There is a highly unacceptable level of chaos and disrespect in our capital island today, and the future does not look very promising that conditions will improve. Chances are they will continue to get worse because we refuse to face those challenges in an orderly and humane way. We would rather take the easy way out, by using economic and political gain as the sole measurement sticks for development. We cry for jobs and the politician works to bring in investors who come in and build paradise havens for those who want to escape from the drudgery of their daily existence for a short reprieve, or for the rest of their lives. Oftentimes they live in sharp contrast to drab, violent, chaotic and disrespectful circumstances in which many if not most of our people daily try to survive.
Our government is now basking in the sunshine of a newly concluded “Heads of Agreement” billion dollar bonanza deal for the Cable Beach strip, which is supposed to rival the Kerzner mega investment on Paradise Island. It is supposed to rival this second largest employer entity, providing thousands of jobs, which will enhance the paradise experience of our tourists. Thatﾴs all good and well, but lets take a jitney ride away from the gated communities like Lyford Cay and the paradise experiences.
Imagine slowly driving along Blue Hill road in a southerly direction. Even before we leave the hill plateau we begin to see garbage piles on the western side of the road, graffiti on the walls around Government House, on the playground and clinic facilities. The homeless drifters, alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes and disease carriers begin to emerge. We are beginning to experience not paradise but Danteﾴs Inferno ﾖ Thank God for the southern recreation ground. It allows some of us to exhale through recreation.
As we slowly more along we begin to see jitneys racing for fares with reckless abandon, endangering pedestrians and passengers alike. They bully one another and other drivers by forcing them to the side, stopping wherever and whenever they desire to hold conversation with other drivers or individuals, or pick up friends or fares. They make their own rules of the road.
Moving along our route we see many people in drunken stupor around the many clubs and bars, and could hear loud argumentative discussions frequently punctuated with expletives that would make ordinary maidens blush. On the contrary we see some of our maidens sitting unmoved by and even engaging in such heated exchanges.
When we arrive at the stoplight, which often malfunctions, at the tee junction of Robinson and Blue Hill Roads, we notice many vehicles using the pathways of the Shell Service Station as a throughway, and they rudely force their way into the south moving traffic on Blue Hill Road and east on Robinson. Some vehicles disregard the light and block the intersection, a frequent problem because of the traffic snarl caused by traffic turning into or merging from the Town Centre Mall exits. Much of the merging traffic is the result of people using the mallﾴs driveways as shortcuts.
At the beginning and end of school days the traffic situation is horrendous. Children dart through traffic and cross streets wherever and whenever they like, oftentimes daring drivers to hit them. Traffic during these hours and at the end of the workday slowdown to a snailﾴs pace, causing weary travelers to become agitated and even rude. The young male scouts for female prey, with their musical boom boxes blasting at decibels damaging to the ear, donﾴt help the noise pollution, as their loud and powerful junk music send vibrations through the already stressed out bodies sweltering in their cars.
All along the way we see peanut hawkers, beggars and unlicensed street vendors, and through some side streets roadside mechanics and car repair shops can be sighted also. In some cases spray painting of cars, use of power equipment and disposal of toxic waste are done with little regard to the residents and environment.
Alas we arrive at Cowpen Road and begin to drive through suburbia. As we move westward, the culture of roadside vendors continue, but whatﾴs more appalling is the indiscriminate garbage dumping on the sides of the roads. Old cars, refrigerators, batteries, and the like could be seen for miles. Paradise indeed!
The foregoing scenario is not restricted only to the route traveled, but throughout many of our over-the-hill areas and places like Kemp and Wulff Roads. In those areas our people are terrorized by the water vendors tooting their horns, self-proclaimed ministers holding street revivals or from makeshift tents or humble huts, without regard for time of day or night.
Will the billion-dollar bonanza and other upscale developments further exacerbate this inferno of traffic jams, not enough parking, noise and garbage pollution and a general sense of lawlessness? Very likely they will. As long as we continue along the lines of business as usual, without regard for open recreational spaces and facilities for cultural expression and relaxation, we shouldnﾴt expect any lessening of the social and emotional dislocation that presently overwhelm us. Is it possible to transfer some of those paradise experiential ideas of Atlantis, Lyford Cay and these new gated developments into the Bahamian reality for our people over-the-hill and in our Family Islands, or do we not see ourselves worthy of such?
There is a highly unacceptable level of chaos and disrespect in our capital island today, and the future does not look very promising that conditions will improve. Chances are they will continue to get worse because we refuse to face those challenges in an orderly and humane way. We would rather take the easy way out, by using economic and political gain as the sole measurement sticks for development. We cry for jobs and the politician works to bring in investors who come in and build paradise havens for those who want to escape from the drudgery of their daily existence for a short reprieve, or for the rest of their lives. Oftentimes they live in sharp contrast to drab, violent, chaotic and disrespectful circumstances in which many if not most of our people daily try to survive.
Our government is now basking in the sunshine of a newly concluded “Heads of Agreement” billion dollar bonanza deal for the Cable Beach strip, which is supposed to rival the Kerzner mega investment on Paradise Island. It is supposed to rival this second largest employer entity, providing thousands of jobs, which will enhance the paradise experience of our tourists. Thatﾴs all good and well, but lets take a jitney ride away from the gated communities like Lyford Cay and the paradise experiences.
Imagine slowly driving along Blue Hill road in a southerly direction. Even before we leave the hill plateau we begin to see garbage piles on the western side of the road, graffiti on the walls around Government House, on the playground and clinic facilities. The homeless drifters, alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes and disease carriers begin to emerge. We are beginning to experience not paradise but Danteﾴs Inferno ﾖ Thank God for the southern recreation ground. It allows some of us to exhale through recreation.
As we slowly more along we begin to see jitneys racing for fares with reckless abandon, endangering pedestrians and passengers alike. They bully one another and other drivers by forcing them to the side, stopping wherever and whenever they desire to hold conversation with other drivers or individuals, or pick up friends or fares. They make their own rules of the road.
Moving along our route we see many people in drunken stupor around the many clubs and bars, and could hear loud argumentative discussions frequently punctuated with expletives that would make ordinary maidens blush. On the contrary we see some of our maidens sitting unmoved by and even engaging in such heated exchanges.
When we arrive at the stoplight, which often malfunctions, at the tee junction of Robinson and Blue Hill Roads, we notice many vehicles using the pathways of the Shell Service Station as a throughway, and they rudely force their way into the south moving traffic on Blue Hill Road and east on Robinson. Some vehicles disregard the light and block the intersection, a frequent problem because of the traffic snarl caused by traffic turning into or merging from the Town Centre Mall exits. Much of the merging traffic is the result of people using the mallﾴs driveways as shortcuts.
At the beginning and end of school days the traffic situation is horrendous. Children dart through traffic and cross streets wherever and whenever they like, oftentimes daring drivers to hit them. Traffic during these hours and at the end of the workday slowdown to a snailﾴs pace, causing weary travelers to become agitated and even rude. The young male scouts for female prey, with their musical boom boxes blasting at decibels damaging to the ear, donﾴt help the noise pollution, as their loud and powerful junk music send vibrations through the already stressed out bodies sweltering in their cars.
All along the way we see peanut hawkers, beggars and unlicensed street vendors, and through some side streets roadside mechanics and car repair shops can be sighted also. In some cases spray painting of cars, use of power equipment and disposal of toxic waste are done with little regard to the residents and environment.
Alas we arrive at Cowpen Road and begin to drive through suburbia. As we move westward, the culture of roadside vendors continue, but whatﾴs more appalling is the indiscriminate garbage dumping on the sides of the roads. Old cars, refrigerators, batteries, and the like could be seen for miles. Paradise indeed!
The foregoing scenario is not restricted only to the route traveled, but throughout many of our over-the-hill areas and places like Kemp and Wulff Roads. In those areas our people are terrorized by the water vendors tooting their horns, self-proclaimed ministers holding street revivals or from makeshift tents or humble huts, without regard for time of day or night.
Will the billion-dollar bonanza and other upscale developments further exacerbate this inferno of traffic jams, not enough parking, noise and garbage pollution and a general sense of lawlessness? Very likely they will. As long as we continue along the lines of business as usual, without regard for open recreational spaces and facilities for cultural expression and relaxation, we shouldnﾴt expect any lessening of the social and emotional dislocation that presently overwhelm us. Is it possible to transfer some of those paradise experiential ideas of Atlantis, Lyford Cay and these new gated developments into the Bahamian reality for our people over-the-hill and in our Family Islands, or do we not see ourselves worthy of such?
By: Vincent L. Ferguson
