I too listen tuh Prime Minister Rowley orn de radio answerin questions an espousin he views on what de country need tuh do tuh reach de future in good shape.

How ah end up listenin worth mentionin.

Ah was mindin mih business, like I does do most ah de time, when mih pardnah call.

“Quick, Rowley gettin interview orn I95.5 FM an ah cyar get it orn mih computer.”

“When?”

“Now man, now.”

Apparently he also say tuh call him back eef ah manage tuh get de station buh me eh hear dat part. De first ting ah hear orn I95.5 was de announcer wrappin up de news headlines.

“Larse night it had three murders.”

Ah steups one time. Den ah get tuh steups more fuh de next ten minutes as was advertisement after advertisement after advertisement, probably more dan dat. Finally ah hear Rowley. I eh have ah blow by blow of all he tork an say buh he say plenty. He mantra was de same: De country have tuh tighten it belt an spend money wiser while changin how it does tink.

He mention de new govahment buildin de PP finish in Chaguanas. It was supposed tuh be de new home fuh de Ministry ah Tertiary Education. He say dat eh happenin. It stayin where it currently is, at least fuh de time being. De Ministry ah Agriculture go be in de new buildin instead.

He walk de listener through why: De govahment own de land where de agriculture ministry is now; dat land expensive; de private sector wukkin wid de govahment could put ah hotel orn dat land; one hotel room does spawn bout 14 jobs; ah 250-room hotel mean opportunities fuh local residents while helpin de tourist industry.

It all make plenty sense.

He tork about de gas industry an how much it still have thus de need tuh diversify. He mention what Japan do decades ago floodin de world wid cheap-arse inferior cars along wid hand-held electronics. Only he eh call de cars cheap-arse. He say dat eh stop dem as dey had ah plan. Well we all know how dat plan turn out, ent? He point was T&T need tuh do what Japan do an ask itself what it could do tuh supply some ah de wants de world have. Trinilanders den need tuh move tuh suit based orn de answer.

He bring up plywood as ah example. It is ah major component in buildin houses in de US he say an even doh Trinbago doh have wood, it have de udder tings tuh produce plywood. Five percent ah de US plywood market would be big money Rowley say. Every lil bit helps.

Well at some point mih pardnah call mih back wantin tuh know eef I eh find de station yet. Ah tell he is listenin ah listenin now. Is only den ah hear he did tell mih tuh call him eef ah did find de station. Ah had actually tort ah doin dat buh as ah tell him, ah was enthralled by what Rowley was sayin an wasn’t about tuh call nobody. Is vex de man get vex oui. Not wid he computer fuh not lettin him find de station so he could listen heself, buh wid me. Dat is ah boldface kind ah vexness oui.

Anyway we make up an ah tell him what Rowley tork about. Most of it had tuh do wid what ah done mention ahready—de need fuh Trinis tuh untie dat rope dey have tied tuh de govahment dat preventin dem from pushin away from de shore an doin tings deyself.

Eef only dat was de onlyest attachment humbuggin progress.

Ah ask mih pardnah two questions: Given de new govahment focus, what would Kamla an dem be torkin an doin all now eef dey did win de election?

Scary, I tort.

Den ah ask him eef he did know Rowley was dat broad an deep back when Manning was prime minister. He admit he only come tuh dat realization once he did watch de Rowley interview just before de election.

At some point mih pardnah say Rowley tork about dat plywood idea durin de campaign sayin T&T could work wid Guyana.

Reconcilin all what ah see an hear since de election wid de image ah de man at de heart ah de emailgate fiasco is still someting ah strugglin wid. I eh budgin from mih view dat dem emails couldn’t be real eef de email addresses didn’t exist. So is fool de man so broad an deep geh fool? By who? Someting missin.

Regardless, I tink as prime minister, Rowley need tuh make heself available tuh de public so people could hear dis message. De structure, medium an frequency up tuh he as long as he dey fuh people tuh hear. He could even take ah question or two. Any PNM person wid clout dat readin dis in de dark wid ah flashlight need tuh parse de idea up de ladder. Claim all de credit as long as de idea lead tuh action.

Mih pardnah ask one question: Did Rowley tork about crime. Ah tell him me eh hear him mention nuttin. From what ah read later, he did tork about crime, I just eh hear de whole interview. Dat is ah good ting cause ah done hearin Dillon say de same set ah ting about crime dat all he predecessors say. Less tork please.

Eef Rowley eh remember Professor Mastrofski, maybe dis go help. Is not dat de TTPS cyar be fixed, buh we torkin massive change nobody eh ready tuh make. So tings go have tuh get worse before dey get better. When de change happen, will de TTPS look like what Mastrofski did propose an what Gibbs an Ewatski geh run back tuh Canada fuh tryin?

Post-colonial ties tighter dan dem udder ties Rowley mention yes.

Rowley wasn’t de only one wid ah message. Dat evenin, de television news had ah story about how T&T eh move up or dong orn de Global Competitiveness Report fuh 2015 – 2016. It score was even lower dan larse time buh it remain in de same position—89 out ah 140. Dis is one competition where mediocrity cyar be applauded. De report say barriers tuh success fuh T&T are ah poor work ethic, corruption an inefficient govahmental bureaucracy.

Mr. Prime Minister? What tuh tell yuh dat yuh eh done know? Dat sometimes tings does happen tuh remind yuh dat since everyting connected tuh everyting else is de strongest connection dat rules?

Is only who still cyar let go after Sept 7 dat suggestin de new govahment doin bad. While it start orf good, it go get all de chances it could ever want tuh put it money where it mouth is. De next Global Competitiveness Report is next year. Rowley vision an plans fuh de country cyar start materializin widout changes in what de report say holdin de country back.

In five years will it be (Vision) 2020 only by ah next name? Who go say no tuh dat?