#BTColumn – Turning flooding into a pappy show

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today.

by Roderick P. Harris

It never fails to amuse me that after major rainfall in Barbados, our politicians take to visiting communities to view the affected areas as though they were born in Hai Phong in Vietnam or Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia.

They take along – I suspect – reluctant media to capture them indulging in pointing at receding water, muddy tracks, flooded homes and excited ducks cavorting in pools where pastures used to be.

It is hilarious. You are the representatives of the constituencies, why would you be pointing out affected areas pretending to be a latter-day Christopher Columbus, when you ought to know what the hell is going on in the communities that you represent in Parliament? And what makes it laughable is that they often return to the same areas at next heavy rainfall and point out the same places all over again.

Sometimes I get the impression that they are just showing off the little pinky on their hands.

Recently we had an example of St Lucy MP Peter Phillips skirting around Fustic Village, Colleton, Maycocks, and other areas of the parish, pointing out flooded areas in his constituency.

People do not want to see that. They want action, not talk and self-promotion. They do not want to hear that there will be consultation with this person and the next person to arrive at a resolution to the problems in the community.

Just in case Mr Phillips and other politicians are not aware of it, that thing that fell from the sky in 2019, 2018, 2017 and 1972 and caused flooding, is the same thing that fell on Tuesday.

And though this might shock some politicians waiting to go a pinky-pointing, rain is likely to fall again sometime next year, if not sooner.

But what really was the tour de rain moment – or should that be tour de force – was the sight of Mr Phillips in the media with a broom sweeping out rain water from someone’s house in a red raincoat.

I don’t know why images of the story about Little Red Riding Hood came rushing back to me. But I am sure there were many who were impressed with this public show of concern because “this is who we are”.