On Monday, February 22nd, 81-year-old Oliver Emanuel died at the China-Friendship hospital after a long illness. Var as we affectionally called him, hailed from Riviere Cyrique, and relocated to La Plaine in 1968 after he got married to my aunt. In the mid-90s he left La Plaine and retreated to his house on the hillside hamlet of Frayal which overlooks the scenic Rosalie Bay.
Var was the hardest working banana farmer I have known. He was an independent thinker, but diplomacy and quiet negotiations were certainly not his strengths. He respected hard workers, abhorred laziness and detested thieves, and vagabonds. I credit him with teaching and showing me how to work hard and to have laser focus discipline.
In the early 70’s Var grabbed about 25 acres of fertile land at New Foundland estate at Aux Delice. The land was owned by an Englishman and veterinarian Dr. Blatcher. As the story has it, New Foundland estate was part of the old Rosalie estate and the vet purchased the northern portion sometime in the early 60s.
Dr. Blatcher established a dairy farm on the flat land and planted other crops. When he abruptly and permanently left for the U.K, the land was without an owner. Residents from the surrounding communities of Grand Fond and Riviere Cyrique grabbed portions of land and started small farms.
While in high school, I spent many of my vacations working with Var on the banana farm at Aux Delice. I have memories of the back-breaking work, which included planting and cutting the banana fruit, carrying them to the roadside and delicately loading the truck (to the brim). Var would drive the winding 2.5 miles very slowly to the Rosalie boxing plant in the middle of the night. At that time, banana was king and the lifeline of the countryside.
Because of the proliferation of the industry, the economy of rural Dominica was booming. ‘Money was meeting money’. There were new pick-up trucks owned by banana farmers. Rosalie boxing plant (now the site of the Rosalie hotel) was a hub of sustained economic activity. Ladies were selling bakes, beverages, and other things all day and deep into the night.
Many women also worked at the plant washing and boxing the delicate fruit after they were purchased for shipment. With banana money, these rural women were more empowered, and families could afford high school in Roseau thus breaking the cycle of poverty.
That is where I first met a guy who was a student at the St. Mary’s Academy. In addition to helping his family to cultivate and sell the bananas at the boxing plant, he also worked upstairs stapling banana boxes. This Grand Fond man has gone on to be one of Dominica’s best and brightest shinning stars. Today the former IMF economist, Dr. Thomson Fontaine is half a world away in war-torn South Sudan helping the world’s newest nation with its economic state-building activities, laws, and policies.
Dr. Blatcher had no choice but to go back to English, he found himself in a circle which had potential for a Disaster. God don’t like ugly!
These farmers helped keep Dominica afloat by their hard work and dedication. My uncles were also farmers and I was (as a little boy) to see how dedicated these men were to their garden. I would spend time with them in at their country home where I first got to see the early morning dew on the grass. O! Those were wonderful days. These men have now departed this life and agriculture followed hard after them. Now we pay $5.00 for two grains of banana and everything else is placed on a scale. The price of pound of breadfruit is the same as a pound of Beef. And, by the way, the Bible speaks of famine in the last days and the scale is scale is an indication of that. May God bless the farmers.
But Pat you never told us why the IMF did not renew the great Dr.Thompson Fontaine contract.We know Fontaine got the job in South Sudan because all the South Sudanese economists left because of the civil war.Where is Crispin G? What is he doing?
@Lin clown- the most uniformed person on this platform.
Adverse possession without any offer of recompense to the legal titled owner is legalised theft. I do not concur with the views of the likes of Joshua Francis in this regard.
So mista all the way over there in South Sudan helping people fix their situation and Dominica there Crananna!!!
And you have the guts to come there talking about Mista like he save the world!!!
How is what he doing in South Sudan benefiting Dominica???
RastarMarn Applaud whoever for bringing the story but just like you addressed how Dominica was thriving economically while Banana was King why don’t you and Fountain do a Feasibility Study and figure out what cash Crop(s) Dominica Need to make people live High and Mighty again,,,
Since time of Jesus and before them people over in South Sudan have been fighting among themselves having their political status and Economy in disarray you really think Fountain Input and make mistadem fix their issues???
One thing with Dominicans it seems like they always worrying with what going on in other people’s back yard while their yard there dirty and need cleaning!!!
This is a weird piece of writing Dr. Finn, you are all over the place and to make things even more weird you end your piece with the good that Dr. Thomson Fontaine is doing “half a world away in war-torn South Sudan”
:mrgreen:)
(Maybe I am not reading correctly, i guess Var must be the same Dr. Thomson Fontaine you are paying tribute to. Oh no i just saw Var was 81years old and dead and Fontaine is in Sudan
Very Weird writing, weird indeed.
DNO how long does it take to read over a two line comment making a correction in the above article.
ADMIN: Comments are generally moderated within 24 hours with the possible exception of weekends and holidays.
A point of correction, it was Dr Blatcher and not Blanchard.
ADMIN: Thank you for pointing that out. The correction has been made.
I love these little nuggets. It shows us what was, what is and what can be on island. May he rest in eternal peace.
May his soul rest in peace. I knew Oliver personally I work with him days of win ban. Where I work in that area and i have to say the commentary was well said.
Oliver Emmanuel was a very close friend of my Dad’s. He would join him at home with the late Osmond Georges to compare notes, discuss current events as they engaged in their hobby – playing Littlewoods and Vernon’s pool… He made fun of my Dad and Mr Georges whom he saw as retired “pen pushers.” They respected him as the saavy man in the group, an accomplished hard worker with similar values about honesty, diligence and discipline etc…and, very importantly who knew his way about with experience in managing (or handling in his own way) his financial affairs…
He struck luck, now and then and they would celebrate one another’s wins or comisserate over losses with the help of Gordon’s Gin at our dining table. They gave him them moniker “Bouge” (short for Bourgeois – or man with money), Farmer, Businessman, Bus driver, loyal family friend!
Our family extends condolences to his son, Fabian and daughter, Olive, his brother, Hormie and the rest of his family.
Good reading. I like Skeritt, but I’m quite sure that resources like Dr. Fontaine and Dr. Crispin G, although they would be eclipsed financially by current ‘genius’ passport sales, would greatly elevate our economy, country and social standing. You are not here (now) but you are not forgotten.