I WOULD LIKE to add my contributions to the recent and important issues highlighted by your socially aware newspaper – these being the idea that red tape, by its very nature, is a noose around the neck of developers, and secondly, the issue of boys liming on the block.
The complaint of excessive red tape is often put forward by those developers who want to have licence to develop the island for their own self-interest.
However, the elected Government has a democratic mandate from the people to develop the island in a sustainable manner and not just for individual short-term profit. For instance, building on fertile land in places where agriculture is very productive and leaving the less fertile areas to be overrun by bush is clearly unsustainable.
Let us consider Warrens, where the builders did not seem to give any thought to the environmental impact. The mass of concrete generates so much heat. There are hardly any trees in sight.
The once beautiful island of Haiti is virtually treeless, prone to drought, flooding and earthquakes. This is in contrast to England, where over 80 per cent of the land is reserved for agriculture and parks.
The foreign exchange that these developers claim to bring into the island goes back out to buy food, so rather than benefiting Barbados, it depletes the foreign reserves.
In the case of Dr Rev. Lucille Baird, the first question that comes to mind is this: why do the priestly cast not use their considerable financial resources to support the boys on the blocks in agricultural projects, or even join with them in planting yams and other food crops?
But more to the point, the education system can be partly blamed for these disaffected boys. They are coached to pass the 11-Plus Exam and after entering a top school, some go there and do nothing because no subjects like carpentry or agriculture are taught.
I met a fourth-year student on his way to a top school who told me that he was bored. According to him, they are not teaching subjects that cater to his interest of fitting cars. So he is to go through secondary school doing nothing? Herein lies the reason why some boys lime on the block all day; they are dissatisfied and ill-equipped for society.
– CATHY BELGRAVE
