DR DENIS LOWE is being blasted for giving false hope to householders.
Cou Cou understands those lambasting the often silent Minister of Environment are a group of frustrated public health inspectors.
The inspectors are frustrated due to their inability to help householders who have been consistently crying out for the removal of abandoned vehicles on vacant lots and alongside the road.
The householders got the impression that Lowe was going to get tough with those behind this increasing unsightly, environmental problem when he broke his silence last November on the ugly trend. Instead, the inspectorate has to tell them there is no official place for these vehicles to go.
Back in November, Lowe blasted the vehicle abandonment practice saying it was not only an eyesore, but a potential breeding ground for mosquitoes that threaten the public’s health. He also noted that many of these vehicles were being abandoned on vacant lots and gave the impression that his ministry would be moving to stamp out this situation.
However, according to the inspectors, Lowe was simply seeking to look engaged on a worrisome situation. They pointed out that since Government closed the metal dump at Bagatelle, St James, about four years ago, and B’s Recycling no longer functions like before – again due to Government’s action, there is no place on the island to take derelict vehicles. Lowe should have known this.
Because of this, the inspectorate are contending that Lowe’s statement was not fair to them on the frontline who have to deal with the volume of daily complaints from householders about abandoned cars being health hazards, attracting rats, mosquitoes and even vagrants.
They say all they can do is to visit sites, place rat bait, tell the landowners on which the vehicles are abandoned to remove receptacles that could hold water, and give warnings.
Maybe now Cou Cou has revealed what is really going on, Minister Lowe will seek to prove us wrong and get something done.
‘Mock money’ in bank’s ATM
CHECK THE MONEY you get from the ATM very carefully, as more than one case of counterfeit notes has reportedly been spat out from them.
However, there is no need for panic as the problem is not widespread.
Cou Cou was made aware of one case where a woman got a $100 counterfeit note in the $1 900 she withdrew from her bank’s ATM in the City.
The woman was given the runaround by a number of officials at the bank, who seemingly disbelieved her. However, after an internal investigation the bank indicated they would reimburse the customer.
A banker told Cou Cou the counterfeit note could have slipped through because it was not caught when the currency was scanned before being released for use. He assured that was a rare occurrence so Barbadians need not worry about it.
He, however, noted that since fraudsters are always seeking to unload counterfeit dollars on the unsuspecting public, that people should double check any money they get from ATMs or anywhere else to ensure the money is legal tender. He said to be able to know what the security features of the Barbados currency are, people should familiarise themselves with that.
