we living in, a changing time: a shifting here, a taking there, a tekking out, tekking down, tekking way there, evathing changing and it happening suh fast, it does have ya dizzy at times.
One thing I know dat is still certain, though, is dat the Master is still in control and at the end o’ day, it all belongs tuh Him.
• Mavis Beckles was born and raised in The Orleans. She has an opinion on everything.
