Clinton Jackson always wanted to visit paradise: a clean and sunny place in his mind. After his vacation to Nassau, he said his search would continue.
Unfortunately, this first time visitor to the island is not the only person who is “put off” by the garbage and untidy sights all over town.
Members of The Bahamas National Pride Association (BNPA), which is a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving the environment, are also discouraged by every piece of junk scattered on the streets. Chairman of BNPA, Olvin Rees, said one of the greatest challenges of the group is trying to get the public to recognise that littering is a serious problem in the Bahamas
“When we say it is better in the Bahamas, it really should be,” said Mr Rees. “Everyone needs to be somewhat fanatical about it, as it lends itself to the brand image of the Bahamas being marketed to the world.”
Presently, soda cans, broken bottles, paper plates, banana peels, paper bags and even used dirty baby pampers are among the horde of unsightly trash casually tossed on the side of a typical Nassau street in the way that filthy rubbish is dumped in a junk yard.
Radio personality, Ed Fields, who has been involved in many campaigns to keep the country clean, joked that if cleanliness was next to godliness, based on the amount of litter on the streets he views everyday, we were all going to hell. He agreed with Mr Rees’ reasoning that a beautiful Bahamas starts with the people who live on the islands.
“People litter all over and they think that they don’t have to pick up after themselves because someone else would do it,” said Mr Fields. “And that attitude is deplorable.”
“[Littering] is not just throwing garbage out on the road, but [also involves] how the front of a person’s property is kept.”
More often times than not, it seems as if the litter problem here in the Bahamas stems from persons in the community not having enough pride to keep their surroundings clean, rather than not having the means to dispose the trash.
The BNPA has tried to organise self-help workshops in different communities all over, but has continuously encountered barriers from the people in the neighbourhood. A BNPA assistant, Anthony Rolle, said that out of the 30 groups originally targeted, only 15 showed enough interest to be actively involved.
This resistance of many in the community brought about the question of whether more mandates should be put in place to force persons to keep their environment dirt free. Ambassador to the environment, Keod Smith, sent out a warning to offenders of the littering law as a reminder that not only was it hurtful for us as a nation, but it was also a felony.
“I believe that Ron Pinder, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Energy and the Environment [along with the police] have been cracking down to prosecute people,” said Mr Smith. “I would encourage everyone to pay attention, as it is not only aesthetically unpleasing, but it is also hurtful and harmful to us, so we encourage people in the Bahamas to do right.”
However, Mr Rees was not in agreement with Mr Smith, as he felt that the courts did not meet as much as they should to correct this problem.
Mr Smith explained that one of the problems with litter on the streets is that a lot of it was man made and “when this happens, the public should realise that they would be putting unnatural substances into the environment. He said littering would certainly have an impact on the ecology.
“So all these bush mechanics who dispose of oil…all these things are against the law and are a criminal offence.”
By: Inderia Saunders, The Nassau Guardian
