IT’S GOOD THAT THE Sanitation Service Authority is encouraging the public to reduce, reuse and recycle, although it’s well placed not only to encourage, but to insist on household garbage separation to facilitate recycling, following the excellent public education and pilot schemes spearheaded by non-governmental organisations like the Future Centre Trust and commercial entities like Dice-a-bed and B’s Recycling.
Of course, strict enforcement of anti-littering legislation is way overdue to curb our bad waste management habits.
Globally, efforts are being made to change “linear” economies, where we extract resources from our planet at an ever-increasing pace, and turn them into a product that we mostly dispose after use into “circular” economies in which “we keep resources in use for as long as possible, extract the maximum value from them whilst in use, then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of each service life” (www.wrap.org.uk).
As a small developing country we’re too eager to “dump” rather than repair, reuse and recycle, the result being extended landfills. This was brought to mind recently when my brother, who is visiting from Canada, fixed for me, in a day or two, a number of appliances and fixtures, some of which had been deemed unfixable.
For instance, a shower and tub mixer assembly, deemed unfixable over seven years ago and costing hundreds of dollars to replace, was fixed quite easily at that time by my brother-in-law (a farmer).
Repair
A recurrence of the problem seven years later has again been fixed in a matter of minutes by my brother (an engineer). Similarly, a microwave oven most Barbadians would have relegated to the dump, with the usual “it’s cheaper to replace it”, was fixed for under $10.
Interestingly though, neither my brother nor brother-in-law learned these skills while at university. They learned from their fathers, who were practical and not “all thumbs” like many present-day parents, competent only with hand-held electronic devices.
Shoes are now considered almost disposable. Instead of stitching and nails formerly used to secure their parts, glue is now the answer. Under our conditions, this presents a problem, but here again, we’re quick to dump rather than repair.
A visiting friend’s sandals suffered this “un-sticking problem” recently and he was advised to replace them. However, a quick visit to a South Coast “shoemaker” (a rare species these days) solved the problem, with the shoes now far more secure than before.
We need to train Polytechnic students to repair. For example, there are stainless steel cookware items produced in the days when quality was the watchword for manufacturers, which after 40 years’ use only need to have handles or knobs replaced, but there seems to be no one capable of doing such things these days, so we dump and replace with an often inferior product.
Think of how many business/employment opportunities could be created at a time when unemployment is becoming an increasing problem.
On the subject of business opportunities, congratulations to Blue Waters Productions on another interesting and successful Bank On Me TV programme, and of course to the winner, Sean Carter.
Finally, the Barbados Revenue Authority recently reminded taxpayers of the deadline for the amnesty offered on interest and penalties accrued at December 31, 2014, regarding arrears of land tax, value added tax and income taxes.
I wasn’t aware that taxpayers had offered a similar amnesty to Government on payment of VAT and income tax refunds, yet these remain unpaid, with just a “little noise” being heard now and then, followed by extended periods of silence.
We need to remind Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler of his quotation from Ecclesiastes during his 2013 Budget Speech: “To everything there is a season . . . . A time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh . . . a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.”
Minister, we’re tired of the breaking down – let’s build up; we’re tired of weeping – help us to laugh; we’re tired of embracing the wrong things – let’s be more discerning; we’re tired of losing – help us to get; we’re tired of Government’s silence – include us in the conversation.
• Dr Frances Chandler is a former Independent senator. Email [email protected].
