You singing too much politics, that’s why you keep getting licks calypsonian. Carnival is gay abandoned, so just sing me two road march songs to whine and jam. Girl, I love me Buchanan too, and I want to jump up with you on J’ouvert morn, but on the other hand, I have to be concerned about this land. Because when the carnival is over, we still need a brighter day. When we danced the soca our problems wouldn’t go away.
These were the words of Black Wizard in his classic calypso, “When the carnival is over.” His words are relevant today, just as they were in the early nineteen nineties when he sang the song.
It is relevant for the present government because after the carnival is over and we danced the soca, the problems of Beryl are still here. In fact, as stated in my last article, hurricane Beryl presents unique challenges for the government since its impact is heavily concentrated in marginal constituencies, which the government won by very close margins in the last election.
Therefore, how the government responds to the disaster could determine its faith in the next general elections due in just over two years.
Although work has started on some government buildings and well to do Kayaks are rebuilding their homes and businesses, there is still a lot of work to be done, particularly to assist those who are vulnerable and unable to help themselves to rebuild their lives.
It is among this grouping that the most complaints and gripes with the government’s response are being heard. This is troubling because this is the largest voting block on the island, and the governing party did not win that seat by a big margin in the last general election.
The recent controversy over comments made by the Minister of Carriacou & Petite Martinique Affairs on certain sectors of the population is not only unfortunate, it laid bare the systemic breakdown in the government’s response to hurricane Beryl.
With over ninety percent of the housing stock in Carriacou and Petite Martinique either completely destroyed or damaged, one would think that a comprehensive strategy to address this pressing problem would have been presented by now.
Beryl occurred early in the hurricane season, and there is always the possibility of the island getting hit again during the month of September when the season intensifies with the most named storms. Long-term weather forecasts suggest that this September will be wetter than normal with a higher level of moisture in the atmosphere.
The increased chances of rain would make the situation more difficult for persons who are living under tarpaulin roofs or in makeshift structures.
When the government announced the assistance package to farmers and fisherfolks, one would have thought that a comprehensive strategy to address the damage to the housing sector would have been presented as well.
This was not done. Instead, there is talk of putting money in the Grenada Development Bank (GDB) for affected persons to access to help rebuild their homes.
This approach is short-sighted because not everyone whose housing situation was affected by Beryl is able to access funds from the GDB due to the bank’s requirements.
Moreover, there are capacity concerns regarding GDB which doesn’t have a branch in Carriacou.
A closer look at the housing situation in our sister isles indicates that there are persons who could afford to rebuild without assistance and are actually doing so. The amount of materials seen loaded onto boats traveling to Carriacou on a daily basis is evidence of this.
There are others who have insurance and are awaiting insurance assessors to assist them in getting their payout to rebuild. The government has assisted those two groups by waiving taxes and duties on imported building materials.
However, there are a group of persons who don’t have the resources or the means to access financing to rebuild. These are the people the government has to focus on.
Sufficient time has elapsed for the Ministries of Housing, Infrastructure Development, and Community Development to come together, work out a plan, and present to the Cabinet for consideration and approval. In the absence of this, Kayaks are becoming more anxious and dissatisfied with their housing situation.
This points to the weak capacity and systems in those ministries and throughout the public service that is hampering the response to the disaster. It has also enabled corruption, mismanagement, and nepotism that appears to have been rampant in the delivery of emergency assistance.
The situation is further compounded by vestiges of the NNP deep state who are allowed to continue with their nepotism and corruption in the delivery of assistance.
The situation in Windward with the high incidence of theft due to the absence of street lights is a case in point. This situation could be mitigated in the interim until Grenlec is able to install sufficient poles in the area with solar lights as those that are being erected on Grand Anse beach and in other public spaces on the mainland.
There are reports that some of these lights were sent up to Carriacou. However, an NNP deep state operative distributed them to her friends and family. There are persons on the mainland who can source these lights and get them to Carriacou in good time. Are those persons being engaged to do so?
The government’s failure over the last two years to address the weak public service and dismantle the NNP deep state in the public service has come back to haunt them as is seen with the weaknesses in the hurricane Beryl response and the high level of discontent among segments of the affected population.
Anecdotal evidence in the absence of proper surveys suggests that if the election is held today, Carriacou, the two seats in St. Patrick’s and the one in St. Andrew’s now in the hands of NDC would all go to the NNP.
Rather than act like “sheep to the slaughter,” it is time the government wakes up from its slumber and takes decisive action to reverse the situation before it’s too late now that the carnival is over.
It is only arrogance that would make one believe what happened to NNP in the elections after Hurricane Ivan can’t occur with the NDC. The dissatisfaction with the NNP’s performance expressed by segments of the population after Ivan was a major reason why the party was booted from office just over three years after.
The NDC government has less time on its hands to get things right with Beryl’s response on top of the many other problems that existed before the hurricane.
Many NDC strategists and activists are pushing the notion that with the leadership fight within the NNP, their party will prevail nonetheless. These people forget that the NDC was in a similar position but rose as a Phoenix from its ashes to win the last general elections. The same can happen to the NNP, notwithstanding their current situation.
So now that the carnival is over, if the government doesn’t address the problem of the weak public service and corrosive influence of those NNP deep state who were actually architects of their party’s demise, the problems with the Beryl response would not go away, and the party would not find favour with a majority of the electorate in marginal constituencies which themselves have been disproportionately affected by Beryl, in the next general elections.
Once the government continues to have these failed incompetent NNP sycophants, senior managers function in key positions, and the other corrupt remnants of the NNP deep state operate with impunity they would have to fully own the continued delays in preparing efficient programs to address the housing sector and rebuild livelihoods in Carriacou, Petite Martinique and north of the mainland and face the growing discontent and ridicule of segments of the electorate which would only lead to defeat in elections due in just over two years.
The Cabinet and NDC party bosses must understand that moments in politics can create momentum, giving the opposition moment such as the Minister’s comments and allowing these failed sycophants to fail again as they did after Ivan would only serve to give the opposition an opportunity to create momentum which is exactly what they are looking for.
Special Correspondent