Ten minus One Equals Nine

The heartless, baseless and utterly stupid comments of Kamla Persad-Bissessar in response to the devastation wreaked upon other Caribbean islands by Hurricane Tomas have almost left us”small islanders” in fits of almost epileptic quantums. That a leader of an island, that a leader of a sister Caribbean island at that, who is poised to take a leading role in the integration of the region should boldly blurt out in the aftermath of an humanitarian crisis, in the fashion of a tactless undiplomatic ignoramus, that any aid delivered to the islands would be contingent on some benefit to Trinidad and Tobago, proves to me, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that some individuals, whilst claiming to be educated, are actually dumb as shit. I take no prisoners- Kamla is a jackass of the higher order.

I was angry, on a deeper level, because this is Trinidad. This was the Trinidad of Eric Williams who was a beacon of Pan Africanism and regionalism, a forebearer of the Caribbean integrationist movement, the godfather of the Maurice Bishops and the petit frère of the Castros. This was the Trinidad and Tobago of the Spanish settlers who had no experience in tilling the land and where the slaves of Grenada and St. Vincent were exported to till the huge canefields of Curepe. This was the Trinidad and Tobago that many islanders migrated to in the early 1940’s around the period of war and who settled in Fyzabad and in other neighbouring districts to build Trinidad’s infrastructure. This was the Triniadad we Grenadians bestowed our greatest exports upon: Uriah Buzz Butler, the blueprint for Caribbean trade unionists and the Mighty Sparrow, Calypso King of the World. We even gave the island of Trinidad carnival. Prior to the French Grenadian settlers on the island, Trinidad had no Carnival. That is a documented fact.

On a more personal level, this was the Trinidad that I ate, drank and lived everyday. I watched Gayelle TV with Uncle Fabien in the evenings. My Ipod is filled with the latest tracks from Machel Montano, Lord Kitchener and Faye Ann Lyons. I just purchased a ticket to see Destra and Saucy Wow tomorrow. This was the Trinidad into which I pumped thousands of dollars into the local economy to jump up in the heat for two days on the road in a cheaply bedecked pair of panties and a bra. I paid for the discomfort. Trinidad was ever omniscient in the Dixee and Crix crackers on which I was weaned, the Fruta, Trinidad Orange Juice and Orchard that I begged my mum to buy me in place of the sweet Swivel oranges laden on the trees outside, and the Mackeson and Stag that I now drink in place of our own local Carib. We feature Trinidadian artists in our local carnivals, we patronise Trinidad brands, we even read Trinidadian tabloids like the Punch. The CIA Factbook shows that the Caribbean purchases hundreds of millions of products from Trinidad and Tobago. Sure, the United States , Spain and Germany are amongst its biggest trading partners, but our contributions are certainly not minimal. The net gain of our generational straddling of the twin island Republic is that the economy is thriving and its people are a colourful amalgam crossing cultures and race, so much so that its President takes this for granted.

I am not upset in the manner of a petulant naive teen oblivious to the fact that deals are made via the back door on international aid projects. However, these are often on projects which have long term ramifications, never the initial response to a cry for help. There is a reason why the world help has only four letters, it is not meant to rebound to the donor. I strongly believe that an offer of conditional help to a country on its knees in times of crisis is not actual help at all. I am also annoyed by the silence of Trinidadians on the issue, as they should know better and in their refusal to speak out on Kamla’s misdemeanour, they tacitly agree. Quelle fuckerie. It is as if they really believe in the propaganda, that the other islands are the perpetual buskers in the underground of CSME and the OECS. This is very far from the truth. Whilst we are small, the islands do not survive by the largesse of Trinidad and Tobago, nor do we consider it to be an ATM machine. St. Lucia, Barbados, Jamaica and even the smaller islands of Anguilla, St. Kitts and Antigua do exceedingly well from the tourist markets. In contrast, Trinidad has been allowed to benefit from and exploit Grenada’s maritime resources for a number of years.

Kamla’s approach smacks of someone who has only had the benefit of learning and not an education; it is not a wonder to me that she was only able to soar to the dizzy heights of Norwood Technical College in SE27, an institution that was later scrapped. It is also ironic that she herself benefited from the regionalism that she seems to deplore. After receiving her teaching certificate, she was graciously accepted by St. Andrew’s High School in Jamaica as a lecturer, and later by the Jamaica College of Insurance.

I am more concerned however by what some say this aggressive and isolationist statement means for the Caribbean, for Caricom in terms of the integrationist movement in the Caribbean. The Caribbean Court of Justice is meant to be housed in Trinidad and Tobago. The very principle of neighbourliness seems to have been lost on TNT and it seems that the people there (based on the ignorant comments in the Trinidad Express) are vehement that they do not wish to be their brothers’ keepers, particularly when the islands are down and out, handicapped or crippled. It is a damning indictment of the short sightedness of the region’s leaders when even Europe the economic powerhouse that it is, is creating and strengthening alliances among its Member States, and in India and China. Instead, small Caribbean countries, which in the grand scheme of things, play  miniscule roles in the global economic landscape, have a puffed up sense of their own importance and start conditioning their measly dollars on vacuous ideas like benefit. Dollars which I may remind Trinidad and Tobago is so devalued compared to the EC dollar that they can keep it! We doh want it! What hubris! However, I am not convinced that this says anymore than  display Trinidad’s immaturity in its refusal to enter the spirit of the regional effort, and unlike Williams, I think this time we are not willing to let one spoilt petulant child spoil the family. I say let's march ahead without Trinidad. Jamaica has learnt its lesson- yes, its economy has advanced but it has ate humble pie and has realised that it needs its neighbours.

To Kamla, I have only eight words : “the consciousness of well doing is ample reward”. This was said very often by the Grenadian Principal of my school, who was sent to rescue a Trinidad Convent, no less.