Two Down-to-Earth Bajan Scholars Making Waves

Submitted by William Skinner

Governor Delisle Worrell (l) CJ Marston Gibson (r)

Anybody remotely acquainted with Dr. Delisle Worrell, the distinguished governor of our central bank, would not be surprised that he is now being judged on such unimportant matters as to how he dresses and what he parades in during the Festival of Flesh that was once Crop Over.

First, let me state without apology, that both Dr. Worrell and our new Chief Justice Mr. Marston Gibson, represent a breath of fresh air blowing through the corridors of snobbery and intellectual arrogance, that passes as brilliance in our country. It is obvious, that neither of these two obviously brilliant minds have caught the eye of those intellectual frauds that masquerade about here as if this country is their exclusive academic playground. Lord Nelson will turn into Bussa ,and vice versa, before the likes of an Owen Arthur or his willing side kick, Clyde Mascoll succeeds in turning Dr .Worrell into” an economist of Lilliputian status”. Anybody, who has taken five minutes to research Dr. Worrell’s work, will know that neither of these two gentlemen is held in the esteem that comes close to the good Governor’s standing in intellectual circles. It simply does not merit any serious discussion.

We have long held Bishops, Chief Justices and Governors of the central bank in such high regard, that we sometimes forget that they are accountable to the people. And that in the case of Governors of Central Banks and Chief Justices, we are the ones who pay them, and pay them very well, taking into consideration our meagre resources. The same can be said of Commissioners of Police and other powerful professionals. By all means we must respect the office but don’t allow them to believe and act as if they should not or cannot be touched.

We should therefore be more than relieved, that we finally have two extremely high profiled and scholarly professionals, being paid by the tax payers who are prepared to at least communicate with all and sundry and be human rather than portraying themselves as almost gods.

As for the old argument of whether we wear jacket and tie or Nehru, we ought to be frank and admit that we seem happier wearing jackets and other outfits in our very unwelcoming climate. We are yet to “free our minds” that we should dress as our climates demands.

Those who have known our distinguished governor can attest to the fact, that he has always enjoyed driving mini coopers. As Mr. Barrow once suggested: we have champagne taste and mauby pockets. At least the Governor cannot be accused of living above OUR means!

Chief Justice Gibson, who does not come from the bowels of the new elite black political managerial class, can expect some harsh and unwarranted criticism as he ploughs through the backlog of cases and generally poor management of our justice system administration that he has inherited. The knives will be drawn because these two distinguished and down to earth gentlemen are not out there mingling only with the so called new elite of our island state.