Let our actions reflect that development is for the people

EDITOR: Sustainable development should be our goal. It may not be necessary to destroy what we have to get what we want. It is clear that we can make a lot of money from the large reservoir of granite in our country which is volcanic in nature. Google describes granite as a light-colored igneous rock with grains large enough to be visible with the unaided eye. It forms from the slow crystallization of magma below Earth’s surface.

It is possible to find a quarry location that is not controversial further north from the Richmond site. This however may require road infrastructure which we should develop. Our limited finance may be forcing us to make unpopular environmentally unfriendly decisions. Taking the easy way out may not be the best. We need to plan for the long term and resist the imperatives of the now for now generation.

We need our farmers and their produce to feed ourselves. We need the quarry. We can have both of them with careful planning. We should also encourage the production of granite gravestones as a related industry from the quarry.

In our development thrust it is not necessary to destroy existing industry to set up new ones. Farmers should not have been removed from the floodplains of Buccament Bay to set up the hotel. Instead they should have been encouraged to do organic farming and produce to supply the hotel which should have been built on the barren rocky hillsides. Similarly, the Canouan and Troumaca Secondary schools should not have been built on the playing fields. Our Planners, architects, and engineers need to be engaged to come up with viable more community friendly solutions. The Roseplace, and Calliaqua accommodation of fishing boats should be maintained. If we recognize that development is for the people, our decisions would reflect that.

Anthony Stewart, PhD