Are we contributing to our own peril?

Fri, Aug 5. 2011

Over the past week we have been receiving rainy reminders of our environmental frailty and the dangers to which we are exposed to the natural elements, particularly at this time of year. The various reports of flood damage, landslides and slippage as well as the collapse of retaining walls and similar structures, not just here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, but in our neighbouring islands as well, spell out the message quite vividly.{{more}} We will ignore it at our peril.

There seems to be a permanent cycle of storm damage, suffering, making appeals for assistance, government intervention and then wrangling over the extent of that assistance and the effectiveness of it. But, what is our own role in all this? True, we make heroic efforts in the clean-up and relief efforts after each storm or flood damage, but are there wider, preventative issues to which we ought to be paying attention to minimize the risk of destruction? Are we ignoring the broader, more fundamental, environmental issues?

We found it significant, that on the occasion of making a donation to relief assistance to our country, the Taiwanese Ambassador made several references to climate change, the need for us to pay attention to this global phenomenon, and warned us of our own responsibilities in disaster mitigation. That all-encompassing environmental message is not being readily absorbed by many of us, especially by the most vulnerable among us. We continue to ignore the various warnings relating to our care for the environment, our attitude towards water, garbage and solid waste disposal, thereby increasing our own vulnerability to natural disasters. We misguidedly use poverty as an excuse for recklessness and a total disregard for our responsibilities, where our physical environment is concerned, and react with hostility to any effort to uphold and enforce environmental standards.

In our back page story, Chief Engineer Brent Bailey makes some telling comments as to how the failure to observe recommended construction practices has direct bearing on the extent of storm damage. He made reference to the numerous reports of the collapse of, and damage to, retaining walls this past week. Has the memory of that colossal, fatal, and costly collapse of the retaining wall at Ratho Mill three years ago, gone out of our heads so soon? The Chief Engineer points out that while we cannot prevent natural disasters, our adherence to correct construction procedures can help to drastically minimize our danger.

He is correct in so saying. We make much fuss about Building Codes and the like, and, as we are wont to do in most matters, adopt a willy-nilly approach to enforcement. We go out of our way, sometimes with the complicity of those who know better, to get around established procedures. These attempts to “save money” in the short-term, very often return to haunt us later. It is more than time that we pay serious attention to enforcing regulations. There will be some element of unpopularity involved, on which unscrupulous politicians will attempt to ride, but for our society as a whole, it will be of tremendous long-term benefit.

Our entire approach to our physical surroundings needs a total overhaul. That includes enforcement of existing provisions for garbage disposal and the need to tighten, extend and firmly enforce them. It costs our country too much to be perpetually following this needless cycle of irresponsibility and then expecting both Government and external agencies to come to our assistance. Charity begins at home. Let us demonstrate that we are serious about our environment, conscious of our vulnerability to climate change, and prepared to shoulder our responsibilities in this regard.