2010 IS ALMOST AT AN END and 2011 is fast approaching. There are several matters – some routine, one would have thought – which have been outstanding far too long. It is important that these matters are put on the front-burner and acted upon.
It is true that the current recession, our sagging economy, recovery from the onerous debt situation and containment of unemployment are priority issues. However, in our efforts to manage these issues there are other domestic and housekeeping considerations which have been left unattended.
It was heartening to hear reference made during the recent Budget debate to the need to take a closer look at improving efficiency at the Bridgetown port. It has been known that practices within that institution can hardly satisfy the requirements of 21st century operation techniques.
There is a need to look at our stevedoring procedures and determine whether the interests of importers and Barbados are best served by having these operations detached from the general administration. It is noted elsewhere that these operations are part of the overall port management and one understands this has resulted in lower operational costs.
We have recently concluded celebration of Tourism Awareness Week. It was felt to have been a resounding success. Yet one reads and hears of complaints by various persons of the untidiness of The City and the wider country, as well as the seeming disregard for health safety as evidenced by the wanton littering of our roads, parks and beaches. Pay a visit to Accra Beach, where there are two skips located for garbage collection, and one will be shocked to see the litter strewn on the ground in the immediate environs and this remains so for many days.
Many, if not most beaches, including Bathsheba on the east coast, are unkempt and in some instances are dump sites. Not too long ago a photograph of the unsightly accumulation of refuse at Bathsheba appeared in the local Press. Are we not ashamed? In Cayman, Nassau, Bermuda, Hawaii, Aruba and other places, it is a normal sight to witness mechanised beach cleaning equipment clearing and manicuring the beaches at dawn to greet tourists and local alike with pleasant surroundings. Don’t we need to do similarly?
Despite talk about public sector reform, the service at heavily trafficked offices such as Barbados Water Authority, the Licensing Department, the Polyclinics and the QEH dispensary leaves much to be desired. Land Tax department is an exception where pleasant, courteous, helpful, prompt and efficient service is the norm.
Turning to the court system and traffic management, there is no doubt that these urgently need to be brought into the 21st century. It was interesting to note the recent comments of the president of the Bar Association. Why do we continue to avoid 24-hour courts?
It is unrewarding to talk about the fumes emitted by many vehicles on our roads, particularly PSVs, or the litter thrown from the windows of buses and private cars. 2011 calls for change.
