By Peter Binose

For sure he has not got a proper PhD in law like Senator Lewis, perhaps Gonsalves has a PhD in potholes, because he has overseen the creation of more potholes in SVG than any man before him in the Caribbean hence ‘Pot hole Degree’ PhD. I am sure the Honourable Dr Lewis having a superior PhD in law makes Gonslaves madder than hell, so he has put a member of the Gonsalves dynasty to run against the Honourable Doctor in the next elections. But he chose his son Camillo Gonsalves who also has an inferior law degree to the Honourable Doctor.

What good is a PhD [a pot hole degree, to use the Binose vernacular], the preferred credential we should apply to Gonsalves, who despite claiming to control every square inch of Saint Vincent and The Grenadines, failed to cure the countries dire pothole situation despite his PhD degree.

But it certainly came in handy when it came to his own castle in the sky at Goss Mountain. There was a pothole road if you ever saw one, last year that had the full PhD treatment and was totally rebuilt in what I thought was a European motorway standard, or an American freeway standard.

A strong and compacted sub-base, eleven inches of ‘High Workability Concrete’ with high density of reinforcing steel to enable the concrete to flow around all the reinforcing without leaving any voids. A concrete road that should last a hundred years with virtually no traffic, it has properly engineered cambering and drainage. What I would describe as the best engineered section of road in the whole of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. So the PhD has paid off big time, the Pothole road to Goss Castle has disappeared and is now replaced by a top international heavy traffic use standard of road or highway.

Last week I went to the airport and walked on the terminal building aircraft apron or parking area with my big Cuban straw hat and clipboard, I got nods from all the workers there but no one asked me a single question. Something nudged my mind about the concrete colour, that pale colour of high cement content concrete.

Concreted areas at airports use a grade of cement and aggregate that appears very pale when cured. A runway, taxiway, or ramp that is surfaced with a mixture of concrete materials, Portland grade cement, sand, coarse aggregate, and water and is laid in thickness’s from 6 to 20 inches (15 to 51 centimeters) for light aircraft, typically and usually 11 to 13 inches (28 to 33 centimeters) of concrete thickness. Runways that serve wide body aircraft usually have 17 to 20 inches (43 to 51 centimeters) of concrete thickness. I have not seen concrete laid anywhere at the airport of a 20” thickness, perhaps that is another story.

So what struck me was the similarity of the concrete at the airport and the new road to the Gonsalves Castle at Goss Mountain, same colour as the airport. So I went back to inspect the new Goss Castle road, yes it appears to me as a layman to be concrete from the airport batching plant. Now I am not an expert and do not have a Pot hole Degree, so I am asking you comrade leader of the Gonsalves family dynasty, owner of the ULP and the plantation known as Saint Vincent a very pertinent question. Comrade was the road to your castle in the sky laid with concrete from the airport batching plant? I am sure we can have the concrete analysed to see what it is composed of. You comrade can answer the question, but I am in a quandary because I still do not believe a word that you utter without evidence from elsewhere, from a qualified and trusted source.

Just a word about the cost of this road, it is of such a high quality obviously no expense was spared. The cost of this road may well have repaired just about every pothole in Saint Vincent.

So whilst the Comrade with his Pot hole Degree has a beautiful hundred year life road, we are all wrecking our cars on the potholes all over the country. People during the rainy season get soaked every time a vehicle passes and splashes them, ankles broken and the aged housebound.

If there was a way of having his Pot hole Degree rescinded I would like someone to tell me how we can make application to do that.

I am not saying that Gonsalves has done anything legally wrong, because he told us he didn’t have any idea the road was going to be installed, it was a surprise to him, so we must I suppose believe him Ohh! Ohh! I forgot I cannot do that comrade. But I suppose if we work on the premise that every man is innocent until declared guilty by a court, so we will go with that comrade. There may be no criminal intent or criminal act, but as far as I am concerned there certainly is a moral issue here to be answered.

DISCLAIMER: The opinion, belief and viewpoint expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinion, belief and viewpoint of iNews Cayman/ieyenews.com or official policies of iNews Cayman/ieyenews.com.

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