In ever increasing numbers, Bahamians are killing each other. Also, in ever increasing numbers, they are dying on the streets. And if we were to tell more of the truth about life in The Bahamas, Bahamians are in ever-increasing numbers befouling and destroying the natural environment that sustains them.
This bad picture is made even worse by the fact that there are very many supposedly ‘right-thinking’ Bahamians who are so terribly selfish that they see absolutely nothing wrong with acting as if environmental degradation had absolutely nothing to do with them.
In this regard, any tour of this town on any given day would demonstrate that there are Bahamians who just do not care about how other Bahamians live, or whether for that matter, they and their children are obliged to exist in neighbourhoods where -quite literally – any thing goes.
This is wrong and government should do something about it.
Despite their rhetoric about keeping the Bahamas clean, green and pristine, The Minister of Health, Marcus Bethel and Parliamentary Secretary Ron Pinder, Member of Parliament for the Marathon Constituency are barely coping with the challenge.
The evidence of their failure is literally on the ground. Communities are still littered with all manner of garbage and debris, roadside garages are flourishing, and there is practically everywhere massive evidence of environmental degradation run amok.
In this regard, let it be known by all and sundry that we abhor with a passion one of the practices that the Department of Environmental Health Services has taken to a level that some times approaches the ludicrously absurd.
Reference here is to the paint jobs they leave behind on derelict vehicles to the effect that they should be moved within fifteen days. Indeed, years can go by and the message remains the same: Remove Within Fifteen Days.
In the meanwhile, the mountain of derelict vehicles grows even higher.
Things have gotten so bad in some instances that new messages are painted over old ones. And in the case of the Royal Bahamas Police Force that owns its own mountain of derelict vehicles, no signs are ever affixed to them. The nasty heap just keeps on growing.
These and other instances of nastiness run amok speak volumes about the reality behind some of the slogans and clichés that are mouthed by so very many hypocritical Bahamians. One in particular comes to mind that wisely argues that ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness’.
Quite evidently, the truth is that if more self-professing Christians actually believed this nostrum, this island, New Providence, the capital Nassau and this country would all be cleaner and healthier.
New Providence is home to the vast majority of Bahamians. Sadly, this place of abode is quite literally dropping to pieces. Indeed, there is compelling evidence to suggest that something is dreadfully out of whack in this place.
At the top of our list would be the human degradation that compels some Bahamians to strike out against others, thus the spiraling incidence of crimes against persons and property. Added to this mess is the degradation of the social and built environments in this place so many are obliged to describe as home.
Few Bahamians could dare talk honestly about ‘home, sweet home’ were they to stop, think and reflect on the ubiquity of noxious fumes, noise pollution and the haphazard disposal of garbage and much of the debris that they generate and refuse to dispose of properly.
Put otherwise, the facts are not in dispute, which show that Bahamians need to get a firmer grip on what they have to do in order to usher in real social transformation.
So, notwithstanding any of what results may be intended through the means and modalities afforded by the so-called and grandly-named Urban Renewal Project- we are of the view that the time has come for Bahamians who know better to show others what they need to do to help make a tangible difference in how Bahamians live with each other and how they, in turn, relate to and interact with their environments.
Again as far as we are concerned, what is needed is an effort that would get to the minds of the youngest so that they can begin that long-awaited journey towards attaining an ethic that focuses on stewardship and genuine regard and care for all living things.
Editorial from The Bahama Journal
