There is the overworked quote credited to Albert Einstein that the definition of insanity “is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result“. There is another popular saying that “the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits” attributed to an unknown author.
For the second consecutive year schools in the environ of Staple Grove Estate have had to be closed because of a cow itch problem. One may reasonably accept that last year it was an unfortunate occurrence and those charged with the responsibility for guarding the public space- and our children- should have offered redress.
That it has taken a public outcry in the traditional and social media for the Ministry of Environment and National Beautification to emerge to address the issue exposes a fault line in our governance apparatus. Some Barbadians would have been appeased by Minister Trevor Prescod’s two hour walkabout and obligatory press conference. Others, rightly so, continue to be concerned about the inability of the authority to proactively remediate issues of national concern.
The blogmaster was reminded recently by a note from sirFuzzy about the lack of a strategic focus as a country on ‘preening’ our physical space. Barbados continues to promote itself as a service destination, yet, the value proposition has been ignored to become compromised. Is anybody counting the growing number of abandon and derelict buildings littering the gem of the Caribbean sea? Of the 26 ministers who is responsible for tackling this matter? Surely it is a priority for one of those ministers? There must be a positive to having assigned the largest Cabinet in the world based on per square mile?
The rainy season is quickly drawing near. With some accuracy it can be predicted that flooding will occur in all the usual locations and a few others because of the inability of those responsible to get ahead of known and perennial challenge. We can blame the lack of physical planning or cleaning of wells. A flooding problem feeds a potential health issue from the vector-borne diseases.
There will be time for another blog about the lack of an adequate fleet of garbage trucks to collect the piles of stinking garbage from all across Barbados. There will be time for another blog about our inability to develop a process to develop waste to energy. There is time …
The flip side to the worry about public health is the disregard average citizens have for the environment. Should it be a surprise this poor attitude mirrors the deer in headlights approach shown by successive government? We litter and dump garbage to expose a high level ignorance how we should NOT abuse the ecosystem. We wantonly dump garbage in gullies, cart roads even into the sewage system.
The blogmaster is prepared to give the government 9 out of 10 for talking a good talk about tackling the issue of the environment and protecting public health.
We need to switch from talking to execution.
If we continue to do the same thing over and over …
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.