There seems never to be a dull moment in our little neck of the woods. When it's not one thing, it's bound to be another. But being the collective dullards that we are-or, at least, seem to be-with the odd ignoramus thrown in for good measure, I suppose we simply have to take things in stride and call that "George," or whatever. I'm not unaware that one of the major concerns at the moment is the unholy mess of the extensive surveillance fiasco that has (predictably?) blown up in our faces and opened up the can of worms that could easily have been anticipated, given the dramatis personae involved.
However, "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." My immediate interest is that some folks-including "you know who" and "what's his name"-have a declared problem with (Kamla Persad-Bissessar) the current Prime Minister's mansion and her packed flying schedule and what they see as her seemingly endless excursions to all corners of the globe, the cost to taxpayers and the concomitant benefits flowing to the country therefrom.
It matters not that this is the road once travelled by her prime ministerial predecessors, even to the extent of yearning for "executive jets" with all the trimmings. Which brings to mind what happened when Basdeo Panday was Prime Minister. A look up in the sky at any given moment and speculation was rife. "It's a bird! No, it's a kite! No, it's Superman! No, it's a tornado! No! it's a plane. No, it's only our PM flying again." By golly! If he kept up this hectic schedule, soon he might be putting Captain Marvel, Batman and Robin out of business.
Chances are that Mr Panday could have explained away the reasons for the apparently "numerous and fruitless" trips abroad to his (if no one else's) satisfaction, without resorting to "lies, half-truths or innuendoes" or "lies, damned lies and statistics." He might be on firmer ground with resorting to the "statistics" argument. In any case, as a newcomer to the previously maligned "parasitic oligarchy," the man was entitled to acquiring new tastes, new hobbies and new lifestyles of the nouveaux riches. Afterall, it's not unknown nor unexpected for our politicians, elevated to high office, to be easily acclimatised to the stratospheric social atmosphere and behave as though they were "to the manner, as well as manor, born."
Why, I ask myself, should it be any different in Mr Panday's case? It may well be that, like his PM predecessors, he had been bitten by the "travel bug" or afflicted with the "have-plane-will-travel" syndrome. Dr Wllliams could be remembered as having made heavy weather of the "excessive trips abroad made in office" by Albert Gomes. Williams lambasted Bertie Gomes about his frequent trips abroad when Gomes was virtually T&T's Chief Minister. But, say what? Williams and those who followed were as "airborne" as our own humming bird. It's true that Dr Williams was in office for a protracted period. But anyone wishing to challenge my hypothesis should pause to consider that he paid extended visits to India, China and the Soviet Union.
Perhaps that "travel itch" on the part of our Prime Ministers could be explained in terms of our being "the land of the humming bird"-a bird made famous for its "airborne propensities." I suppose that, by the same token, the Barbados Prime Minister should also belong to the "Superman/Batman" club of "high flyers,"given that Barbados is known as "the land of the flying fish." Of late, I understand that the Bajan flying fish has invaded T&T's waters, presumably to match strides with our own PMs. I can't speak to the "flying schedules" of the Barbados Prime Ministers but I can safely hazard a guess re: those of our own PMs, as it appears to me that "our own lads-and now our lass-are simply destined to fly, given the possibility of them being "reincarnations" of the "Flying Dutchman," rescued, in one form or another, from his fabled role.
Can't say I blame them for, as calypsonian Valentino reminded me, "is a role they come out to play." Ironically, it beats me why a down-to-earth Panday has such difficulty keeping his feet on the ground. Apparently, he prefers having "a ball" in the air to knocking a golf ball on the ground. To be fair, if the man knocked his golf ball into outer space, where the devil do you expect him to look for it? He's been receiving some flack about his golf playing, but he's often fancied himself as "a lion." I'd go along with that and wish him luck. Afterall, the US prides itself re: its own golf champion, Tiger Woods. We may yet produce our own homegrown "Lion Woods."After Basdeo Panday had chucked up that lousy, thankless PM job, looking ahead to a brighter future in golf, he may not have wished to be remembered as "a fly-by-night PM," but he went about it the wrong way, in attempting to be "a fly-by-night-and-day" Prime Minister. How sad.