Life in Indian Bay – a resident’s point of view

EDITOR: Indian Bay, located on the South Coast of mainland St Vincent is a beautiful and picturesque site. Sunsets are an array of colours, and hues and sunrises are equally flawless. Unfortunately, living in Indian Bay has become quite unpleasant in the last few years, more recently so since people seem to care less about the people that live here on a permanent basis.

The beach is regularly littered with garbage consisting of condoms, alcohol bottles, plastic wrappers from snacks, clothes, shoes and a wide array of food containers from various food distributors in the country. People come to the beach either by vehicle or on foot, they bring their food or snacks and drinks with them, have a great day or lime and then just leave all their garbage on the beach. Some people are very conscious of their environment and take their garbage with them, thankfully. But the vast majority either leave it on the beach or deposit it on the roads and in the gutters on their way out of the neighbourhood. It’s a disgusting habit. It is not uncommon to go to the beach early in the morning and meet broken bottles and glass scattered in the road where people must walk and drive. Neighbours have been known to carry bags to the beach to pick up garbage left behind from revellers the day and night before. Surely once you’ve eaten all the food and drank all the drinks, everything is much lighter to carry back home with you to throw away in your own garbage cans. Why must we, as residents, be cleaning up after you after you have enjoyed the beach and its surroundings, when we would also like to enjoy the beach and its surroundings where we live?

The noise pollution is also unbearable most of the time. The music and amplified discourse generally start from 5:30/6 a.m most mornings of the week and weekend, and it can go as late as 9 am. Many times, vehicles will come down to the beach during all hours of the night and blast their music from their vehicles or portable speakers, with bass so loud that you can hear your windows rattle and feel the vibrations in your brain. This level of noise pollution is enough to send people crazy when it wakes you out of sleep at 2 a.m or 3 a.m regularly. It disrupts thought processes and gives headaches to people who are just trying to live their lives peacefully in the neighbourhood. Most people like to lime and enjoy their music, there’s nothing wrong with that, but there’s absolutely no enjoyment in having music loud enough that the entire vicinity of Indian Bay (both sides) can hear it. Why must I have my whole environment disrupted by this incessant noise when I’m trying to work, watch TV or trying to get my child to sleep? You will say “Why don’t you call the police then?” Well, we have on countless occasions. Most of the time when the police get to the location of the noise it gets turned down until the police leave the site and then it’s turned right back up again, sometimes louder than before, as if to antagonize the residents who reported them. I wonder if those same people blasting their music would appreciate the same happening to them right outside their home in the middle of the night when they’re sound asleep?

The smoke that wafts through the neighbourhood during the day and night from people burning whatever they’re burning, is just as unbearable as the music and garbage. I am an asthmatic, and the constant unending smell of smoke makes me sick throughout the time the fire is burning or smouldering. Do these fires need to burn all day long in a residential neighbourhood?

Parking is also a never-ending problem for us as residents.

It is a regular occurrence that people will drive into the neighbourhood to go to the beach and just decide to park wherever they want, disregarding the fact that residents also need to enter and exit the area. It is not unheard of for people to block a resident in their parking spot in their home and go to the beach for hours. It is also common practice for people to park their vehicles in corners where it’s difficult for motorists and residents to pass. Parking in corners is against the law in St. Vincent & The Grenadines and all qualified driver’s license holders should have learned this during their tests. If the police were to make regular patrols in and around Indian Bay, they could write a lot of tickets for traffic violations.

I think what it comes down to is the obvious change in many people’s mindset on our blessed isle. Society, unfortunately, has become more selfish and self-centered, only looking out for themselves and not being concerned that their actions have consequences for everyone around them. Actions have consequences, and unfortunately more often than not, those consequences don’t affect the offender, but they directly affect the people around them.

Desperately hoping for change!