Category: environment

Sad To Have To Lean On PR for Basics

June 9, 2010 by Taran Rampersad

It seems very say to me that cleaning up a nation has to be sold under a name:

...On Monday, the Prime Minister formally launched a programme with catchy title and acronym in ’Clean Up and Beautify Trinidad and Tobago (C&B T&T),’ which briskly communicates a clear message. Will the communication succeed in rallying public and private bodies at all levels, and the masses of ordinary citizens to whom it is addressed?...

Really? Maybe I need to come up with some catchy titles and acronyms for other things.

Maybe that's been the whole problem. Catchy slogans. Like, "Wey de man wid de dusbin gone?"

I kid, I kid....

The Story Of A Rubbish Heap/So You Want To Stop the Flooding

June 2, 2010 by Taran Rampersad

Right after the shiny new Prime Minister was sworn in, she thrust herself into 'tall boots' and accosted the flooded areas - threatening bodily harm to the waters that endangered the citizenry. I'm sure she said a few things, too - but lets face it. There's just something about puddles and flood waters that makes you want to splash around in it. If you can get political leverage, even better.

But enough about the Prime Minister. She's not the focus of this issue - these flood waters are. Flooding is what happens when water goes into an area faster than it gets out. In soil heavy in clay, it's not easily absorbed into the aquifer. It sits around in the clay. Intelligent people thought that drainage would be a good plan. It still would be a good plan. Nevermind that the box drains built have no horizontal support at the top and cave in over time. Nevermind that people litter and the litter ends up in the drains, enough so to keep water from running out of an area fast enough. Nevermind that people do their own thing, without Town and Country approval (as corrupt as T&C allegedly is) and are supported by their MPs because they want the votes so that they can leech the public a little longer. Nevermind all of that. {Read more}

Deforestation And The Ranges

November 1, 2009 by Taran Rampersad

While it was heartening to read Asa Wright Nature Centre chairman, Dr Carol James, had called for a stop to the rape of the Northern Range. The article, though, focuses only on the quarrying activities - destructive as they are, the quarries are not the only problem. The picture to the left shows how agriculture, too, plays a role. That photo, taken in June 2009, is below one of the paths to El Tucuche, and is one of many deforestation pictures I took that day.

The path to El Tucuche, undercut by agriculture, was in poor shape then and the farmers told me that they were working on fixing the path so that they could get their produce out. Because of the nature of the conversation, I didn't ask them who owned the land. Maybe they do, maybe they don't. I did suggest planting some trees below the path, but they didn't seem very interested in that. Beans were of the most interest.

To put things in perspective, the path might arguably fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Tourism. The farmers, if licensed, would fall under the Ministry of Agriculture. And the land, if owned by the government, probably has to at least have plans associated with it through the Ministry of Planning's 'Town and Country' department. In short, it's a quagmire. {Read more}