I believe we are at our best when we are boldest. – Gordon Brown
FOR FAR TOO LONG we have been plagued by less than best practice in responding to simple eyesores across this fair land. In fact, one is apt to think we care little about the way our country is seen by visitors and residents for that matter. How do we explain our seeming inability to rid The City and country of litter, our gullies of litter and our parks and beaches of litter?
We are all aware tourism is our business and that everyone should play his/her part. If ever we should be putting our best foot forward it is now when consumers are looking for a deal which offers the best value for money. Yet our general disposition is so unbecoming that former Prime Minister Owen Arthur has been moved to comment on the poor work ethic which pervades every aspect of business in this country.
Coconut shells decorate the shoulders of our highways. Wooden shacks welcome tourists and citizens to Fairchild Street. So too does the entrance to the bridge which is home to the Independence Arch. The remnants of the plaque bearing the celebrated words of our National Pledge, evidence destruction, vandalism and a dismal respect for the instruments of our dedication to the memorial of Independence.
Our roundabouts are besmirched with wooden boxes, confiscated supermarket carts and makeshift tables all serving as tools to facilitate the sale of ackees, grapes, golden apples and peanuts. The exuberant salesmen, with goods airborne, traverse the oncoming traffic unconcerned about injury or the stress caused to drivers.
We have embraced the notion of diversification of our tourist product. We believe nature trails can cater to visitors with a preference for outdoors. Yet our open spaces are overcome with debris, garbage and disposal of appliances.
This country cannot claim to be one with clear directional signage. Some effort has been made to improve this failing. Yet we struggle to keep signage from being overgrown with shrub and vines to the extent that they are not able to be seen, are coming apart from their original locations, but worst of all can sometimes be so disturbed as to point in the opposite direction.
We have surrendered the idea and rightly so that the beauty of our beaches is paramount. At other destinations, the USVI, The Bahamas, Aruba, one often sees mechanised equipment, sometimes automated, cleaning the beaches at the crack of dawn in order to offer a groomed, manicured appearance to visitors.
Given the importance we attach to tourism, it is difficult to comprehend our more than casual response to these areas of our plant and to our failure to have convinced each citizen of the importance of paying scrupulous attention to the finer aspects of those things which go a long way towards enticing visitors to return.
We must be bold in upgrading/maintaining our environment.