THROUGH THE YEARS I have seen that even with the best of intentions, it’s not necessarily what you do that matters, but how you do it. Whether it is a personal situation, a work-related one or a national issue, the way in which the concern is addressed is critical to the positive outcome being sought.
For this reason, I am absolutely astonished at the authorities’ handling of the whole B’s Bottling affair from the denial about the River Bay-Bagatelle land swap deal, the metal recovery project at Bagatelle, to the recent fire at Cane Garden. They have allowed a worthy effort to become embroiled in unnecessary controversy.
I decided to comment on this issue because it is symptomatic of the present administration – good intentions for Barbados, but poor communication of intent, preoccupation with politics and, too often, woeful execution of their policies.
I regard the work of B’s as essential to Barbados’ well-being in that it has been instrumental in helping to clean up our environment, it allows self-employment for marginalized individuals in particular, and it earns foreign exchange.
As B’s pays for bottles, old washing machines, refrigerators, tyres, batteries and so on, it generates interest among people to clean up their surroundings, and the country at large, and be paid for doing so.
So people all over the island started collecting PET bottles rather than disposing of them in the garbage or on the streets. They also began ridding their backyards of bulky items that once harboured vermin and held water that encouraged mosquito breeding.
Opportunities
Unemployed people, those with no marketable skills, former prisoners and some individuals out to make a quick dollar saw the opportunities B’s provided and began collecting and seeking out items they could sell.
It meant, for example, that people would descend on vacant lots where there was bulky waste and cart away the “metal debris”, freeing the particular community of that menace. Or, they would remove saleable debris, especially from elderly people’s yards, and pay them to do so.
At the end of the day, B’s sold everything they bought from these “pickers” to an overseas supplier for United States dollars – that is, foreign exchange.
However, this positive business activity was overshadowed and smeared by the clumsy handling of the land swap, with Government taking River Bay, St Lucy, which was owned by Andrew Bynoe, and Bynoe getting the Bagatelle, St James metal dump.
The idea here was for Bynoe and his brother Paul to excavate all of the metal buried there and export it to earn foreign exchange. It was a potentially beneficial move for Barbados.
The problem was that it was done with such a cloak of secrecy surrounding it that it raised nearly everyone’s suspicions and left a bad taste in the mouths of the residents in Bagatelle and the Town Planning Department, which has responsibility for such matters, as no one seemed to have consulted the officials there.
Making matters worse was the attitude of Minister of Environment Dr Denis Lowe. A month after the Opposition had brought the matter to the public’s attention, and after the Town Planning Department had halted preparatory work by the Bynoes at the Bagatelle dump site, he denied that Government had been involved in a land swap.
That rang hollow, to say the least, especially as by then the Bynoes’ expensive metal excavation equipment had arrived and was in place at the St James site.
No sensible business person would invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment to set up an operation unless they were sure they had the go-ahead to do so from the highest level. And we all know from Andrew Bynoe’s success that he is a very astute businessman.
B’s only casualty
The recent fire at B’s only compounded this controversy, and Lowe’s silence has added fuel to this already volatile mixture. And the unfortunate casualty has been B’s Bottling, the scores of people who earn a living from supplying it, and our environment.
This Government needs to recognize that it has to be more proactive in dealing with issues. How they respond to a situation will leave a lasting impression on the public that can cause irreparable harm or bolster confidence.
Presently, Barbadians are crying out to hear what Government’s plan is for B’s Recycling, the economy and several other issues. But hardly a substantive word is heard. This silence is only serving to create doubts, fuel speculation and, worse, undermine public and investor confidence. As a matter of urgency Government needs to remedy this.
Sanka Price is a NATION editor.
