Feral blast or Ferrol blast

Jul 04, 2015 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Latchmansingh Drug store was at the corner of Louisa Row and D’Urban Street. I lived on D’Urban Street between Hardina and Haley Streets. I was the last of seven children so being the little goat I was the one my mom would send to the shop all the time. Each time my father had even a slight cold, I am off to Latchmansingh Drugstore to buy Ferrol.
Ferrol is one of Guyana’s enduring tonics. It is still popular among working class families as in the days when I was an emaciated ghetto kid in Wortmanville. I grew up, married into a business family that owned a supermarket in the Wortmanvile area and saw for myself the value of Ferrol to working class folks. Customers bought Ferrol often.
Ferrol perks you up. As the advertisement went – if you are run down, the formula to drink is Ferrol; if you are not feeling well, then Ferrol was the guy to turn to; to kill a cold, drink Ferrol. I was wondering when Roger Luncheon described as a feral blast, the infamous tirade of Priya Manickchand last year on the occasion of American Independence Day at the home of the US Ambassador, Luncheon confused feral blast with Ferrol blast.
Was it possible that Manickchand had some Ferrol before she attended the function and the kick was so strong that she let out some steam at the envoy’s house? Is it possible that Luncheon had a slip of the tongue and said feral instead of Ferrol? What I am about to say in the next line may appear as a joke but I am told that Luncheon is fond of Ferrol. I am serious. I am fond of Ferrol, too. I grew up seeing my mom dispense it to my dad millions of time.
The Feral blast has come back to haunt the PPP. On Thursday night, the US Embassy hosted its Independence Day celebrations. From reports in this newspaper, the American Chargé d’ Affaires, Bryan Hunt, referred to Luncheon’s description of Manickchand’s blast. The fact that Mr. Hunt brought it up indicates their displeasure with the behaviour with the past PPP Government.
I am sure it wasn’t the Ferrol blast of Manickchand that so much irritated the US Embassy but the Government’s approval of the way she behaved. Any Minister can do a stupid thing on the international stage, but when that Minister’s idiocy is met with emotional approval by the Minister’s Government, it tells the sad story of the indecent descent of such a government.
Luncheon was full of glee; his long, flowing beard could not mask the pleasure on his face as he supported the profane gesticulations and philistine vocabulary of Satyra Gyaal. Of course Luncheon at the time of mentioning the Ferrol blast of Satyra Gyaal had equal power as President Ramotar. The Ramotar presidency will go down in Guyanese history as the only period in which Guyana was ruled by a triumvirate (rule by three persons) – de facto President, Bharrat Jagdeo, de facto President Roger Luncheon, de jure President, Donald Ramotar.
Ramotar remained silent on Luncheon’s approval of Satyra Gyaal’s Ferrol blast. One suspects that he was reticent for two reasons. He was in full support of Satyra Gyaal and secondly, he couldn’t contradict Luncheon.
Looking back at that Ferrol blast or feral blast, you wonder how PPP leaders could have been so stupid. All the US Ambassador did was to call for the holding of Local Government Elections. He represented the policy of his government which was for Guyana to have such elections. Did that warrant the undiplomatic bestial semantics of Priya Manickchand who at the time held the title of Education Minister? And didn’t Ramotar see the wisdom of distancing himself from her antics because he was the President?
Ramotar is gone. He will not be in Parliament. Like Sam Hinds who held the Executive Presidency for five months, his three years at the helm was a waste of time. He did absolutely nothing. His presidency was marked by extensive mediocrity. As a media operative I can tell you, the press was aware that Mr. Ramotar loved the karaoke circuit, especially at Sleep Inn International on Brickdam. So he will be remembered as the singing President. But I would love to ask him one question.
He told Guyanese that Bheri Ramsaran was set up when he threatened to slap Sherlina Nageer. Was Priya Manckchand set up when she misbehaved at the home of the American Ambassador? Or was it a case that she had too much Ferrol to drink?

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