The attentive public is literally sick and tired of all the cheap and cheesy rhetoric about what the government is going to do about the Harrold Road Dump Site and landfill sometime in the indefinite future.
And for that matter, we are also sick and tired about hearing how much it will cost to fix the problem as it relates to doing something real about what ails the nation from an environmental point of view.
We are sick and tired of some of the hype, hoop-la, and plain old baloney the Parliamentary Secretary Mr. Pinder brings with him. If the story was about him, we could understand some of the tactics in the public relations department.
No one is impressed when this man dons overalls and pretends as if he is a real garbage collector. He is not. He is a politician on the make. Nothing more; and nothing less. And for sure, the bottom line today is that the public wants to know and believe that the Christie administration has a budget and a plan for doing what they know must be done as regards the disposal of garbage and other refuse.
We do not need another speech.
Bahamians must be among the most long-suffering and gullible people in the world. This thought comes to mind as we reflect on how long they have abided the festering fiery mess, which is the Harrold Road City Dump. Located in the innards of a growing community, this disgrace of a place continues to make the news.
These days it makes the news because the fires that have been raging underground are popping up all over that property. As one fire is put out, we get a long windy speech from Mr. Ron Pinder, and which is invariably peppered with throw away phrases such as “and from this point, looking forward.
As far as he is concerned, while there might be a mess today, tomorrow provides a glimmer of hope that what was not done yesterday, and which is still not being done today, will ‘from this point, looking forward’ somehow be done tomorrow.
The problem here is that Mr. Pinder is quite evidently out of his depth. But having effectively usurped the authority of the technical people in the Department of Environmental Health, the story always seems to be about what the Parliamentary Secretary happens to be saying about anything at any given moment.
Regrettably, he is not alone in this bad habit. There are others in the current administration who seem to believe that whenever they say –and no matter what they say- and regardless of the fact that they have no expertise in the matter at hand- the story should always be about them.
In the instant case at hand involving the Ministry and Department of Health –and what it is not doing as regards the Harrold Road City Dump- the consequences are insidiously catastrophic. People are getting sick. There are –as we write- any number ofawful horror stories concerning people who are quite literally gasping for air.
And instead of clear speech about what the Government will do about this matter, the public gets another Ron Pinder pep talk about “and from this point moving forward.
Like other Bahamians, we want real action and real leadership from the elected representatives of the people. And as far as we are concerned, Ron Pinder and the rest of his colleagues should leave the sloganeering alone; give it a rest until the next campaign begins. For now, they should focus their minds on finding the money, men and materiel needed to get the job done.
In the ultimate analysis, then, theMinister of Health, Senator the Hon. Marcus Bethel and Parliamentary Secretary, Mr. Ron Pinder- must brace themselves as they resolve to do less talking, and get on with the people’s business.
Let there be no mistake about the good sense of the Bahamian people. While they might well be long-suffering, they are not stupid. If they wake to find that the things they need fixed are not, they will search for other nation-builders. It is as simple as that in a democracy.
Editorial from The Bahama Journal
