Orville W. Taylor

They are coming, they are here! Players, officials, tourists, journalists, fans and mascots. Well, the latter we are not short of, as this country is full of them. Two world-class venues colour our landscape. Sabina Park is now a BNUV (brand new used venue) and has been refurbished to look sparklingly crisp like a second-hand Japanese 'pupeena', affectionately called a deportee.

Some 200 kilometres away to the north west, in the parish of another set of deportees, the Trelawny Town Maroons, is the Multi-Sport Complex monikered 'Greenfield.' It is an impressive structure with beautiful azure roofing. Majestic like an elephant immaculately painted in white, it is second only to the Spanish hotels in that part of the island.

The streets and verges leading to each stadium may still need a bit more work but a massive clean-up by the Church last week has underlined the proverb, 'cleanliness is next to godliness'. Of course, this has 'brindled' the educator-politician-educator, who lambasted Christian hypocrisy in whitening the proverbial sepulchre since the billions spent to host the tournament, could have been better utilised. Furthermore, the country and many of its residents and critics have long needed the facelift.

As a patriotic West Indian, it is my express hope that we put on a spectacular event rivalling the 2002 World Junior Championships of Athletics. It is not known if there were any cost overruns then but the omnipotent doctor did a spectacular job. More important, just as our athletes shone and mined gold, the local boys should impress. My prediction is similar to the television commentator's, "that ... the Windies ... will win".

Despite the delusion that the World Cup begins with the opening ceremony on March 11, the first practice matches are tomorrow and we are out of time. Nevertheless, we are mostly ready and that is good. Sales are said to be brisk, with 50 per cent of available stock sold. A few months ago, the Local Organising Committee (LOC), boasted that the tickets were going at a faster rate than at the corresponding time in the last World Cup in South Africa. It is uncertain if this is still the case.

Security is a top priority

Security is a top priority given that Australia has troops in Iraq and Pakistan is allegedly hosting elements of al-Qaida in its hinterland and like its neighbour, India, has weapons of mass destruction as well. And of course, don't forget the Brits, who followed the wrong Bush and got lost in the desert like the ill-fated Blair Witch Project.

Our security officials are ready with 200 cops deployed to the west. This is buttressed by 168 new graduates, who determined like the Reggae Girls and bad dogs are seeded to face all threats.

Overall, the security team will comprise 600. This includes 50 immigration and other officials who are 'accustomed' to working together and just completed a joint training programme. Furthermore, Interpol has provided technical support, which so far has identified at least 20 undesirable visitors.

Hopefully, no injuries will occur. However, if so, the hospitals are prepared. Still, given that the new operating theatre and diagnostic centre won't be ready until April, the police might be a bit nervous.

But as we open our arms and roll out the red carpet to all the visitors from Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania and the Americas, one gets the distinct feeling that poor and black Haitians are unwelcome.

Poor labour practices

To some pseudo-Caucasians, we have been very accommodating. It appears that we have bent over forward and given up the Pear Tree Bottom to the Spanish. Then, after a few hotels that are larger than a small village, we are faced with a crisis that is neither party, carnival nor Fiesta. Allegations of poor labour practices abound and there are still unanswered questions regarding the impact on the environment and the demands on our water supply and sewage given that the National Water Commission (NWC) is not fulfilling the present demand.

The recent arrest and hurried imprisonment of Haitian refugees runscounter to my sense of regional sensibility and history. Haiti's slavery ended partly due to the activities of Boukman, a Jamaican slave of Dahomey (Benin) origin. Bouk-man initiated the Haitian Revolution in 1791. Upon his death, Toussaint L'Ouverture continued the struggle and completely routed the French and achieved the first bit of freedom.

Contrary to the doctrine of Anglo-American liberalism, it was not simply the benevolence of the Quakers and William Wilberforce that freed the slaves. Rather, the Haitian Revolution made the British fearful and hearing incessant sounds of 'twep twep' bowed and abolished the slave trade in 1807. The 200th anniversary of this occurrence should be a bigger historic event in the Caribbean than the World Cup. Yet, our short-sighted parliamentarians have embarrassed the efforts of our forefathers by paying it scant attention. In any event, the 2002 committee appointed by then Prime Minister P.J. Patterson should have been given even a 10th of the LOC's budget.

This year, the issue of monetary compensation for slavery is firmly on the international agenda. Some of these World Cup nations owe us real money. The British, incorporating, Scotland, Ireland and England, owe us trillions. The Dutch initiated its West India Company (DWIC) in 1630, 25 years before the British arrived. In 1644 alone, the DWIC took 6,900 Africans from the West Coast.

The Spanish of course started it here in the 1490s, but did you know that the Indians/Pakistanis, via the Arabs and later the Portuguese, enslaved Africans and took them to India/Pakistan from around 1200 AD.? Today, about 30,000 Siddis survive there and they look just like most of us.

So, roll out the carpet, but collect from them.

Dr. Orville Taylor is senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at the University of the West Indies, Mona.