De boys gather by Sookdeo corner shop this morning, and Bhajan start the conversation before the kettle even boil.
“Allyuh see this thirty-point-six million GPL demanding from the Chinaman? Thirty point six! Look at Government putting in work.”
Compton suck he teeth. “Bhajan, you brain working at thirty percent like the grid. Read the second story.”
“Which second story?”
“Same day, same paper. PUC say GPL operating at thirty percent efficiency. THIRTY. Out of a hundred. The other seventy percent of the electricity disappearing somewhere between the power plant and yuh fridge.”
Ramphal lean in. “So which number we mad about? The thirty-point-six contractor penalty, or the thirty percent we losing every single day?”
“Same number, different costume,” Compton say. “One easy to charge somebody for. The other you got to fix.”
Bhajan still defending. “But charging the contractor IS fixing it!”
“Bhajan. If yuh roof leak in fifteen places and yuh fix one, yuh house dry?”
Long pause. The kettle whistle. Sookdeo bring out four cup.
Then Old Man Khan — who ain’t say a word in twenty minutes — finally speak. “De boys seh: every government love a number with a villain in it. Thirty-point-six got a Chinaman attached. Easy to point. Easy to press release. The thirty percent ain’t got no villain. Thirty percent is just us.”
Compton nod. “Same reason allyuh hear about the contractor demand on the front page and the PUC report on page nine.”
Bhajan look at he cup. “So what we doing about it?”
Old Man Khan: “Wait fuh the next blackout. Then count which number get mention again.”
De boys seh: keep watching both numbers. The one that get the press release, and the one that don’t.
De Boys Seh is a satirical voice column. Views expressed are dramatic exaggerations for comedic effect.