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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>It was no fiesta at the Fiesta</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Barbara Gloudon
Friday, March 02, 2007
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=80 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Barbara Gloudon</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>"WE must be living in an altered state, another planet. How else can we explain this kind of thing?"
The speaker was a member of my family and "this thing" was the newscast on TV nightly news wherein was depicted the handiwork of disgruntled workers at the site of the Fiesta Hotel project at Point in Hanover. Charred shells of burnt-out vehicles, remains of buildings and reports of a man shot, filled the screen. It was not another day in Iraq or Afghanistan. It was right here at home.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Like many others, I was disturbed by the extent of the workers' rage. Early reports suggested that the anger was fuelled by management's insistence that the workers clocked in for duty promptly at the designated start-up time, that they remained on site for the duration of the working day and that identification cards be displayed at all times.<P class=StoryText align=justify>On the face of it, that seemed to be nothing unreasonable - but it was enough to start a war. Tired of the new culture of rage and destruction and its intrusion into our private space via the "nightly news", I had nothing but contempt for what was depicted as happening at Point.<P class=StoryText align=justify>When I cooled down sufficiently to do some investigation, the truth of the old saying: "three sides to every story" began to surface. What was the view of the people of Lucea, the Hanover capital, which lies across the bay from Point, the location of Fiesta?<P class=StoryText align=justify>The project is seen as hope for Hanover, a parish which has languished for development for far too long. It is widely held that former Prime Minister PJ Patterson, who was born in Hanover, went after the Fiesta project specifically to help his home place.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"Him mussi vex when him hear what gwan a Point Tuesday," one of his parishioners said on Wednesday morning when we sought home-grown opinions.<P class=StoryText align=justify>A helper shared the view she'd heard on Lucea's streets. Nobody, she said, was happy about the fire and the looting which went on. "Dem shoulden do dat, but." The qualification was based on the stories which have been told of workers not getting paid by the contractors who hired them and the perception that on the whole, the workers at the site are not well treated by the management. She repeated that while she didn't agree with the "fire-bun business", "if you treat people bad, dem will treat you bad."<P class=StoryText align=justify>THE REACTION of two community leaders began with condemnation of the violent incidents. Not good for Hanover's image, was the consensus of Miss Neriss Hawthorne, chairperson of the Hanover Parish Development Committee and Mr Theo Chambers, president of the Hanover Chamber of Commerce. Both bemoaned the threat to future hopes for investment for development, especially from overseas interests. Both community leaders admitted to having been aware of the problems which have been festering at the Fiesta site for some time and had been hoping that a resolution would have been found by now.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"It has to be found this time," they agreed. "Hanover needs the development. We have to make it work." Not only the community leaders but "man and woman in the street" want to see a dent in the high unemployment, want to diminish the hopelessness which has young people beating a path away from the par
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Barbara Gloudon
Friday, March 02, 2007
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=80 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Barbara Gloudon</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>"WE must be living in an altered state, another planet. How else can we explain this kind of thing?"The speaker was a member of my family and "this thing" was the newscast on TV nightly news wherein was depicted the handiwork of disgruntled workers at the site of the Fiesta Hotel project at Point in Hanover. Charred shells of burnt-out vehicles, remains of buildings and reports of a man shot, filled the screen. It was not another day in Iraq or Afghanistan. It was right here at home.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Like many others, I was disturbed by the extent of the workers' rage. Early reports suggested that the anger was fuelled by management's insistence that the workers clocked in for duty promptly at the designated start-up time, that they remained on site for the duration of the working day and that identification cards be displayed at all times.<P class=StoryText align=justify>On the face of it, that seemed to be nothing unreasonable - but it was enough to start a war. Tired of the new culture of rage and destruction and its intrusion into our private space via the "nightly news", I had nothing but contempt for what was depicted as happening at Point.<P class=StoryText align=justify>When I cooled down sufficiently to do some investigation, the truth of the old saying: "three sides to every story" began to surface. What was the view of the people of Lucea, the Hanover capital, which lies across the bay from Point, the location of Fiesta?<P class=StoryText align=justify>The project is seen as hope for Hanover, a parish which has languished for development for far too long. It is widely held that former Prime Minister PJ Patterson, who was born in Hanover, went after the Fiesta project specifically to help his home place.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"Him mussi vex when him hear what gwan a Point Tuesday," one of his parishioners said on Wednesday morning when we sought home-grown opinions.<P class=StoryText align=justify>A helper shared the view she'd heard on Lucea's streets. Nobody, she said, was happy about the fire and the looting which went on. "Dem shoulden do dat, but." The qualification was based on the stories which have been told of workers not getting paid by the contractors who hired them and the perception that on the whole, the workers at the site are not well treated by the management. She repeated that while she didn't agree with the "fire-bun business", "if you treat people bad, dem will treat you bad."<P class=StoryText align=justify>THE REACTION of two community leaders began with condemnation of the violent incidents. Not good for Hanover's image, was the consensus of Miss Neriss Hawthorne, chairperson of the Hanover Parish Development Committee and Mr Theo Chambers, president of the Hanover Chamber of Commerce. Both bemoaned the threat to future hopes for investment for development, especially from overseas interests. Both community leaders admitted to having been aware of the problems which have been festering at the Fiesta site for some time and had been hoping that a resolution would have been found by now.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"It has to be found this time," they agreed. "Hanover needs the development. We have to make it work." Not only the community leaders but "man and woman in the street" want to see a dent in the high unemployment, want to diminish the hopelessness which has young people beating a path away from the par
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