The last several days have been especially traumatic for the people of Penville and the entire North-East, especially so for the families of the young men who perished in that horrible accident two weekends ago. Our sentiments are with the families of the departed souls and we continue to pray for their guidance and strength.
We cannot, however, ignore the elephant in the room; Roosevelt Skerrit. Mr. Skerrit is not only the parliamentary representative for the Penville community, he also happens to be our Prime Minister. It is at times like these when the true compassion and empathy of a leader is exposed for all to see. The young men, all first-born children of their parents, lost their lives on August 6th. Mr. Skerrit promptly issued a message of condolence but, we're told, failed to rush to the scene of the tragedy in its immediate aftermath. He was first sighted in the community 5 days later, on the 11th, and his prolonged absence has lead to speculation that there may be more to this accident than meets the eye. Did Mr. Skerrit have a "hand" in it, has been the prevailing query.
Compounding these rumors was Mr. Skerrit's decision to leave the island soon thereafter. What was the rush Roosevelt? Notwithstanding the fact that you failed to inform us as to the purpose of your trip and your intended destination or destinations, don't you think that some measure of compassion was desperately needed by the families? Was your trip so important that you felt the need to abandon them at this time of enormous grief? Roosevelt Skerrit, you are diabolical, a truly evil individual.
We have been informed that in the days following the tragedy, while the entire country was mourning the loss of the 5 young souls, the silence of Mr. Skerrit rang loud in Penville, in particular, in the homes of the families of these young men. Nothing was heard from the Dominican prime minister. At the memorial service last weekend, Mr. Skerrit was a no-show, opting instead to have Reginald Austrie as a stand-in. He did, however, take the time to set up his own burial committee.
From afar, Mr. Skerrit was able to corral a group of his close cadres into a burial committee, whose responsibility was to organize and pay for all expenses associated with the funeral services of the young men. Led by primary school teacher Solange Basil, and with as little input from the mourning families, this committee issued directives from Skerrit as to what needed to be done and when, including post-burial activities.
Mr. Skerrit somehow was able to pull himself away from his secret trip to show up at the funeral service this Saturday. Looking gaunt and wearing sunglasses, an extremely rare occurrence, Skerrit seems to be quite dejected as of late. He appears to be losing a lot of weight and his head looks like it has shrunk. The well-attended somber event was held at the playing field and was officiated by Catholic priest Fr. Herman Sharplis. But something interesting happened at the burial.
From the playing field, the cortege proceeded to the burial grounds for final resting of the coffins. The final burial rites, which were to be given by Fr. Sharplis, were instead given by Pastor Albert Matthew, an Adventist minister, who was in the crowd of mourners. Father Sharplis was no where to be found. Speculation is that Fr. Sharplis and Roosevelt Skerrit are not on good terms and the people of Penville are wondering whether that may have played a hand in the disappearing act performed by the Catholic priest. Did Fr. Sharplis sense the evil vibe that comes from Skerrit?
After the burial ceremony, the mourners returned to the playing field to celebrate the lives of these young men at a "Happy Hour" gathering. What greeted them was odious amounts of alcohol, so much rum, that it was being shared by the bottle.
Take a minute to digest this for a minute.
Roosevelt Skerrit's burial committee purchased and distributed so much rum that drinks were shared not by the glass, but by the bottle. 24 hours later an untold number of mourners remain inebriated. Is it Mr. Skerrit's intent to turn this country into one populated by alcoholics? We understand that the committee spent in excess of $70,000 on the burial. How much of that covered rum?
And to the media; where are the images of the grieving parents at their children's funeral? Why hijack this solemn occasion only to feature photographs of Mr. Skerrit laying a wreath? Were the parents absent? Did they hand over their children to Mr. Skerrit? You all should be ashamed of yourselves.
And to the media; where are the images of the grieving parents at their children's funeral? Why hijack this solemn occasion only to feature photographs of Mr. Skerrit laying a wreath? Were the parents absent? Did they hand over their children to Mr. Skerrit? You all should be ashamed of yourselves.
Hmmmm
ReplyDeleteThe writer of this article lives evil, sad.
ReplyDeleteYou people are too malicious to try and use such a trajic situation to gain political points. Shame on you all
ReplyDeleteHahaha. Hand-tied children over to him. Lollollollollol
ReplyDeleteWhy did the priest disappear though?
i have been to funerals where the service was performed by a a priest or a pastor and the burial by someone else. every damn thing in Dominica is a politics
ReplyDeleteSmfh..you people need to take a chill pill...while you all macoing what the Prine Minister doing..why were u guys not paying condolences? Shame on you all
ReplyDeleteBoy boy alyou Dominican not easy. Alyou that power hungry. People like you can kill for money boo. Everything that happen in Dominica is Skerritt. I am not into politics because of my faith but I cannot help but notice that your behavior sucks. The prime minister does not have an obligation to all what you adking. He sympathized with the families. He was present in the 11th. He set up a funeral commuter. He attended the funeral. He doesn t have to go to every event. All funeral expense paid. He didn't have to. In time of Eugenia Charles. Would miss Charles have gone to penneville. Would she attend the funeral. Magway sa
ReplyDeleteshame my brother to use this situation like this
ReplyDelete