INTERNATIONALLY acclaimed Bajan writer, Kamau Brathwaite, is at his witÕs end as the path of progress destroys his land and dreams at Wilcox, Christ Church.

Brathwaite, who lives between Barbados and New York where he lectures at NYU University, is calling the current excavation and plans to construct a road across his beloved Cowpastor his Òlass daysÓ and his own version of GabbyÕs haunting folk song, Emmerton.

In a letter written last month to Caribbean artists, intellectuals, cultural workers and environmentalists, Brathwaite said he had tried in vain to get an appointment with an official in the Ministry of Housing and Lands as well as Minister Elizabeth Thompson-McDowald, to whom he recalled speaking in New York City during an artistic exhibition at which they both spoke.

ÒNuffen of course followed from that . . . I tried lifelines to Dame Billie and (Deputy Prime Minister) Mia (Mottley) Ð nuffen there neetha,Ó he wrote in his unique poetic-dialectic style.

ÒWhen youÕre 75 and have nowhere to live, itÕs not funny,Ó he told the SUNDAY SUN, noting that the last man who had faced a similar experience in the United States Ð Claude McKay Ð had ended up dying in a gutter in New York City.

The poetÕs plight began after he submitted architectural plans to develop the land adjoining his ocean-view house near to Grantley Adams International Airport in 2001 Ð four years after buying it.

His dream was to build a Bussa Institute comprising his large collection of archives and a library.

ÒWhen I submitted the plans, I was told I could not build because this is in the flight path,Ó he said, adding he was subsequently informed it was in no such path but that there were plans to acquire the property for expansion of the airport.

That aspect of the expansion, he added, turned out to be Òsome kind of road that they wanted to build from the airportÓ leading to Parish Land.

He said the road, as he understood it, threatened to bisect his land, leaving him without privacy and open to vandalism.

Pointing to the daily excavation by trucks and tractors above the house, he said when he had telephoned the airport to ask if that was in fact the road, Òan airport official told me he does not know what is happening here, and he thinks itÕs the oil companyÓ.

Water catchment

He said such excavation, right up to the edge of his wall, had created constant dust which itched, the uprooting of several dunks trees, the filling-in of a pond, the disappearance of livestock that used to roam the pasture, and the impending destruction of a bearded fig tree and a plantation well that provides an ideal water catchment.

ÒSince theyÕve cut down the trees and filled in the pond, itÕs like marl dust. I have to keep the house closed, and IÕve gone to the doctor twice since IÕm having problems breathing,Ó KamauÕs wife Beverley said yesterday.

Adding that all he could do was Òset afire to myselfÓ, since he was tired seeking answers from authorities, Kamau said his woes were a microcosm of what was happening in the Caribbean.

ÒThe loss of pasture Ð here and all over Barbados and all over the CARICOM Caribbean [equals] the closing down of the last sugar production in St Kitts [and Barbados] . . . ,the decline of cricket. Sir Viv and Gary S come from BayLands not from roundabouts, hotels and clogged up death-mark highways,Ó he wrote in his letter.

Describing the proposed road as unnecessary and unethical, since there were already two existing roads in the area, Kamau said those who had been fortunate to live there Ð including those already relocated from nearby Thyme Bottom Ð were about to be Òdispossessed . . . via a willful remote control decision by authorities too arrogant and high and mighty to discuss plans that involve all our futuresÓ.

Asked if he would document this experience in his poetry, he said, amid tears and dust: ÒI donÕt know, Õcause itÕs such a devastation that I donÕt know how you write poetry about this.Ó

ÒIt is your future gone, which is a funny kind of feeling. At age 75 with your future gone, I donÕt know what kind of options I have,Ó he said.

Repeated unsuccessful efforts were made to reach airport officials, Joseph Johnson and Keith Barrow, yesterday.

rickyjordan@nationnews.com