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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Environment story without end</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Barbara Gloudon
Friday, February 16, 2007
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</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Barbara Gloudon</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>FEW ISSUES about which I've written in recent times have drawn so much interest as the reference last week to the state of the St Thomas environment.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Responses have come from concerned persons, at home and abroad, who share a common sense of disquiet about the erosion - gradual and accelerated - of our natural heritage. Many of the opinions expressed reflect the feeling that the authorities, that is, the government, have yet to grasp the significance of the danger wherein we find ourselves.<P class=StoryText align=justify>I'm not going to join in ascribing sinister motives, as some of my correspondents did. On the contrary, I feel that the push and pull between the need for development to satisfy the demands of the people and the imperative to protect the natural environment, are more than the regulatory systems such as we have are prepared or equipped to handle.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Several of my correspondents had scathing words to say about the national agencies charged with environmental management. There were allegations of a lack of integrity, of political manipulation or worse. Overall, there is little respect and much suspicion about the working of the agencies. This is a perception, real or imagined, which needs to be addressed if they're to function effectively.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Without mutual respect and understanding, we will never be able to tackle what needs to be done, nor hope for any degree of success. The challenges which we identify every day will continue to bedevil us if we can't find a way to draw everyone together into an effective system for correction and advancement.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Private and public sector alike are culpable in what is going on. The trend is to build first then ask questions or lay blame after. The average man and woman in the street is blissfully unaware of the environmental issues which concern them.
Talk about chopped-down trees affecting watershed conditions doesn't mean a thing. We can always block the road when there's no water. State agencies charged with carrying out projects which involve interference with the physical environment demonstrate little effort in co-opting the public to play their part. This is the atmosphere of cynicism which prevails.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Some of the allegations made against the regulatory agencies were unsubstantiated, even unkind, but it is not difficult to see how such views come to be formed. Consider the following:<P class=StoryText align=justify>A VISIT LAST WEEK to Port Maria, capital of St Mary, proved very trying. The town is one of those which is undergoing radical surgery, as part of the North Coast Highway Project. There can be no argument that it is not necessary. Port Maria has had the appearance of a forgotten place for many years. Increased traffic passing through on its way to other places resulted in confusion and congestion. It was full time for a face-lift.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Finally, the highway has come along - but at a high price. Only an unreasonable person would not expect some dislocation as the project proceeds, but what I don't think anyone counted on was the extent of the "haul and pull up". Everywhere you turn now, from the entrance to the exit of the town and roads leading in every direction, there is dust and dirt, dug-up, piled-up, stirred-up and little pr
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Barbara Gloudon
Friday, February 16, 2007
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=80 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Barbara Gloudon</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>FEW ISSUES about which I've written in recent times have drawn so much interest as the reference last week to the state of the St Thomas environment.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Responses have come from concerned persons, at home and abroad, who share a common sense of disquiet about the erosion - gradual and accelerated - of our natural heritage. Many of the opinions expressed reflect the feeling that the authorities, that is, the government, have yet to grasp the significance of the danger wherein we find ourselves.<P class=StoryText align=justify>I'm not going to join in ascribing sinister motives, as some of my correspondents did. On the contrary, I feel that the push and pull between the need for development to satisfy the demands of the people and the imperative to protect the natural environment, are more than the regulatory systems such as we have are prepared or equipped to handle.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Several of my correspondents had scathing words to say about the national agencies charged with environmental management. There were allegations of a lack of integrity, of political manipulation or worse. Overall, there is little respect and much suspicion about the working of the agencies. This is a perception, real or imagined, which needs to be addressed if they're to function effectively.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Without mutual respect and understanding, we will never be able to tackle what needs to be done, nor hope for any degree of success. The challenges which we identify every day will continue to bedevil us if we can't find a way to draw everyone together into an effective system for correction and advancement.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Private and public sector alike are culpable in what is going on. The trend is to build first then ask questions or lay blame after. The average man and woman in the street is blissfully unaware of the environmental issues which concern them. Talk about chopped-down trees affecting watershed conditions doesn't mean a thing. We can always block the road when there's no water. State agencies charged with carrying out projects which involve interference with the physical environment demonstrate little effort in co-opting the public to play their part. This is the atmosphere of cynicism which prevails.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Some of the allegations made against the regulatory agencies were unsubstantiated, even unkind, but it is not difficult to see how such views come to be formed. Consider the following:<P class=StoryText align=justify>A VISIT LAST WEEK to Port Maria, capital of St Mary, proved very trying. The town is one of those which is undergoing radical surgery, as part of the North Coast Highway Project. There can be no argument that it is not necessary. Port Maria has had the appearance of a forgotten place for many years. Increased traffic passing through on its way to other places resulted in confusion and congestion. It was full time for a face-lift.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Finally, the highway has come along - but at a high price. Only an unreasonable person would not expect some dislocation as the project proceeds, but what I don't think anyone counted on was the extent of the "haul and pull up". Everywhere you turn now, from the entrance to the exit of the town and roads leading in every direction, there is dust and dirt, dug-up, piled-up, stirred-up and little pr