In This Promised Land
DEVELOPMENT & ELECTORAL POLITICS
Stories
How are St. Thomas residents making sense of the various development projects being undertaken in their parish? What views do residents have on the promise of regional transformation and socioeconomic progress? How do residents view and interact with formal political power? The following excerpts are from several fieldwork conversations that follow these lines of inquiry. Excerpts are available in both Jamaican Patois/Patwa and English.
“Mek mi tell yuh supm. Mi nuh like police, an’ mi nuh like politician. And mi coulda reach out to di politician dem fi help wid di road and light and dem ting deh, but mek mi tell yuh supm bout di politician dem. Dem always a look out fi demself. Always. All di one [name redacted]— him tek a big piece a di capture land, enuh. Him all run off man aaf a’ dem land an’ tek it ova cause him a politician and gwaan like people fi fraid a him. A dat dem always do. Because dem a politician an’ dem inna di system, dem try use di system fi look out fi dem self and screw ova’ poor people. A same suh mi guh up deh guh see him pon mi land. A run mi affi run di pussy and seh, ‘Get di fuck offa mi land, bumbohole!’. An’ dat man is a PNP man jus’ like me an’ a dat him do. Mi nuh trust politician, bredda. Mi nuh really have di feeling fi link dem fi anything.”
“Look, di govament a try, mi nah guh lie to yuh. Give unto Caesar what is due unto Caesar. Cause whol’ heap a tings dem do weh neva a gwaan fi years inna Sen’ Thomas. Di highway nuh perfect but it mek life so much better. Di urban center is a next ting weh wi a look forward to. But supm need fi change wid di people dem. Children nuh respect parents again. Man a dress like woman. Parents dem nuh strong inna di home. Nuhbody nuh fear God again. Everybody a bad man and choppa. And den yuh have di poco people dem wid dem backward thinking and dem niggermancy foolishness. May God help us.”
“Mi a guh be very honest. Mi nuh like how dem deal wid di road and how dem deal wid wi at all. Fi months wi neva have wata ova’ here because dem dig up di pipe dem fi di road, and a waa long time now we a deal wid excessive dust— people affi a guh hospital because a it and bare supm. Di man weh own di construction company weh did a work pon dis part a di highway— mi don’t like him. Mi don’t like a bone inna him. When wi guh to him and a talk to him bout di dust and di wata situation him basically seh him nuh business. Suh mi a seh, ‘dat cyaa right!’ And when mi personally go to him again and talk to him bout everyting him seh, ‘afta mi naa fuck nuhbody ova yah, suh weh yuh waa me do?’ But mi know seh whenever you talk bout dem supm here it cause problem because a di whole politics ting and him a big fren wid di JLP people dem, so mi nuh know.”
“The Chinese are doing a good job on the highway but the black workers are scammers; the work is not being done properly. But if yuh look pan it, di govament give Chinese power over the black man. You have Chinese man a tell black man fi work inna black man country. Andrew a sell out di country. Aye, a piece a’ judgement a guh fall pon dis yah country , enuh! Si all Nigel Clarke gone, the best finance minister Jamaica eva have. From yuh see Nigel run gone yuh know seh it bad.”
“Dis a my take pon di whole development ting. Inna di new St. Thomas— mek wi put it as ‘di new St. Thomas’— wi a guh have more hotels and more different type a nation a visit St. Thomas. Di whole a dung a Pero a guh buil’ up wid one bag a hotel, enuh. But wi a guh have a problem wid Pero and yuh waa know why? Di political ting now, a right deh suh. Dat cyaa lef’ out. And di only way di political ting a guh leff out is if wi get rid a Pearnel Charles and him whole family! "
“Sen’ Thomas cyaa change, anything weh come yah a guh stay. A di nature. Wi nuh have nuh big mall, nuh big hotel, nuh trade centre, nuh program weh mek whol’ heap a people can get work. And is a nice place still, enuh. Di people dem nice as mi seh, and di crime rate inna Sen’ Thomas a one a di lowest inna di country— crime nuh so out a’ control. But it come like dem curse di place to pussyclaat. Nuh progress nuh hol’ dun yah. An’ yuh see di people dem? Dem a big part a dat. Widout di people dem enuh, nutt’n cyaa change. Sen’ Thomas people dem too slow, dem back a time. We need more training centre, need more skills, some better schools— all di school dem slow, too. Di parish and di people dem need fi get up to date with the times.”
“Mi hear dem a talk bout prosperity, yes. One side a seh ‘prosperity’ and di oda’ side a seh ‘time come’. But wi affi just watch and see how di prosperity a guh work out. Mi see di government a buil’ up di place an’ a try. So mi affi jus’ wait and see. Dat is all poor people like me can do, papa.”
“The Chinese are doing a good job on the highway but the black workers are scammers; the work is not being done properly. If you look at it, the government has given the Chinese power over the black man. You have the Chinese being bosses over the black man in a black man’s country. Andrew is selling the country [to the Chinese]. Aye, a strong reckoning is going to happen in this country! See, even Nigel Clarke has left the country— the best finance minister Jamaica has ever had. The fact that Nigel has left proves that things are bad.”
“Let me tell you something. I don’t like the police, and I don’t like politicians. And I could have reached out to politicians for help with the road and help with electricity [community infrastructure], but let me tell you something about politicians. They are always looking out for themselves. Always. Including [politician’s name redacted]— he took a large portion of the captured land. He has even displaced people from their own land and has taken control of it because he is a politician and he behaves as if we should be afraid of him. That is what they always do. Because they are politicians and they are in the system, they try to use the system to look out for themselves and screw over poor people. For example, I found him trying to take over my land, and I had to run the pussy off of it and say, ‘Get di fuck offa mi land, bumbohole!’ And he is a PNP man just like me and that is what he did. I don’t trust politicians, bro; so I don’t really have the desire to reach out to them for anything.”
“This is my take on the whole ‘development’ discussion. In the ‘new St. Thomas’— let us just call it ‘the new St. Thomas’— we are going to have more hotels and people from a wider variety of nations visiting St. Thomas. All of the Pera region will be developed with numerous hotels. But we’re still going to have a problem with Pera and you want to know why? Politics— that is it. Politics have to be considered. And the only way politics can be removed (from the matter of Pero’s development) is if we get rid of Pearnel Charles and his entire family!”
“Look, the government is trying; I won’t lie to you. Give unto Caesar what is due unto Caesar, because a lot of the things they are currently doing were not happening in St. Thomas before. The highway is not perfect but it has made life so much easier. The urban centre is the next thing that we are looking forward to. But something needs to change with the people. Children don’t respect their parents anymore. Men are dressing like women. Parents are not strong in the home. No one fears God anymore. Everybody is a gangster and a scammer. And then you have the Revivalists with their backward thinking and ‘niggermancy foolishness’. May God help us.”
“I’m going to be very honest, I don’t like how they have dealt with the road and how they have dealt with us at all. We did not have water here for months because they dug up the pipes to make way for the road, and we have been dealing with excessive dust for a long time now— people have to be going to the hospital because of the dust and a ton of other issues. The man who owns the construction company that was working on this section of the highway— I don’t like him. I don’t like a single bone in his body. When we went to him and spoke about the dust and the water situation he basically said that he did not care. So I said, ‘this can’t be right’. When I went to him again on my own and spoke to him about everything he said, ‘well, I’m not fucking anyone here so what do you want me to do?’ I know that whenever you talk about these issues it creates controversy because of the political climate and he is close friends with the members of the JLP, so I don’t know.”
“I‘ve heard them [the government] talking about prosperity, yes. One [political] side is saying ‘prosperity’ and the other side is saying ‘the time has come’. But we have to just watch and see how this ‘prosperity’ will work out. I see that the government is building up the parish and trying. So I have to just wait and see. That is all poor people like myself can do, papa.”
“St. Thomas cannot change, the place is stagnant. We don’t have a big mall, no big hotels, no trade centres, no program that employs a lot of people. And it is still a nice place. The people are nice as I’ve said before, and the crime rate in St. Thomas is one of the lowest in the country— crime is not so out of control. But it’s as if they have cursed this place. No progress is maintained here. And the people are still a large part of it . Without the people, nothing can change. St. Thomas people are too slow and behind the times. We need more training centres, need more skills, need better schools— even the schools are slow, too. The parish and the people need to catch up to the modern world.”