First, an apology!
The newly surfaced road in Sea Cows Bay seems to have drained properly after the recent heavy rains, contrary to what many of us thought. Still, debris falling into the gutter will soon clog up the drains if not cleared regularly. This is unlike the road outside the Police Marine Base, which has flooded from a puddle to a lake almost big enough for the Virgin Islands Search and Rescue boat to dock in.
Flow complaints
Now, a disclaimer. I was the Cable & Wireless manager (engineering) here in the early 1980s (we did not have fancy titles in those days), but my only interest now is that they continue to pay my pension and provide me with a telephone (not free, of course).
That said, Flow put a small note on Facebook last Friday (not seen by me or others) saying that the phones in various parts of Sea Cows Bay would be off for three hours at a time. Not many people saw this note, but we sure noted the break in service, which occurred around 9 a.m. on Saturday. Not for three hours but three days! When I finally got through on my mobile to customer service in whatever country they live in, I was shunted to three different operators over the course of 25 minutes, each of them wanting my personal details before listening to my simple enquiry as to why the phones were off, and then putting me on hold and connecting me to another operator.
Three days later
Finally, one operator said they knew about the problem and were working on it. The phones came back at 2:50 p.m. on Monday. Flow should have been shouting their problems from the rooftops, or at least on the radio, TV, news websites and so on. Perhaps it was their dig at the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission demanding they give better service. Flow Managing Director Tim Ringsdore’s phone number is not for the likes of his customers to call. Perhaps he would like to contact me via the Beacon. Or — dare I say it? — if my phone is working, I am “in the book!” And if he doesn’t stop putting those interminable infuriating ads on my mobile I shall scream. Can’t I opt out of them? It wouldn’t be so bad if one of them had been about the outage.
VIP elections
Turning to the Virgin Islands Party’s internal elections, the result will be known by the time you read this, but it was a bit disingenuous of First District representative Andrew Fahie to make an announcement on the radio which appeared to say that he was already the new chairman of the VIP. Only at the end when he said he endorsed the message did one realise that it was a campaign advert.
Meanwhile, have you noticed that Rite Way seems to be the only store that has given up giving away bags? All the others merrily continue to give you as many as you want. What happened to the agreement to save the planet by reducing plastic bag usage?
Now, how many people driving here learned to drive here? Were taught by local instructors? Were ever told about the traffic regulations?
Ever read Article 47 on Page 28, paragraph eight of the law, which instructs drivers to dim/dip their lights to oncoming vehicles at night? You can look this up online. Just Google “BVI traffic regulations.”
Even know what a dim/dip switch is and where it is in their car? Have ever driven overseas at night? I reckon only one in 50 dip their lights to oncoming traffic.
Furthermore, do our car importers ensure that vehicle headlamps are adjusted for left-hand driving?
Plane crash
Lastly, the recent plane crash in Colombia should give food for thought. The plane was the same type, HS146, as BVI Airways is buying, and it was the only plane of a small charter company. It was flying an extremely long route for its type, and there are suggestions of an electrical problem, or, since there was no fire, that it ran out of fuel. I hope someone here takes note of the forthcoming investigation.
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