Whichever, littering of Nassauﾒs public areas is nothing less than a national disgrace and a tourist disaster.
As a regular and frequent traveller to the Bahamas (over 40 times in 16 years) and one who has lived and worked in all four corners of the globe, Iﾒm disgusted by the wanton destruction and rubbishing of some of Nassauﾒs prime public beaches and parks. Never in all my working life have I been confronted with so much evidence of a publicﾒs blatant disregard for its beachfront and recreational areas. Every public holiday leaves a trail of destruction and rubbish as if these gathering areas are nothing more than public garbage tips. Last Monday was a disaster, will Friday be more of the same?
Two examples prove my points:
First, the beach and adjoining area stretching from opposite the Holiday Inn on West Bay to Arawak is the filthiest, most deplorable public beach Iﾒve ever experienced and that includes parts of the Philippines which are vile! Broken bottles, broken furniture, polystyrene food boxes, plastic bottles and cups, KFC and McDonald wrappers and every other type of imaginable rubbish festoons the beach itself and the so-called parking areas. The latter is also characterised by broken concrete footpaths and car parking barriers, uncontrolled vehicular movements, badly damaged palms and the like.
While the visual impacts are bad enough, the real tragedy, which Iﾒve watched both in dismay and disbelief, has been the common behaviour by adults, teenagers and children alike! Regardless of whether theyﾒre sitting in cars or walking around, food and drink containers are simply thrown out of windows or dropped at their feet. The idea of walking to a rubbish bin or taking their garbage home for appropriate disposal seems to be a totally foreign concept? Is this ignorance or a plain case of what the hell, ﾑsomeone else will clean it upﾒ syndrome?
Second the public park immediately east of the Gaming Board office building at Cable Beach is equally mistreated with rubbish reaching ﾓplague-likeﾔ proportions. Again, Iﾒve watched as people of all ages simply drop their rubbish where they stand or picnic. I note that Saunders Beach also suffers from the same problem.
Common to both areas is the problem of too few bins, inconvenient or a lack of public toilets in appropriate locations, car parking areas destroyed by reckless vehicle intrusions, men and boys urinating against private fences and trees and beaches left with broken glass, cans and a plethora of personal belongings. A lack of maintenance (central government responsibility, I suspect) also contributes to these intolerable circumstances with the public reacting to the state of the facilities. As long as exhibitions of such ﾓpublic effluenceﾔ are prevalent, the many signs imploring Bahamians to keep their country clean are there solely for the benefit of ﾓblindﾔ eyes.
Clearly by-laws which impose heavy fines, financially hurt offenders and are policed with great rigour are mandatory. As evidenced in Singapore this can work wonders! However, paralleling these punitive measures must be a committed public maintenance and restoration programme which significantly enhances these areas and their amenities. Ultimately, only through the provision of quality facilities can one expect the public to react and behave responsibly.
Whilst inculcating a sense of pride in ones environment needs to be taught both in school and in the home, the government cannot escape its obligations ﾗ the public wield is a vital component in planning, developing and managing the environment and never moreso than in the Bahamas where tourism reigns supreme, otherwise Bahamas watch out for the competition elsewhere in the region!
Come on Nassau residents ﾗ pull your socks up and stop perpetuating this disgraceful form of ﾓpublic hooliganismﾔ.
David McInnes
Letter to the Editor, The Tribune
June 2nd, 2004
