BARBADOS ADVOCATE

DENIS KELLMAN’S COLUMN – THE DEBATE

MAY 6, 2005

Fifty years in anyone’s life is a significant landmark and the occasion should be treasured by those who have to carry on the pilgrimage. In order to carry on, one must have an appreciation for the expectations of the followers and also have the capacity to utilize the philosophy of the organization to motivate persons who are willing to appreciate that they do not have to accept what they are being offered.

Any organization that has been able to survive for over 50 years is deserving of the best, and it should be able to appreciate its mandate.  We ought to understand by now that it is who the people like and not who we like that matters. Once this is understood, then we are 50 per cent towards the achievement of our goal.

I have said before that the only person who can transfer goodwill is the leader. Should this goodwill match the expectation of the voters, then an election victory is sure, since it is the goodwill from the people that is required to deliver the victory. Good leaders can give their comrades votes, but poor leaders take away votes and can easily destroy their colleagues. President Bush has been able to achieve what he could not have achieved in Barbados.

Persons who are interested in political life and have something to offer seem to have to play second class citizens to other persons who do not have anything to offer. Before it was pedigree, now it seems to be another quality, which eludes some of us. It is evident that we are back in the Biblical days and some persons will continue to look for the Messiah even though he or she is among them.

The passing of Prime Ministership from Sir Lloyd to Prime Minister Arthur should be a lesson to many, and those who sit gazing at the sky must remember that we live in a revolving world. The Democratic Labour Party must treat the O’Neales like how the Barbados Labour Party treats the Millers and the Mottleys, and should not be afraid of the O’Neales, nor should they deny them. Good has been planted by them and appreciated by Sir Lloyd and the party cannot continue to over look goodness in search of goodness.

 I have already said that Prime Minister Arthur has been allowed to take Barrow’s goodwill from the party and has entrenched it within the Barbados Labour Party. This goodwill must be brought back by persons who have always been committed to the cause and who are appreciated by the engines of the country. If America, that beloved country can do it, the same can also be done by us.

This country needs persons with ideas to take it out of its mess and those groups who previously did not support others, who did not fit the bill, according to their standards, must admit that they were wrong before and can be wrong again. The O’Neales have given of their fruitful lives to the cause and will continue to give without living like crabs, but are prepared to share with all to the betterment of the country.

They never ran away, even when they had just cause to do so. They stayed and took the abuse that was dished to them. Sometimes I wonder if other persons were faced with these challenges what would they have done? In life it is not what you have received, but what you have refused.

Last week was a very active week. I attended the Cable and Wireless Blackberry launch, the Democratic Labour Party’s Fiftieth Anniversary Dinner and the Barbados Workers’ Union Anniversary Church Service, and I should also be attending a conference.

From a child, I was told that hard work and dedication pay off. At the tender age of 13, Mr. Vinston Philips made me politically active and he has stood by me ever since then. Mr. Vinston Phillip is truly an Ambassador for the Democratic Labour Party and is deserving of the highest honour.

God will continue to bless cheerful givers and doers.

(Denis Kellman is the parliamentary representative for St. Lucy, Barbados)