Who is popular today?

THE EDITOR: It is the height of irony that the newly elected MP for St Augustine, Khadijah Ameen, all pretty in yellow coveralls hanging herself out of the cabin of an excavator, and with the new-found enthusiasm for her new calling ready to go the mile to alleviate the flooding problem in the country, and in just a couple of hours she would be faced with the supreme challenge of dealing with floods from unexpected rains over one weekend, totally swamping all those areas vulnerable to flooding and more, and continuing to do so.
The picture in the media of the forlorn farmer from Aranguez sadly surveying his flooded watermelon and bodi fields, which were ready for the market, fulfilling his dream of hard work well compensated for, must have virtually torn Ameen to pieces considering her pioneering trumpet call to bring a stop to flooding, armed to the teeth with her excavator to do so, only to see the horrific reality staring her in her face.
It is as if the fates were offended by her dare, and in their omnipotence had to show her who is the real boss. But “pain is the crucible” from which true effort springs, from an adapted quote by Albert Einstein, and even as the fates will eventually relent, she must find ways and means to bring some solace to those now “under the gun,” giving them something to smile about as the raindrops hide their tears, and this more than likely out of the benevolence of her leader from whose words “the small” man will never suffer again.
And then there is Davendranath Tancoo, equally excited and optimistic about his new role as Minister of Finance, swamped with questions about the property tax and a likely refund and to speculatively offer hope that such is likely, only now to be marauded by incoming jabs about “when” and many raining blows on him for “promises made” and “promises not kept.” But notwithstanding his political innocence wanting to be generous without speaking from a “policy stance,” one can look at his response as being in keeping with his leader’s mantra on the platform that none shall be left behind.
His response, to my mind, was perfectly consistent with such a mantra and very much in keeping with the simple mathematical equation that if the property tax is to be cancelled, then those who paid should be refunded.
It is by no means a faux pas or speaking out of turn, as so many seem to think, but an over-enthusiastic response to the prevailing universal goodwill of the new government.
But for both Ameen and Tancoo these are good lessons, for even as the historic goodwill remains, the new reality will begin to rear its ugly head, with calls for compensation for the flooding, or the property tax refund, or the ten per cent for public servants and much, much more, for unlike Portia in Shakespeare’s great play Merchant of Venice, for whom “the quality of mercy (in this case, undestanding) is not strained,” many more like Shylock would show little of that mercy/understanding and instead claim their “pound of flesh” (Act 4 Sc 1, 179-345).
But as much as victory for the government seemed impossible, as it did so too with the session on Friday, the hope is that ways to fill the now empty cup will emerge until it “runneth over.”
DR ERROL N BENJAMIN
via e-mail
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