We must take health issues seriously

EDITOR: In this the 21st century, in a territory of this Caribbean civilization, to be more specific, in this our homeland St Vincent and the Grenadines, 66 years since we have been taking care of our own business, electing men and women to manage the essential aspects of our business; with the degree of enlightenment we have been exposed to, with the access to information which flows so freely, it should not be difficult for us to address any matter that has the potential to seriously negatively impact the health and well-being of our people.

Why then do we have that situation in Paul’s Avenue persisting, where a plot of land near to the property of the Town Board has not been attended to for more than a year?

I myself have used the VINCENTIAN newspaper to draw attention to this primitive neglect, but nothing has been done, except the dumping of more garbage. This is an area that is used by hundreds of students from the surrounding schools. A few medical clinics (private) operated by professionals, who are themselves closely associated with the Public Health Dept, are but a few hundred feet away. There are also several popular eating places in the vicinity, but the unhealthy, unsightly situation remains. We are probably waiting for the outbreak of “something”.

Or is it that some blight has overtaken us, so that our responsible people are blind to matters such as this? Could the polluting of the justice system be playing some role in this, making us blind and indifferent to what is desirable and decent under normal circumstances?

I had suggested that if Mr Browne, the Minister of Health, were made chair of the Kingstown Town Board, he might have been able to bring the weight of the regional bodies to bear on the situation. His seeming pre-occupation with the sanctioning of Keith Joseph and sports will only serve to deprive us of the required level of input from him for the successful addressing of those issues of Public Health.

Incidentally, the representative of the constituency should by now be apprised of the situation, and be using his influence to bring this matter to the attention of the shadow Minister of Health, so that he can use his influence to get the Minister of Health to have this matter addressed, with urgency. It is more than time!

The Ministry of Health may be well advised to review their palpable indifference to the situation in Paul’s Avenue, which is crying out for attention. All those of us who remain indifferent on issues of this nature will also be blamable!

Leroy Providence