NAME OF FEATURE | THE GLEANER | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2022 8 jamaica at Audley Boyd/News Editor WESTERN BUREAU: T REASURE BEACH residentHughlettDyght lastweek reflectedon thegoodol’days in his community. As he stands in front of his supermarket business overlooking the shoreline at Great Bay, the ‘50s generation stalwart reminds of a time when the scores of boats paraded the seas for Independence Day regatta celebrations. Commenting on the occasion, Dyght said: “Because of the pomp and pride it makes us draw together as a people, and down here is no exception. It’s something thatmakes us feel pride inside of us to say we’re independent.” In his well-defined, deeply toned voice, Dyght, a down-to-earth man with a known dedication to service, proudly reminisced on the pride of place held by his community and its people – including former Bank of Jamaica Governor G. Arthur Brown – in the grand scheme of celebrations marking the landmark signing and responsibility taken on by this nation in 1962. In that period, Dyght noted that hewas only 12 years old. “When Independence came, I was living in Kingston. I never knew much about Independencebecause I was 12andmymother and father had migrated to the motherland, England, and they shipped me off to Kingston togo livewithmy sister andmake life there,”he recalled, noting that as aboy, Independencewas more about“merrymaking”. “One year after Independence I went to Kingston…I learntmore about Independence while I was up there and I kept following it up every year since then. And, as a result of that I have gained a lot of experience out of it,” he remarked. “I duly enjoyed. I had some great times up there. I did 25 years in Kingston and came back to live in St Elizabeth,” said Dyght, a JP who was also a former Jamaica Football Federation executive, former Kingston and St Andrew Football Association treasurer, premier league referee, plus other things. His first trip fromTreasure Beach to Kingston was a trip tobehold, explaininghowpassengers had to literally carry the bus past a point on the trip because of a steep hill. “We used to have a bus service that run from here toKingston. I remember the first time I left here to go toKingston.Thebus left from one o’clock and all 11 o’clock it just a reach Kingston,” he laughed. “Whenyou’regoingupSpurTree Hill, thebus driverwould say“oonu have to come out enuh because the bus can’t go over the hill”. So we had to push it over a place called‘Man Bump’. When it clear‘ManBump’thewholeof us board thebus again and it gone. It was fun.” When he returned to Treasure Beach, a big man then, Dyght started getting deeper into his community roots andhadmore to say about Independence, noting that the country has not grown as it should. “I think Jamaica could have done better off not being independent. I thinkwe should have been under the British colonisers still because I think the leaders that we have in both political parties theyonly speak, noaction, andas a result of that toomany things have been happening. The whole of the money scandals and this ya scandal and them things deh. If it was under a different government plenty of them would be in jail. I’m being honest, I’m a man who talk straight and plain,”Dyght argued. “Oneof the things thatweneed to see, I think thepoliticians need tobemoreopen topeople. Them need to have dialogue with them, talk with themandhelp create the environment for people to live in, rather thanyouhavingall sorts of thingshappening in thecountryand they turn ablindeye, when in reality youknow it could’ve beenaverted. As longaswedon’t change these things, we’ll never go forward,”he remarked. Along with his deep sense of fairness, Dyght expressed pride with the fact that the roads inTreasureBeachwereborneout of“the first self-helpproject in thehistory of Jamaica, by Michael Manley”, noting that they also got water, light and telephone. Describing the place as one of the “most thriving communities”, he highlighted their fishing, market and baked produce among the nation’s finest. Boat building was another speciality and this fed into the area’s Independence celebrations. “People used to flockdownhere, full, because everybody wanted to watch the regattas. And there were no sponsors. Itwas just for the loveof it,”he remarkedof aperiod leading right back to the 1980s. “We’re a community that is friendly. When tourists come here plenty of time they don’t want to leave. Plenty of them ask ifwehave land to sell them.Youhardlyhear anything happening in this area. The bond is there between all of us, we have a great bond,” he said. “During that era in the Independenceperiod weused tohavemandownherewho, after four o’clock, if you’renot fromwithin the community you have to leave. Themman deh nah ask you if you have to leave, you have to leave. So no outsider couldn’t come down here and gwaan like this and that,”he informed. Dyght says they have had one-off shows every now and then and expressed the hope that “for the 60th anniversary, maybe a wise manmay come along and say‘let us move it forward’.” That, he said, would satisfy him personally. “I’mlooking forward to it, 60 means a lot toall of uswho have lived through that era and the youngsters who come up and are learning, becausewe’d have known about (things) from the Independence era coming up,” Dyght admitted. Hughlet Dyght, owner of Town supermarket in Great Bay, St Elizabeth.w ‘We would have been better off under British rule’ Great Bay Beach, Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth. PHOTOS BY ASHLEY ANGUIN/PHOTOGRAPHER JAMAICA AT 60: ST ELIZABETH
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