OPINION: Johnny too long at the fair
Ndigo Naka - Thursday, April 14th, 2011 at 3:12 PM
Oh dear, what can the matter be, Oh dear, what can the matter be, Oh dear, what can the matter be…..why can’t we see no progress.
I would like to address this letter to the few brave men of the Talk Show Alliance who have taken on the issue of the Bi-Water deal with the local government.
At first, I was going to caption it“Sweetly sings the donkey”, but then I decided that “Johnny too long at the fair” was more appropriate. (I have another piece to entitle ‘Sweetly sings the donkey’ at a later date, though).
After listening to the Doug Wheatley show last evening (Hot Seat) on ZBVI radio, it dawned on me that, really and truly, the people have been playing with this issue too long. First there was the leaked letter, that turned out not to be a “classified” document after all.
Then on top of that, the FCO official agreed that the Freedom of Information Act requires more information to be accessible by the public, therefore, it stands to reason that the person or persons who “leaked” the letter to the public has done us all a great public service, and should be considered an “unsung” hero for such action, whomever they might be.
Now, to the core of the matter: the “contingent liability”. It was said that the FCO official could not answer certain questions regarding the legality and the feasibility of the contract. I understand English culture very well. I was brought up in it, educated in it, and have dealt with it my entire life.
It is very rare to find any English person at a loss of words at any given time. Silence is reserved for extreme cases of “back against the wall” situations. Lying ones way out of a situation is quite common, but refusing to answer a question is the signal of a crisis, a serious crisis to boot. And it is this reason why I ask the question, “Oh dear, what can the matter be”?
Surely, Johnny (the Bi-water dealer) has been too long at the fair. Johnny was supposed to have returned with the bunch of blue ribbons to tie up the leaky water pipes, the running sewerage and all the other water woes that are splashing discontentment among the people who can’t “take a fresh” at night after being out in a sticky situation.
People have their dirty laundry piling up, waiting for the water to be turned on, so they wash their baby clothes and things, because you know you can’t take baby clothes to public laundry facilities where people wash all sorts of unmentionables.
How long has it been since the dubious contract was signed? Is it legal or not legal? No tendering process, someone said? Expired deadlines? Well, what next? National Bank to give loan? House of Assembly to pass legislation to make us pay for Bi-Water’s problems? Clarification needed.
Eager ears are waiting for the next episode of the Biwater saga. Someone said that Bi-Water people are missing in action. No more early morning ads on ZBVI. No more public information from that quarter. Nobody knows what Johnny is up. Only a signboard at Paraquita Bay farmlands. Another leaked letter might tell us more. Is Johnny ever coming back from the fair? “Johnny, you too bad.”
Copyright 2013 BVI News, Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.
3 Comments
Disclaimer: BVI News and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the comments below or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any public forum. All comments posted on BVINews.com reflect the views and opinions of the commentators and not that of the management and staff. Click here for our full comment/user policy/ agreement.
Having running water in 1s home is not beneficial at this stage either bec of the color. I turned on my tap & let it run for approximately 15 minutes @ it is MUDDY BROWN. It’s ludicrous seeing from what we HAD then to what we r BARELY getting now. Water was never a problem in my area & it seems from since this BI WATER saga came on stream water has become either STAGNANT or INADEQUATE. Government could careless about the water situation. They r in the love of LUXURY with STEADY, CRYSTAL, CLEAR & RUNNING water via CISTERNS. That it’s probably y it is named BI WATER because it forces u to BUY WATER. stroupes!!!
OH my!! I enjoyed this to the fullest! Whoever you are, you are quite intelligent and hit the nail on the head completely!! This will go completely over many readers’ heads but I got it head on!!! WOW!!! Congrats, this was GREAT!!!!!!!! Something stinks in Denmark as my boy Edmund does say! I think the issue is they never expected so much backlash with this and figured they could’ve done what they wanted. They thought like in the old days everything would get passed under the rug and by time we realise what’s happening, it would be too late. They underestimated the intelligence of the populace at large and are now in a bind.
This is much bigger than OC and Biwater, it’s aboug GOOD GOVERNANCE and TRANSPARENCY!!! People are saying that this issue should be left alone but I say NO! It will go down as the one thing that made Government (this and future ones) realise that people are NOT fools! They won’t try this nonsense again I’m sure of that! As you said, we can’t hear from Biwater again! They were hot hot on the radio and sending press releases. What happen now??? ha!!
@Real Talk,
Lol i could not agree with you more. However, i do believe that Johnny intends to come back from the fair. The “Fair” in this sense is “Elections” Johnny is hoping that it can come quickly; when elections it is over, so that he can move on with his plan. The upcoming election is a serious problem for Johnny right now.
I do not see much happening now before elections, as this would require approval in the House of Assembly. This would be too much of a distraction for Johnny and this Government.
As a good old friend use to say, “Follow the game, and watch what is going on” I believe you are following, lets hope that everyone else is also.
I am of the view right now that a vote for VIP is a vote for Johnny.
“Follow the game”
Post a Comment